This year’s annual Organic Graduate Symposium, held in the Yoo Conference Hall and Collaboratory on June 13, 2025, featured brilliant talks by 11 chemistry graduate students.
The annual Organic Graduate Symposium (OGS) provides a forum for organic chemistry graduate students in their final year to present their dissertation research at UCLA to their peers, researchers, and faculty. The symposium is open to everyone in the department and to the friends and families of the presenters. Each student speaker is introduced by either a faculty member, a member of their lab, or a friend.
A photo gallery from the event can be viewed here, and select photos can be viewed below.
Research talks were presented by (top row from left) Andrew Becker (Backus group), Thomas Bunnell (Kwon group), Luca McDermott Catena (Garg group), Julia Chang (Rubin group), Roberto Chavez (Garcia-Garibay group), Jacob Kim (Kwon group), (bottom row from left) Arismel Tena-Meza (Garg group), Jason Wang (Doyle group), Gilbert Walker (Harran group), Quintashia Wilson (Sletten group), Dominick Witkowski (Garg group).
Organized brilliantly by Professor Soumitra Athavale, the all-day event was both an excellent scientific event and a celebration of this year’s Organic Chemistry Ph.D.s. Featuring synthesis, chemical biology, and organic materials chemistry, the OGS included talks by 11 Ph.D. candidates (most of whom were also hooded in the departmental commencement ceremony on June 14). Representing eight organic research groups, the speakers gave outstanding and entertaining summaries of their research and experiences at UCLA. An enthusiastic audience of students, faculty, and some families and friends enjoyed the great talks as well with breakfast, lunch, refreshment breaks, and a concluding reception all organized by Brandon Lindo.
A new feature of the Symposium was created by Athavale and his helper, ChatGPT! Building on a long tradition (~25 years) of post-symposium limericks created by Professor Mike Jung, and later poems and songs by Professor Ken Houk, Athavale completed the Symposium by reciting ChatGPT-generated limericks describing each talk during the day.
Luca McDermott Catena’s family came from Argentina and the UK for the event! His talk was worth it! His mother and father, seated in the front row with other family members, asked the first questions! Quintashia Wilson’s father, family and friends enjoyed hearing the amazing synthetic achievements she described to make new SWIR fluorescent probes in the Ellen Sletten group. The Dominick Witkowski family and others were there too, and other friends and family gave the event a special significance.
Article by Professor Ken Houk. Photos by Professor Ken Houk and Isabella Luo.
