Microbial Biology Graduate Student Group
Research·Community Service/Nonprofit·Academic Societies
The Microbiology Student Group (MSG) is an interdepartmental association of graduate students within the Graduate Group in Microbiology at UC Berkeley who share a common interest in microbiology. Members meet once a month, participate in community outreach like Cal Day, and organize the annual Microbiology Student Symposium, a full-day forum where students, postdocs, and researchers from across California give talks and poster presentations on all topics in microbiology. Registration to the symposium is free and open to the public.
1
Monthly meeting
24
Annual symposium number (most recent, 2025)
8
Symposium duration, in hours (9 AM–5 PM, full day)
15
Oral presentation length, in minutes (12 minutes of content plus 3 minutes for Q&A)
Events They Host
Annual Microbiology Student Symposium
Full-day event featuring student oral presentations, a poster session, invited keynote speakers from other institutions, industry networking, and a Microbial Art Exhibition. Prizes awarded for best oral presentation, best graduate student poster, and best undergraduate poster. Free to attend; open to students, postdocs, faculty, and the general public. The 24th symposium was held Saturday, April 26, 2025 at Krutch Auditorium, Clark Kerr Campus.
Cal Day Microbial Carnival
MSG hosts a microbial carnival during UC Berkeley's annual Cal Day open house, where graduate students and faculty display and explain interesting microbes and their unique processes and abilities to the general public.
Member Experiences
Monthly Member Meetings
Members meet once a month to discuss upcoming events and club business.
Fall Micro Mixer
An annual fall mixer for graduate students in microbiology to kick off the new semester.
Graduate Group in Microbiology Retreat
An annual retreat held at an off-campus venue; past location included the Tilden Regional Park Brazil Room.