The Graduate School

Human Development & Family Sciences Ph.D.

The Intergenerational Transmission of Emotional Well-Being in Chinese Families and the Role of Filial Piety

Sponsored by the Kim Family Fund

“Glial Cells of the Eye: An Inspiration for Druggable Targets.”

Presenter:  Royce Mohan, PhD, Professor
                   Department of Neuroscience, UConn Health, Farmington, CT

‘Electrical Breakdown in Polymers: Insights from the Noninsulating Properties of Insulating Materials’

Sponsored by the Kim Family Fund

“Microglial pathways & APOE regulating proteins in Alzheimer’s disease.”

Presenter:  Jungsu Kim, PhD, Professor, Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN

HDFS PhD Program

“The Role of the Internet on Sexual and Gender Diverse Youth’s Identity Development”

New Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of The Graduate School, Leslie Shor, invites faculty and staff to engage in a conversation. Dean Shor will share her vision for graduate education at UConn and welcomes input from all on the challenges and issues facing their graduate students and programs as we move forward together.

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Please register to receive a Webex link for this event. 

History Department faculty, graduate students, friends and family are invited to attend the dissertation defense of Abdullah Alhatem, who will be speaking and answering questions about his Ph.D. thesis: “The Domestic Slave Trade and the “Christian Master” in New England”

Studies of the electronic structure of 2D TMDs: Vanadium Dichalcogenides (VX2)
Condensed matter physics

Dr. James Moseley, Department of Biochemistry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH

Title of Seminar: “How cells control their size”

Host: Dr. Steven Chou

Difficult conversations are just that: difficult. But they are a healthy, normal part of our relationships with others, including faculty advisors and colleagues. Having difficult conversations with faculty advisors and directors of graduate programs can be intimidating and overwhelming, particularly for new graduate students. Whether it is asking for feedback or discussing a conflict, the tendency can be to avoid the issue or possibly overact in a conversation. We will unpack why we sometimes avoid challenging conversations; discuss why they cause so much stress and anxiety; and identify strategies that will reduce stress and increase success in these conversations. While this session will be particularly relevant to communicating with faculty advisors, the challenges and strategies discussed will be applicable to multiple types of relationships. This interactive session is open to all graduate students and postdocs. ​

FACILITATORS:

• Cinnamon Adams, Assistant Ombuds, Ombuds Office
• Kimberly Curry, Director of Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Support, The Graduate School
  

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Thesis Title: Precision Measurements of the Neutron Magnetic Form Factor to High Momentum Transfer using Durand’s Method
Field of Study: Physics

Sponsored by the Kim Family Fund

“Monitoring and modulating memory-related hippocampal-cortical dynamics.”

Presenter: Jennifer Gelinas, MD/PhD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Anatomy, and Neurobiology, University of California, Irvine, CA

What are racial microaggressions; how do we best understand how racial microaggressions harm historically excluded and racially oppressed faculty, staff, and students; and what are some ways we can address racial microaggressions on campus? We take a critical approach in answering these questions, looking at both the individual as well as structural lens to get a clearer picture of life at historically white colleges and universities. Our aim is one of growth, inclusion, and change for the better.

FACILITATORS:

• David G. Embrick, Associate Professor in Sociology and Africana Studies & Office of Diversity and Inclusion Affiliate
• Stephany Santos, Assistant Professor in Residence, Biomedical Engineering & Office of Diversity and Inclusion Affiliate 
  

See more about all Timely Topics offered by The Graduate School.

Please register to receive a Webex link for this event.

Differential Cross Sections from CLAS12 RG-A Inclusive Electron Scattering

Title: Novel Mechanisms of Chronic Kidney Diseases
Field of Study: Biomedical Science Ph.D. Program

Title: Novel Mechanisms of Chronic Kidney Diseases
Field of Study: Biomedical Science Ph.D. Program

Title: Model Sparsification on Emerging Applications and Technologies

Ph.D. Candidate: Shanglin Zhou

Major Advisor: Dr. Caiwen Ding
Co-Major Advisor: Dr. Krishna Pattipati
Associate Advisors: Dr. Cunxi Yu, Dr. Zhijie Shi

Date/Time: Tuesday, September 24th, 2024, 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Location: Virtual

Abstract:

Deep neural networks (DNNs) with higher accuracy often lead to larger models, increasing storage and energy demands. Model sparsification can reduce size but risks compromising accuracy. Balancing these factors is challenging, especially as traditional processors struggle with the requirements of low-power, real-time DNNs, highlighting the need for more efficient solutions.

In this thesis, we explore model sparsification in emerging applications. We propose an optimization approach using Surrogate Lagrangian Relaxation (SLR) for weight sparsification, streamlining the typical time-consuming three-step pipeline. It enables faster convergence and maintains high accuracy, even during hard-pruning, with rapid recovery in retraining.

We explore two primary emerging applications: (1) Energy-harvesting devices that require dynamic power management. We introduce EVE, an AutoML framework using SLR-based sparsification to find optimal multi-models with shared weights, reducing memory use and adapting to changing environments. (2) Diffractive Optical Neural Networks (DONNs) that are fast and energy-efficient but suffer from accuracy degradation due to interpixel interactions. We propose a physics-aware optimization framework for DONNs, incorporating SLR-based sparsification and roughness modeling to smooth phase changes and preserve accuracy.

Additionally, we extend our research to multi-task learning (MTL) with DONNs, which traditionally requires manual reconfiguration. We propose LUMEN-PRO, an automated MTL framework that utilizes a flexible DONN backbone. By rotating shared layers instead of storing task-specific ones, LUMEN-PRO reduces memory usage and enhances accuracy, enabling efficient and high-performance DONNs across various tasks.

Title: Catching Caribou in the Age of Climate Change: How Regulation and Caribou Population Decline Threaten the Alaska Native Way of Life
Field of Study: Anthropology

Sponsored by the Kim Family Fund

Presenter:  Diane Lipscombe, PhD, Professor of Science and Neuroscience
Brown University, Providence, RI

Dissertation title: Conditions on conditionals: evaluativity, discourse sensitivity, and conditionals without ‘if’
Field of study: Linguistics

Title: Investigation of thyrotropin-releasing hormone neurons in the mouse lateral hypothalamic area
Department: Physiology and Neurobiology