CS/BCB's Rasna Walia to Participate in CRA-W Grad Cohorts Workshop

Rasna Walia, Computer Science graduate student majoring in BCB, has been selected to participate in the upcoming CRA-W Grad Cohort program. The workshop will take place April 1-2 in Boston, MA. All travel, meals, and lodging expenses are covered for selected students. 

The CRA-W Grad Cohort program, initiated in 2004, is being generously funded by Microsoft this year, along with significant support from Google as well as contributions from Yahoo and other contributors. Grad Cohort aims to increase the ranks of senior women in computing by building and mentoring nationwide communities of women through their graduate studies. 

The Grad Cohort Workshop welcomes new women graduate students in their first year of graduate school into the community of computing researchers and professionals by providing them with a broad range of strategies and role models. Students meet for two days with 20 to 25 senior computing researchers and professionals, who share pertinent information on graduate school survival skills, as well as more personal information and insights about their experiences. The rewards of a research career is emphasized. The workshops include a mix of formal presentations and informal discussions and social events. Through this workshop, students will be able to build mentoring relationships and develop peer networks that will form the basis for ongoing activities during their graduate careers. 

Walia's research in BCB focuses on analysis of protein-RNA complexes and computational prediction of protein residues that are likely to interact with viral RNA. Dr. Vasant Honavar is her graduate advisor.