LSU Graduate School

10/01/2026

Registration is now open for the 2026 Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Preliminary Round!

This competition challenges doctoral students to communicate the significance of their research to a general audience in just three minutes. The Preliminary Round will be held on Friday, October 30 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in 225 Peabody Hall.

The competition is open to doctoral candidates who have successfully passed their general defense by the registration deadline. To compete, register and submit your presentation by 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27.

Think you can make your research make sense in three minutes? Sign up through the link in our bio and visit the LSU Pinkie Gordon Lane Graduate School website for competition rules, guidelines and presentation resources.

Finalists will advance to the 3MT® Final Round on November 23, where they’ll compete for 1st, 2nd and People’s Choice.

09/30/2026

Have you visited our Rotating Subject Librarians yet?

This graduate community resource is a part of our growing effort to create a centralized hub where graduate students and graduate faculty can come together to connect directly with important resources, services, and expertise from across LSU!

By partnering with LSU Libraries, all graduate students and graduate faculty can meet directly with the participating subject librarians — whether you need help conducting research, finding the right text materials, or managing sources.

Review the upcoming schedule and make sure to stop by to take advantage of this new resource!

09/29/2026

Meet Ashley Dawson, an Advanced Standing social work master’s student in LSU’s Specialized Clinical Track, who is completing a 450-hour block practicum with Mecklenburg County Criminal Justice Services’ Recovery Court program in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Her work sits at the intersection of clinical social work, substance-use recovery, and the criminal justice system. From participating in interdisciplinary case discussions and court proceedings to helping clients navigate housing, resources, and recovery barriers, Ashley is gaining hands-on experience advocating for people as they navigate complex systems.

Along the way, her experience has also connected her with public service leaders, such as Senator Sydney Batch and former U.S. Congressman Edolphus “Ed” Towns.

The experience is teaching her to look beyond the charge or case number and see the person at the center of it all.

After graduation, Ashley plans to pursue LCSW licensure and continue developing as a clinician and advocate. Her journey is a reminder that growth often starts with being willing to step into spaces you never expected to enter.

We’re proud to spotlight Ashley and the meaningful work she’s doing beyond the classroom. 🙌

09/28/2026

Our Fall 2026 GSLI cohort spent the weekend together, exploring how they naturally approach leadership, and learning how to leverage those strengths in their academic, professional, and personal lives. 📝📚🙌

Graduate students from different departments, countries, and stages of their journeys came together, shared stories, worked through challenges, and left with a clearer sense of who they are as leaders.

A special thanks to Dr. Missy Kourduner, Dr. Kristen Williams, and Tyler Flynn, for making the weekend so special for our amazing graduate students. 💛

LSU School of Leadership and Human Resource Development

09/28/2026

09/28/2026

🎓 It’s official: Dr. Taha Gharaibeh! 🎉

We’re excited to celebrate Dr. Gharaibeh, who successfully defended his PhD dissertation yesterday and officially earned that new title! 💜💛

His dissertation, “Volatile Evidence at Scale: Forensically Sound Preservation and High-Performance Memory Forensics for Containers and ROS-Based Robots,” tackles challenges at the intersection of digital forensics, high-performance computing, containers, and robotics, exploring how valuable evidence that can disappear when systems change or shut down can be preserved and analyzed.

Through his research, Dr. Gharaibeh developed new tools and approaches to make memory forensics faster and more effective at scale, from container environments to ROS-based robots. His work included accelerating memory analysis, reconstructing thousands of robot poses from memory alone, and demonstrating why forensic readiness matters as robotic systems become increasingly complex.

A PhD represents years of research, persistence, problem-solving, and probably more than a few moments of “one more experiment.” We’re incredibly proud to see all of Dr. Gharaibeh’s hard work lead to this moment.

A special thank you to his advisor and committee chair, Dr. Ibrahim (Abe) Baggili, for his mentorship and guidance throughout this journey, and to committee members Dr. Golden George Richard III, Dr. Joseph Khoury, Dr. Andrew Webb, and Dean’s Representative Dr. Frederick D. Weil for their time, expertise, and support.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Taha Gharaibeh on successfully defending his dissertation and earning his PhD! 🎉🎓

LSU LSU College of Engineering LSU Graduate School

09/25/2026

This past Wednesday, Dean Bargu Ates sat down with a few LSU postdoctoral researchers for a conversation, connection, and some sweet treats! ✨

The discussion explored the often-misunderstood role of postdoctoral fellows, how postdoctoral experiences connect to graduate education, and the transition from Ph.D. candidate to postdoctoral researcher—and eventually, what comes next after that.

Most importantly, the conversation centered on the researchers themselves: their experiences, questions, and how they define the postdoctoral journey in their own words.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the conversation, and of course, the donuts! 🍩

09/15/2026

In honor of National Online Learning Day, we’re proud to spotlight Ambrosia Grant, an LSU Online master’s student studying Library and Information Science and pursuing an Archival Studies Certificate.

Ambrosia has been selected as a 2026–27 National Book Foundation Teacher Fellow. She is one of just eight educators nationwide selected for this year's fellowship, out of more than 250 applicants representing 48 states, Washington, D.C., Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

As part of the fellowship, Ambrosia will develop “Many Stories, Many Futures,” a yearlong book-and-literacy initiative serving 10th–12th grade students at East Jefferson High School in Metairie, Louisiana. The project focuses on helping students, particularly Black, Hispanic, and Deaf/Hard of Hearing students, see their experiences and possible futures reflected in the literature available to them.

Through culturally responsive and accessible books, student-driven reading, discussion, and activities connecting reading with college and career readiness, Ambrosia hopes to help students build stronger reading identities and discover that reading can be much more than a classroom assignment.

Through her MLIS and Archival Studies coursework, she continues to explore access to information, inclusive collections, literacy, archives, and how libraries and educators can create spaces where diverse communities are represented and preserved.

We're proud to spotlight Ambrosia and the meaningful work she's doing in Louisiana classrooms and beyond.

Keep up the amazing and impactful work, Ambrosia! 🤩🎉

09/10/2026

Big congrats to Grace Mahfouz, a doctoral student in our School of Leadership & Human Resource Development! 🎉

Grace just received a $2,000 research grant from the Louisiana Nature & Health Alliance (LSU Chapter) to support her dissertation, which explores how leadership can inspire employees to think creatively about sustainability in the workplace.

The funding will help Grace compensate study participants — meaning a bigger sample, stronger data, and research that goes further. We can't wait to see where this leads!

09/09/2026

Starting September 16, LSU Libraries subject librarians will be bringing their expertise directly to the Pinkie Gordon Lane Graduate School through Rotating Subject Librarian Office Hours in Hatcher Hall, Room 132. 🎉

Drop-in Hours are on Wednesdays from 12-2 p.m., and Thursdays from 2-4 p.m.

Whether you’re starting a research project, deep in your dissertation, or just trying to find that one article you’ve been searching for, our LSU Libraries partners are here to help. Each week, librarians from different subject areas will be available to help with your graduate-level research needs — no appointment required!

We encourage you to stop by, meet our LSU Libraries partners, and take advantage of this unique resource. We hope to see you soon in Hatcher Hall! ☺️