When people think of UC students, they usually think of undergraduates. But University of California campuses also host thousands of Ph.D. students — the best and brightest from around the world — who advance learning, teaching and original research across the system.

Together, UC’s 26,000 doctoral students are a powerful source of ideas and innovation for the state, and a foundation of UC’s excellence:

UC grad students serve as teachers and mentors to UC’s 200,000 undergrads, acting as a bridge between the learners and creators of new knowledge.

• They advance the university’s research mission, pursuing new avenues of inquiry, and serving as key partners with faculty in advancing research.
• They launch start-ups — creating roughly one every two weeks.
• And they go on to become the next generation of leaders in academia, industry, government and public service.

On Wednesday, April 19, a delegation of UC graduate students traveled to Sacramento to talk about their work, and encourage lawmakers to support UC’s efforts to enroll an additional 900 graduate students.

They will meet with lawmakers to show how their research is tackling issues critical to California, from helping stroke patients regain movement to heading off the next drought.

Read more, including samples of graduate student research, on the University of California website.