About GRIB (formerly NEFS)

The Graduate Research in Interdisciplinary Biosciences (GRIB) Conference is an annual research conference planned and executed by a collaborative team of graduate students from multiple life science graduate programs centered on the Cook/Douglass Campus. The conference originated with students from the Nutritional Sciences and Endocrinology & Animal Biosciences graduate programs and later incorporated the Food Science graduate program, leading to the Nutrition, Endocrinology, and Food Science (NEFS) Graduate Student Conference. The NEFS team produced many successful conferences, including its first ever virtual conference in Spring 2021, for which the Graduate Student Association (GSA) conferred the Programming/Event of the Year Award in recognition of the conference’s outstanding efforts to enhance the student perspective, strengthen community bonds, and create an inclusive space. In the spirit of continual growth, NEFS welcomed the Kinesiology & Applied Physiology graduate program to the team at the end of the Fall 2021 semester. The team decided to rebrand NEFS to the Graduate Research in Interdisciplinary Biosciences Conference as a more appropriate name to represent all the individuals involved in the planning committee, as well as the diverse topics covered during the conference.

GRIB features the research of graduate students in these interdisciplinary fields and encourages all students (both graduate and undergraduate), faculty, and staff from any STEM-oriented department to attend, present their research, and network with the rest of the Rutgers community! The conference usually takes place in the Spring and features graduate speakers from each department, invited keynote speakers, and a career panel or career-oriented speaker. It also includes a poster competition that is open to undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs. The GRIB Conference is made possible through the contributions of each respective department in addition to generous support from various long-standing industry sponsors.

The GRIB Conference Planning Committee is composed of members from each department’s respective graduate student organization (GSO). The Committee operates with the impetus for developing professional skills, including communication and business skills, among our graduate and undergraduate student bodies, and for strengthening the interdisciplinary relationship within the greater Rutgers community.

Past Conference Highlights