A Message from Synapse’s Editors-in-Chief

Hello to all the new and returning UCSF students! 

If you haven’t heard of us, Synapse is an independent, student-run news outlet at UCSF. It was launched in 1956 as a student newspaper inclusive of every school, department, and program at UCSF.

The online platform and weekly newsletter have 3,500+ subscribers. And all of the stories reaching our readers are written by UCSF students just like you from different professional schools and graduate programs.

The organization includes students as Editor-in-Chief who represents the news outlet throughout UCSF, and a professional journalist as Managing Editor.

Our Editors-in-Chief are Victoria Turner, a graduate student in the Neuroscience Program, and Natalie Whitis, a graduate student in the Tetrad Program.

Here are a few words from our leaders.

Victoria

Welcome to the new students and trainees at UCSF!

I’m a graduate student in the UCSF Neuroscience Program, and one of the editors-in-chief of Synapse alongside Natalie. Our main goal at Synapse is to represent the voices of students, and we want to specifically welcome newcomers to join our team. We invite students to contribute to any capacity that suits them — one-time only, as a regular contributor, or anything in between.

Synapse publishes everything from traditional news articles, opinion, and science writing to articles on activities, academia, medicine, creative writing, and social justice.

We also accept submissions from UCSF students throughout the year, so don’t feel like you’ve missed your chance.

If you have questions about writing for Synapse, feel free to reach out to synapse@ucsf.edu or RSVP to our first meeting on Wednesday Sept. 7.

We are also getting an original podcast up and running, if you are interested in audio production.

Whether that is writing about something that inspires you or something you think needs work, we would be very excited to work with you, so please get in touch with us!

Natalie

Hello to all the new and returning UCSF students! I’m the newest addition to the Synapse editorial team, as well as a graduate student in the Tetrad program studying structural biology.

I was drawn to Synapse because it does the critical work of uplifting student voices and telling student stories.

As one of the few truly interprofessional networks on campus, Synapse provides a platform to encourage and facilitate interdisciplinary communication among all UCSF students and trainees while fostering career and professional development in journalism.

We collaborate with writers to brainstorm and discuss story ideas, help with the writing and podcasting process, suggest edits and improvements, provide training and advice on writing and audio journalism, and run the newsletter, website, and social media publishing platforms. 

This year, you can look forward to reading the stellar results of our summer Storytelling Contest as well as many other articles on the experiences of UCSF students and trainees.

If you have questions about writing for Synapse, you can contact us as described above, or come to the RCO fair from 12-1pm on October 4 at Milberry Union. I will be there at a table, come say hello