Joining a research group is one of the most important events on a graduate student’s path to becoming an independent researcher and earning a Ph.D. Despite its importance, graduate students’ perspectives on the experience of finding a research group are not well-documented. In this webinar, our panelists will use data collected in the context of physics graduate education to illustrate how successfully joining a research group tends to increase students’ sense of belonging in their programs which can lead to improved student retention and overall graduate experience. Our panelists are: Dr. Mike Verostek - Post Doctoral Research Associate, School of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology Dr. Ben Zwickl – Associate Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy and Co-Director of the Center for Advancing Scholarship to Transform Learning, Rochester Institute of Technology Dr. Casey Miller - Sr. Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs, Rochester Institute of Technology