There are a number of ways to get involved in our organization! Our production branch is suited for people who enjoy or are seeking to improve their skills in science communication, writing, editing, print design, and illustration.

Meanwhile, our operations branch deals with administrative responsibilities. There is certainly something for you! To see a full list of our possible positions, view our applications page.

If you don’t have time to commit, you can participate in our events such as workshops, journal club meetings, the annually held Evening with Neuroscience, and fundraising activities.

Our organization offers opportunities to grow professionally through building skills, receiving mentorship, and having a project or piece of work to show.

You may also benefit from being in a community of diverse students who can help answer questions about research, majors, and academic paths.

Our organization does not hold general meetings, as most meetings are internally held under our production, operations, event teams, and leadership.

However, there are publicly available meetings such as our quarterly welcome meetings and Journal Club, which everyone is welcome to attend.

Grey Matters consists of several branches: Production (writing, editing, design, illustration, and translation), Operations (administrative support, logistics, multimodal content, logistics, and more), Events (planning and executing events), and Leadership (overseeing organizational structure and support).

The prerequisites depend on which position, program, or branch you are interested in applying for.

Some positions may require a specific skillset before joining and will be clearly communicated in the position description and application form.

No, anyone with an interest in neuroscience may join or apply to any of our branches and programs.

The journal aims to make scientific literature more accessible, and having students from diverse educational backgrounds helps us ensure our works are understandable to the general public.

It depends on the position, program, or branch you are interested in joining.

Other than being an author for an issue journal publication, all other positions do not require prior experience in scientific writing.

Although prior experience is not required, some positions may require certain skills or materials in the application process, in which prior experience in scientific writing may be helpful.

For individuals new to scientific communication, we recommend positions such as Issue Editor or the Snippet Program.

These roles provide a more flexible starting point while still offering meaningful experience in science communication.

If you have questions, feel free to contact us for guidance on choosing the right role.

The time commitment and responsibilities vary by position and are listed in detail on the application page and form.

This will depend on which branch you are accepted into! Please check in with the leadership individuals associated with the branch you are intending to join for the latest information regarding meeting time and location!

Otherwise, Grey Matters Journal does host a welcome meeting for anyone interested in joining our endeavor and Journal Club meetings for any UW student interested in the nervous system! Our welcome meetings are normally held on the first Thursday of each quarter from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM PST. Journal Club meetings occur biweekly and are listed in our events calendar. Location may differ each quarter depending on availability.

Applications typically open on the Sunday preceding the first week of the quarter.

Each branch has its own deadline, and applicants should track the application window for the branch they are applying to.

Application information can be found on our application page here.

Application windows vary between each branch; however, as a good rule of thumb all applications are typically open throughout the first week of the quarter!

For more details on application deadlines, please check the applications page!

Yes, you may apply for more than one position. However, we encourage taking on a small load of work and slowly expanding to more branches as your time at the organization progresses.

It depends on which position you are applying for and when you are applying. Typically, applications are very competitive for positions during the fall, but eases up throughout the year. If you do not get in on your first attempt, please do not fret and apply again in the subsequent quarter or any of our other branch positions available at that time!

Most positions do not require a sample. However, positions such as design and art require a small curation of your works, whereas writing and editing positions require a writing and editing sample respectively.

There are various ways to strengthen your application. If you are seeking a production position, we typically hold workshops near the beginning of each quarter to provide guidance for the production structure and skills.

Resources providing tips for applying authors, designers, and artists are available here.

Applicants who are accepted will receive an email from their branch lead to continue onboarding for the role.

If you have not received an onboarding email or some other form of communication, please reach out to your branch lead.

Unfortunately, some branches of the journal are capacity constrained to ensure the quality of our operations. If you are not accepted into your preferred position please consider applying for another available position at this time. Otherwise, please consider applying again next quarter and/or joining us for our general member events!

If you have questions regarding the application process please contact us!

The typical timeline for Journal Production follows a quarterly 10-week schedule for both our regular Issue and Snippet program. If you have further questions regarding each program’s timeline feel free to contact the journal via Discord or email.

If your outline explores areas of a repeated article topic that was not previously discussed before, that is acceptable! Please consult our past article topic list found here! If you would like help with ensuring your outline is not redundant with our past works, contact us via email or join our writers workshop held during our welcome meetings each quarter!

Our graduate student review board (GSRs) is an incredible community of graduate students who donate some of their time to ensure our articles are scientifically accurate and accessible to the general public. We appreciate our graduate students for their time and selfless support. With their help we are able to ensure the production of high quality neuroscience and neuroscience-adjacent articles for the public to read!

Often each issue is not published immediately after its respective assigned quarter. The time varies depending on the completion of the cohort's written content, issue design, and web upload. Digital publication is usually completed sooner than physical publication.

Journal Production is a 10-week long program that gathers students to contribute scientific essays to the issue of that quarter. Meanwhile, Journal Club is an opportunity for students to broaden their understanding of neuroscience topics and practice their scientific literacy with a speaker.

We are happy to answer questions through our email and Discord server!

The resources page to strengthen your application can be found here.