All PhD students at ISTA are represented by the Graduate Student Association (GSA). The GSA serves as a platform for exchanging opinions and fostering communication between students, and constitutes an interface between ISTA graduate students and the rest of the institute (administration, postdocs, faculty). There are two elected student representatives who communicate students’ ideas, feedback and criticism to the faculty. Regular meetings, organized by the GSA, promote the discussion of current issues and support networking between students.

Furthermore, whenever students should get involved in institute-wide decision processes (e.g., joining an organizing committee for a particular event), every student gets the opportunity to take over these tasks as a GSA delegate. Overall, this helps to involve students in decision making and sustains a lively interaction between graduate students and the rest of the Institute, which has been fruitful in the last years.