From one small channel to a community across disciplines and borders.

The story of Biolà began in the summer of 2023, when Lulu had just graduated from college and started working as a research assistant at UCSF. Having gone through the challenges of finding an RA position herself, she wanted to create a space where she could share practical advice with fellow Asian students and underclassmen who were interested in pursuing careers in research.

What began as a small channel for neuroscience students at UC San Diego quickly grew beyond its original scope. Students from other areas of biology, and soon from other institutions, began joining as well. Within the first month, the community had grown to more than 400 members, actively exchanging questions, advice, opportunities, and experiences.

As the community expanded, so did the question behind Biolà: now that we had a channel, how could we turn it into a real sense of community?

Lulu invited Siming and Shuyang to help build and manage channels for different areas of biology, and together they began asking members what kinds of resources, events, and opportunities would be most useful. From those conversations came initiatives such as Bioneer and Biolog, along with career panels and resources designed to support students through graduate school applications, research assistant searches, and other major transitions in their academic and professional journeys.

Biolà also began creating opportunities for members to connect beyond the screen. Taking advantage of academic conferences and other gatherings, we organized in-person meetups where members could finally meet the people behind the usernames, exchange ideas, and build friendships.

Today, Biolà has grown to more than 2,500 members across our channels. With that growth comes a new chapter.

This website is part of our effort to expand Biolà into a broader home for students across the biological sciences—a space where people from different backgrounds, disciplines, institutions, and stages of training can find information, exchange ideas, share experiences, and support one another.

Our goal is to build an inclusive, open, and interconnected community where knowledge is shared generously, opportunities are made more accessible, and Biolà is here with you every step of the way.

Welcome to Biolà.