Department of Atmospheric Sciences
Graduate Student Tips, Guidelines and Expectations
Prepared by Nicole Mölders
I.
Departmental Graduate Student Timeline:
Graduate students should form an advisory committee
with the consultation of their supervisor and have their first committee
meeting at least by the end of the first year. Comprehensive examinations will
be offered once a year in the first week of June. The rules on the
comprehensive examination committee are listed in the respective handout on the
web (http://www.uaf.edu/asp/Academics/grad.plan2.htm). Be aware that extremely
poor results on your comprehensive examinations could result in being placed in
the MS program. For MS candidates the typical timeline to completion of the
degree is 2-3, for Ph.D. candidates coming in with a MS 4-5 years, with a BS
5-7 years.
In accord with UAF policies (see UAF catalog), you are
expected to attend classes and seminars regularly; unexcused absences may
result in a failing grade. It is your responsibility to confer with your
instructor concerning absences, ask for and arrange the possibility to make up
missed work. As stated in the UAF catalog, “You and your instructor will
make a good faith effort to make suitable arrangements to assure that you can
make up classes and work you miss and are not penalized for your excused
absence. If suitable arrangements cannot be made, you will be allowed to
withdraw from the course without penalty. However, your instructor is under no
obligation to allow you to make up missed work for unexcused absences or if
notification and arrangements are not made in advance of the absence.”
II.
Academics:
The career opportunities are much broader and more
demanding with a PhD than a MS degree. They include academic positions at
colleges and universities, and leadership-track positions in government and
industrial laboratories. Therefore the PhD program requires the same solid
fundamentals of atmospheric science and its applications than the MS program,
but at higher levels with respect to the research expectations, techniques and
scientific and technical writing. It requires passing the comprehensive
examination that demonstrates depth of knowledge in the fundamentals of four
subject areas and the ability to perform cross-topic synthesis. It also has
higher expectations on the research to be carried out for your thesis.
1.
The primary goal
of coursework is to obtain an understanding that will facilitate research and
further your career. Grades are important, but understanding is paramount.
Accept help from others when you need it. This includes making use of the
office hours posted by each faculty.
2.
Make sure that
you understand what plagiarism is and give credit where credit is needed.
3.
A successful graduate
student should be able to simultaneously conduct research and successfully
complete the required course- and homework. Getting work done on time is a key
to early success in your business or scientific career. A major complaint of
employers is that faculty does not instill a sense of responsibility in
students to have work done on time. Budget your time wisely to complete all of
your responsibilities i.e. homework, coursework, and research. Balance is the key.
4.
Graduate advisory
committee selection should be based on faculty expertise and ability to
contribute towards the successful completion of your thesis project. Utilize
your committee members.
5.
Attend thesis
proposals and thesis defenses of fellow students.
6.
Always read the
syllabi to be familiar with grading policies to avoid “bad awaking”.
7.
Chairs are not
allowed any longer to sign on oral defenses when they do not have a thesis of
the student on their desk. Thus, when you will have had your oral defense and
submit the paperwork to the department includes a copy of your thesis. Ask how
much earlier the department chair needs the paperwork
8.
In the semester
in which you intend to graduate you must take the Graduate Thesis Preparation
Training. The Graduate School offers this class in spring, fall, and summer. No
tuition is to be paid for this class. See their schedule on the web for dates
and locations.
9.
Your annual
activity reports must be on file with the Graduate School on May 15. This means
that you have to have your graduate student advisory committee meeting at least
a week prior to this date. The department chair, Dean of the college and
Graduate School Dean will check that your progress based on this report and the
previous years report if applicable. Thus, spend efforts on writing the
activity reports.
10.
At your graduate advisory committee meetings, you are
expected to present your academic and research progress in a power-point
presentation.
III. Work Ethics and Research:
Your profession is to be a graduate student. This means:
1.
For successful
supervising you are expected to be available during normal work hours (9am
– 5pm on Monday thru Friday). Successful research towards a thesis,
however, will often require that you have to expend more than this amount of
time. Having a 20h contract does not mean that you are only in 4h a day.
2.
You are expected
to keep a proper notebook written in English (using Latin letters) with pencil.
This ensures that notes will be still readable if you spill coffee on it. Invalid
notes have to be crossed out, not erased. Include a remark why you rejected
these results/experiments (What was wrong?). All notes have to be dated. Notes
have to be in such detail that any lab
[2]
member can use them to repeat your research/simulation/experiment. Ask you
supervisor for details.
3.
Notes must
reflect accurately and honestly what you did.
4.
The supervisor
has the right to inspect the notebook any time without prior notice. Notebooks
remain in the lab once you leave the lab, i.e. you will hand your notebook to
your supervisor.
5.
Set short-term
goals for each semester, discuss them with your supervisor and committee and
strive to meet them. Report regularly on your progress to the supervisor and at
least once a year to the committee.
6.
Take
responsibility of your research, i.e. work independently and attempt to solve
your own problems, but seek help when needed.
7.
Successful
research is the fruit of hard work, persistence and dedication, and often many
extra hours.
8.
Plan your time
ahead to meet the expectations on your coursework and research.
9.
Research has
highest priority despite there are no grades. Course work compliments the
research, and is no excuse for no or slow progress on the research part.
10.
Research is a team effort. Attend the lab meetings,
and help your lab mates when you can and ask them for help when you need it.
11.
Submission of papers to journals or abstracts to
conferences, meetings, or workshops requires the approval of your supervisor.
12.
Keep the cubicle area clean with respect to both dirt
and noise.
13.
Report non-functioning equipment, worms and viruses
immediately.
14.
Help maintain required lab supplies, e.g. report when
the printer gets low on ink, GAUs are running out.
15.
Any lab only has limited budgets for supply. So use
material wisely.
16.
Do not print private stuff on lab printers.
17.
Lab equipment
will not leave the places it is placed in, i.e. you cannot loan it for the week
end or so.
18.
Only you or other
graduate students in your lab are authorized to use the lab’s computers or
other equipment.
19.
Help keep the computers virus-free. Do not open
attachments from suspicious sources. Before opening attachments they have to be scanned for viruses. Keep the firewall on.
20.
Share disk space on work stations fairly, i.e. remove
unnecessary data and do not have mirrors of data.
21.
Do not download/install software without approval of
your supervisor.
22.
If you work in a laboratory, make yourself aware of
the safety issues and share space fairly. Do only use the equipment you have
been trained on and that you are allowed to use. Use it only within the
framework of what it was intended to be used for.
III. Professional
Conduct
1.
Never speak
negatively about your university, college, institute, program, or research
group. Such comments will reflect badly on you, can cost you the interview, the
job and the respect of your colleagues (Be aware that the atmospheric science
community is very small!).
2.
Focus on
improving the name of our lab and do not tear down the work of students or
other labs. Gossiping about others is unacceptable.
3.
Always give your
best when presenting your research at conferences, meetings and workshops.
Rehearse your talk several times and dress professional. A single poor
performance and bad impression can jeopardize your future career as a
scientist.
4.
Be scientifically
ethical. Always report data accurately and honestly in publications,
presentations, discussions and personal communications with colleagues and
reporters.
5.
Plagiarism is
unacceptable at all times including in grants, publications, presentations and
coursework. Changing the words with thesaurus or taking parts of your advisor’s
article or his/her proposal of the grant you work on is still plagiarism. UAF
has strong policies on plagiarism including removal from the university.
6.
Everybody
deserves respect and is equally important for the success of the university.
7.
Your career
depends not only on your supervisor and other faculty, but also on your fellow
students.
8.
Maintain a
professional attitude, which means that you dress proper and do not spread
odor.
9.
Attend seminars
that are related to your research and the Atmospheric Sciences Informal Seminar.
10.
Attend lab meetings and bring research material that
you want to discuss. Be prepared to present your results when asked for.
11.
Make sure that the cubicle area is a quite work place.
Do not use this area for private conservation, homework discussion or phone
calls.
12.
Do not eat during meetings, classes, and seminars
unless it is permitted explicitly.
13.
In classes, seminars, defenses, and meetings, give the
person who is speaking your undivided attention. It is not only common
courtesy, but whispering or talking can distract, annoy, and even intimidate
students around you as well as the speaker. Essentially, you should treat everybody
as you would like, and expect, to be treated yourself.
14.
Please understand that this is a college - you are
expected to be on time for classes, seminars, and meetings and have all the
required material unpacked. Lateness or unpacking is disturbing and unfair.
V. Graduate
Student Evaluations:
1.
You can call more
than one graduate student advisory committee meeting per year.
2.
You have the
right to be evaluated at least once per year. You may request additional
evaluations at anytime.
3.
Evaluations will
be used to keep you on track and focused towards a timely completion of your
thesis work. They will include evaluation of performance, project viability and
future goals.
4.
Prior to
evaluation, you will be required to complete an evaluation form. This form will
list your accomplishments over the evaluation period, your self-evaluation of
performance and your future short and long term goals. You may also make
positive or negative comments regarding your laboratory experiences.
5.
Comments made on
evaluation forms are considered confidential and will not be shared with other
lab workers. They may be shared with your advisory committee.
6.
Your evaluations
may be used in general for future letters of recommendation; however, letters
will generally focus on your abilities at the time the letter is requested with
a clear emphasis on your positive rather than negative attributes.
VI. Degree
Requirements
The UAF catalog provides the detail on the specific
degree requirements. Detailed information on thesis defense, orals and
comprehensive exams with respect to the Atmospheric science Program are
available at http://www.uaf.edu/asp/Academics/grad.plan2.htm.
You are expected to be familiar with both these documents. Additionally be
aware of the following:
1.
It is the
student’s responsibility to keep in graduate standing. This includes, among
other things, having at least a B average, calling committee meetings and
submitting annual reports to the graduate school (see UAF catalog for details).
2.
The thesis must
be approved by the advisor before being submitted to the student’s advisory
committee.
3.
A thesis should
contain the student’s original research and conform to the requirements of the
UAF Graduate School and the Atmospheric Science Program. If previously
published manuscripts are to be included, necessary approvals should be
obtained from the publishers.
4.
At your advisors
discretion, letters of recommendation for future positions may be held until at
least a first draft of the thesis has been received. Only under rare occasions
will you be allowed to return for a thesis defense after you have begun your
post-doctoral research or a PhD position elsewhere. For your own good, finish
all your UAF requirements before moving on.
5.
Allow committee
members at least 6 weeks to evaluate your thesis before you schedule your
defense. This will enable sufficient time to perform re-writes. Your thesis
should be complete and acceptable by all committee members before you defend.
6.
It is the
student’s responsibility to have the thesis written in acceptable English and
the format required by the Graduate School. The format is published on the web,
and the Graduate School offers classes on Thesis Writing and a TA from the
English department for help. Make use of these resources.
7.
Your thesis
defense will include a public seminar and a “private” examination by your
committee. When defending, be clear and concise in your answers and ask for
clarification if you do not understand a question. If you require assistance in
preparing for your defense, you should consult your advisor.
8.
Your advisor has
a dual role in your thesis defense. S/he will be an examiner, but also an
advocate.
9.
While thesis
defenses can be difficult, remember that the defense is designed to probe your
limits. Thus you are not likely to answer every question correctly or
completely. If you do not know something, admit it – do not make up an
answer. Say specifically what you do not know, but go on to explain what you do
know about the question. If the question is about something that is unknown in
the field, be sure you say that the answer is unknown rather than that you do not
know.
10.
Before leaving UAF, you will be required to
participate in a Student Learning Outcome Assessment (SLOA) and an exit
interview. This interview will include an evaluation of your experience in the program
and lab. Make sure you have completed all necessary tasks before leaving. Among
these tasks are return of keys, cataloging of experimental samples and data,
release of laboratory notebooks and cleanup of your research area and
materials.
11.
Some labs have their own additional exit interview.
Please
sign below to indicate you have read and agree with the statements made in the
above tips, guidelines and expectations. Failure to follow these guidelines is
considered to be a breach of responsibilities as a graduate student in this program
and will be dealt with accordingly.
Print Name: ___________________________________
Signature: _____________________________________
These guidelines have been adopted in great part from guidelines provided to students at the UAF Chemistry Department and University of Washington. It has been modified for UAF and the Department of Atmospheric Sciences.
Note that the term lab here refers to the research group of your supervisor. In the following the word is used for both the group as well as the laboratory.
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