GSO Guide to Student Life
Dealing with School in General
There are a number of handbooks and brochures that give you
the technical details of how an ideal graduate student gets
through school. However, there are also some things you may not
find in those other handbooks. So here, we will give you a guide
to some of the important milestones in your graduate school
career.
Ph.D. Program
For the Ph.D. programs, your school timeline will look pretty
much like this:
- Rotations/Classes
- Choosing an Advisor
- Choosing a Committee
(and meeting with them)
- Take Your Prelim
- Defend Your Thesis
Take the time to think about who to rotate with. You want to
make a good, informed decision about your advisor (see below),
and this is the best way to investigate potential faculty. It's
EXTREMELY easy to talk to a number of professors in your
program. What kind of work are they doing? What kind of projects
are they doing? DEFINITELY ask graduate students, too, about the
lab. Rotations are a nice time to see how different labs are
run, to learn different techniques, and to learn about the lab
in general.
Classes
Most of you will start with the "core curriculum" that Ph.D.
students take.
- Biochemistry I
- Genetics
- Cell Biology
- Core Immunology
You will also take a Journal Club every semester and possibly
some advanced seminars depending on your program.
This will probably be the most important decision you will
make here, so choose wisely! There are a number of important
questions you should ask about a potential advisor and their
lab:
What kinds of projects are they doing? Are they
interesting to you?
Don't just ask what the scientific community thinks about
their work – what do YOU think about it? Are they doable? Do you
think that YOU will be able to do the kind of work they're
doing? Will you want to use the techniques they're using?
Some projects may be extremely interesting, but risky. Other
projects may be less interesting, but straightforward. Some have
a better chance of yielding useful data than others. ONLY YOU
can decide where on the spectrum you want to be!!! Take the time
to think not only about the projects themselves, but what TYPE
of project you would be most happy with.
What is the funding situation in the lab?
Do not be afraid to ask this question. It is a reasonable factor
to consider, and some people are too embarrassed to ask. Of
course, funding level does NOT necessarily correlate with how
good a lab it is for you, so do not make this your sole
criterion, but it IS important that the PI can afford you!
What are the personalities in the lab?
Do NOT underestimate the importance of this! It is extremely
difficult to do good research if you are not happy in your lab.
Other lab personnel: Have you gotten a chance to know any of
them (through classes, rotations, etc.)? How well do they
interact with each other? How well would you interact with them?
Do you have a "gut feeling" that you will get along with them
(great!) or have difficulty working with them (uh oh)?
Your advisor: Do you have a "gut feeling"? Do you have a
sense of whether your personalities are compatible? Do you feel
like this person is approachable? What is his/her teaching
style? Hands-on or hands-off? How often do they check up on the
work of people in the lab? How often do they make suggestions?
How much time do they spend next to you on the bench top,
talking with you in the hallways or in their office? There is no
right or wrong answer here. Think about:
What kind of style do you think you want?
What kind of style do you think you need?
If you are already experienced in the lab, and want to go off
in your own direction, making your own progress and your own
mistakes, you are looking for a DIFFERENT style advisor than
someone who feels a little inexperienced and is looking for
close guidance and direction. In all likelihood you want some
kind of mixture of both; look for someone who is at the same
place on the spectrum as you are.
Gather information! Ask students who have been around for a
while, both inside and outside of a lab that you are interested
in. How do they feel about their advisor? Their lab? Obviously,
no advisor and no lab is perfect, so make SURE you talk with a
few people. And ask tough questions! If they are unhappy, why?
If they are happy, why? The same things that make one person
miserable can be exactly what someone else is looking for. And
just because some students love an advisor who leaves them
completely on their own and is always away at meetings, does not
mean YOU will! You should not CARE how other graduate students
feel! You should only care how YOU would feel in that
situation!!! So choose wisely.
You will have to pick some professors to critically evaluate
your work. However, do not misunderstand the goal – these are
NOT your enemies! They're here to HELP you along, in both your
training and work. Be sure to ask for guidance from your major
advisor.
Do not just choose "easy" people!
You want people you respect, that are respected by the
scientific community. You want people who can think clearly,
critically evaluate your work, and tell you what you are doing
wrong even though you don't want to hear it.
Choose people who use different approaches!
Find faculty who will understand what your project is about, but
who are good at different aspects of it. Multiple perspectives
can only help.
Choose people you find approachable!
You also want faculty who you feel comfortable approaching and
discussing your work. These people know your project, and are
available to help you along even if there is no committee
meeting approaching.
Meet with them!
Don't wait for "that next piece of data" to come in! Meet with
your committee regularly, as they often have helpful
suggestions.
Taking Your Prelim
This is quite program specific. However, you can generally
expect it to suck up about one to two months of your life.
Defending Your Thesis
Congratulations! You can find out most of the technical
details from the Registrar.
The graduate program is divided into seven Areas of
Concentration (AoCs). A short rundown of the AoCs follows:
Cell Biology
Core curriculum, Journal
Club; most students also take Immunology I and Critical
Analysis.
Grant proposal. This needs
to be completed by December of the 3rd year unless prior
permission is given by Program Director. You write an NIH-style
grant proposal (that is not restricted to any topic), and have
an oral defense, with the committee asking ANYTHING about the
grant proposal.
Genetics and Developmental Biology
Core curriculum, Advanced
Developmental Biology (seminar each year), Journal Club.
Grant proposal. This needs
to be done by the end of 2nd year. You write an NIH-style grant
proposal (based on your current research project), and have an
oral defense, with the committee asking ANYTHING about the grant
proposal.
Immunology
Core curriculum, Mechanisms
of Immunity, Advanced Molecular and Cellular Immunology, Journal
Club.
Grant proposal. By the end
of the second year, prepare an NIH-style research grant. Pick
your own subject, which will be outside your thesis work and
previous lab work. There is also an oral defense.
Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
Core curriculum and MBB
Journal Club. Electives include: Advanced Genetics, Cool
Techniques in Biochemistry, Molecular Basis of Disease, and
Molecular Biology and Pathogenesis.
Grant proposal (by end of
February of 2nd year). You write an NIH-style grant proposal
(based on your current research project), and have an oral
defense, with the committee asking ANYTHING about the grant
proposal.
Neuroscience
At least 7 credits of
graded coursework in Neuroscience, Journal Club and Neuroscience
seminar.
Research proposal prepared
in NIH-format and defended orally. Specifc aims developed by
student in consultation with Thesis Advisory Committee during
Fall semester of 2nd year. Proposal written by student with oral
defense based on broadest possible interpretation of proposal.
Should be completed by early February of 2nd year.
Skeletal, Craniofacial and Oral Biology
The SCOB course curriculum
consists of taking 9 course credits from both the BMS and SCOB
cores and must include Contemporary Topics in Oral Biology I and
II.
Grant proposal. Before the
end of the second full year, you prepare an NIH-style
grant-proposal and defend it orally. Once a grant abstract is
approved by the examination committee, you have four weeks to
write the proposal. Approximately 1 to 2 weeks following
submission of the grant proposal there is an oral examination in
which students are questioned on topics at the discretion of the
examiners.
Master of Dental Science (M.Dent.Sc.)
This Master of Dental Science program functions a little
differently than the others. There is no qualifying exam. A
thesis is required, and the M.Dent.Sc. is linked to a
certificate residency training program in one of the dental
specialties (orthodontics, endodontics, etc.).
Master of Public Health (M.P.H.)
The Master of Public Health Program has its own core
curriculum consisting of the following courses:
- Introduction to Public Health
- Principles of Epidemiology
- Law and the Public Health
- Environmental Health
- Introduction to Biostatistics
- Health Administration
- Social Foundations of Public Health
Beyond the core curriculum, students take electives in Health
administration, Health research and Public Health.
There is no preliminary exam. Students pursue the M.P.H.
degree under either "Plan A" (thesis project) or "Plan B"
(masters essay). < previous
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