Ph.D. Requirements
Formal Seminar
For Students Entering Fall 2004–2006
Each student must present a formal seminar during the third semester of residence. The seminar may be given in an earlier semester if the student is ready.
The purpose of the seminar is to train students to speak to an audience of faculty and peers about chemistry and to read the research literature appropriately. Students will enroll in 09-911, Graduate Seminar for their first four semesters, and receive course credit for delivering their seminar and providing constructive feedback to other students on their presentations.
Expectations
The topic may be chosen by the student with the approval of the student s advisor and the GPC co-chairs. Students may choose a seminar topic to serve as a foundation for the original proposal. An extension to present the seminar in the fourth semester in residence may be requested by petitioning the Graduate Program Committee, explaining what makes the circumstances exceptional and proposing an alternate deadline.
The seminar must be based on published work done in other laboratories. In general, seminars should draw on many articles from the literature and represent a synthesis of ideas that goes beyond summarizing individual pieces of research. An annotated bibliography should be submitted two weeks in advance of the presentation to the course instructor and student's advisor. Presentations are expected to be approximately 30-40 minutes in length, with 10-20 minutes of questions and discussion with peers and faculty. Students are advised to arrange a practice talk with their advisor and others to prepare. Additional guidelines are available in the supplemental materials section and by meeting with GPC members.
Outcomes
Formal evaluation will be by the course instructor, the student's advisor, and one other faculty member selected by the student (ideally a member of his/her Advisory Committee), and will include evaluation of responses to questions. The student will receive detailed feedback and constructive suggestions on the seminar in writing and in person from at least two faculty members, along with written feedback from the audience.
Should the seminar be determined to be deficient (recorded as failure), the advisor may allow the student to repeat the requirement before their Advisory Committee or in the Graduate Seminar setting. In this case, the deficiencies must be communicated in writing by the course instructor and advisor to the student and the Graduate Program Committee, along with a new deadline for re-presenting the seminar. The student may not proceed to defend the research progress report without a satisfactory performance on the formal seminar.
For Students Entering Fall 2007–Present
Each student must present a formal seminar during the third semester of residence. The seminar may be given in an earlier semester if the student is ready.
The purpose of the seminar is to train students to speak to an audience of faculty and peers about chemistry and to read the research literature appropriately. Students will enroll in 09-911, Graduate Seminar for their first four semesters, and receive course credit for delivering their seminar and providing constructive feedback to other students on their presentations.
Expectations
The topic may be chosen by the student with the approval of the student’s advisor and the course instructor. Students may choose a seminar topic to serve as a foundation for the original proposal. An extension to present the seminar in the fourth semester in residence may be requested by petitioning the Graduate Program Committee, explaining what makes the circumstances exceptional and proposing an alternate deadline.
The seminar must be based on published work done in other laboratories. In general, seminars should draw on many articles from the literature and represent a synthesis of ideas that goes beyond summarizing individual pieces of research. An annotated bibliography should be submitted two weeks in advance of the presentation to the course instructor and student’s advisor. Presentations are expected to be approximately 30-40 minutes in length, with 10-20 minutes of questions and discussion with peers and faculty. Students are advised to arrange a practice talk with their advisor and others to prepare. Additional guidelines are available in the supplemental materials section and through the course instructor.
If a student who is a non-native speaker of English has not yet reached Category 3 on the ITA test, he/she must receive permission to proceed with the seminar from the advisor and GPC Co-Chairs based on a combination of his/her hours of training at the ICC, assessment in diagnostic interviews, and faculty observations in the department. The formal seminar presentation may be delayed based on fewer than 15 hours/semester effort at the ICC in any semester or summer.
Outcomes
Formal evaluation will be by the course instructor, the student’s advisor, and one other faculty member selected by the student (ideally a member of his/her Advisory Committee), and will include evaluation of responses to questions. The student will receive detailed feedback and constructive suggestions on the seminar from at least two faculty members, along with written feedback from the audience.
Should the seminar be determined to be deficient (recorded as failure), the advisor may allow the student to repeat the requirement before their Advisory Committee or in the Graduate Seminar setting. In this case, the deficiencies must be communicated in writing by the course instructor and advisor to the student and the Graduate Program Committee, along with a new deadline for re-presenting the seminar. The student may not proceed to defend the research progress report without a satisfactory performance on the formal seminar.