Taking Charge of Your Training Graduate Student Edition

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Taking Charge of Your Training Graduate Student
Edition
Developed by Beth Fischer and Michael
Zigmond Survival Skills and Ethics
Program http//www.pitt.edu/survival Adapted by
Dr. Gail P. Taylor, University of Texas at San
Antonio
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Something to Avoid

• Passivity, leading to stagnation.

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What are Your Objectives?

• Establish credentials
• Obtain training and skills
• Establish a network
• Move on!

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What are the products of science?

• Publications
• peer reviewed journal articles
• review articles
• books
• Patents
• Techniques or reagents
• Advancing a field
• Helping others

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What must you learn in graduate school?

• Techniques and their application
• Problem solving
• Experimental design
• Literature/foundation in your field
• Specific knowledge of problem area
• How to learn and adapt
• Communication/publication skills
• Career plans/path
• Ethics/acceptable practices
• Laboratory support finances
• How to work cooperatively with others
• Laboratory management
• Networking!

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How do you usually learn these things?

• Mentor
• Lab mates
• Trial/Error
• Increasingly, courses

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Where do you learn necessary skills?

• Techniques and their application
• Problem solving
• Experimental design
• Literature/foundation in your field
• Specific knowledge of problem area
• How to learn and adapt
• Communication skills
• Career plans/path
• Ethics/acceptable practices
• Laboratory support finances
• How to work cooperatively with others
• Laboratory personnel management
• Networking!

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Typical Progression Thru Doctoral Education

• Year 1 Courses rotations (3) Choose lab
• Year 2 Courses Exam
• Form Qualifying Examination Committee
• Written Over coursework
• Oral Exam mock oral proposal NRSA 10 page
  format. (can be own research)
• Year 3 Proposal Research/Seminars
• Form Dissertation Committee
• Final real proposal presented
• Year 4 Research Seminar courses
• Year 5 Research Seminar courses Writing
• Year 6 ?? Research seminars Writing

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How to Efficiently Progress

• Select Advisor(s) and Committees
• Advisor
• Advising committee
• Mentor(s)
• Develop a plan to complete degree milestones
• Courses
• Exams
• Research
• Handle problems along the way
• Prepare to move on

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Choosing Advisors
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The most important person- your major or research
advisor

• An advisor should give you
• Advice
• Knowledge of professional activities
• financial support/assistance
• Role model
• Introductions/networking
• Reputation
• Letters of recommendation
• Continuing assistance
• Respect

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Your responsibilities to your advisor

• Your best effort
• Honesty
• Assistance- Teamwork
• Feedback
• Respect

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How to choose your major or research advisor

• Experience and track record
• Junior vs senior faculty
• Research
• Training
• Research Interests
• Extent of network
• Availability/involvement
• Rapport

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Establishing anAdvising Committee
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Establishing Required Committees

• Functions
• Assess your progress
• Provide advice
• Serve as intermediaries
• Enlarge network
• Letters of reference

• Selection criteria
• expertise
• diplomatic skills
• contacts
• willingness to take time

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Finding Mentors
Feel free at any time, to seek the advice of
others who are presently doing what you someday
hope to do. It is great if your research advisor
is also your mentor, but this is not always the
case. Also, it is beneficial to obtain advice
from more than one person. Networking,
networking, networking
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Developing a plan

• make a list of what you must accomplish
• courses
• Exams/qualifiers
• Research
• Post-doc contacts
• Make a list of what youd like to accomplish
• fellowships proposals
• Additional knowledge
• Make a timetable (with milestones)
• Consult plan every 6 months and re-evaluate

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What research project do I want to tackle?

• your interests
• presence of other sources of expertise
• Future marketability
• availability of a secret weapon
• What is unique in the lab or environment?
• Methodology
• Insights
• Preliminary data
• Resources/equipment

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Selecting a research problem additional
considerations

• Determining how many problems
• more than one
• less than four
• Developing hypotheses
• Working collaboratively
• Knowing when to start, publish, quit

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Problems that may occur Your advisor...

• has different priorities from yours
• does not provide much feedback
• leaves the institution
• feels you are not working hard enough
• does not get along with others in department
• does not get along with you
• behaves in a way you find irresponsible

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Problems that may occurYou...

• Have a major life change
• Want to change advisors
• change your research interests
• change your career objectives
• become overwhelmed
• become under-whelmed

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Preparing to move on what you will need

• Accomplishments
• Skills
• References
• Connections
• Confidence

• Self-evaluation
• Short-term plan
• Long-term plan
• Time

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In Summary

• A little knowledge and planning at the beginning
  will assist you in progressing efficiently
  through your training and launching into a career