Student Handbook: Second Year
Second Year Checklist:
Faculty codes used to register for research courses (Genome 501, 600, 800) are now available online.
Now that you have chosen your thesis advisor, you'll register for the following courses each quarter of your second year. You should sign up for a minimum of 10 credits each quarter. It's fine to register for more than 10 credits (up to a max of 18).
- GENOME 520 (Seminar)
- GENOME 522 (Journal Club)
- GENOME 523 (Research Reports)
- GENOME 600 (Independent Study / Research)
- any desired electives, as long as the total is at least 10 credits.
GENOME 600 is a variable credit course, so you will adjust these credits to be sure your registration is at least 10 credits, except for Summer Quarter when you should register for 2 credits (you may sign up for additional courses if they are vital to your research, but please advise the graduate program assistant).
Insurance:
The Graduate Appointee Insurance Program is administered by the UW Benefits Office. Insurance enrollment is done online at the WPAS website. Students must re-enroll online each Autumn Quarter or after any break in UW-paid coverage (e.g. if you are without funding for a quarter). You might consider confirming with WPAS that you are enrolled, if you don't receive any sort of indication from them.
All students should apply for outside funding. This should ideally be done early in your first or second year. Your own fellowship will look great on a resume and will also make your thesis advisor very happy...
Funding sources include:
NIH grants home page - the basic gateway into NIH grants of all types - has information links to forms, instructions, processes etc. See the left side of the page for 'types of grants', F series
http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm
Predoctoral NIH fellowship (F31) detail instructions - review for the full scoop on how to complete these forms, what gets included in the applications, where
they get sent and most important, the deadlines: Dec 8, Apr 8, August 8 - Please remember to contact the Genome Sciences grants team 6 weeks before the deadline
http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-07-106.html
To target your NIH search for funding even more specifically, check out the specific NIH institute that might support your work. Review the NIH roadmap (http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/) and then check out the NIH home page for institute list: http://www.nih.gov/icd/index.html
National Science Foundation funding opportunities can be found at: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/
Fellowships are awarded for graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics supported by the National Science Foundation.
Eligibility: U.S. Citizen, national, or permanent resident;
When to apply: Graduating seniors, prior to or during first year of graduate school, beginning of second year.
Deadlines: Various deadlines depending on fellowship; see web site for specific deadline date and GRE deadline date.
Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowships - http://www7.nationalacademies.org/fordfellowships/index.html
Eligibility: U. S. Citizen or national with evidence of superior academic achievement (such as grade point average, class rank, honors, other designations);
Commitment to a career in teaching and research at the college or university level;
Enrolled in or planning to enroll in an eligible research-based Ph.D. or Sc.D. program at a U. S. educational institution and have not yet earned a doctoral degree in any field.
Award: Approximately 60 Predoctoral Awards at $20,000 per year for up to three years.
Approximately 35 Dissertation Awards at $21,000 for one year
Approximately 20 Postdoctoral Awards at $40,000 for one year
U. S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) Computational Science Graduate Fellowship - http://www.krellinst.org/csgf/
Eligibility: U.S. Citizen or permanent resident; Students must be planning full-time uninterrupted PhD study at a U. S. University; Students in their first or second year of graduate study in the physical, engineering, computer, mathematical, or life sciences are eligible to apply for the DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship. Exceptional senior undergraduates who can meet all the requirements listed here may also apply.
When to apply: Graduating seniors or first or second year graduate students.
Award: Payment of all tuition and fees; Yearly stipend of $31,200; Allowance of $1,000 annually for research; up to $2,475 for computer workstation; renewable up to four years.
Community of Science - a search engine for all types of funding opportunities. The site has a search wizard that lets you refine your search to closely match the type of program and research you want to do:
http://www.cos.com/
Many non-profit organizations are using a web portal for application submission called Proposal Central. This website shows a list of upcoming application deadlines, the sponsors, and provides links to the sponsors so you can find out more. https://proposalcentral.altum.com/
And finally, there is the primary federal application portal, grants.gov.
http://www.grants.gov/
Asbestos Training :
The UW now requires all staff and students to complete asbestos training each year. This can be done online in a few minutes at: http://www.ehs.washington.edu/pubcookie/train/asbestosg/index.shtm
Update 1/31/08:
The UW currently waives the non-resident tuition differential for out of state students. While this has been a long standing policy, there is no guarantee that this will always be the case. In order to protect yourself and the dept from some future bit of fiscal madness coming out of Olympia, you should take steps to establish Washington state residency, including obtaining a Washington driver's license or state ID, upon arrival.
You will need to apply for resident status in your second year by filling out the application posted here: http://www.washington.edu/students/reg/residency.html. The verbiage on the website makes it appear impossible that residency will be granted. However, here's clarification from the Residency Office (unfortunately not posted on their website):
"I know the website makes it seem if you take more than 6 credits a quarter, you cannot become a resident. This is due to the presumption you are only here for educational purposes. A student is able to overcome this presumption by obtaining all of their Washington legal ties within the first 30 days, plus having a fulltime job and financial independence. Although TA/RA's are on record as only working 20 hours a week, we are aware that these students typically work more than 20 hours a week. Therefore, we consider a TA/RA who has had an appointment for one year as overcoming the presumption they are here for educational purpose, thus they are allowed to apply (and usually obtain) in-state resident status."
You'll continue to attend departmental functions, including Genome Sciences Seminars, giving a presentation at Journal Club, and Research Reports, at which you'll present your thesis proposal during Autumn Quarter.
Committee meetings should ideally be held twice a year, approximately every six months, but at a minimum at least once per year. At least one of these meetings should be scheduled in conjunction with your Research Reports presentation. It is the responsibility of both the student and the advisor to hold these meetings. The role of the faculty members on the committee is to provide guidance concerning course work, constructive criticism on the student’s thesis research, and help in planning for the timely completion of requirements for the Ph.D. degree.
Since it can be difficult to find a time which works for most of your committee members, you would do well to begin planning for this a month or two in advance. Follow this link for conference room schedules.
Before each committee meeting the student should prepare a summary / outline of completed work and proposed experiments. This write-up provides a useful basis for the committee meeting, even if an oral report has been given recently. It should be 2-3 pages in length and needs to be given to the committee members at least three week days prior to the meeting.
You should prepare a short synopsis (e.g. 15 minutes) to present orally in the meeting. This should be informal and should emphasize your data. Plan to describe what problem you are addressing, why it is important, what you
have done so far, and what you are tentatively planning to do in the future
(preliminary ideas for your thesis). Budget about an hour total for the meeting.
Listen very carefully to what your members suggest, and plan to take their
suggestions into account for your thesis proposal.
Note that not all members necessarily have to attend all meetings. Having the meeting is important, even if not all can attend. The GSR is not required to attend unless s/he wishes to do so.
After the meeting, the thesis advisor writes a brief report (this form is available online in fillable pdf and Word verions ) which is discussed with and signed by the student. One signed copy is given to the student and the other is placed in the student’s file. This report should include specific research goals for the near future that the committee members agree are appropriate. It helps keep those goals in clear focus and reduces ambiguity about decisions made at the meeting.
Successful progression into candidacy for the Ph.D. demands mastery of research approaches and relevant scientific literature. To this end, graduate students in the Department of Genome Sciences are required to write up the plan of their thesis research in the format similar to that required for federal grant proposals. This requirement is intended to encourage thoughtful design of an effective research strategy and comprehensive understanding of the relevant issues at an early stage of the overall research effort. You may expect your mentor to provide assistance with formulating the grant proposal. Your mentor will help provide "big" ideas and act as a sounding board, but not do so much that you aren't challenged. It is thus largely left to the mentor to use his/her judgment. In order to provide a more beneficial experience from planning the research in this manner, members of your supervisory committee will review the original proposals and provide constructive criticism of the concepts, plans, and presentation. These critiques will then serve as a basis for you to prepare a revised proposal prior to the oral examination.
Follow this link for written exam guidelines.
Follow this link for oral exam guidelines.
The written thesis proposal should initially be submitted to your committee in early March during your second year in the program. At this point you should also schedule your oral examination with them. Although the General Exam paperwork isn't due to the Graduate School until 3 weeks before your exam, getting this scheduled earlier will help you avoid delays due to unavailability of committee members.
Your committee members will give you feedback by April 1, and then a revised version is due by the end of Spring Quarter (before your oral exam). Your Oral Exam must be scheduled for the end of Spring Quarter. You should provide your committee members with a synopsis (one page max) of the thesis proposal at least one week prior to the exam.
It is your responsibility to check with your committee members early enough so that your exam is not delayed (i.e. does not drag on into July or later). Please check with Colin Manoil if you are unable to schedule your exam for Spring Quarter. Please also be aware that noncompliance with with departmental requirements, such as timely completion of the General Exam, could result in termination of Training Grant support and academic probation.
You should turn in your Request for General Exam form (available online as a fillable PDF), which must be signed by all supervisory committee members to the graduate program assistant. Please note that the Graduate School must have this paperwork at least three weeks in advance of the date you would like to schedule for your oral exam, and giving yourself a few extra days beyond that three week deadline is a very good idea. Committee members may submit emails in place of signing the form, but the email must specifically state the time & location. Emails should be turned in with the form. Please note that the "chairperson" listed on this form should be your thesis advisor.
At least four members of the committee (including the Chair, GSR, and one additional Graduate Faculty member) must be present at both the General and Final Examinations.
Other Graduate School requirements include having taken at least 18 graded credits of graduate course work (approved 400 level courses are allowed), having a minimum cumulative gpa of 3.0, and completion of 60 credits either before you take the oral exam or to be completed during the quarter in which you take the exam. MD / Ph.D. students please note: this 60 credit minimum does not include Med School coursework.
For a more detailed look at Graduate School rules and regulations, you should examine the Graduate Student Services page.
Please be sure to read through this entire section before making any travel arrangements.
1. Determine who pays:
If you are:
a) currently supported by a training grant or other UW fellowship, or
b) an international student currently receiving departmental funding
then funding is available to you to travel to a conference where you are presenting a poster or giving a talk. Please check in with Brian Giebel ( bgiebel [ a t ] u.washington.edu, Foege S-340) to determine the amount available to you.
Students supported by training grants accrue travel funding as follows:
Genome Training Grant: $800 per year
Genetics Training Grant: $300 per year
Departmental or other UW support: $300 per year
Please note that training grant travel funds can only be used while you are supported by the grant. They cannot be accessed thereafter.
If your funding is coming from your mentor's research grant, your travel funds will need to come from that source. In this case, you do not need to check in with Brian - the person in your lab responsible for purchasing can make your travel arrangements. If for some reason it is easier for you to continue to have Brian make your travel arrangements, you are welcome to do so - just provide him with the lab budget number.
The UW Graduate School also offers very limited funding: $300 for domestic travel, $500 for international. Please see Brian to apply.
2. Book your travel:
The department must pay for flights and conference registration up front. Please do not pay for these items on your own and then ask to be reimbursed.
Once you have checked in with Brian Giebel (if your travel is being paid by a training grant) and are ready to book your travel, please follow the steps below. Please be aware that if you take personal time before or after the conference and this results in a higher airfare, you may be asked to reimburse the difference to the university.
Contact the current agency of choice, Tangerine Travel (http://www.vacation.tangerinetravel.com/group+and+corporate+travel/). Please be sure to let them know this will be paid by UW Genome Sciences. Once you’ve been emailed an itinerary, please send this to Brian - or have the travel agent include him on the initial email - so that he may fill out the purchase order paperwork.
To pay for your conference registration, provide the registration info needed (either to fill out a form or enroll online) to Brian.
3. Reimbursement:
Please note that we will need a copy of your flight itinerary and conference schedule in order to process any reimbursements.
Lodging and meals will be reimbursed after your return from the conference.
Meals will only be reimbursed if they are not provided by the conference, and will be reimbursed at standard per diem rates (http://www.washington.edu/admin/travel/contracts.html#meal.lodging.rates). Since per diem rates are used, you do not need to save meal receipts. If you choose to skip a conference dinner, etc, you cannot be reimbursed for that particular meal.
If your lodging costs are higher than the allowable per diem rate, please include a brief explanation (e.g. it was the designated conference hotel, only place you could find space, etc) along with your receipts.You will need to provide receipts for ground transportation.
Insufficient Academic Progress:
You should meet a minimum of once per year (twice per year recommended) with your supervisory committee. If the committee is concerned about your research progress, they will suggest ways to get back on track.
If problems persist, your mentor may opt to put you on academic probation. This involves notifying the
Graduate
School
with documentation of the circumstances. It does not normally affect your funding or registration.
If problems continue past this point, you may be put on final probation. Students are normally on final probation for one quarter only. After that point, the department will either recommend that you be removed from academic probation or that you leave the program.
First year students who do not reach faculty expectations in coursework or lab rotations may also be put on academic probation.
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