Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Beginning Analytical / Atmospheric Graduate Students
Last updated by Jose on 1-Jan-2008
- So What is a "Division" Anyway?
- A division in the CU Chemistry Dept. is a relatively "soft" institution. It is mostly a group of professors and research groups with related interests, that get together to organize course offerings, oral exams, cumes, seminars, etc. The Graduate Rules of the Chemistry Dept. apply to students in all divisions.
- Analytical, Environmental, and Atmospheric Chemistry ("Analytical" for brevity) is an official Division of the CU Chemistry Dept.
- Atmospheric Chemistry by itself is not an official Division, and there are professors working on atmospheric chemistry also in Physical Chemistry (Vaida, Ravishankara, Bierbaum, Hynes), and in Organic Chemistry (Ellison, Fall). Atmospheric Chemistry could be an official Division but it is not, for historical and practical reasons. Thus if your primary interest is in this area you may want to explore opportunities in several official Divisions.
- Which Professors are Part of the Analytical Division?
- Which Professors are Active in Atmospheric Chemistry?
- What Qualifying Ph.D. Exams do I Have to Take?
- there are 8 cumes offered each AY
- Cumes are graded P/F; all students must pass 6 before they fail 12. Of those 6, 3 need to be Analytical cumes, while the other 3 can be from analytical or from other divisions.
- 1st year students do not have to take cumes; if they choose to do so, they count as a full pass, but failures only count half an F. Thus we recommend taking as many cumes as possible in your first year.
- You also have to submit an independent research proposal which is unrelated to your Ph.D. research. See the CHEM Graduate Secretary for details.
- All students take their oral comprehensive exam in their 4th AY semester in the program, unless there are special circumstances
- Higher pay (RA-II level) is only given to approved Ph.D. candidates; to be approved you must have passed your cumes, your oral exam, and your original proposal must be approved by your advisor and one other faculty member.
- What is the Role of the Analytical Division Advisor?
- The analytical division advisor (Jose-Luis Jimenez for the 2007-08 academic year) is available for discussing any relevant issues with the 1st year analytical students during the year. Just email him or drop by.
- There is also a meeting at the beginning of every Fall semester, typically after the first analytical seminar, with all first year students and all analytical faculty. This is a good opportunity to ask questions.
- What Should I Focus on my First Semester?
- Your courses and TAing are obviously important. We do take TAing very seriously and we expect you to put your best effort into it.
- But the most important thing that you have to do in your first semester (in the long run) is to choose a research advisor. For this:
- Talk to all of the faculty you are interested in working for. Not everyone will have time or funding to take you on, so create alternatives for yourself.
- Talk to the students, postdocs and recent graduates of the groups you are interested on
- Attend the group meeting of the groups you are interested on at least a couple of times
- Note that in principle you can work for any professor in the department, although most students tend to stay within their division
- In the analytical division you have to make a decision by Thanksgiving of your first (Fall) semester. At that time you have to email the analytical advisor with your first three choices for research groups, in order of preference. We will do our best to accomodate everyone in their first choice, although this is not always possible.
- Can I work for Faculty in Other Departments?
- It is certainly possible to work for faculty in other departments. The main requirement is that you still need a chemistry professor that is willing to act as your in-house supervisor. The purpose of the in-house advisor is to ensure that all the CHEM PhD rules are followed, which prevents negative surprises down the road.
- Can I do my Ph.D. Research Working for a Scientist in a Local National Lab?
- It is also possible to do yout PhD research with researchers at the local national labs (NOAA, NCAR, NREL), and typically about ~15% of the Analytical students follow this route. However this needs to be set up carefully to ensure that all the CHEM PhD rules are followed. You also need to find an group at one of the National Labs that is interested in hosting you (Analytical faculty may be able to provide you with contacts with relevant scientists in the National Labs).
- This route also has both important advantages (e.g. exposure to a national lab and many professional scientists, more resources...) and important disadvantages (e.g. isolation from CU and other students, no time for tinkering around with an experiment, potentially lack of sufficient mentoring...), and thus you should think hard whether this is what you want to do and then very carefully examine the opportunities you may have in this direction. Important questions are: how available will your national lab advisor be? Are there regular group meetings?
- Talk to the analytical advisor (Jose during 2007-2008) if you are interested in exploring this route.
- You will also need a chemistry professor that is willing to act as your in-house supervisor.
- How Many Courses do I Have to Take?
- You have to complete 5 courses with a grade of B- or better in each course; your average GPA must be 3.0 (B) or better at all times. If you fall below either rule you will be placed on probation.
- That is a low number of courses compared to most other programs, so you should certainly take a few more courses if they would be useful to you.
- The choice of the courses should be guided by (1) what you are interested on, (2) what you need to take to pass the CUMES and orals, and (3) most importantly, what you are doing research on
- Do you Recommend Taking a Course in Computer Programming?
- If you have not had a serious undergradute course in computer programming, or significant (> 3 months full time) programming experience, we strongly recommend that you take a computer programming course during your 1st year at CU. The introductory undergraduate programming course in Engineering (CSCI-1300) should be good, but there are at least 5 or 6 different courses you could possibly take, depending on your background and what you are interested on. The programming language used in the class is not that important: once you learn how to program in one, it is easy to "translate" to another one. Most courses use C or C++. Note that at present this is not an official requirement of the division, rather it is strongly encouraged.
- Typically first year students are too busy in their first (Fall) semester, and things only get busier once they start to do research (summer of the first year), so we suggest taking the programming course during the Spring semester of your first year.
- Which Courses Should I Take in my first (Fall) semester?
Assuming that they are offered, these are the courses typically taken by first years during the Fall:
- Which Courses Should I Take in my second (Spring) semester?
- On your second semester the options are broader, and you should discuss it with your advisor. Sometimes the online catalog is not up to date, so don't assume that a course is not offered if it is not listed there (and conversely). Check with the professor or department to confirm.
- You should register for CHEM 6101 (Analytical Seminar).
- Some options include:
- Other Chemistry Courses
- Courses Relevant to Atmospheric Chemistry Groups
- Courses to Strengthen your Background in Various Topics
- When Will I be Expected to Start Doing Research?
- You will officially join a group after Thanksgiving of your first (Fall) semester.
- While students usually do not have time to work on research full time until the summer, most advisors expect them to attend group meetings, begin reading the appropriate literature, and to attend group meetings during the Spring semester of their first year.
- Also, most advisors expect students to begin doing research as soon as their classes and TAing duties are over (~ May 9th), not on the 1st of June
- What Electronic and Literature Resources are Available at CU?
- The CU libraries are excellent and they subscribe to most important electronic resources
- The single most useful electronic resource is Web Of Science. It is a database in which you can search for journal articles using author names, keywords, etc. Most importantly, it has a list (with links) to the articles that cite or are cited by a given paper. This is an extremely useful feature, especially when researching a new subject. You can also create "Citation Alerts" for certain papers, so that you get an email every time a new paper cites a paper for which you have an alert. This is an excellent way to keep on top of the literature in some specific areas.
- To find the electronic versions of most journals, go to http://libraries.colorado.edu and search for the periodical title.
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