FAQ ANYL 1styr

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Beginning Analytical, Environmental, and Atmospheric Division Graduate Students. A shortcut to this page is http://tinyurl.com/ANYL-1st.

Department-Level Questions

What rules apply to Graduate Students in the ANYL division at CU-Boulder?

• Two sets of rules apply to the Graduate Programs at CU-Boulder:
  • The Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry has adopted these graduate rules.
  • The Graduate School has adopted these rules.
  • A Department can only make rules more stringent than the Graduate School, never less. Thus for topics discussed in the Chemistry rules, those rules apply. For topics not discussed in the Chemistry rules, the Grad School rules apply.

Does the CHEM Dept. maintain a similar list of FAQs?

• Yes, see this link.

Should I Take TA'ing Seriously?

• Yes! We do take TAing very seriously and we expect you to put your best effort into it.
• From past experience, there is a strong correlation between a good work ethic and performance when TA'ing and a good work ethic and performance on your thesis research. The Analytical faculty are kept informed of the performance of the TAs from the Analytical division. If you don't take TAing seriously, potential advisors will generally hear about it and worry about your work ethic, and this may discourage potential advisors from taking you for their research groups. Furthermore, your experience reviewing general chemistry basics will build a stronger foundation for the knowledge you are expected to have during your oral exam.
• Later in your PhD you may need a TA position due to a hiccup in funding etc. There are often more non-1st-yr students who would like a TA position than positions available, and if your TA performance in your 1st yr was not good, you will have lower priority for a position.

ANYL Division Questions

So What is a "Division" Anyway?

• A division in the CU Chemistry Dept. is a group of professors and research groups with related interests who organize course offerings, oral exams, written cumulative exams ("cumes"), seminars, etc. The Graduate Rules of the Chemistry Dept. apply to students in all divisions.
• Analytical, Environmental, and Atmospheric Chemistry ("Analytical" or "ANYL" for brevity) is an official Division of the CU Chemistry Dept.
• Atmospheric Chemistry by itself is not an official Division for historical and practical reasons, and there are professors working on atmospheric chemistry also in the Physical Chemistry Division (Vaida, and also partially Bierbaum, Hynes, and Ellison). Thus if your primary interest is in this area you may want to explore opportunities in the Physical Chemistry Division as well.

Which Professors are Part of the Analytical Division?

• See the web page with links to all current analytical faculty.

Which Professors are Active in Atmospheric Chemistry?

• See this page with links to most atmospheric chemistry-related groups at CU

What is the Role of the Analytical Division Advisor?

• The analytical division advisor (Paul Ziemann for 2013-14) is available for discussing any relevant issues with the 1st year analytical students during the year. Just email him at paul.ziemann@colorado.edu, call (303-492-5894), or drop by (Ekeley M335).
• 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 further questions.

Finding a Research Advisor

What Should I Focus on my First Semester?

• The most important thing that you have to do in your first semester (in the long run) is to choose a research advisor.

How do I go about Finding an Advisor?

• This decision should not be taken lightly. The most important factor, of course, is your research interest, but you may also consider factors such as working style, funding, size of the group, and working style (e.g. more individual vs more team-oriented or collaborative projects). Many internet resources exist to help guide your decision; a few of the many resources to help you shape the questions you may ask are here, here, and here.
• Attend the 30 min seminars given in the Fall semester by all faculty. The purpose of these seminars is to present the research carried out in their groups as well as specific opportunities for 1st year students.
• Talk to all of the faculty you are interested in working for. Not everyone will have time or funding to take you on, so identify several professors whose research groups you would be interested in joining.
• Talk to the students, postdocs, and recent graduates of the groups you are interested in.
• Attend at least one group meeting of the groups that interest you in order to get a feel for how the group works. Attend several meetings if you can.
• Note that in principle you can work for any professor in the department, although most students tend to stay within their division. Some ANYL students in recent years have worked for Profs. Vaida and Bierbaum in the Physical Chemistry division.
• As a 1st year in the analytical division, you are required to make a decision by Thanksgiving of your first (Fall) semester. At that time, you will email the analytical advisor with your first 3 choices for research groups, in order of preference. We will do our best to accommodate 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 who is willing to act as your in-house supervisor. The purpose of the in-house advisor is to ensure that all the rules and requirements as they apply to PhD candidates housed in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry are followed and that the expected level of mentorship is provided, which prevents negative surprises down the road. An example of the situations that we are trying to avoid is that a student can fall in an 'advising black hole' in which they are not getting much attention from their advisors or making much progress in their thesis research, but nobody in CHEM knows about it until several years have been partially wasted.

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 a 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 about 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? Have they supervised PhD students before, and if so, what was their experience? Are there regular group meetings?
• Talk to the analytical advisor 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.

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 students to 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 Constitutes a PhD Thesis?

• In most of the ANYL groups, a PhD Thesis is defined as 3 papers published in high-quality peer-reviewed journals. Normally, the first two have to be published and the 3rd one has to be submitted in order to be able to schedule a defense. In some groups, those details can be different, although the amount of work that constitutes a PhD thesis is similar. 3 papers is a lower limit, and you can greatly enhance your career prospects in research by publishing more than that. For further details you should discuss with your advisor.

Seminars

Am I Required to Attend Analytical Seminar?

• Yes, all current students (not just 1st year students) are required to attend the Analytical Seminar every week.

Is the Analytical Seminar a Course?

• Yes, it is a course (CHEM-6101) for registration purposes. First year students should register for it for both Fall and Spring. Even though 2nd and later year students are not registered, they are still required to attend the seminar every week per ANYL Division Rules.

How do I find out the ANYL Seminar Schedule?

• ANYL Seminars take place on Mondays at noon during the academic year. Pizza and coffee are provided (except if the seminar is not in Ekeley S274, due to room restrictions).
• See the detailed seminar schedule here and the abstracts here.
  • To make changes to the seminar schedule (e.g. to schedule your 1st or 3rd year talk, or your thesis defense), email Rosella Chavez or Michael Lechner.
• Since we are a small division, not all seminar slots during the academic year may be filled. However, when seminars are scheduled, all members of the division (students, postdocs, and faculty) should attend.

Is there an Email List for ANYL Seminar Announcements?

• Email announcements and reminders are sent to the ANYL seminar email announcement list, <anyl-env-seminars@googlegroups.com>.
  • You can add yourself by following this link.
  • If you have problems adding yourself with the above link, email Rosella Chavez or Michael Lechner and ask them to add you. Be clear about which list you want to be added to, as they manage many lists.
  • If there are technical problems with the list that Rosella and Michael cannot solve, please let Jose know.

How do I Suggest Speakers to Invite for ANYL Seminar?

• During each AY, each faculty member in the ANYL division, in consultation with their research group, should plan to invite and host one outside speaker. The costs associated with these speakers will be paid for by the Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
• Faculty members who wish to invite additional outside speakers should contact CIRES or the Environmental Program about support for these speakers.
• Faculty members can also invite local scientists as speakers, but they should attempt to choose speakers whose research would be interesting to most of the people who regularly attend the seminars.

Do I need to give an Analytical Seminar during my first semester?

• Yes, all 1st year students give a 30-minute seminar (including questions) during the first semester (two students per 1-hr seminar slot), before Thanksgiving. The subject matter is usually on research you have completed before coming to graduate school.
  • The analytical advisor should sign you up for a seminar during the advising meeting before the start of the Fall semester.

Do I need to give an Analytical Seminar during my 3rd year?

• Yes, as a 3rd-year ANYL student, you will give a full-length seminar (including questions) on the research you have completed until this point.
  • These seminars normally take place in the Spring semester. It is your responsibility to reserve a time slot when most faculty relevant to your research are present (this is marked on the seminar calendar with symbols). Do not chose slots late in the semester.
  • You will present your research during an official ANYL seminar slot, followed by Q&A from the general audience.
  • Then the general audience is excused and the ANYL faculty plus any external committee members continue for an informal feedback session. This is NOT an exam, but rather an opportunity for a wider group of faculty to provide feedback on your research accomplishments to date and on your plans towards graduation. It was established at the request of the ANYL graduate students for more structured feedback on their thesis progress.

Do I need to give an Analytical Seminar on my 2nd and 4th years?

• No

Should my PhD Thesis Defense be an Official ANYL Seminar?

• Yes, all ANYL PhD Thesis Defenses are official ANYL seminars and should be listed in the seminar schedule.
• In a PhD Defense seminar, the student will give a 40-50 minute public seminar followed by a closed session with the members of their thesis committee.
• If possible, your Defense should be scheduled in a regular ANYL seminar slot. If that is not possible a different day or time may be chosen, but those should be added to the ANYL seminar schedule.

Are there other Seminar Series at CU or Boulder that I should attend?

• Likely yes. In fact there are probably more seminars of interest that you will have time for.
• Some of these seminar series are:
  • CIRES Events and Seminars (dates and times vary)
  • NCAR Atmospheric Chemistry (Mon 3:30 pm, Foothills Lab)
  • CU Methods in Chemistry (Tue 12-1 pm, CIRES S274)
  • CU Astrobiology (Wed 2-3 pm, LASP conference room D142, Duane Physics Bldg.)
  • NOAA Chemical Sciences Division (Wed 3:30 pm, Skaggs Bldg., Room 2A305)
  • CU Mechanical Engineering (Thu 3:30 pm, ECCR 200)
  • CU Environmental Engineering (Fri 12-1 pm, ECCE 1B41)
  • Physical Chemistry/Chemical Physics (Fri 4-5 pm, JILA Aud.)
  • CU Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (Fri 4-5 pm, Physics Commons, top of Gamow Tower)
  • Front Range Aerosol Community (FRAC) Meetings (2-3 meetings per year on afternoons)
  • If you know of others, or if the link, location etc. changes for the above, pls update this list directly or let Jose know.

Exams

What WRITTEN Qualifying Ph.D. Exams do I Have to Take?

• Written exams ("cumes")
  • There are 8 cumulative exams ("cumes") offered each academic year. These satisfy the written exam requirement from the Graduate School.
  • For schedule and topics see the Analytical Cume Topics and Schedule and the CHEM Dept. Cume page.
  • A cume is a one-hour written exam on a pre-announced topic. They can be multiple choice and/or free response, and can be a general chemistry (CHEM 1111/1131) final from a previous year, a series of questions based on pre-announced research paper(s), or any other topic of the professor's choosing. Each Division (Analytical, Physical, Organic, and Materials) provides a cume every time they are offered. It is up to you (the student) to decide which one you want to take.
  • 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 of a fail. Thus we recommend taking as many cumes as possible in your first year. Students are required to take cumes in their second year; if you miss a cume without a note from your professor given to the CHEM Graduate Coordinator beforehand, it will count as a fail.
  • Cumes are generally offered on the first Saturday of the month (September is an exception because of Labor Day, as is May because of finals) and are typically given from 10-11 am.
  • Topics are usually e-mailed out a week or two in advance and are posted outside the Graduate Coordinator's office in Cristol 100.
  • Old cumes to study with are available from the Chemserve server at http://chemserve.colorado.edu. (Only available from CU IP addresses; you need to VPN if you wish to access them from off campus).
• You also have to submit an independent research proposal which is unrelated to your Ph.D. research. See the CHEM Graduate Rules and the CHEM Graduate Coordinator (currently Cora Fagan-Edminster) for details. Although this proposal is not due until just before you graduate, it is a good idea to do it earlier to avoid forgetting about it and having to do it on a hurry at the end. You can suggest to your professors to make this proposal an assignment of their graduate classes, and that way you can kill two birds with one stone.

What ORAL Qualifying Ph.D. Exams do I Have to Take?

• All students take their oral comprehensive exam in their 4th semester in the program (e.g. if you start in Fall 2013, you will take the orals in Spring 2015), unless there are unusual circumstances.
• The oral exam is a 2-hr period with 3 faculty (typically 2 from ANYL and 1 from a different division), not including your research advisor. Commitees are typically assigned in December.
• You need to submit a ~6 page research proposal with references that summarizes the research you have conducted already on your PhD project, and what you plan to do to complete your PhD. Both printed and PDF copies of the proposal should be given & sent to the 3 committee members at least 2 weeks before the exam.
• You will be asked probing questions aimed at determining whether you understand the fundamentals well enough to figure out the questions that will arise in your research, and whether you can think on your feet and incorporate new information etc.
• It is a good idea to rehearse the oral exam a couple of times with older students, as often stage fright is a problem for students taking the orals.
• There are three possible outcomes: pass w/o condition, pass w/ condition (with the condition determined by the orals commitee), or fail. If you pass with condition, the oral exam is considered passed when your committee chair certifies that you have met the condition. If you fail the exam, you may request a retake to the Graduate Director. If you fail the oral exam a second time, you will have to leave the program with a Masters. That is infrequent (but not unheard of) in ANYL as we try to only admit strong students that should not have serious problems with the orals.

Do I get a raise after passing the orals?

• Higher pay (RA-II level) is only given to approved Ph.D. candidates. This represents a few hundred dollars a month! Often students forget and go for months or years without this pay raise. To be admitted into candidacy you must have passed your cumes, your oral exam, and your proposal must have been approved by your advisor and one other faculty member. Then you have to fill this form and give it to the CHEM Graduate Coordinator.

Credits

(This information is adapted from information provided by Cora Fagan-Edmindster, CHEM Graduate Coordinator. Sometimes rules can change slightly and the Graduate Coordinator will typically have the most updated information)

How Many Credits Should I Register for in my 1st Year?

• It is important to complete 18 total credits in your first academic year at CU.
• Most students have not joined a research group yet at the start of the Fall semester. Those students typically register in the Fall for 2 courses (6 credits) and Analytical Seminar (1 credit). Then in the Spring they need to register for 11 credits, normally 2 courses (6 credits), Analytical Seminar (1 credit) and 4 research credits. For the research credits you need to register in CHEM-6901 (Special Topics in Chemistry), noting that there is a different section of this course for each research advisor. You can try to take 3 courses during either semester, but the workload tends to be too high and few students chose to do that.
• More infrequently, students may join a research group from the start of the Fall semester. Those students should register as above, expect adding 2 credits of research (CHEM-6901) in the Fall, and then only registering for 4 credits of research in the Spring, and still reaching 18 credits at the end of the first academic year.
• See the CHEM Graduate Coordinator if you have questions on which section of CHEM 6901 to sign up for, especially if you have not yet joined a research group.

How Many Credits Should I Register for in my 2nd Year?

• Complete any additional coursework needed to have a MINIMUM of 15 credits of coursework. Note that Analytical (and other) seminars and courses less than 3 credits usually do not count towards the departmental requirement of 15 formal coursework hours.
• Either 5 credits of CHEM 6901 in each semester (Fall and Spring), or coursework and enough CHEM 6901 to total 6 credits for each semester. You should have 30 credits completed by the end of your second academic year at CU, ideally 18 from your first year plus 12 from your second year. If you do not meet the 30 credit goal, you will have to pay higher student fees (out of your pocket) until you do complete this.

How Many Credits Should I Register for in my 3rd and later years?

• A MINIMUM of 5 credits of CHEM-8991 (Doctoral Dissertation in CHEM) EVERY FALL & SPRING. Note that there is a different section of CHEM-8891 for each research advisor.
• You can register for additional coursework that is useful for your research, and most advisors will encourage doing this in moderation. However, you will be charged the extra tuition, which your or your advisor (if you are on an RA) or the Department (if you are on a TA) will have to pay for. Due to both the time commitment and the extra tuition cost, you need to discuss this with your advisor and the Graduate Coordinator.
• If you do not take 5 credits of CHEM-8991 each semester after passing orals, then the Graduate School requires you to redo your oral exam.

Do I need to Register in the Summer?

• There is usually no requirement to be registered in the summer.
• However you must be registered in any semester in which you take an exam or defend. If you defend in the summer (after the end of May to the day before Fall classes start) you must register for 5 credits of CHEM 8991. If you defend before the end of May you will not need to register for summer, even though you will graduate in August.

Courses

How Many Courses do I Have to Take? What Courses are Allowed?

• You have to complete at least 5 courses (15 credits).
• Only courses at the 5000-level or higher count towards the 5-course requirement.
• Sometimes 4000-level (senior year) undergraduate courses in other Departments can count towards the 5-course requirement, but this is approved on a case-by-case basis. See the Graduate Coordinator for further details.
• Any lower level undergrad courses (including computer programming) do not count towards the 5-course requirement. However, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't take them if they are useful to your research.

How Should I Choose my Courses?

• The choice of the courses should be guided by:
  • (1) what you are interested in,
  • (2) what you need to take to pass the cumes and orals,
  • (3) most importantly, your research topic.
• These courses don't all need to be in Chemistry, as long as your advisor approves them, and as long as your Chemistry training is sufficient for passing the cumes and oral exam.
• 5 courses is typical of Chemistry programs, but is a low number of courses compared graduate programs in many other areas, so you should certainly consider taking a few more courses if they would be useful to your research.

What Grades am I Required to Achieve in my Courses?

• You need a grade of B- or better in each course. If you have a lower grade, then the course does NOT count towards the 5-course requirement.
• In addition, your average coursework-only GPA (not including seminars or research credits) must be 3.0 (B) or better at all times.
• If your GPA falls below a 3.0 or if you receive a grade lower than B- (which will most likely pull your GPA to below 3.0), then you will be placed on academic probation.
  • While on probation, you have lower priority for TA positions.
  • If you don't rectify the grades that led to probation within a specific time frame, you may be dismissed from the program.

Which Courses Should I Take in my first (Fall) semester?

• These are the recommended courses for 1st year analytical students (although they may not be offered every year):
  • CHEM 6101: Analytical Seminar -- Required. Offered Fall 2013.
  • CHEM-5181: Mass Spectrometry and Chromatography (Prof. Jimenez). Offered Fall 2013.
  • CHEM-5161: Analytical Spectroscopy (Prof. Volkamer). Offered Fall 2013.
  • CHEM-6031: Introduction to Nanoscience (Prof. Feldheim). NOT Offered 2013-14.

Which Courses Should I Take in my second (Spring) semester?

• During your second semester the options are broader and will be tailored to your research, so you should discuss this with your advisor.
• Note that 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.
• The Spring courses within the ANYL division are:
  • CHEM 6101: Analytical Seminar -- Required. Offered Spring 2014.
  • CHEM-5151: Atmospheric Chemistry: Course pages from Tolbert & Jimenez. Offered Spring 2014.
  • CHEM-5141: Environmental Water and Soil Chemistry (Prof. Ziemann). Offered Spring 2014.
  • CHEM-5171: Electrochemistry (offered in alternating years by Prof. Carl Koval) (not offered currently as Prof. Koval is on leave at Caltech). NOT Offered 2013-14.

What Other Courses Are Often Taken by ANYL Grad Students?

• If you find out about other good courses, or if some of these courses are no longer offered, please let Jose know or update this list directly.
• It is always a good idea to search the Online Course Catalog, as course offerings are constantly changing.

• Other Chemistry Courses:
  • CHEM-5541: Chemical Dynamics. This is the physical chemistry course that is most frequently taken by ANYL students and is typically offered in the Fall. Offered Spring 2014 (Rex Skodje).
  • CHEM-5501: Advanced Topics in Physical Chemistry (aka PChem Boot Camp). Offered Spring 2014 (Casey Hynes).
  • CHEM-5531: Statistical Mechanics. Offered Spring 2014 (Joel Eaves).
  • CHEM-5591: Advanced Molecular Spectroscopy. This course is quite different from CHEM-5161 in that it focuses on the fundamentals of spectroscopy, (i.e. why do molecules absorb light at a certain wavelength, what can we learn about their energy states, etc.), whereas the focus of CHEM-5161 is the practical measurements that can be done by taking advantage of the fact that molecules absorb light at certain wavelengths, etc. Offered Spring 2014 (Mathias Weber).
  • CHEM-5201: Atmospheric Aerosol Discussions. (Only offered once in 2006, unclear whether it'll be offered again). NOT Offered 2013-14.

• Courses Relevant to Atmospheric Chemistry Groups:
  • In ATOC (Atmospheric Sciences):
    • ATOC-5050: Introduction to Atmospheric Dynamics. Recommended for atmospheric chemistry students, especially those who participate in field studies as it helps with the interpretation of ambient data. Offered Fall 2013 (John Cassano).
    • ATOC-5300: The Global Carbon Cycle. Offered Fall 2013 (Nicole Lovenduski).
    • ATOC-5810: Planetary Atmospheres. Brian Toon teaches this, goes over a lot of atmospheric physics and is a less-in-depth combination of several ATOC classes on this list. (Ask Greg Schill who has taken it). NOT offered Fall 2013.
    • ATOC-5600: Physics and Chemistry of Clouds and Aerosols. Offered Fall 2013 (Katja Friedrich).
    • ATOC-5235: Introduction to Atmospheric Radiative Transfer & Remote Sensing. (Prof. Cora Randall). NOT offered Fall 2013.
    • ATOC-5540: Mathematical Methods Offered Fall 2013 (Peter Pilewskie).
  • In MCEN (Mechanical Engineering):
    • MCEN-5131: Air Pollution Control Engineering. (Prof. Shelly Miller)
    • MCEN-5228: Aerosol Dynamics (Prof. Shelly Miller) This is a course in Mechanical Engineering which our students have taken and liked a lot in the past.
  • In CVEN (Civil and Environmental Engineering):
    • CVEN-5404: Water Chemistry
    • CVEN-5424: Environmental Organic Chemistry, is offered in Civil and Environmental Engineering
    • CVEN-5834: Analytical Methods in Environmental Engineering
    • CVEN-6404: Advanced Aquatic Chemistry

• Courses to Strengthen your Background in math, statistics, and computer programming:
  • CSCI-1300: Introduction to Computer Science (Undegraduate course, as discussed above) (May be required for the Jimenez group if you don't have background on computer programming.)
  • ATOC-5540: Mathematical Methods in Atmospheric Sciences. A course in math is very useful if you don't have a strong background in this area.
  • APPM-4570: Statistical Methods
  • EMEN 5005: Introduction to Applied Statistics. (Prof. Jeffrey Luftig, EMEN) (Check with Jimenez group student Amber Ortega, who took it in Fall 2011.)

• If you are interested in teaching:
  • MCDB-5650: Teaching and Learning Seminar (Jenny Knight) (Check w/ Ingrid Ulbrich or Jose-Luis Jimenez, both of them loved it.)

Do you Recommend Taking a Course in Computer Programming?

• If you have not had a serious undergraduate course in computer programming, or significant (more than 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 in. 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, but it is strongly encouraged.
• Typically, first year students are too busy in their first (Fall) semester, and only get busier once they begin research (summer of the first year), so we suggest taking the programming course during the Spring semester of your first year.

Thesis Committee Questions

What is a Thesis Committee?

• Your Thesis Committee is a group of 5 faculty (your research advisor plus four others) who provide feedback during your PhD and evaluate your PhD thesis and thesis defense.

Who can be a member of a Thesis Committee in CHEM ?

• Faculty in Chemistry and Biochemistry
• Faculty in other departments
• Faculty from other universities or researchers with a PhD (typically from national labs such as NOAA, NCAR, NREL) often serve in thesis committees. However before they can serve in your committee they need to be appointed as Faculty of the CU-Boulder Graduate School, following the instructions here.

Are the faculty on my Oral Exam Committee automatically in my thesis committee?

• No, although there is often some overlap.

How often does my thesis committee meet?

• We recommend meeting annually either with the whole committee or with each member individually. This form should be used to document the meeting(s).

Financial Support Questions

What Fellowships Should I Apply For?

• NSF Fellowship: The National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship covers tuition, fees, insurance, and your stipend for three of the five academic years following the award. Applications are due in early November and require a two-page research proposal, a two-page communication on your previous research experience, a two-page communication on outreach that you have done or would like to do, three to four letters of recommendation, and official transcripts from all undergraduate schools. Generally applicants are only eligible in their senior undergraduate and first year of graduate school. You should only apply if you have already chosen a research adviser by early October. Awards are usually announced in early April. http://www.nsfgrfp.org/
• NASA Fellowship: The NASA Fellowship covers $30,000 a year for up to three years (renewal required) to be applied towards tuition, fees, insurance, and stipend. It has a deadline in early February and requires an online cover page, a six-page research proposal, a schedule of your graduate career, a one-page student CV, a one-page adviser CV, a budget, a letter of recommendation from the adviser, and unofficial transcripts from both graduate and undergraduate schools. Awards are usually announced in May. Current Solicitations are found here.
• CIRES Fellowship: The CIRES fellowship is open to graduate students whose advisers are members of CIRES (R. Volkamer, M. Tolbert, P.J. Ziemann, J.L. Jimenez, and R. Sievers). This is a one-time fellowship and can cover from one semester to one year. Only 1 student per research group can apply for this fellowship. The fellowship requires a one-page personal statement, a CV, publications, a graduate transcript, and a sealed envelope with a one-paragraph statement from the adviser. See this page for details.
• Ford Foundation Fellowship
• There are other fellowships available (EPA, DoE, minority fellowships). Talk to your adviser and older graduate students for recommendations.

Publication, Presentation, and Reviewing Questions

Do you have tips for writing papers?

• A must read: Whitesides Group: How to Write a Paper, Advanced Materials, 16(15), 1375 - 1377, 2004.
• A funny list of things one should not do in papers: Skillful Writing of an Awful Research Paper by Royce Murray
• Gopen and Swan on the Science of Scientific Writing, American Scientist, 1990
• A very important set of Ethical Guidelines for Publication and Peer Reviewing

I am interested in reviewing papers (or proposals), how do I get started?

• Reviewing papers is an integral part of being a scientist. It helps you view the other side of the process that all of your important work will go through in its way to publication, and you will learn a lot by doing it.
• You should read this article in Nature with advice to new reviewers and this set of Ethical Guidelines for Publication and Peer Reviewing
• You should mention this to your advisor or other experienced scientists in the field. When they get requests to review and don't have time for them (which is very common), they can suggest you as an alternative reviewer. In some cases you may work with them in a particular review. You can also let editors of relevant journals know that you are interested in reviewing, sending them an email stating your interest, along with the topics you are qualified to review and your CV.
• For proposals again you can work through your advisor. To be asked to review proposals directly, the best way is to write to the program managers of the different funding agencies, who are often desperate to find good & timely reviewers. You do need to have published a few papers in the area to be considered.
• Journal Editors and Program Managers complain bitterly of how hard it is to get people to agree to provide reviews and then to actually get them to submit the reviews the promised, so if you do a good job in the first few, you will quickly have more papers/proposals to review than time! Conversely if you don't do a good job or are slow, the well will dry very quickly.

How do I respond to the reviews of a paper?

• See this link

Do you have any tips on writing proposals?

• A usual diagram of the proposal structure
• A short useful series of tips for writing proposals
• A very good presentation from Waleed Abdatati of CU on proposal-writing (Group Password)
• A presentation from Daniel Jacob on proposals

Do you have any tips for presentations?

• A useful article for beginning speakers
• Some useful tips for Group Meeting presentations
• The assertion-evidence approach to powerpoint

Do you have any tips for job interviews?

• A great infographic

Computing Questions

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.
• We recommend following the journals of most interest to your research using Feedly. This program organizes RSS feeds provided by the journals, and acts like an "inbox" for new papers that you can check at regular intervals.
• A reference management program such as Mendeley or Endnote is essential to keep track of the references when writing papers and reports. Good free options include Mendeley and Endnote Web which can take references directly from Web of Science and are free.
• To find the electronic versions of most journals, go to http://libraries.colorado.edu and search for the periodical title.
  • You can find a list of journals relevant to atmospheric chemistry here.
• To access Web of Science and journal sites from off-campus, you need to set up VPN (Virtual Private Network) in your computer.

Is there a Recommended Software Package for Data Analysis?

• Most groups in the ANYL Division use the Igor Pro software. It is comparable to Matlab or IDL in terms of programming, but superior to those in graphing capabilities. This software is also used in several graduate classes, and the CHEM Dept. has a teaching license that allow free installation in any computer for teaching purposes.

How do I create an email list?

• See here

How can I do conference calls with multiple people?

• See here

How can I share screens with collaborators etc?

• See here

What is the easiest way to create a web page?

• See here

How do I connect to CU VPN from an Android Phone or Tablet?

• See here

Miscellaneous Questions

What Do I Need to Do For In-State Residency?

• Unless you have lived in Colorado and done your undergraduate work in Colorado, you will not be eligible for in-state residency until the fall semester of your second year (i.e. students starting grad school in Fall 2008 were eligible for in-state residency in Fall 2009).
• You need to be able to prove that you have lived in the state of Colorado for a year and have made reasonable steps towards making Colorado your (semi)permanent home. To do this, you need:
  • Lease: Make sure you have signed a lease before classes start for the semester. If you stay in a hotel around this time prior signing a lease, save your receipts.
  • Driver's License: If you have a driver's license currently valid in another state, you can take an eye exam and get a Colorado driver's license at the Boulder office. This is located at 2850 Iris Avenue, #F (inside a small shopping mall), and is open from 8 am to 5 pm, Monday-Friday. You need documentation to prove your presence in the country is legal. You can get information about documentation at http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/Revenue-MV/RMV/1177024843078. Your license costs (as of August 2010) $21 and is only payable in cash or check.
  • Register to Vote: You can register to vote at the DMV when you get your license.
  • Register Your Car: To register your car, you must go to a different location: 1750 33rd St. from 8 am to 4:30 pm Monday-Friday. The cost of registering your car depends on age, make, and model and can vary from $20 - $300. This is also payable only in cash or by check.
  • Taxes: You will need to submit a copy of your taxes from the previous calendar year (and the year before that if you filed CO taxes) with your in-state residency application. Make sure you print out an official copy of your return for federal, CO, and any other state taxes.
  • Petitions for residency for the fall semester open up in March and should be filed by mid-May.
  • For more information and forms see the Registrar's page on this topic.

What About General Financial Information?

• The local bank is Elevations Credit Union. They have an office and ATMs on campus. However, a local bank is not required for residency status and most of your financial dealings will be done electronically so you are not required to have an account with Elevations.
• Your pay arrives by direct deposit. You will need to select a bank account for your paycheck to be deposited into. Hopefully this was taken care of before or at orientation; if not talk to the CHEM Graduate Coordinator in Cristol 100.
• When you TA (generally your first year and later if necessary), the department covers your tuition and ~70% of your insurance. They do NOT cover student fees; you will be responsible for paying them yourself. Fees are constant for 1-6 units and are then a higher constant value for 7+ units. They are ~$900/semester including your portion of insurance.
• Your pay as a TA is low. You need to pass orals for the RA-II which is higher pay (usually starts the third year).

My Question is not in this List

• Email or contact the analytical advisor, Paul Ziemann for 2013-14 (paul.ziemann@colorado.edu).

Improving These FAQs

How do I edit directly this page in the Wiki?

• Ask Jose to create a login for you
• Then follow the easy instructions here

Credits

• This page was created and is currently (Fall 2013) maintained by Jose-Luis Jimenez. Many thanks to Cora Fagan-Edminster, Kyle Zarzana, Eleanor Waxman, Raea Hicks, Maggie Tolbert, Greg Schill and many others for providing information and helping improve this page. If you find something confusing, outdated, or want to suggest information or links to be added to this page, let Jose know.