FAQ Prospective

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This page contains Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for prospective members of the Jimenez Group at Colorado. A shortcut to this page is http://tinyurl.com/FAQ-JG.

Contents

FAQs For both prospective graduate students and postdocs / research scientists

What should I do if I am interested in joining the Jimenez Group?

You can email Jose and attach your CV and a list of publications. Graduate students need to apply for admission through a CU Department to be considered seriously (see FAQ 2.1 below).

How do I learn more about the research of the Jimenez Group?

We have a lot of information on the web that should provide a good overview of the types of topics and techniques we work on. In particular see:

I would like to work on field studies because I like to travel, should I join the group?

Maybe not. We do field studies in many locations around the US and (increasingly) internationally. However this is not really 'travel' in the sense that you have plenty of time to take time off and visit the sites etc. Normally we are working extremely hard and often there is very little time off while in the field and we work all evenings and weekends. Most of the time is spent indoors in a trailer or airplane, working with the instrument or looking at the data in a computer, unlike other field studies in other research areas where most of the time is spent outdoors collecting samples. Working 12-14 hours a day, with 1 day off in a 1 month field study is typical. Often you can stay AFTER the field study is over to travel for a week or so, and sometimes people do that. Still, our field studies are not 'fun travel' but closer to a military mission, and we don't want people to join the group with false expectations.

Will I have to work very hard in your group?

Our group is at the cutting edge of research in atmospheric instrumentation and atmospheric chemistry, and we collaborate and compete with some of the best groups in the world at Harvard, MIT, Caltech, ETH, etc. Since we work with extremely complex instruments, trying to figure out the truth about some aspect of the physics and chemistry of the real world, to produce very high quality work, our research can be seen as challenging. So, yes, we all have to work very hard, and this is definitely not a 9 to 5 job. During a field study, A PhD student in the group said, "you told me clearly that I would have to work very hard, before I joined the group. But I had never seen anyone work anywhere near this hard before, so I couldn't understand what you were saying at the time." That said, success in our group is extremely rewarding whereby you will have the opportunity to co-author many papers with cutting-edge research, present posters and talks at major conferences, and participate in major field campaigns alongside many world-leading research groups.

You need to be very motivated to sustain working several years at high intensity. It can only work if you really enjoy what you are doing. So you need to search inside yourself and think about what really is your motivation for pursuing a PhD (or a postdoc), and whether you are ready to dedicate yourself to research. The rewards are great. You will learn an immense amount about the field, work with some of the best researchers and groups around the world, and likely have very good job opportunities after you finish.

Should I apply for a fellowship before I join the group?

YES! Fellowships always help the group do more with the available funding, and are often a deciding factor on whether a position in the group is possible. See this list of fellowships below.

I want to work on a specific topic that interests me, is that possible?

It depends on (a) what the topic is and (b) the funding situation. We are a group at the worldwide cutting edge of certain areas of research (see papers in FAQ above), and although there are many other interesting research areas, we have to focus on those topics which align with the strengths and plans of the group. This is especially the case if the funding to support you would come from our research grants, then you do need to work on a specific project which is already funded. There is always room for creativity and for evolving the project to follow new and interesting leads, but we still need to stay in the general area of the funded project. If you have your own funding (fellowship), then the situation is more flexible, but you will still need people's time and other resources from the group, so the topic needs to make sense within the big picture of the group.

What kinds of things do people do after finishing at the Jimenez group?

Our group alumni have an excellent track record in faculty positions, postdoctoral positions at top European and US institutions, positions with the funding agencies, and also positions in industry. See the J-Group Alumni page for more details.

What previous skills are useful for candidates to join the group?

  • See this list of skills. Understandably people joining the group haven't mastered all of those skills, but the more of those you have experience with, the faster you will be able to be productive in our group. This is most important for postdoc candidates, but also relevant for graduate student candidates.

FAQs Specifically for prospective graduate students

A shortcut to this item is http://tinyurl.com/ApplyToCU.

Will you take graduate students into your group next year?

Yes, we typically take one graduate student per year into our group. Some years we can take more, if several highly qualified and motivated students are interested.

How do I apply to graduate school?

Note that in the US prospective graduate students need to apply for admission to an academic department. Individual professors cannot admit a student into their groups without an official application to a department. (This is often not clear to international applicants).

To work in our group, the most natural departments are:

It is also possible to apply to an Engineering Dept. (Mechanical, Civil and Environmental, Chemical) and work in our group. This is more complex but possible, please contact Jose if this is your preferred route.

Will I be expected to apply for fellowships while I am a group member?

YES, especially for graduate students for which one can apply for fellowships after one has started. I will expect you to take these applications very seriously. In general this is a good idea for several reasons:

  • It looks great on your resume
  • It gives you independence from funding ups & downs (and protects you from having to TA), and gives more freedom to choose a project or to fine-tune what your research
  • It gives you a link with a funding agency which generally opens some doors with them for collaboration and possibly future jobs
  • It liberates grant money to buy computers, instruments, pay for trips to conferences, etc.

What fellowships are available for graduate students?

The most important and most likely fellowships to get for our group are:

Other possible fellowships are:

What is typical graduate student funding?

  • Graduate students typically are paid a monthly stipend and do not have to pay tuition. The amount of the stipend varies with the exact position (TA, RA, etc.) but is very similar to those at other US universities.
  • The sources of funding are: (a) fellowships; (b) research grants; (c) teaching assistantships.
  • As of January 2012, the fraction of student-months for all past and current students in our group that were supported by each source was: fellowships 47%, RAs 38%, TAs 15% (the latter includes the first two semesters in which almost everyone TAs). Of course this mix of funding could change somewhat in the future due to various factors.

Will I be expected to work as a Teaching Assistant (TA) while I am a graduate student?

  • Teaching experience is useful to many graduate students, as their future careers may involve teaching, and skills in public speaking and organization are also enhanced, besides of course the knowledge in the subject. In addition, research has shown that teaching helps graduate students be better researchers.
  • Almost all students who join the group TA both semesters of their first year.
  • Students are typically asked to TA some additional semesters, depending on group finances and their own productivity, typically more at the start and less at the end of their PhDs. Students with fellowships are typically exempted from TAing while the fellowship is active.
  • Students may also be asked to TA parts of Jose's courses.

My undergrad GPA is 2.8/4, what are my chances of joining your group?

  • The University of Colorado requires a GPA of 3.0/4 or higher for admission to the Graduate School. Exceptions require a petition to the Dean. So unless you had amazing letters, research achievements, and GREs, a GPA below 3.0 means that it is very unlikely that your application to the department would be discussed in much detail. The department looks in great detail at every application with GPA above 3.8/4, and we also look at people with GPAs above 3.5/4 IF they come from a good school or are strongly recommended by someone we know. We only look at some people with GPAs below 3.5 on a case-by-case basis (e.g. if from Top Schools).
  • We are aware that international GPAs are not as inflated as US GPAs, so the above rules are relaxed for most international applications.

Is there something I need to do when I start at CU?

  • Yes, you need to take Prof. Jimenez's graduate course in the Fall, normally CHEM-5181 or sometimes CHEM-5151, if either of them is offered.

What is the length of a PhD in your group?

  • The length of time varies, often more due to the motivation (or lack thereof) of the particular student to graduate quickly. Often students are comfortable in graduate school and are resistant to suggestions of speeding up their research, until suddenly the urge to graduate strikes!
  • As of January 2012, we have graduated 5 PhD students, whose PhD took between 4.5 and 6.7 years (average 5.6 years +/- 0.7).
  • A Ph.D. thesis is composed of three peer-reviewed journal papers. The condition to schedule a PhD thesis defense is that 2 of the papers must be published, and the 3rd must be submitted to the journal (after agreement of all the coauthors).
  • We will support your applications for postdoctoral fellowships and positions once you are within a year or so of graduation, which typically means that two of your papers are published, and the third is in preparation. Applying for postdocs earlier than that tends to be distracting and not really useful since you will not be available to take a position for quite a while.

How can I get a masters for, your group?

  • We generally do not accept students whose goal is to get a masters degree, as the projects in our group require more time for deep research than what is available in master programs.
  • However, some students decide after working on research for a while that they do not want a PhD after all, or we decide that the rate of progress in research is not sufficient to complete a PhD in about 5 years. Then a masters (a) based on coursework or (b) based on research is possible. For a masters based on research, the criterion for graduation is to submit at least one paper to a peer-reviewed journal.

FAQs Specifically for prospective postdocs & research scientists

What is typical postdoc funding?

  • The two sources of funding are our research grants and postdoctoral fellowships. In the US postdoctoral fellowships are more scarce than PhD student fellowships.
  • As of January 2012, the fraction of postdoc-months for all past and current postdocs in our group supported by each source was: research grants 83%, fellowships 17%.

Do you have open postdoc / research scientist positions right now?

  • This changes frequently as we write proposals, hear whether proposals will be funded or not, as people currently in the group get fellowships etc. We keep a listing of open positions in this Wiki page. But even if a position is not listed there, one could develop within your timescale or we could apply for fellowships together, so please email Jose if you are interested.
  • If you can apply for a postdoctoral fellowship, that always increases the chances that you can join the group.

I want to join your group as a postdoc for one year, is this possible?

Generally short postdocs don't work well in our group unless the person already has a very strong background in the topic and instrumentation they will work on at Colorado. We are most interested in postdoc candidates who can make a committment for 2.5-3 years, as that is the time it takes to master all the very complex techniques involved, and from starting a project to publication. People who stay for short periods of time (< 2 years) need a lot of attention from group members to learn the different techniques, but they often don't get to produce results as the time is too short. So even if you have your own funding, a short (< 2 year) postdoc may not be of interest for our group. Of course you can always email Jose and ask.

What fellowships are available for postdocs?

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