First Year Overview
There are numerous tasks related to first-year graduate students only. The Graduate Program Manager will regularly communicate with students to ensure they remain on track, but below is an overview of the first year:
Âé¶¹ÒùÔº must be enrolled in a minimum of 5 credit hours a semester (or 6 credit hours for international students). For the first year, these credit hours mainly be made up of required classes, including one seminar credit each semester. Âé¶¹ÒùÔº may not drop classes after the deadline, as doing so will reverse their tuition remission.
Tuition remission is a benefit offered by the University that covers 100% of tuition costs for graduate students working as teaching or research assistants.
Throughout students' participation in the graduate program, students will work as teaching assistants (TA) for undergraduate courses and/or research assistants (RA). As research does not begin until a student's second semester, all first year students will work as teaching assistants in the fall semester. Teaching assistants be responsible for lab and/or recitation sections, which may include grading and classroom responsibilities.
Âé¶¹ÒùÔº will explore three research groups before choosing a research group in December of their first year. These research groups do not have to be within a student's chosen division or even within the Chemistry Department. Âé¶¹ÒùÔº will notify the Graduate Program Manager of their choice. If a student chooses an out-of-department PI, that student must also choose an in-department advisor. Then, in the spring semester, students will begin their official research under the guidance of their chosen PI.
If students do not join a research group by the end of their first year, they will likely not be able to continue with the PhD program and may get their Master's instead.
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