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Fall Graduate Seminar CHEM 691

Fall Graduate Seminar CHEM 691. Welcome Address from GPD. Outline. Introductions Program Structure Goals of Seminar Website: http://alpha.chem.umb.edu/chemistry/Seminar/chem691index. M.S. in Chemistry. Six courses Synthetic Organic or Physical Organic

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Fall Graduate Seminar CHEM 691

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  1. Fall Graduate SeminarCHEM 691 Welcome Address from GPD

  2. Outline • Introductions • Program Structure • Goals of Seminar • Website: http://alpha.chem.umb.edu/chemistry/Seminar/chem691index

  3. M.S. in Chemistry • Six courses • Synthetic Organic or Physical Organic • Inorganic; Synthesis and Analysis or Inorganic; Structure and Reactivity • Quantum Mechanics andSpectroscopy or Thermodynamics • Three additional elective courses • Literature Seminar • Thesis Defense

  4. Ph.D. in Green Chemistry • Six courses • Synthetic Organic or Physical Organic • Inorganic; Synthesis and Analysis or Inorganic; Structure and Reactivity • Quantum Mechanics and Spectroscopy or Thermodynamics • Green Chemistry and Chemical Toxicology • One elective course • Literature Seminar • Written Qualifying Exam • Oral Qualifying Exam • Dissertation Defense

  5. Ideal Timeline for full-time MS Track Semester 1 Two courses, choose research advisor Semester 2 Two courses, begin research, select your thesis committee Semester 3 Two courses, literature seminar, continue research Semester 4 Finish research, write thesis Second Summer Defend thesis

  6. Ideal Timeline for full-time Ph.D. Track Year 1 Four courses, choose research advisor, begin research, select dissertation committee Year 2 Two courses, literature seminar, continue research Year 3 Written qualifying exam, continue research Year 4 Oral qualifying exam, continue research Year 5 Finish research, write and defend dissertation

  7. Literature Seminar • 40 minute talk as part of this course (691/692) • On subject of interest, should have limited overlap with any on-going research in the department (especially from advisor’s research) • Should obtain guidance from research advisor in selecting a topic • Must get approval of topic from GPD

  8. More on Literature Seminar • Make sure your talk focuses on chemistry • Base your talk on a article from the primary literature (avoid review articles) • Skim your favorite journal to select an article • Background; Use references from this article to obtain secondary articles/perform a key word searches • Do not be afraid to stop and start over from scratch a few times to find the right topic for you.

  9. Format of the Literature seminar • Powerpoint Presentation • Introduction • Experimental Methods and Design • Data • Discussion • Conclusion

  10. Format of the Literature Seminar Continued • It is better to go in depth than to go too broad and only scratch the surface. • Give brief broad introduction to connected to the world we live in. Why should we care? How does the work your going to talk about fit in? • How was the experiments carried out. • Critical examination of data. • Summary and discussion of significance and what comes next; the next logical step in this line of research.

  11. Written Qualifying Exam • Six exams in one day based on six articles from the primary literature • Articles are distributed six weeks in advance • In addition to the articles, the exams can focus on material from core courses • More on strategy in approaching the WQE next week

  12. Oral Qualifying Exam • You must prepare a research proposal in an area of study that is sufficiently removed from your dissertation research and other research interests being pursued within our department • When choosing a topic, obtain suggestions from research advisor • You must get approval from your dissertation committee and GPD before deciding on a topic

  13. More on the Oral Qualifying Exam • You must follow NIH or NSF proposal guidelines, including the formatting of the sections, but with the exception that you must stay within a 15 pg limit (You should shoot for between 12-15 pgs). • I suggest you ask you advisor, GPD or other faculty member for a copy of one of their funded proposals that you could use as a guide for the format • You should revise back and forth several times with your advisor and forward your proposal to your committee only after approval from your advisor • Must get approval from committee before scheduling a public, oral defense of your proposal

  14. Thesis Guidelines • You should communicate regularly with your advisor to ensure that you are on track to graduate in a reasonable time span. • You should revise your thesis back and forth several times with your advisor and forward your proposal to your committee only after approval from your advisor. • You should obtain and closely follow the formatting guidelines from the Graduate Office. In addition to the guidelines from the graduate office, your style and formatting must confirm to the ACS (American Chemical Society) Style Manual. • Must get approval from committee before scheduling a public, oral defense of your research.

  15. AGSR • Once a year • Self evaluation • Advisors approval • GPD’s approval • Comments back to you

  16. Goals of Seminar • Introduction to departmental research/help to choose an advisor • Workshop for learning how to structure research talks • Practice giving scientific talks • Forum for the Literature Seminar • Practice for defense proposals

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