Fall Graduate Seminar
CHEM 691
Welcome Address from GPD
Outline
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Introductions
Program Structure
Goals of Seminar
Website:
http://alpha.chem.umb.edu/chemistry/Semi
nar/chem691index
M.S. in Chemistry
• Six courses
– Synthetic Organic or Physical Organic
– Inorganic; Synthesis and Analysis or
Inorganic; Structure and Reactivity
– Quantum Mechanics and Spectroscopy or
Thermodynamics
– Three additional elective courses
• Literature Seminar
• Thesis Defense
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
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Literature Seminar
Written Qualifying Exam
Oral Qualifying Exam
Dissertation Defense
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
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
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
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.
Format of the Literature seminar
• Powerpoint Presentation
– Introduction
– Experimental Methods and Design
– Data
– Discussion
– Conclusion
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.
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
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
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
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.
AGSR
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Once a year
Self evaluation
Advisors approval
GPD’s approval
Comments back to you
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