Criteria used to award the First-year Graduate Research Assistantship (Science
and Engineering)
To encourage the recruitment of excellent graduate students to the program, the GEC
will nominate one newly admitted student to be a research assistant for one year (the
student’s first year). Subsequent funding in succeeding years will be provided by a
faculty advisor (supporting the student as an RA) or the department (supporting the
student as a TA).
The GEC will select a student from amongst the pool of applicants using the following
criteria:
1. Graduate Record Exam percentile scores and grade point averages, especially
in science courses.
2. Research experience.
3. Publications, either abstracts or manuscripts.
4. Previous scholarships or awards.
5. Letters of reference.
6. Personal statement describing career goals, research interests and experience.
Faculty eligible to train the fellow must have sufficient funding to support the fellow’s
research activities during rotation, and for one year beginning with semester two.
The fellow is required to do two (2) research rotations in two (2) different laboratories
during the first semester (7 weeks duration each). It is expected that the student will
select an eligible laboratory in which to perform thesis work at the beginning of
semester two.
A fellow supported by this mechanism does not qualify a faculty advisor for a matching
Graduate Research Assistantship funded by the department.
Approved by the PPS faculty 4 November 2011