GAAP is a free program, created and run by current INSTAAR grad students. They are here to help prospective grad students move through the graduate application process. The GAAP web pages have all kinds of application resources, including a sign-up link for our mentorship and application support program (sign-ups are open from September to early November). All are welcome; and we especially encourage applicants from under-represented and non-traditional academic backgrounds to use these resources.
DIVERSITY IN STEM, GEOSCIENCES, AND THIS LAB
10/21/2020
Firstly, you may recognize from photos on this web page that I am a white male. As a white male in academia, I am on a journey to provide opportunity for graduate education and research to qualified (i.e., having the appropriate educational background) students without bias. Yet I look at my history of graduate students and see that there clearly must be some bias in my selection. This is something that I am challenging myself on as new opportunities for projects and graduate student support arise.
Our lab is committed to creating a program that is inclusive of and supportive of students from all backgrounds and identities. Our lab is actively involved with the INSTAAR JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) task force. We then act to advance diversity and inclusion at many levels - from our lab to the institute, to our departments, to the broader university setting, to our professional societies and the broader Boulder area. We believe that a culture of respect and values in each of these communities will bring change within and beyond. It is our own responsibility to educate ourselves and then to act on what we have learned to promote equity and fight bias and prejudice. Starting in the fall of 2020 our lab is actively discussing these issues in weekly lab meetings to educate and challenge ourselves.
Here are some resources that have been shared by our colleague, Dr. Holly Barnard that we are using to learn and to strive toward change:
Firstly, you may recognize from photos on this web page that I am a white male. As a white male in academia, I am on a journey to provide opportunity for graduate education and research to qualified (i.e., having the appropriate educational background) students without bias. Yet I look at my history of graduate students and see that there clearly must be some bias in my selection. This is something that I am challenging myself on as new opportunities for projects and graduate student support arise.
Our lab is committed to creating a program that is inclusive of and supportive of students from all backgrounds and identities. Our lab is actively involved with the INSTAAR JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) task force. We then act to advance diversity and inclusion at many levels - from our lab to the institute, to our departments, to the broader university setting, to our professional societies and the broader Boulder area. We believe that a culture of respect and values in each of these communities will bring change within and beyond. It is our own responsibility to educate ourselves and then to act on what we have learned to promote equity and fight bias and prejudice. Starting in the fall of 2020 our lab is actively discussing these issues in weekly lab meetings to educate and challenge ourselves.
Here are some resources that have been shared by our colleague, Dr. Holly Barnard that we are using to learn and to strive toward change:
- From Scientific American:
- Several articles published in Nature:
- Gender Diversity Leads to Better Science article in PNAS
- Help that hurts women article in Inside Higher Ed
- Understanding Unconscious Bias - video by Royal Society
- Project Implicit training from Harvard University
so you want to go to graduate school?
The first question you really need to ask yourself is “why?”. There are a lot of good reasons to go to graduate school, but any answer that comes close to “…because I’m good at going to school…” is not really a strong justification. You should be excited to pursue a particular goal or learn about a specific topic in more depth. Graduate school will test your ability to think independently, to draw on the fundamentals you learned as an undergraduate student, and apply them to new, different situations, advanced problems, etc. And, typically, graduate study includes a journey toward conducting independent research to earn a MS or PhD degree. Most undergraduate students who move on to graduate school have not had the experience of conducting multi-year, in-depth, independent, self-directed projects. Hence, graduate school tests your maturity and intellectual fortitude. Graduate degrees are earned.
Below is some perspective on graduate school that will be valuable. I recommend reading this before contacting any professor about graduate studies. While there are multiple different approaches to a masters degree (and different types - Master of Science vs. Master of Engineering for example), my comments below are aimed at those who seek a MS with a thesis or PhD degree.
Here are some other great perspectives to consider as well:
Below is some perspective on graduate school that will be valuable. I recommend reading this before contacting any professor about graduate studies. While there are multiple different approaches to a masters degree (and different types - Master of Science vs. Master of Engineering for example), my comments below are aimed at those who seek a MS with a thesis or PhD degree.
Here are some other great perspectives to consider as well:
- Perspectives from the Luck Lab (Neuroscience) at UC Davis
- Perspectives from Jacquelin Gill
- Guide to Applying to Graduate School from Pathways to Science
- Advice on Applying to Graduate School from MIT
- Advice on Applying to Graduate School from UC Berkeley
First, some perspective on The faculty context
Most tenure-track or tenured professors are expected to do three types of activities – teach, conduct research, and serve. When an assistant professor starts their career, they must demonstrate mastery and contribution in all 3 of these areas, and are usually evaluated annually on their activities in these 3 areas. A tenure review occurs 5-6 years into their career that includes a lot of scrutiny (department, college and university level evaluations), including outside, anonymous evaluations of their record to date. An unfavorable evaluation results in the professor moving on to another institution or career. A favorable outcome is the granting of tenure to the individual by the institution. Generally, earning tenure comes with the promotion from assistant to associate professor. Continued proficiency and development as a scholar may also earn a promotion to the rank of Full Professor. Generally, this promotion comes with additional scrutiny (internal and external) and expectations of greater accomplishment than the previous promotion.
Most tenure-track and tenured professors are on 9-month contracts with their universities. This provides an incentive to conduct funded research because one could, for example, get 3 grants funded at the same time and be paid 1 month of summer salary on each, and thereby earn a full 12 months of salary. This scenario, however, is much more difficult to realize than it used to be.
Successful faculty members must develop an internationally recognized, extramurally funded research program. Note those two last adjectives: “internationally recognized” means that we conduct the highest level of novel research and make notable contributions to the fields in which we work, that we seek to publish our findings in the highest ranked journals, and that we are therefore recognized as experts; “extramurally funded” means that the university does not give us the funds necessary to conduct our research, and we must write grant proposals to be granted the ability to pursue our scientific projects. Funding rates at the National Science Foundation and many other federal agencies are at or below 10% (that is, fewer than 10% of the submitted proposals are funded), and must be of the highest quality and novelty to be funded. Getting funded is NOT a lottery with a 1 in 10 probability of being funded.
Most tenure-track and tenured professors are on 9-month contracts with their universities. This provides an incentive to conduct funded research because one could, for example, get 3 grants funded at the same time and be paid 1 month of summer salary on each, and thereby earn a full 12 months of salary. This scenario, however, is much more difficult to realize than it used to be.
Successful faculty members must develop an internationally recognized, extramurally funded research program. Note those two last adjectives: “internationally recognized” means that we conduct the highest level of novel research and make notable contributions to the fields in which we work, that we seek to publish our findings in the highest ranked journals, and that we are therefore recognized as experts; “extramurally funded” means that the university does not give us the funds necessary to conduct our research, and we must write grant proposals to be granted the ability to pursue our scientific projects. Funding rates at the National Science Foundation and many other federal agencies are at or below 10% (that is, fewer than 10% of the submitted proposals are funded), and must be of the highest quality and novelty to be funded. Getting funded is NOT a lottery with a 1 in 10 probability of being funded.
Now, about support During graduate school
Not unlike an undergraduate education, graduate school costs money – tuition, fees, living expenses, etc. None of this comes for free and any support provided by fellowships, teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and scholarships are all very competitive. Except for the cases of some fellowships, scholarships, and teaching assistantships, the university does not provide support for these costs. Quite the opposite, in fact! In the case of tuition and fees, the university expects these to be paid!
There are therefore several options for pursuing graduate school –
There are therefore several options for pursuing graduate school –
- Self-funded – find your own way to pay for tuition, fees, books, and living expenses through some combination of your earnings, savings, someone else’s savings, loans, etc. This is a commonly employed approach for MS students, as one generally expects to be finished with their degree in 2 years. This is rarely a strategy used by PhD students because completion of such a degree may take 3-5 years.
- Fellowships/Scholarships – generally, these are opportunities that you have identified and for which you have competed on your own merit. You can usually find a listing of such opportunities on university web pages. Many scholarships only cover a portion of costs (i.e., $5000 one-time scholarship), whereas fellowships are more likely to be ongoing for several years.
- Teaching assistantships – TA’ships are resources that are provided by academic departments to support graduate students whose expected role is to help teach courses (i.e., recitation sections, laboratory sections, etc.). TA’ships typically cover tuition for the semester of employment and a monthly stipend (fees may or may not be included too). These are always in limited supply and they are commonly used to attract excellent applicants to the institution and a specific graduate program in a department. These are typically provided on a 1 year or semester by semester basis. It is not particularly common for a graduate student to TA for the entirety of their graduate tenure. TA’ships may also be awarded to students already in a graduate program who are either having challenges finding other funding or know that they want to pursue an academic career and seek the teaching opportunities that a TA’ship provides.
- Research assistantships – This is the situation that most graduate students seek, but few of the pool of applicants to any given program may find. An RA’ship is often directly supported by a research grant awarded to a professor. Hence, the professor seeks a mature, intelligent, and serious graduate student whose interests align with the project. An RA’ship typically covers tuition and provides a monthly stipend. Clearly, these are in limited supply also and are therefore very competitive. It is important that the goals of the project be met, and the funding provided by the grant is to support the activity on the grant, NOT to pay a student to go to school. In addition, an RA’ship is not a license to study whatever you like. The fact that tuition costs are covered facilitates graduate student involvement, and provides an efficient way of combining the research expectations of a MS or PhD degree program with the scientific goals of the research project associated with the grant. Again, a faculty member therefore seeks the best possible candidate to fill this role on their funded project. [A caveat – some scientists use RA’ships as contracts to get students to work on a particular project, but the students might choose a different topic for their thesis or dissertation; that means a student does a LOT of work, arguably inefficiently in my opinion.]
Some facts and opinions about grad school & research
- Good departments/graduate programs get hundreds of graduate applications each year. Consider how yours will stand out among them...
- If you didn’t read all of the above, please note that the university does NOT provide faculty with the funds to conduct their research, in general. Faculty must seek outside funding to support their research programs and competition is exceedingly fierce.
- Universities charge overhead on research grants – typically on the order of 50%. That means, for every dollar a scientist spends from the grant, the university takes another 50 cents out to cover the costs of keeping the university running (facilities, administration, electricity, etc.). This is not an unreasonable concept, but it means that a $1000 instrument actually costs the grant $1500. This includes student and faculty pay! The only typical exceptions for these costs are ‘equipment’ (items that are >$5000 in cost), and tuition.
- Publishing research results in the peer-reviewed scientific literature is the goal of all scientists. While some may chase high numbers of papers published in a year or citation indices, the point of publishing is to get your results communicated to the world. It is common to present findings at scientific conferences, but the audience is often limited to those in the room at the time, and there is no peer review required for what is presented. Hence the adages “Publish or perish”, and “If you didn’t publish it, you didn’t do it.” (which really means, if you didn’t publish your results, you can’t expect anyone to know about them and understand their implications)
- Federally funded research grants often require scientists to address broader impacts of the proposed research. I have 2 ways of considering broader impacts: 1) what will the value of the scientific advance be if this work is completed; and 2) how will the science team reach out beyond the science community to education and/or otherwise inform the general public about their research.
My philosophy on graduate research
I seek excellent graduate students. I have to hold high standards because I require the best team I can assemble to pursue each of my research projects. This is the best way to ensure a successful outcome of the project, including carefully executed scientific activities, broader impacts activities, and publishing of findings in the highest level journals possible. As scientists, we cannot settle for less than excellence when the opportunities for funding are so few, and the weight of the outcomes of a project are so great, with respect to our careers. Therefore, we are not in the business of supporting students just because they want to go to graduate school. We often view our research resources as an investment in an outcome, as well as in the development of young scientists.
I mentor my students on all aspects of science – from developing ideas, to formulating careful plans, to writing proposals, to communicating ideas and findings clearly, to the politics of science and academia. I seek students who can work independently AND be team players in the broader science or laboratory groups in which they work. I seek hard-working students who are creative in problem solving and resourceful. Much of my research includes field work, and I therefore often have to find students who can persevere under sometimes strenuous situations outdoors. I want my students to be successful, and I do what I can to guide them to success, but the degree that is conferred is theirs (I have 3 and don’t need any more), and therefore they must earn their degree.
I like to have research group meetings weekly to bring everyone together to share in accomplishments and challenges, and to promote team cohesion and mentoring within the group. I do not care to look over everyone’s shoulder, but I also need to know that each student is making sufficient progress. I also schedule regular meetings with each student in my group to discuss their progress and where to go next.
If you want to become part of the Gooseff Research Group, please feel free to contact me. Please also note that I can advise graduate students in the Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Environmental Studies Programs at the University of Colorado.
I mentor my students on all aspects of science – from developing ideas, to formulating careful plans, to writing proposals, to communicating ideas and findings clearly, to the politics of science and academia. I seek students who can work independently AND be team players in the broader science or laboratory groups in which they work. I seek hard-working students who are creative in problem solving and resourceful. Much of my research includes field work, and I therefore often have to find students who can persevere under sometimes strenuous situations outdoors. I want my students to be successful, and I do what I can to guide them to success, but the degree that is conferred is theirs (I have 3 and don’t need any more), and therefore they must earn their degree.
I like to have research group meetings weekly to bring everyone together to share in accomplishments and challenges, and to promote team cohesion and mentoring within the group. I do not care to look over everyone’s shoulder, but I also need to know that each student is making sufficient progress. I also schedule regular meetings with each student in my group to discuss their progress and where to go next.
If you want to become part of the Gooseff Research Group, please feel free to contact me. Please also note that I can advise graduate students in the Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Environmental Studies Programs at the University of Colorado.