Analytical Chemistry Division

Classes:

• Most people take two classes first semester
• Also sign up for Analytical Seminar
• After your first semester the classes you take are guided by your research
• You will have to take 15 course credits (5 classes) for the PhD degree
• Most people take 2 classes each semester first year, followed by one fall semester class the next year (no matter how you do it, you will need five classes to advance to candidacy)
• You can also take classes outside of the Analytical Chemistry division, but 3 are required to be A.C.

Cumes:

Take them your first year, from the beginning.

You can take any section, but 3 of your passes must be in Analytical (that's half). Make sure you look at what is being offered in other divisions, because they are sometimes easier, or more suited to your expertise than the A.C. ones. The analytical cumes are usually very broad in topic range. Sometimes they will post several journal articles to read, and you should be able to answer questions about these. Sometimes professors who are teaching your classes give a cume, and this is often on current course material; take those cumes! Go to Hilary for old cumes (lots of other graduate students also have small stockpiles of them). Ideally, you want to be done before orals (fourth semester). Atmospheric students will need to check with the department regarding the rules on atmospheric cumes.

Seminar:

The Analytical Division holds a weekly seminar, and all students are required to attend weekly and participate yearly:

• Seminar is 4-5pm on Mondays
• The first semester professors will give talks about their research in an effort to help guide you towards the groups you are most interested in.
• You will be required to give a 20 minute talk each year except your second year.

Be prepared for your first year seminar; you will be scheduled to give a talk in the fall semester!
Plan to give a talk about your undergraduate research (if you did any) or some other topic of interest. Keep this in mind, so that you can track down information (ppt presentations, slides, data, etc) from old research sites.

Finding an Advisor:

It is not often stated in other books, but possibly the most important thing you will do the first semester is look for an advisor/research group.

• Make sure you take the time to schedule appointments with professors, and also make sure you go to their group meetings
• It may be a good idea to talk to them soon after they give their seminar talk; this will keep it fresh in your mind, and motivate you to get out and do it quickly.
• Even if you know exactly what you want to do, still talk to everyone in the division.

Not only will this give you a largerunderstanding of what goes on in the division, and more experience with Analytical research, but it will allow you to meet everyone in the division. It is a small place, so we know everyone, and it can be very important politically to be on good terms with all faculty.
• You can also talk to advisors outside of the division, and at NCAR, NOAA, etc.; doing research outside the division adds some complications, but is possible.
• Spend time talking to a potential advisor's students. The students in the group are the only real way to get a feel for what your life would be like in that group. They can also give you advice on other matters that aren't directly concerned with their research. Older graduate students are your most valuable resource!!