Schedule
We are meeting this semester (Fall 2025) on Tuesdays 11 am - 12:15 pm in PBB 303 (aka “the fishbowl”).
Fall 2024 resources are available here: 2024 schedule
There are also a few good general resources at the bottom on this page.
August 26
| Presenter | Elizabeth Jockusch | |
| Topic | University/department resources; Trainings; Where do EEB grads end up? | |
| Resources | Compliance, Resources and Grad. School Path slides |
Orientation Slides |
| Notes | Homework: Look through at least 1 mentoring plan (e.g., Meg Duffy’s linked below); Identify 3-5 qualities that you look for in a mentor |
September 2
| Presenter | Elizabeth Jockusch |
| Topic | Mentoring |
| Resources | Mentoring slides Mentoring plan examples Good mentoring (from Nature) Getting mentoring (from Science) Meghan Duffy’s mentoring plan outline (from Dynamic Ecology) |
| Notes | For next week, start drafting a professional website, following this guide from Paul Lewis or if you already have a professional website, take some time to update it. To enable sharing, please send me the link for your website before the start of class next week. Also, bring a list of things you wanted to do for the website or a model of what you are aiming for. We will spend some time in class working on these. |
September 9
| Presenters | Paul Lewis |
| Topic | Getting started on a website |
| Resources | Paul Lewis’s instructions |
| Notes | Homework: Identify, for next week’s discussion, a person or activity that greatly influenced your learning |
September 16
| Presenters | David Wagner & Nick Van Gilder |
| Topic | Developing as a teacher |
| Resources | slides to come Kurt’s 2024 tips on learning Tips on engaging students Tips on how to learn Benefits of Active learning for inclusivity (https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6300) Specimen-based research courses Graduate Certificate in College Instruction |
| Notes | Homework: do all of the following: (1) Identify an ethical dilemma you have faced during work/school that you are comfortable sharing with the class; (2) Read UConn’s code of conduct, especially the Research Principles section; (3) Look up the code of conduct for one professional society, meeting or academic institution of your choice |
September 23
| Presenters | Robi Bagchi & Jimmy Bernot |
| Topic | Scientific ethics |
| Resources | UConn RCR training Read this blog post And, either this or this Updated post on spider case |
| Notes | Homework:Read Lopes et al. (2018) (linked below) and identify a piece of science outreach that has influenced you in some way. Kahan (2015) (linked below) is also recommended as highly relevant |
September 30
| Presenters | Margaret Rubega and Alexandra Thornton |
| Topic | Outreach and communication outside academia |
| Resources | Kahan 2015 Lopes et al. 2018 Lupia 2013 |
| Notes | Homework: come up with at least three questions for next week’s alumni panel - email to Elizabeth, by Monday morning |
October 7
| Presenters | Stay tuned |
| Topic | Alumni panel: Careers outside academia |
| Resources | |
| Notes | Homework: identify, for next week’s discussion, 3-5 characteristics of good scientific questions |
### October 14
| Presenters | Colin Kremer, Yaowu Yuan |
| Topic | Formulating good scientific questions |
| Resources | Alon 2009 on choosing good scientific problems Schwartz 2008 on the importance of stupidity in research Founding of the NSF: text pdf Good and less good reasons for choosing a question Dan’s blog posts on finding inspiration and fads Predictability of transformative research 100 Questions in Ecology |
| Notes | Homework: Identify at least 2 journals relevant to your discipline; look up the impact factor, read the instructions to authors for each of the journals, and figure out the cost of publishing in each. |
October 21
| Presenters | Bernard Goffinet, Carlos García-Robledo |
| Topic | Writing and Publishing |
| Resources | Slides The Writing Workshop highly recommended for all grad students! guide to Peer Review (British Ecological Society) |
| Notes | Homework: Identify at least 3 places outside of UConn where you could apply to get funding that would support research you are planning, or the type of organization you’d like to work for. For each, determine the due date, how much money you can ask for, and look over the grant requirements. |
October 28
| Presenters | Mark Urban, Sarah Knutie |
| Topic | Funding your research |
| Resources | Mark’s slides Sarah’s slides Grad-compiled funding page Pivot searchable database of funding opportunities |
| Notes | Homework: Identify at least 1 annual conference or professional society specific to your discipline |
November 4
| Presenters | Karolina Heyduk, Andrius Dagilis |
| Topic | Conferences and professional societies |
| Resources | |
| Notes | Homework: come up with at least three questions for next week’s grad. panel - email to Elizabeth, by Monday morning |
November 11
| Presenters | |
| Topic | Grad panel: TAing, research & anything else you want to talk about! |
| Resources | |
| Notes | Homework: track the hours you spend on work this week (for discussion next week) |
November 18
| Presenters | Jill Wegrzyn, TBD |
| Topic | Work-life balance |
| Resources | Slides Full time is full enough 10 simple rules for balance Grad perspective on balance Achieving balance with kids |
| Notes |
November 25
| Presenters | |
| Topic | THANKSGIVING BREAK |
| Resources | |
| Notes | Homework: Bake a pie! |
December 2
| Presenters | Kent Holsinger |
| Topic | Succeeding in graduate school & Long-term goals |
| Resources | How to get the most out of your advisor Planning ahead for your job search Graduate School Timeline Plan templates Kent’s slides |
| Notes |
Useful readings
-
Some modest advice for graduate students: Steve Stearns and Ray Huey. The full exchange is on Ray Huey’s page: http://faculty.washington.edu/hueyrb/prospective.php
-
Stephen Stearns’s later reflections: http://stearnslab.yale.edu/designs-learning