In general, I will take students via Kent's Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Graduate program. Typical master's programs are 2 years, and typical PhDs will take 5 years. In our programs, students typically take 2-3 classes per semester during their first two years of study. Some of these courses will be prescribed by the program, and others will be selected in conjunction with your committee, based on students interests, goals, and project.
Each student will complete original research as the core goal of their graduate program. "Research" is dificult to quantify in the context of a grad program at an Ohio public university without using the constructs of western (Eurocentric) academic standards, but generally the expectation is that the quantum we use is a "paper" and a MS student will produce 1-3 papers of research and a PhD student will produce 3-5. Original scientific software, a lucid database interface, or a major extension document might also 'count' as a quantum of research for our purposes.
I expect students to complete an extensive literature review of their topic in their first year of study- this will be the underpinning of all your future research: it is essential you know what's been done in the field previously before you know how you can build on it by addressing your specific problem.
Below is a rough timeline, with approximate order of tasks you'll be expected to complete over the course of your degree program. We defer to the official rules from the program handbook but these are the general milestones with the approximate timing of things that we strive for in my lab.
Offical program checklist here
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Choose classes for first semester (summer before you start)
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Start literature review
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Form advisory committee (by December)
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Program of study form
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Take classes
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Design research (write proposal and submit to committee by April)
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Complete literature review
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Begin experiments/data collection
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Proposal presentation to committee
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Thesis topic form (near end of first year)
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Summer of research
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Complete classes
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Continue research/data collection
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Write up first experiment/product
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Host a committee meeting to update your committee
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Design, deploy second and subsequent experiments
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Update literature review
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Write thesis
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Complete defense and oral examination
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Make revisions and submit final thesis
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Submit all program forms
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Graduate!
Offical program checklist here
-
Choose classes for first semester (summer before you start)
-
Start literature review
-
Form advisory committee (by December)
-
Program of study form
-
Take classes
-
Design research (write proposal and submit to committee by April)
-
Complete literature review
-
Begin experiments/data collection
-
First summer of research
-
Complete classes
-
Continue research/data collection
-
Write up first experiment/product
-
Host a committee meeting to update your committee
-
Design, deploy second experiments
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Candidacy exam (by end of spring semester)
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Second summer of research
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Write prospectus
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Host a committee meeting to update your committee
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Present prospectus (by end of fall)
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Continue research
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Update literature review
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Host a committee meeting to update your committee
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Begin writing dissertation
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Continue research
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Complete research
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Host a committee meeting to update your committee
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Write dissertation
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Submit papers/products
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Complete defense and oral examination
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Make revisions and submit final dissertation
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Submit all program forms
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Graduate!