Chemistry and Biochemistry Graduate Program

1. Chemistry and Biochemistry Graduate Program 08/09/2019

2. Your Resources Green Book — curriculum, standards, and procedures Betty Maldonado, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry Dr. Nielsen, Graduate Advisor 4) The Office of Graduate Studies https://graduate.utdallas.edu/ 5) Dr. Stefan, Graduate Associate Dean, NS&M

3. 4 orientation / training sessions Chemistry orientation—August 9 (this one!) International orientation—August 13, 14 (2 days). TA/RA orientation. Friday, August 16, from 1:30-4:30 pm, SSA Theater campus-wide Graduate Student Orientation Sunday, August 18, from 1:00-2:15 pm, Activity Center Gym

4. Faculty Presentations (students should choose an advisor by Nov. 1) organized by the Chemistry Graduate Student Association Tuesday August 20, 1:30 – 3:00pm, BSB 13.102J Wednesday August 21, 1:30 – 3:00pm, BSB 13.102J Thursday August 22, 1:00 –2:30pm, BSB 13.102J

5. Core Courses (9 credit hours) Graduate students have to complete three of the five listed core courses with a grade of B (3.0 grade point) or better. If a grade of B or better is not obtained in a core course, the course must be retaken. CHEM 5314 Advanced Physical Chemistry CHEM 5331 Advanced Organic Chemistry CHEM 5341 Advanced Inorganic Chemistry CHEM 5355 Analytical Techniques • CHEM 5361 Advanced Biochemistry

6. Required Communication Course (3 credit hours) CHEM 6389 Scientific Literature and Communication Skills All graduate students are required to complete CHEM 6389 course with a grade B or higher. The selected three core courses and CHEM 6389 should be completed successfully (with grades of B or higher) within the first two semesters in the program.

7. Elective Courses • Ph.D. students must take two upper level elective courses, at least one from Chemistry, that are approved by the student’s faculty research advisor and the Chemistry Graduate Advisor • Ph.D. students are expected to complete these six required courses within the first two years of their enrollment • CHEM 8399 is also required as part of the preparation of the dissertation.

8. Fall 2019 courses • CHEM 5314(core) Dr. Nielsen Advanced Physical Chemistry CHEM 5331(core) Dr. Gassensmith • Advanced Organic Chemistry • CHEM 6389 (required) Dr. Chan • Scientific Literature and Communication Skills CHEM 6V59 (elective) Dr. D’Arcy • Special Topics Analytical Chemistry • (Theory and Application of Bio-Analytical Techniques) • CHEM 6361 (elective) Dr. Meloni • Physical Biochemistry

9. Spring 2020 courses CHEM 5341 (core) Dr.Dodani • Advanced Inorganic Chemistry CHEM 5361(core) Dr. D’Arcy • Advanced Biochemistry • CHEM 5355 (core) Dr. Zheng • Analytical Techniques CHEM 6V39 (elective) Dr. Ferraris • Special Topics Organic Chemistry: Polymers • CHEM 5333 (elective) Dr. Ahn • Advanced Organic Chemistry II

10. Research Requirements and Standards Select a faculty advisor. This process should be completed by November 1st of the first year 2) The Supervising Committee will be made up of the student’s research advisor plus three other Chemistry faculty members (Chemistry affiliate faculty members can be part of the committee) 3) Qualifying Examination (for PhD students) 4) You have the option to get the MS degree while working towards your PhD

11. MS Degree (Optional for PhD Students) • Students have the option of completing a thesis Master’s degree as part of their doctoral candidacy preparation, unless this requirement has been satisfied at the time of admission • The M.S. research project may be conducted in the same laboratory as the doctoral degree research or, in order to gain a broader research experience, in another laboratory • Students who are enrolled in the Ph.D. program but who choose to obtain theoptional M.S. degree should inform their faculty research advisor at the earliest possible date so that an appropriate M.S. research project may be chosen • REQUIREMENT FOR THE MS DEGREE: • The required 3 CORE COURSES and CHEM 6389 (12 credit hours) • Minimum12 semester hours of research (CHEM 8V91, Research in Chemistry); a minimum of 30 hours total coursework must be satisfied • CHEM 8398 (Thesis) • The M.S. research project must be defended by the end of the student’s second year. Each student is required to defend the M.S. project in an open defense

12. Qualifying Examination Prior to a decision on doctoral candidacy, all Ph.D. students must take the Qualifying Examination (QE). The goal of the QE is to assess a student’s research aptitude and ability to apply fundamental knowledge to a research project. The QE consists of three parts: Part 1 is a Literature Seminar in May of year 1 (all students attend) What is the background for your research area? Part 2 is a Research Proposalin Fall of year 2 (committee only) What do you plan to do? Part 3 is a Research Presentation in Spring of year 2 (committee only) What have you actually done?

13. Part 1. Literature Seminar (in the student’s research area) Rubric: - read and synthesize a body of literature (not just a single paper) - critically assess literature - provide perspective Format:- 30-minute presentation + 10 minutes of questions - symposium format - two awards will be given for the best presentations When: - May of year 1 Assessment: - peer assessment and faculty evaluation

14. Qualifying Examination Part 1

15. Qualifying Examination Part 1

16. Part 2. Research Proposal Rubric: - understand the project (including background and methodology) - define hypotheses/aims - articulate alternative or new strategies (beyond PI’s idea) - defend significance - quality of written document Format: - 2500-word proposal (not including figures or references) - written report due two weeks before closed-door session - closed-door session with committee

17. Part 3. Research Presentation Rubric: - design, conduct and interpret experiments - demonstrate progress and work ethic - has a quality result leading to publication - future ideas Format: - 30-minute talk - closed-door session with committee

18. Milestones Agreement Form • This form is provided for the purpose of informing students about the academic milestones that they will be expected to reach in order to earn their Ph.D. degree as well as when they are expected to complete these milestones.   • Students are expected to reach each milestone within the specified time period in order to make satisfactory progress through the program. Students who are not making satisfactory progress may lose funding, be placed on academic probation, or be dismissed from the program. • Complete Milestones Agreement Form (Betty Maldonado has the forms to be completed during the orientation)

19. Academic Dishonesty Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, facilitating academic dishonesty, fabrication, failure to contribute to a collaborative project, and sabotage. Information about Academic Dishonesty can be found at the following link: http://www.utdallas.edu/deanofstudents/dishonesty/ • Some of the less obvious ways students may engage in academic dishonesty include: • 1) Citing false references or findings in research or other academic exercises; • 2) Downloading text from the Internet or other sources without proper attribution/citation; • 3) Fabricating data for lab assignments and research • 4) Submitting a paper written by someone else • 5) Unauthorized collaborating with another person in preparing academic exercises • 6) Lifting paragraphs or full sentences form published sources without proper citation of the resource  pay special attention to assigned homework for courses