Winter Term: PhD students are admitted with a commitment to a specific research group.
Fall Term: PhD students are admitted to a pool, without a commitment to a specific research group. Below is the timeline for the student-faculty matching process for Fall Term admits:
- December/January/February: Fall term admits to the PhD program are notified of admission and invited to visit during two possible visit dates in March or during a weekend of his/her choice.
- March/April: During the group visits, PhD students are exposed to potential research topics during brief presentations by all research-active faculty, individual visits with faculty, and laboratory tours by current students and post-docs. Similar arrangements are made for those who visit individually.
- May-August: Although the Fall term admits to the PhD program are not required to choose the advisor prior to the fall term, some matching is done during the visit or through communications afterwards. In addition, some domestic PhD students arrive in the summer to get started on research projects.
- August/September: Upon arrival in the fall, the Grad Chair encourages PhD students to meet with at least 3 research groups prior to making a final decision on an advisor. To facilitate the process, a series of 30-minute presentations by research-active faculty are made during the first 2-3 weeks of the semester.
- October 31: PhD students should choose an advisor by October 31. The choice is documented by an email from the PhD student to the Grad Coordinator, who then confirms with the faculty member via email. In consultation with the Grad Coordinator, the Grad Chair follows up with those PhD students who have not yet chosen an advisor. For example, the Grad Chair may inform the student of GSRA openings and offer to introduce him/her to potential advisors.