Handbook for Graduate Student Advisors

 

Introduction.

 

This document represents an effort to acquaint new (and sometimes old) graduate student advisors with the Department of Astronomy’s general policies and procedures to outline the responsibilities advisors have both to the student and the Department. It is broken down into three sections, the first for “academic” advisors, the second for research project advisors and the third for thesis advisors. Along the way, we also describe some of the requirements for research exams and theses. A more complete description of those requirements is in the GSAS Handbook for Students.

 

Note that Research and Thesis Advisors also serve as academic advisors for the students working with them, and, as such, are responsible with the student for the student’s continued academic (courses, teaching) progress.

 

 

Academic Advising

 

Academic advisors are assigned to all incoming graduate students by the Chair of the Department of Astronomy.  Academic advisors are responsible for guiding students through the Department’s academic program which includes course work, identifying research advisors, and completing departmental requirements and prerequisites e.g ensuring that a student has fulfilled the Department’s physics, math and astronomy background requirements).  In this, the academic advisor is aided by the Committee on Academic Studies (the CAS), which reviews the study plans submitted annually by students after review the academic advisor.  The Department’s course and background requirements can be found in the GSAS Handbook, on the departmental web page and in the departmental study plan form for first year students.

 

One of the primary jobs of a student’s initial academic advisor is to help the student identify research areas/topics they might be interested in pursuing for a research project and to identify for the student people who might serve as advisors in such areas.  Advisors can come from any member of the CfA scientific staff, although the Department very strongly discourages students choosing postdoctoral fellows or emeritus staff as either research project or thesis advisors.  (University rules also govern who can serve). This is not to say that students can’t work with postdocs, but that the primary research advisor be someone with a sufficiently long institutional timescale. The academic advisor should ensure that the student chooses a research topic and advisor before the end of their first semester.

 

After a student has chosen a research topic and advisor (with the consent of the CAS), that advisor then becomes the student’s academic advisor and is responsible for helping the student meet the Department’s academic and teaching requirements.  Individuals who become advisors and who are not familiar with the departmental and University rules and requirements are strongly encouraged to contact the CAS and Department.  Almost all the necessary information for advisors and students is available on-line.

 

 

Research Projects and Exams

 

The research project is a small, moderately independent Project which is intended to both give a student an opportunity to engage in graduate level research and also give the Department of Astronomy the opportunity to assess a student’s ability to progress to doctoral research and the Ph.D.

 

The advisor’s responsibility is to guide the student through the research process leading to a timely completion of the research project (preferably before the start of the student’s 3rd academic year).  This means maintaining an overview of both the progress of the student and the scope of the project, and providing the necessary resources, be they computing, data, observations or other. 

 

The advisor, soon after working with the student to chose the research topic, should help the student prepare a Research Exam proposal for the department (the CAS) as well as suggest to the CAS members of the Research Exam Committee (REC). This is the committee that will eventually review the student’s work at an oral exam, but which may need to meet before the exam to provide additional advice to the student and advisor and report to the department on the student’s progress. The advisor chairs the REC, and on completion of the project, the Research Exam itself.  Research Exam Committes will typically have people, both theoretical and observational/experimental, with expertise in the student's research topic or related fields.  Postdoctoral fellows will generally not be members of such committees except as approved by the CAS.

 

In addition, the advisor shares responsibility with the student for making sure the REC is apprised of the student’s progress, for scheduling the Research Exam and for ensuring that the REC obtains the necessary materials (e.g. the research paper) well in advance of the exam (at least one week, unless all members of the committee agree to a shorter timescale). Research papers are often publishable works, but need not be so. They should contain sufficient intellectual content that the department can be assured of the student’s ability to conduct independent research.

 

After successful completion of the Research Exam, the Research Advisor will normally help the student both complete any work necessary to make the results publishable, and help the student find a thesis project, perhaps on another topic or with another advisor.

 

 

 

Thesis Research

 

The doctoral thesis represents a major piece of independent research which is usually the final requirement for a Ph.D. The guidelines for theses are University wide and can be found in the GSAS handbook.  The thesis advisor is responsible for guiding a student to a thesis topic and project of sufficient intellectual content and one that can be completed in a reasonable time.  Currently both the Department and the University view students beyond their 6th year as "at risk."  As a guide to what constitutes a thesis, all past Astronomy Department theses are cataloged in the Wolbach Library.  A highly successful thesis of great intellectual content is the first key to academic success after graduate school.

 

The thesis advisor should work with the student to submit a thesis proposal to the department (CAS), usually within 2-3 months of the completion of the student’s research exam.  The advisor and student should also suggest to the CAS members of the Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC).  This committee is to meet once a semester and provide both advice to the student and updates on the student’s progress to the department.  The chair of the TAC is chosen by the CAS and is not the advisor.  The advisor, student and TAC chair share responsibility for holding timely TAC meetings. The TAC Chair should be sure to meet with the student independently at least once a year

 

TAC meetings are meant both to assess the student's progress toward completion of the thesis and also to provide additional advice and contacts to the student for the research problem.  They can be informal, but it is often the case that a student will provide a short writeup, a draft paper and/or a presentation on their current work if that is appropriate.  TAC meetings are not exams.  A written report of each TAC meeting should be prepared by the TAC chair, signed by the committee members and submitted to the CAS in a timely manner. The forms are available from the Department's web site.  Students will see copies of these reports.

 

The thesis advisor is responsible for ensuring that the student has or can get all the necessary resources to successfully complete the thesis.  (This does not include ensuring good weather for an observational thesis(!), but does include helping the student obtain other data or modify the project such that it can be completed in a timely manner. Often TAC members, having been selected as people interested in the student’s field of study, can help here as well.)   

 

The thesis advisor chairs the student’s final oral exam.

The advisor and student are jointly responsible for suggesting members of the Thesis Defense Committee to the department (CAS).  The TAC normally, as a cognizant group, will make up the bulk of the final oral committee, but

scheduling constraints may require a different composition.  Note that University rules require that the committee contain at least two faculty members, and Department rules require an external examiner (a faculty or staff member from outside Harvard and the CfA).

 

Again, the advisor and student share the responsibility for ensuring that the committee receives the necessary material well in advance of the exam (a good guide here, given the length of most theses, is at least two weeks before the oral).  It is often the case that draft chapters of the thesis will have been presented to the TAC in advance of submission. By University rules, the student must present her/his work at a public colloquium before the oral exam.