University of Chicago Social Psychology Program Graduate Student Handbook. Fall 2003

Transcription

1 University of Chicago Social Psychology Program Graduate Student Handbook Fall 2003

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS The Requirements Departmental Requirements Curriculum... 4 Trial Research Project... 4 Dissertation... 5 Social Psychology Program Requirements Additional Curriculum: Methods Sequence, Content Seminars, etc... 5 First Year Project... 7 A Guide to Generals... 7 Curriculum Committee Requirements Checklist Sample Completed Checklist Beyond the Requirements Colloquia and Roundtable Discussions Lab Meetings Advising Professional Affiliations and Conferences Psychology Graduate Student s Association Funding Stipends and Fellowships TAing Travel and Research Awards External Funding National Science Foundation (NSF) National Research Service Awards (NRSAs) Resources Computing On Campus Computer Accounts Support Services Administrative Resources Important People to Know The Psychology Department Office PAGE 2

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Student Offices and Laboratory Space Keys and Mail Copies Campus Libraries Grad Student Lounge The University at Large Registration The Chicago Card Health Services and Insurance Financial Services Security Campus Tours Your Neighborhood, Hyde Park Housing Banking Free Food Home Sweet Hyde Park Restaurants Grocery stores Shopping Bookstores Recreation Movie Theaters Working Out Nightlife Sweet Home Chicago Transportation Culture Attractions Hotspots PAGE 3

4 THE REQUIREMENTS Departmental Requirements Curriculum The curriculum requirements for the department are relatively light and should be completed by the end of your second year in the program. Keep in mind that both undergraduates and graduate students register together for most classes in the Psychology Department. Also note that graduate students cannot receive credit for classes taught by other graduate students. Proseminar: One-quarter course taken in the Fall quarter of the first year in which faculty members give a summary of their ongoing research. This introduces new students to the range of research interests in the department. Statistics: Three courses: (1) Statistics 220 (Statistical methods and applications), or a more advanced statistics course; (2) Psychology 373 (Experimental design I); and (3) Psychology 379 (Experimental design II). Trial Research Seminar: Two-quarter seminar (one quarter is taken in the Spring of the first year, and one quarter is taken in the Fall of the second year). The purpose of this seminar is to help students formulate and complete their trial research projects. Core Courses: Students are required to take three of the following five core courses: Biological Psychology (Psych 303); Cognitive Psychology (Psych 304); Developmental Psychology (Psych 305); Social Psychology (Psych 306); and Sensation and Perception (Psych 380). These courses will be offered every year. Minor Area: Students must take three graduate courses that provide coherent coverage of a discipline outside of psychology that complements a student's course of study within psychology (e.g., computer science, neurobiology, linguistics, philosophy, anthropology, mathematics, statistics beyond the courses required, etc.). The department guidelines state that these courses must be approved by the Curriculum Committee before the student enrolls in them, although this is rarely done. The minor area courses may be taken pass-fail. Trial Research Project Each student completes a trial research project under the guidance of a faculty advisor by the end of the 7th week of the Spring quarter of the student's second year. A. At the start of the project, each student must form a trial research committee, composed of three faculty members. Typically, the chair of the committee is the student's primary research advisor. The chair of the committee must be a faculty or emeritus faculty member in the Psychology Department. At least one other member of the committee must be a faculty, emeritus faculty or affiliated faculty member in the Psychology Department. The third member of the committee may be from outside of the Psychology Department, provided that the chair of the trial research committee gives his or her approval. B. The student must submit a proposal for the trial research project to his or her committee for their approval. Essential to this approval is the committee's decision that the project can feasibly be completed by the end of the second year. C. On Friday of the seventh week of the spring quarter of the student's second year a written report of the trial research project is due. D. The student will defend the trial research paper at a hearing with his or her committee before the end of the Spring quarter. PAGE 4

5 THE REQUIREMENTS E. The student's committee will have evaluated the report, and will have submitted a written evaluation to the Curriculum and Student Affairs Committee by the end of the spring quarter. F. Completion of the trial research project is a prerequisite for Ph.D. candidacy. Dissertation A. To begin the dissertation process, a student must form a three-member dissertation committee consisting of a chairperson and two other faculty members. Typically, the chair is the student's primary research advisor. The chair of the dissertation committee must be a faculty or emeritus faculty member in the Psychology Department. At least one other member of the committee must be a faculty, emeritus faculty or affiliated faculty member in the Psychology Department. The third member of the committee may be from outside of the Psychology Department, provided that the Curriculum and Student Affairs Committee and the chair of the dissertation committee give their approval. B. Once a dissertation committee exists, the student must formulate an independent research project to be carried out under the committee's guidance. The student will then prepare a written dissertation proposal and submit it to his or her committee. When the student's advisor agrees, the student may schedule an oral defense of the proposal. C. To be admitted to Ph.D. candidacy, a student must have successfully completed: (1) the Common Graduate Curriculum (including the statistics, breadth and University language requirement); (2) the course requirements specified by a program or an individual course of study approved by the Curriculum and Student Affairs Committee; (3) a trial research project; (4) approval of the dissertation proposal by all members of the student's dissertation committee following the oral defense. D. The completed thesis must be submitted to all three committee members. When the student's advisor agrees, the student may schedule an oral defense of the dissertation. The oral exam is administered by four members of the University community: the three members of the dissertation committee and an outside reader. The outside reader may be a faculty member at the University of Chicago, or a scientist at another institution. The outside reader must be approved by the thesis advisor. If, after the oral defense, all committee members approve the thesis, the student has met the Psychology Department's requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Social Psychology Program Requirements In addition to the Divisional and Departmental requirements, there are a number of requirements specific to the Social Psychology program. For more detail, check out Additional Curriculum Research Methods Sequence Social psychology students are expected to complete a few courses above and beyond the Statistics and Methods requirements for the department. The entire sequence (including Departmental requirements) looks like this: Course 1: Probability and Statistics (Fall of Year 1) A course on the basic skills of probability and statistics. This course should develop proficiency up to the level of ordinary least squares regression. This course is a prerequisite for all other courses. Statistics 220, Statistical Methods and Their Applications Health Studies 321, Introduction to Biostatistics PAGE 5

6 THE REQUIREMENTS Course 2: Course 3: Course 4: Course 5: Introduction to Experimental Design and Analysis I (Spring of Year 1) This course should cover the basic principles of experimental design, statistical models, and statistical analysis. Psychology 373, Experimental Design Introduction to Experimental Design and Analysis II (Spring of Year 1) This course is a continuation of Experimental Design I and will discuss additional methods of experimental design and statistical analysis. Advanced Regression Methods (Fall of Year 2) This course is a broad survey that will take students beyond the basics of ordinary least squares regression and introduce them to alternative functional forms and alternative estimation techniques. GSB 322, Applied Regression Analysis Health Studies 324, Applied Regression Analysis PoliSci 307, Introduction to Linear Models Philosophy of Science (Winter of Year 2) This course would function as a practicum for addressing important issues when conducting research, come topics might include ethical concerns or field vs. laboratory research. Psych 452, Advanced Experimental Social Psychology Health Studies 351, Introduction to Health Services Research School of Social Services Administration (Lambert) Research Methods Course 6: Elective Methods Course (Spring of Year 2) Psych 475/ Pub Pol 418, Questionnaire Design Psych 386/SSA 451, Construction and Analysis of Tests and Questionnaires Psych 435, Human Psychophysiology Advanced Topics in Experimental Research Advanced Topics in Non-experimental Statistics SocSci 309, Overview of Survey Research SSA 302, Social Intervention: Research and Evaluation GSB 426, Time Series Analysis for Forecasting and Model Building Health Studies 326, Analysis of Categorical Data Health Studies 331, Introduction to Survival Analysis Content Seminar Sequence Four content seminars, chosen from the following offerings, are required prior to graduation: Attitudes and Social Influence Affect and Emotion Social Cognition Cultural Psychology (Psych 330) Social Neuroscience (Psych 485) Social and Emotional Development Topics in Experimental Social Psychology (Psych 397/398/399) Research & Scholarship Sequence PAGE 6

7 THE REQUIREMENTS Enrollment in Practicum is required in each quarter of the first two years; enrollment in Laboratory is required in each quarter of the remaining years Special Topics in Social Psychology [repeatable] (Norms, conventions, ethics, publishing, and other topics of interest in becoming a social psychologist along with direct experience in laboratory and field research methods) Social Psychology [repeatable] (Current research topics and issues in social psychology as presented by area faculty and invited visiting faculty) First Year Project Research is the top priority of the Social Psychology Program at the University of Chicago. Underscoring this emphasis is the requirement that all graduate students in the program complete a research project during their first year. This first year project is not as formally defined as the trial research project. The timeline and requirements for this project are left largely to the discretion of the student and his/her faculty advisor, with one exception: upon completion, all students will present their first year projects to the social psychology program faculty. The presentation should be formatted as if it was a talk to be delivered at a conference: minutes in length with 2-3 minutes for questions. A Guide to Generals Students in the Social Psychology Program are required to take and pass general examinations during their third year in the program. There are three parts to the General Exam: 1. Written Exam (must be completed before the first week of the first quarter of the third year) 2. Oral Defense (must be completed before the end of the first quarter of the third year) 3. The Take-Home exam The smart folk at the Ohio State University have assembled the following suggestions for studying for and taking Generals: When to Study Suggestions offered by students ranged from starting the first quarter of your first year to allotting at least the month before generals to begin studying. The essence of the advice can be summed up with: Don t wait until the last minute! If you've been doing what you're supposed to do during your undergraduate years and your first two years of grad school, such as going to classes, doing the assigned readings, and attending colloquia, you already have a good start on Generals preparation. You probably know more than you think you do. What to Study Look over Generals questions from past years to get a sense of the scope of the questions. This may be more helpful after you have done some reading because looking at the list of questions before you've studied can be very intimidating. Nevertheless, you can get some idea of the types of questions that the faculty tends to ask. Many students found the Handbook of Social Psychology (1998) really useful in two ways. First, it allows students to get a handle on a research area without reading hundreds of empirical papers. Second, the organization provided by the author(s) will provide a framework for thinking about a particular area, especially the chapters on historical perspective. Hopefully, as you study, you will begin to group different PAGE 7

8 THE REQUIREMENTS experiments and research areas conceptually. This emerging conceptual framework will be a huge help in answering Generals questions. After reading the historical chapters and the others, reading in-depth on some of the prevalent topics in social psychology is a good idea. Choose these topics based on the syllabi of recent graduate-level classes, and based on what you hear are the current interests of the social psychology professors. Another potentially helpful source is the Social Cognition book by Fiske and Taylor. Knowledge of the book's contents can help in answering a large variety of questions. Though the book is getting older, it is still a very useful tool. Read reviews and discuss them with your cohort and others. Don't concentrate on the specific examples too much, but be able to cite at least one for any major idea or method. Reread your class notes and articles assigned for courses; read Annual Review chapters and other summaries of current research; read important original empirical papers; skim through some recent current journals. Take this opportunity to read some of the historical works in the field (e.g., Allport, Festinger). You should be getting a broader sense of the field don t just try to memorize and cram. Use this opportunity to think about what the field knows, what the open questions are and how we got to where we are. Although the questions can cover any aspect of social psychology, they're most likely to cover areas that we study intensively here (e.g., attitudes, social cognition). You should be familiar with research on aggression, attraction, close relationships, or other topics that are less central to OSU's program (and some might argue, the field in general), but don't spend huge amounts of time on these areas to the exclusion of topics that are closer to home. Even though knowledge of every empirical paper is not necessary (and is impossible), it is good to know important pieces well. Students will know the important pieces because they will come across them again and again when reading the work of others. Some papers have had a much, much greater impact on the field than others. It is good to know the premises of the major papers, as well as why they are important. Methodological details are often not terribly important, but some empirical papers have a huge impact precisely because they introduce a new methodology. Additionally, it is often useful in your answers if you can provide a brief overview of what happened in an experiment that you're describing, much like you might describe an experiment in a journal article that you wrote. When students have intimate knowledge of a subset of empirical papers, they can use these as "buttons, meaning ideas/concepts/methodologies/etc. that can be used to demonstrate a number of important points. Thus, the same paper could be used to exemplify different points in different questions. The Devine (1989) paper is one example. It can be used in general prejudice questions, but can also be used in questions concerning things like automaticity vs. controlled processing, priming, etc. The important papers in the field may be important precisely because they are "buttons"; that is, they may make a number of independently important contributions to the field. Students should obviously review the syllabi of major seminars and lecture courses. They should select major papers to reread. Also, there is a crate of readings that past Generals takers have found useful. Keep reading up on the current research. Don't neglect current JPSPs as you comb through old Handbooks. How to Study There is so much potential material to cover that it can be a good idea to make a list of topics, and then schedule a certain amount of study time for each topic. Then identify the most important readings for that topic. You probably won't get through everything, but you don't want to spend 8 weeks learning everything there is to know about attitudes and then realizing you have only one more week left before the exam to study everything else in social psychology. When making your schedule, it's a good idea to leave the week or so before the exam empty you can use that time to refresh your memory on earlier reading, or catch up on anything you didn't get to during the regular schedule. PAGE 8

9 THE REQUIREMENTS Try to understand how the research you're reading relates to your own work. If you can relate the material to the stuff you understand best, you'll better understand it. Try practice runs on the questions before taking the actual test. Recruit an older student to select questions for you and practice answering them in the allotted time or take practice exams in the computer lab with your cohort and discuss your answers afterwards. It is often good to get practice organizing your thoughts on the spot. Practice taking your sit-down exam. Be in a room full of other people doing the same. Time yourselves and be at least somewhat surprised with the questions you have to answer in minutes. Note cards may be helpful to learn the faculty at each institution, match important people with important experiments or to recall the major contributions of different individuals. There are obvious limits to how much one can learn, but by using note cards and reading reviews thoroughly, you may develop a memory for specific findings and citations for a very large number of experiments. Of course, as noted above, this will be much, much easier if you can plug these individual findings into a larger conceptual context. Most students find it helpful to have group meetings; this time can be used for discussion of readings, creation of practice questions, writing practice answers, group stress relief, or whatever is most helpful for your particular class. You're all going through the same thing lean on each other, support each other and help each other. Make the studying fun by playing games (where each person has to make up questions, and there are prizes and everything). Use acronyms and other mnemonics to learn the professors at different universities Don't forget to look at the big picture... spend less time memorizing details and spend more time understanding what social psychology is. Don't quiz each other on small points. You will all suffer from the "quizmaster" phenomenon. Discuss more general concepts rather than smaller topics. How to Take the Sit-down Exam Do the stuff you know best first. While you're doing that, you will feel better about the questions you know least. Remember that you can "blow" a question and still pass. Take breaks. Get a drink of water. Use the bathroom. Take a walk around the hallway. It's amazing how five minutes outside the room will clear your head. Stick to the question. Don't spend forever writing about something that is only tangentially relevant. How to Take the Take-Home Exam Do the research up front. Get to the library as soon as you can. Keep in touch with your classmates. If the obscure 1943 journal is missing, they might have it. How to Take the Oral Exam Take a moment to think before answering questions. If you think visually, don't be afraid to go the board and diagram your thoughts as they come to mind. Orals don't require extensive additional preparation; you may just want to refresh your memory on anything that's gotten foggy since you took the written exam. You should reread your answers to the written sections, and if there was any question or section you didn't do well on, you should be prepared to give a more adequate answer in the oral section. (You'll get some feedback on the written portion from your advisor, but don't expect it to be very detailed.) PAGE 9

10 THE REQUIREMENTS How to Maintain Your Sanity Relax. A little anxiety is good if it will help you keep to task, but students often get too freaked out about the whole thing. Students should certainly take studying for generals seriously, for it is a major step in their graduate career, but sometimes students develop stress-related symptoms that are just unhealthy. Just keep in mind that, with a little hard work, most graduate students do just fine on the tests. A review of the past years will indicate that the vast majority of students pass generals. So, study hard, but don't sacrifice your mental health. Remember to take breaks. Your head will explode if you go through without stopping. While waiting for the result, don't worry about scrutinizing your answers. There's no point; you'll just make yourself sick. Just get back to the work you're doing as a graduate student. You'll find out that you passed soon enough. Curriculum Committee One of the Departmental Committees that will prove to be very helpful is the one that reviews curriculum petitions. As was mentioned earlier, you will have to write a petition at least once (to have your Minor concentration approved). The current committee chair is Amanda Woodward (alw1@ccp.uchicago.edu, ). The graduate student representative is Susan Wagner (s-wagner@uchicago.edu). Both will do everything in their power to answer your questions about curriculum issues. Requirements Checklist To help organize your years as a graduate student at the University of Chicago and to guarantee that you don t forget about that one pesky requirement, use the checklist on the following page to keep track of requirements you ve met and those you have yet to complete. A sample of a completed checklist is included on the next page. PAGE 10

11 THE REQUIREMENTS Requirements Checklist Course Title Grade 1 crs 6 crs 3 crs 3 crs 4 crs 2 crs Relevant Undergraduate Courses [Semester/Quarter] Course # Description 1st Year Autumn Proseminar Statistics and Methods Sequence Core Requirements (Req: Psych 306, Social Psych) Minor area Content Seminar Sequence Trial Research Seminars Research & Scholarship Sequence Trial Research Candidacy Defense Winter Spring 2nd Year Autumn Winter Spring 3rd Year 4th Year PAGE 11

12 THE REQUIREMENTS Sample Completed Checklist Course Title Grade 1 crs 6 crs 3 crs 3 crs 4 crs 2 crs Relevant Undergraduate Courses [Semester/Quarter] Course # Description Proseminar Statistics and Methods Sequence Core Requirements (Req: Psych 306, Social Psych) 1st Year Autumn Psych Proseminar Psych 306 Social Psychology Stat 220 Intro to Statistics Psych Cognitive Neuroscience Winter Psych 304 Cognitive Psychology Psych Biopsychology of Attachment Minor area (Biology) Content Seminar Sequence Trial Research Seminars Research & Scholarship Sequence Trial Research Candidacy Defense Spring Psych 303 Biological Psychology Psych Trial Research Seminar I Psych 373 Experimental Design 2nd Year Autumn Psych Trial Research Seminar II Stat 324 Applied Regression Analysis Psych Evolutionary Social Psychology Winter Psych 435 Human Psychophysiology Psych 452 Adv Methods in Social Psych Psych Attitudes and Social Influence Spring Psych 475 Survey & Ques. Design Psych Social Neuroscience 3rd Year 4th Year Trial Research Paper/Defense Generals PAGE 12

13 BEYOND THE REQUIREMENTS One thing that you will learn quickly is that graduate school is not simply about taking the required courses and meeting the basic requirements. Being at the University of Chicago, you are surrounded by limitless opportunities for learning. Take advantage of the speakers that come to campus, even those that aren t in your area of concentration! Attend a lab meeting for a different lab group whose work you re curious about! Such interdisciplinary efforts create great collaborations and unique research projects. Colloquia The Psychology Department schedules at least one talk from an outside speaker a week. Typically, these colloquia are held on Thursdays from 4:00 to 5:30 pm, with a more informal workshop led by the invited speaker on Friday morning from 10:30 to 12:00 pm. Because the Social Psychology Program is in its formative stages right now, the vast majority of these colloquia are dedicated to bringing outstanding social psychologists from around the country to the U of C. All students in the Social Psych Program are expected to attend these talks. Students are often invited to participate in informal lunches with the visiting researchers, as well. The Colloquium Schedule can be accessed at Additionally, the Social Psychology Program organizes a weekly Brown Bag Speakers Series held on Fridays from 12:00pm to 1:30pm. The schedule for these talks can be found at In addition, a number of researchers in the areas of Social and Cognitive Neurosciences will be visiting this year. The schedule for these talks can be found at The Center for Decision Research, part of the Graduate School of Business organizes a workshop schedule that can be viewed at The Committee on Human Development runs another colloquium series. Many of HD s visiting lecturers give talks that cross departmental lines. The HD series is typically held on Tuesdays from 4:30 to 6:00 pm. There are also a number of journal clubs and informal discussion groups that tend to spring up throughout the year. Information regarding a few of the more established groups is given below: Human Uniqueness Dario Maestripieri, Committee on Human Development This workshop provides an interdisciplinary forum for faculty and graduate students whose interests and work concern human behavior, communication, and cognition from a broad comparative perspective. The workshop provides students and faculty with the opportunity to discuss what it means to be human from different perspectives including: evolutionary anthropology, behavioral biology, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, philosophy of science, and ethics. Write dario@dura.spc.uchicago.edu to be placed on the mailing list. Meeting time: Bi-weekly, M 3-5:00 pm The 1 st Floor Seminar Room in the Biopsychological Sciences Building. fmri Roundtable Steve Small, Department of Neurology Current research utilizing fmri technology as well as general issues surrounding fmri research is discussed in this group. Researchers from the U of C, the U of C Hospitals and from other institutions lead an informal discussion and ask for methodological suggestions on a biweekly basis. Write slsmall@midway.uchicago.edu to be placed on the mailing list. Meeting time: Weekly, Th 1:30-3:00 pm PAGE 13

14 BEYOND THE REQUIREMENTS The 1 st Floor Seminar Room in the Biopsychological Sciences Building. Mind and Biology Proseminar Cacioppo, Kay, Maestripieri, McClintock Members of the Institute for Mind and Biology discuss their current research. In addition, outside speakers, post-docs and graduate students have the opportunity to present their work relating to the mind/body relationship. Register for Psych 370 (Autumn 00), Psych 371 (Winter 01) and Psych 372 (Spring 01) or feel free to attend without registering. Meeting time: M 12-2:00 pm The 1 st Floor Seminar Room in the Biopsychological Sciences Building. Lab Meetings Every lab group in the Department holds weekly or biweekly lab meetings. Students in the Social Psychology program are expected to attend their lab group s meetings. In addition, a few professors allow you to register for their lab meetings (with their permission, of course). This presents a great opportunity to get credit for learning about other research being done on campus. Advising Although advisors are very busy people, the vast majority understands the value of a weekly one-on-one meeting with each of their students. Establishing and maintaining an open relationship with your advisor is instrumental in a successful graduate career. Also, it s important to use these meetings not merely as a check-up, but to also ask questions and allow for time to discuss new ideas or conceptual issues in current research. Affiliations and Conferences As a graduate student, you are expected to apply for membership in a number of psychological organizations. Following are the addresses and/or phone numbers of relevant organizations, the annual membership dues for graduate student members, and the publications/benefits that you will receive with membership. American Psychological Association 750 First Street, NE Washington, DC (800) $35 Graduate Student Affiliate Annual Membership Dues includes: APA Monitor American Psychologist An additional $93 gets you the Holy Grail: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology American Psychological Society Suite Vermont Avenue, NW Washington, DC (202) $49 Student Member Annual Dues gets you: PAGE 14

15 BEYOND THE REQUIREMENTS APS Observer Psychological Science Current Directions in Psychological Science Psychological Science in the Public Interest Midwestern Psychological Association Thomas R. Zentall Secretary-Treasurer, MPA Department of Psychology University of Kentucky Lexington, KY $15 Student Annual Membership Dues includes: Registration for annual Spring meeting Society for Personality and Social Psychology Dr. Harry Reis Department of Psychology University of Rochester Rochester, NY (716) $18 Student Annual Membership Dues includes: SPSP Dialogue Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin Personality and Social Psychology Review In addition to reading current journals, it is a good idea to attend a few conferences every year as a graduate student for the following reasons. First of all, it takes a long time to get an article published in a journal, which means that the research published was actually completed a few years earlier. Conferences are a good way to keep up with the most current research. In addition, conferences are great places to make professional contacts and discuss ideas. Finally, it s rare to come back from a conference without a new idea or two meetings can be very motivating. Also keep in mind that as you begin to complete research of your own, it is a good idea to submit abstracts for talks and poster sessions. Many conferences offer a travel award competition for graduate students who will be presenting a poster or a talk. Make sure to check for these competitions and apply. Typically, the applications involve writing a brief (< 1 page) summary of current research interests and including a copy of your most recent vitae. Conference Dates for American Psychological Association 112th Annual Convention, July 28-August 1, 2004 American Psychological Society 16th Annual Convention, May 27-30, 2004 Honolulu, Hawaii Chicago, IL Midwestern Psychological Association 2004 Annual Meeting, April 29-May 1, 2004 Palmer House, Chicago, IL Society for Personality and Social Psychology Fifth Annual Meeting, January 29-31, 2004 Austin, TX PAGE 15

16 BEYOND THE REQUIREMENTS Psychology Graduate Student s Organization (PGSO) As a graduate student, you are also expected to participate in the PGSO. The purpose of the Psychology Graduate Students' Organization is to facilitate the academic and professional development of graduate students in the Department of Psychology through open and frequent communication with the faculty and with a variety of intellectual and social events. Additionally, the PGSO has been responsible for organizing a mentoring program, matching first and second year graduate students with upper level graduate students, in hopes of facilitating transition and progress in the program. Furthermore, the PGSO has been responsible for granting Travel and Research Awards within the department. Meetings are generally held quarterly. For more information about the PGSO, please visit PAGE 16

17 FUNDING Stipends and Fellowships The Psychology Department of the University of Chicago typically provides four years of support for its graduate students. Support includes a tuition waiver and a stipend to cover living expenses for the nine months covering Autumn, Winter and Spring quarters. The stipend is not dependent on your advisor or the lab you currently work in, which means that if you decide to change advisors during your graduate education you are generally not in danger of losing your stipend. Most often, you are required to be a Research Assistant during the first two years of graduate school and a Teaching Assistant during the next two in order to be eligible for the tuition waiver and stipend. These requirements are relatively loose: being an RA means working with an advisor in a lab; being a TA requires TAing one class a year. Generally the stipends are University Unendowed Fellowships, although there are other types of support available as well. Fellowships come under review once a year, but as long as you re passing classes and completing requirements they ll be renewed yearly. Stipends are typically divided between the three quarters of the academic year and are distributed in lump sums during the first week of each quarter. Stipend checks can be picked up in Foster Hall. Support over the summer is another issue. The University does not provide support over the summer months. Advisors may hire their graduate students to work over the summer, in which case the students are paid directly off a grant. You will need to talk with your advisor about the possibility of getting summer support, how much you would be paid for working over the summer (typically less than a quarterly stipend check), and how the money will be distributed (weekly? monthly? lump sum?). The University does not take taxes out of stipend checks and in fact does not report stipends to the IRS. Which means that reporting how much you make is left up to you. In other words, if you report your stipend as earnings like you re legally supposed to, you ll owe a large chunk of money in April. It s a good idea to decide how you re going to handle this up front (set aside a certain amount each month, pay the government monthly on your own, or not report your stipend and take the chance that you ll be audited). However, taxes are taken directly out of summer support checks. TAing Recently, the Psychology Department changed their funding policies to require that all entering graduate students TA during their third and fourth years. In order to encourage grad students to TA their third and fourth years, an amount of money is deducted from the yearly stipend for those years. It is expected that you will make up those additional funds by TAing (TAing one class during the year will replenish the deducted amount). However, students may decide to TA in their first two years or to TA an additional course or two during their third and fourth years in order to supplement their stipend. If you re interested in TAing, talk with your advisor or with the professor who teaches the class you re interested in TAing to see if they re interested in hiring you. In addition, the department usually circulates a list of classes that needs TAs on a yearly basis. In addition, you can TA classes in other departments or in the College (at the Core level). You have to apply to teach the Mind course in the College. Travel and Research Awards The Psychology Department has set aside funds for the use of travel and research awards for graduate students in the department. A committee composed of graduate students reviews all requests and allocates the money. These funds will be allocated preferentially to those graduate students whose advisors do not provide partial funding for attending conferences. In order to allow all graduate students to attend conferences, please check with your advisor before submitting an application for travel funds. Generally speaking, any applicant who is a first author on research being presented at a conference will receive some support (only one request per student per year will be met; awards depend on how much PAGE 17

18 FUNDING money is available and how many requests are submitted). Additional funds are available as research awards for students who would like to complete a research project that is not funded through their advisor. External Funding National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships During your first quarter, you will most likely be expected to apply for an NSF Fellowship, which pays a generous stipend for three years of graduate study. Recipients of the NSF Fellowship are awarded additional funds by the U of C, making the overall package extremely desirable. In addition, going through the process of writing the application is a good (although tedious) experience to have. The application requires three letters of recommendation (typically from your advisor at the U of C and two of your undergraduate advisors/professors), a statement about your previous research experience, a proposal for future research, undergraduate transcripts and scores from both the general GRE and from a subject GRE. To access a copy of the application along with more detailed information regarding deadlines and eligibility, go to National Research Service Awards (NRSAs) NRSAs are grants for predoctoral students that are provided through the National Institute for Health. The process of applying for an NRSA is essentially the same as applying for a grant, with the exception that your advisor needs to complete a section of the application. Awards can be for a single year or for many years (4), and are renewed yearly through an annual review process. Because NRSAs are grants, the entire procedure including writing, submitting, revising, resubmitting and receiving money (if you re approved, of course) can take a long time well over a year. Plan ahead! The following description of the NRSA is taken from NIH s webpage. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) provide National Research Service Awards (NRSAs) to individuals for research training in specified areas of biomedical and behavioral research. The purpose of the combined M.D./Ph.D. fellowships program described in this Program Announcement is to help ensure that highly trained physician/scientists will be available in adequate numbers and in the appropriate research areas and fields to meet the Nation's mental health, drug abuse and addiction, alcohol abuse and alcoholism and environmental health sciences research needs. In addition, this mechanism has the potential to train clinical investigators who wish to focus their research endeavors on patient-oriented studies (see Each Institute has different program goals and initiatives; therefore, potential applicants should contact the appropriate Institute office, listed under INQUIRIES, prior to preparing an application, to obtain current information about each Institute's program priorities with regard to fellowships. Information may also be obtained from the Institute websites listed under INQUIRIES. The Individual National Research Service Award Application (PHS 416-1) can be accessed at PAGE 18

19 RESOURCES Computing On Campus Computer Accounts All graduate students receive an account when they arrive on campus. Marjie Wash typically has that information available at the beginning of fall quarter for incoming students. To access and the internet from home, you can pick up free Connectivity software from NSIT (see Support Services below) during the fall quarter. Support Services Computer services are provided through the Networking Services and Information Technologies department (NSIT). As you can imagine, it s a pretty large department at this point. Some of the most important information is listed below: NSIT 1155 East 60 th Street Computing Support Line... 4-TECH Computer Sales and Services (Campus Computer Stores) Administrative Resources Important People to Know As a graduate student, it is helpful to form good relationships with staff members, all of whom are extremely knowledgeable and possess a wealth of information. Here are a few people that you should get to know well and a short description of what they do: Marjorie Wash, Administrative Assistant, Student Affairs Beecher 109, marj@ccp.uchicago.edu Marjie helps the graduate students do pretty much everything. Registration, submission of Curriculum Committee petitions, information regarding requirements, reimbursements, Marjie does it all. She s been part of the department for many years and really knows it inside out. Marjie is extremely helpful and if she doesn t know something offhand, she knows where to find the information. Gwen Stevenson, Administrative Assistant, Department & Faculty Affairs Green 109, gwen@ccp.uchicago.edu Gwen organizes visits for job candidates, including setting up job talks and organizing lunches with the graduate students (you ll see a few s from her regarding these lunches). Gwen also signs out equipment and rooms if you need an LCD or overhead projector for a class or if you need to set up a room for a meeting or class, Gwen s the one to talk to. Darlene Long, Office Assistant Green 107, dslong@ccp.uchicago.edu Darlene helps Gwen out with her vast responsibilities. Darlene can also sign out equipment (in fact, all the equipment is located within her office). You can also get keys and copy cards from Darlene and she can put more money on your copy card. Judy Runge, Administrative Assistant, Social Psychology Program Kelly 402, jmr@uchicago.edu Judy works directly with John Cacioppo, the head of the Social Psychology program. n addition, she helps schedule meetings with John. PAGE 19

20 RESOURCES Sarah Touhey, Administrative Assistant, Social Psychology Program Kelly 411, Sarah organizes the Social Psychology colloquium series. You will receive many s from her regarding upcoming talks and lunches with visiting professors. Local Business Center, 2 nd Floor of Kelly There are many helpful people in the Local Business Center most notably, Kitty is the first person to receive reimbursement checks. If you re ever desperately in need of that reimbursement check for a Wine and Cheese, check with Kitty first. The LBC can also help with optional payment plans for departmental events, using the petty cash fund or getting a check cut in advance. The Psychology Department Office As mentioned briefly above, Gwen and Darlene in the psychology department office can help find a room for a class, sign out a VCR or slide projector, and open locked doors (both literally and figuratively). The office is located in Green 117. Student Offices and Laboratory Space Lab space and offices should be provided by your advisor and vary greatly between labs. Most often, graduate students share office space with other graduate students. Your office space should be separate from lab space, as you ll be holding office hours for classes that you re TAing at some point in your graduate career. Keys and Mail When you find out where your office and lab space is, you can pick up keys from Darlene or Gwen. They keep records of keys that have been checked out, and each key requires a deposit (I believe it s something like $5). In addition to the keys for your office and lab space, make sure you also get keys to: the Psych building (a key to let you in outside of business hours), the graduate student lounge, and the Romper Room (computer lab on the 2 nd floor). All graduate students have mail folders in the room outside the Harris Room on the first floor. You should check your folders at least once a week. Most documents from the division will be delivered to your mail folder, including confirmation of your registration and yearly academic reports. In addition, you can have some packages sent to the department especially journals and books ordered for classes. Journals will be placed in your folder and if larger packages arrive, you ll receive a note telling you to pick them up from Gwen or Darlene. Copies For the policy regarding graduate students making copies in the psych building, please see Ray Weathers, Departmental Affairs, Green-109, (773) Campus Libraries The University of Chicago has one of the largest library collections in the country. In addition to the physical resources, the resources on the Internet provided through the library system will definitely come in handy. Following is a brief description of the major libraries on campus and also some information regarding resources on the web. Regenstein Library East 57 th Street The largest library on campus. Most social psych journals are located in the Reg. JPSPs are in the Reading Room on the 4 th Floor. If you visit the Regenstein often enough to warrant it, you can rent a locker for the entire quarter. Reference department is located on the first floor, PAGE 20