[Neuropostdocs] NSP pizza lunch/discussion: postdoc contributions encouraged!

[Sam Beshers]

Dear NSP postdocs:

You have already been through this, and for most of you it is a recent 
memory.  Please come
share your experiences and insights with our current students.

Sam





What is a Neuroscience PhD?

Our lunch discussion next week will focus on this question.  The goal and 
endpoint of graduate study is the dissertation.  A point that frequently 
comes up in discussions of graduate education is student uncertainty about 
the "job description" of a graduate student in general, and in particular 
about what a dissertation is and how to get there.  Moreover, exactly what 
suffices for a dissertation varies among departments, programs, and 
disciplines.
         To some extent this uncertainty is necessary and inevitable; it is 
part of the process of becoming a scientist.  However, it may be useful to 
engage faculty, students, and postdocs in this discussion, to help students 
at all stages of graduate study to better define their goals and plan their 
research.
         Specific questions we may want to consider include:
What are the qualities of a good thesis?
What skills and experiences should a student acquire during her/his 
graduate education?
In what ways does the dissertation qualify, or not qualify, the student for 
future career steps?
What is the range of topics that may be found in PhD theses in "neuroscience"?

A relevant and provocative article may be found here:
http://www.aaup.org/publications/Academe/2005/05nd/05ndlovi.htm#1




Samuel Beshers, Ph.D.
Program Coordinator, Neuroscience and
Research Associate, Dept of Entomology
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
505 South Goodwin Ave
Urbana, IL  61801
217-333-4971  
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