Selection of a Research Supervisor
Students in the PhD program will be assigned a research supervisor/advisor/principal investigator no later than the end of Spring quarter of their first academic year. First-year PhD students must submit their three ranked choices to the Department Chair by the middle of Spring quarter.
The relationship between a research supervisor and a graduate student is a very special one. In our Department, we want graduate students to have as much freedom as possible in the selection of a research supervisor. After a selection is made and agreed to, further change is possible only by petition with approval by the Department Chair. Agreement in the selection of a supervisor must be mutual and must be done on a fully informed basis. Although we will attempt to accommodate every student’s first choice for a supervisor, it is possible that this will not occur because of previous commitments by the faculty to other students in the program, research funding, or laboratory space constraints. Typically, two incoming students of the same year will not be assigned to the same supervisor.
Once selected, the supervisor’s primary role is to provide guidance, supervision, and evaluation of student’s study program and research. While the research supervisor, in collaboration with the Doctoral Supervisory Committee, of which he or she is chairperson, will make critical decisions on student’s research direction, it is the student’s responsibility to drive the project.
Students must begin research leading to a Master’s or Doctoral degree by Summer quarter of their first academic year. All students are expected to enroll for graduate research in either PCEUT 600, 700 or 800 all four quarters, including summer, in every year they are in the program.
For more information please visit research profiles of individual faculty members.