Schedule

Pre-class work: (instructions on Canvas)

• Read The Fear of Publicly Not Knowing
• Read What you should know about us (the instructors)
• Answer survey questions (Canvas)
• Create a slide to introduce yourself (details on Canvas)

In class:

• Meet each other
• Discuss shared worries and implied assumptions about expectations
• What is research? What skills are necessary to do research? What is this seminar about? What is this seminar not about?

After class:

• Meet with one or more faculty members to discuss a potential QP 1.

• Confirm QP 1 with the supervising faculty member by September 18. Make sure both of you are clear on:

  • Due date is October 26, 5 pm
  • Expected deliverables
  • Expected check-ins (if any)
  • Parameters/expectations around communication during the QP

Further reading (optional, encouraged)

• Terrance Tao, Does one have to be a genius to do maths?. (Replace “mathematics” with “statistics”—or really anything.)
• Find another scientist’s perspective on “what it takes to do research”. Share on Slack if you find it interesting and/or thought-provoking!

Pre-class work:

• Read the department webpage on the PhD Qualifying Course
• Peruse some of the faculty-listed papers and faculty-specific expectations
• Meet with potential faculty supervisors for your first qualifying paper

In class:

• Overview of Qualifying Course with Graduate Advisor Professor Daniel McDonald
• Q&A on QPs

Pre-class Work: (detailed instructions on Canvas)

• Read: TBD
• Summarize the paper, reflect on your strategy for reading the paper

• If you have little/no experience typesetting documents in LaTeX, work through some basic training:

  • Learn LaTeX in 30 minutes
  • Courses on LaTeX and Overleaf for beginners at Overleaf’s Learning Center

In Class:

• Why think about self-regulated learning
• How to read a research paper
• Practice skimming papers: (don’t read before class!)
  • A Kernel Method for the Two-Sample-Problem
  • Safe Testing

After class:

• Want more practice? Find a paper that looks interesting (judging by title and abstract) and answer the guiding questions.

Pre-class work:

• Skim the paper that you have decided on for your first QP, using and answering the guiding questions from How to read a research paper
• Identify gaps in your understanding and make a plan for addressing them

In class:

• In pairs, share what you’ve learned about your paper and what you don’t understand
• Plan your work and timeline

Pre-class work: (detailed instructions on Canvas)

• Read for 1 hour: TBD
• Summarize the paper, reflect on your strategy for reading the paper

In class:

• Practice with TBD

Further reading (optional)

Pre-class work:

• Read your first QP paper deeply, using and answering the guiding questions from: How to read a research paper

In class:

• In pairs, share what you’ve learned about your paper.
  • What is something you misunderstood from skimming?
  • What are the most important assumptions made in the paper? Why are they made? Why are they important?
• Update your work plan and timeline.

After class:

• Resolve any lingering points of confusion or lack of understanding. This can include:

  • Searching for related papers/resources that may clarify the point(s).
  • Speaking to other students.
  • Speaking to the supervising professor (if they have said that you can consult them on such things during the QP process).

Pre-class work:

• Read a paper of your choosing (not your QP). Answer the questions on Canvas.
• Come to class prepared to describe in detail one of the paper’s experiments and present your answers to the Canvas questions.

In class:

• Designing and presenting computational experiments
• Examples

After class

• If your QP has experiments/evaluation section(s), read it/them carefully. What is the purpose of each experiment?
• If you are doing experiments as part of your QP report, think and plan: What are you trying to convey with each experiment? How will you present it?

Pre-class work: (instructions on Canvas)

• Watch Larry McEnerney: The Craft of Writing Effectively (Watch party?)
• Read Sections 1.1-1.4 from Steven G. Krantz: A Primer on Mathematical Writing (2nd ed.)
• Answer questions on Canvas

In class:

• Group discussion(s) on the video lecture
• Practice with some writing samples

Further reading (optional)

• Terry Tao: On writing
• Paul Halmos: How to Write Mathematics
• Trevor Campbell: How to Explain Things

Pre-class work:

• Write a draft of the first few sections of your QP report (introduction, overview, synthesis)
• Add placeholders for the remaining sections (including a few sentences describing their purpose)

In class:

• Bring two printed copies of your draft
• Workshop the drafts

Further reading (optional)

In class:

• Discussion with current PhD students. Note: No faculty present

Additional reading (optional)

• Charles Sutton: Research Worth and Self-Worth

In class:

• Faculty panel about expectations and experiences
• Q&A

Pre-class work:

• Read Neutral Citation is Poor Scholarship
• See Canvas

In class:

• Guide on How to Conduct a Literature Search
• Prof. Keegan Korthauer on searching for papers, bibliography management tools, and how to keep up with the literature

Further reading (optional)

• UBC Library on Literature Reviews

No class – midterm break

Pre-class work:

• Read How to manage your supervisor (note: some of the specific advice may not be relevant to you, especially around intellectual property)
• Short survey on Canvas.

In class:

• How to Communicate About Weekly Progress with Your Collaborators
• Reflection on previous meetings

Further reading (optional)

Pre-class work: (instructions on Canvas)

• Set up a Unix shell and do a basic tutorial (see Canvas for details)
• Make sure you are set up with Git and GitHub

In class:

• Activities with shell and Git

Further reading (optional)

In class:

Further reading (optional)

• Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies’ Book List: Succeeding in Grad School and Your Career
• There are a lot of blogs about research and life in academia. Here’s one I like: The Exclusive Or by Charles Sutton.