This living document (revised and edited at least once a year by group members) gives an idea of what it is like to be a part of SimLab along with some expectations for you, and what you can expect of Joyce as an advisor. Everyone is different and so is their academic experience. This document is meant to be a guide that is accompanied by ongoing conversations between Joyce and yourself/your peers about your progress and goals.
If something is not addressed below, or if you’re not sure about something, please ask.
A nice mentoring compact to consider: https://www.coakerlab.org/mentoring-compact–postdoctoral.html
First of all, we value the active participation of every member within our community and are committed to ensuring that everyone enjoys a gratifying and enriching experience, both in their professional and personal capacities. As such, we hold all members of the SimLab group accountable to display respect and courtesy towards others at all times. Our collective actions shape our culture, and our culture thrives on inclusivity.
Please note that this document represents our vision for our group’s vision, culture and objectives. It does not replace any relevant School- or College-level policies pertaining to your specific level of employment or study, but rather complements them.
The pursuit of enjoyable and high-quality research can only thrive in an environment where you feel safe, secure, and supported. To this end, all members of our group are unwaveringly committed to fostering an environment free of harassment, regardless of factors such as gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size/shape, race, age, and religion. We unequivocally prohibit all forms of harassment involving our group members and expect every community member to adhere to the following Code of Conduct:
Note: There is no policy with regards to who you can date in the group, but caution with any romantic involvement with people that have any power-dynamics (refer to University-wide policy)
There is a growing body of evidence indicating that various aspects of research can pose challenges to your mental well-being. These specific factors include:
It’s important to recognize that most researchers encounter some level of these issues (Joyce is happy to share her experiences). Everyone in the group is strongly encouraged to proactively prioritize their mental well-being. Joyce will do everything possible to make sure you have the necessary time and resources for achieving success in your research. If anything is causing undue stress or hindering your potential, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Joyce or anyone in the department for assistance. Additionally, please familiarize yourself with the available resources on campus, which can be found at http://counseling.gatech.edu/. We are committed to helping you access the appropriate support networks to ensure your well-being. Please do not hesitate to check in every once in awhile.
The time commitment to research tends to be one of the most important issues for graduate students and advisors. Set specific goals and timetables for yourself. Working hard is not the same as accomplishing something (work smarter not harder). Make sure you set a goal and adjust your strategy as necessary (e.g., with teaching load, coursework, life!) to meet it.
Planning for sufficient work time takes priority. When setting meetings, appointments, office hours, or section meeting times, avoid breaking up your primary working hours. You may be a night owl or you may be a morning person (like Joyce). You have the responsibility and privilege to arrange your schedule in such a way that best suits your working style.
Be proactive about eliminating bottlenecks to progress. Do you need to meet with someone who is generally unavailable? Shoot them an email ASAP. If they are not responding right away, give them a week and follow up. Meanwhile, work on other tasks at hand.
It can be difficult to know how to divide your time between reading and writing papers and your research. Most people underestimate how long writing and reading takes.
“Time is the only irreplaceable resource” (except for your life and health – work efficiently, but always be safe!)
There will be times when you do not feel motivated and that is okay/normal. Life is more than academia :) Please reach out to others if you feel like your unmotivated time is affecting your science. It is okay to reach out to people in the group and others for career advice. We tend to push people towards academia unless you explicitly tell Joyce about your goals.
Question: Are there general workshops that help graduate students with graduate school? GT 6000 is an Georgia Tech orientation to help students understand what it is like to be a graduate student and how best to strive with workshops on time management, resources on campus etc.
All these apply to postdoctoral scholars as well but you are expected to already know best your own working style and work with Joyce if any issues come up.
Undergraduate credits work the same as any classes, i.e. one credit is equivalent to about three hours of work. You have taken the initiative to apply to work in the lab, now try your best to have a good research experience by being curious, trying new things and being open.
A PhD from Georgia Tech takes ~5 years and sometimes more. Joyce will do her best to make sure that you graduate within this time frame. Everyone except 1st year graduate students should have something new/presentable (e.g. a paper, a conference presentation, exciting results) every semester.
For PhD students at Georgia Tech, You will take the comprehensive exam at the end of the second year or first semester of the third year. The department requires an informal annual evaluation outlining goals and progress. Meet with your committee members at least once per year post qualifying exam. You should plan on writing a manuscript-based PhD thesis that amounts to at least 3 papers that will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals. Similarly, for Masters program students, you should plan on writing a manuscript-based thesis that amounts to a paper that will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. Joyce will work closely with you to plan/outline figures and content and then will review complete drafts once finished. Here is the link the the graduate student handbook!!
For Postdoctoral scholars, the goal is to have presentable and publishable results every year especially if aiming for academic careers.
Undergraduates, my goal is for you to explore what it means to do research in Earth Sciences. This applies to everyone, work hard but also have fun.
First year graduate students typically take 2-3 courses each semester.
There are no set course list but there is a set knowledge list that you will try to take classes to fulfil for your qualifying exam in your second year.
Aim for a well-rounded education of Earth/planetary Science and classes that will help with your research.
Joyce will be happy to discuss with you on what classes to take.
Here is the EAS graduate course list: https://catalog.gatech.edu/courses-grad/eas/
Here is the Mechanical engineering graduate course list: https://catalog.gatech.edu/courses-grad/me/
Recommended classes:
EAS 6130. Earth System Modeling - 86150 - A
EAS 6312. Geodynamics
EAS 6314. Seismology. The propagation of seismic waves, the description of earthquake motion, and evaluation of earthquake damage. Examples provide experience in the interpretation of seismic data.
EAS 6315. Geofluids. 3 Credit Hours. This course focuses on the fundamental concepts of fluid dynamics merged with geophysical applications.
EAS 6331. Physical Volcanology. 3 Credit Hours. This class examines the dynamics and thermodynamics of planetary volcanism. The course material covers the generation and transport of magma in the mantle and crust, and the fluid dynamics of eruptions and their impact on the landscape and atmosphere.
EAS 6370. Physics of the Planets
EAS 6380. Remote sensing
EAS 8826. Geophysics Field Methods
EAS 8001. Planetary Science and Astrobiology Seminar
EAS 8802. Special Topics - 93277 - COM (2 credits) - Practical Math coding course
EAS 8803. Intro Geophysics
EAS 8997. Teaching Assistantship. 1-9 Credit Hours. For at least the first two semesters, you will be doing this.
EAS 8998. Research Assistantship. 1-9 Credit Hours.
EAS 8999. Preparation for Doctoral Dissertation. 1-21 Credit Hours.
EAS 9000. Doctoral Thesis. 1-21 Credit Hours.
Required courses/seminar:
EAS 8001 Seminar - 91849 - GEO - Department seminar
EAS 8001 Geophysics Seminar - 85402
EAS 6000 Intro Research & Ethics - 91153 - A (1 credit)
Classes to consider:
EAS 4801. Mini Planetary Sound
EAS 8801. Career Development.
EAS 6053. Preparing Future Faculty.
EAS 6316. Earthquake Physics - 93439 - Fundamental physics of processes that control fault slips and earthquakes with a focus on the latest emerging research topics in the field.
EAS 8803 Modern Geodetic Methods.
ME 6601. Introduction to Fluid Mechanics - 94307 - B
ME 3340. Fluid Mechanics - A,B,C,D
ME 6602. Viscous Flow. (3 Credit Hours). The mechanics of Newtonian viscous fluids. The use of modern analytical techniques to obtain solutions for flows with small and large Reynolds numbers.
ME 6124. Finite-Element Method: Theory and Practice (3 Credit Hours). Line, plane, solid, plate, and shell elements-theory: practical aspects of modeling; applications in mechanical engineering; final project.
ME 6201. Principles of Continuum Mechanics (3 Credit Hours). Introductory treatment of the fundamental, unifying concepts of the mechanics of continua.
ME 7301. Transport Phenomena in Multiphase Flow (3 Credit Hours).
ME 7751. Computational Fluid Mechanics (3 Credit Hours). Numerical methods for solving the time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations in complex geometrics, including theory, implementation, and applications. Crosslisted with CEE 7751.
If you are graduate student (Masters or pre-comp exam), you are required to attend the weekly Thursday Department seminar (11am) and Geophysics Friday seminar (330pm L1175).
For post-comp exam PhD students, you are encouraged to attend both but they are not required.
Recommended: Explorigins, Astrobiology, fluids mechanics seminar
Virtual seminars: Virtual seminars in precambrian geology, Centre for Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tectonics (COMET), PCE3 Prebiotic Chemistry, Ocean worlds seminar, US InterRidge webinars, Seafloor explorer
This is a work environment, where you are expected to be on task for the number of hours equivalent to a standard work day. In practical terms, however, you will find that the job of being a scientist does not always conform to standard hours.
You are welcome to work from home or work on campus or anywhere. If you have trouble finding an office in the department, please let me know.
You can regard graduate school as a full-time job (with room for both vacations and overtime) with a twist. You should work a 40 hour work week on average in a given semester. Do realise that you are working towards your degree in the end. You get what you put in so in that sense, it is different from a regular job. On the subject of ‘overtime’, there will probably be periods when you will need to work on weekends if a deadline is near.
This is similar for postdoctoral scholars where your productivity will roughly be related to your work hours. Work hard but do take breaks.
Undergraduate: Undergraduate credits work the same as any classes, i.e. one credit is equivalent to about three hours of work.
You will take vacations because you are being paid as a full-time graduate student. Joyce is happy to discuss longer-than-average vacations with students, depending on your particular situation. Joyce will be away in Malaysia most years for a few weeks typically over the summer but will still be working part time. You are expected to work during academic ‘holidays’ such as reading break. However, you are not expected to work during official University/federal holidays and recesses – look up the Georgia Tech Academic Calendar. If you celebrate particular holidays that are not typical breaks, please let Joyce know. Same applies to postdocs. Everyone is expected to communicate their time away with Joyce before it happens, this includes Joyce letting the group knows when she might be away.
Teaching is an integral part of our education and an academic career. In semesters where you teach as a graduate student, you should adjust your expectations for research output. It can be helpful to organize your time to allow at least one free day per week to work on research. If you’re looking for ways to get involved in community and/or affinity organizations, don’t hesitate to ask.
Attending conferences/workshop is a great way to present your research results, learn about what others are doing and network. We tend to attend the American Geophysical Union (AGU) science meeting in December or the biannual Ada Lovelace workshop in Europe. Other conferences/workshops are the Deep Earth Gordon conference typically over summer, European Geophysical Union (EGU) in Spring, and the Lunar and Planetary Science conference (LPSC) in Spring. There are travels grants within the department and also associated with each conference/workshop. Computational Infrastruture for Geodynamics (CIG) typically sponsors US participants to Ada Lovelace workshop in Europe. If there are conferences/workshops that you are interested in attending, please discuss with Joyce. Please note that you need to have new results to attend and present at a conference/workshop. Exceptions of conferences/workshops of interest are taking place close together in time.
For postdoctoral scholars, this is a good time to network and talk to potential new colleagues, foster new collaborations etc. If you have concerns about attending any workshop/conference, please talk to Joyce about it. If Joyce is also attending the same workshop/conference, she will try her best to connect you with her network.
Be familiar with recently published material relevant to your research project. Below are some academic journals that may be of interest:
Do sign up for ‘mail alerts’ from specific journals and more general publication ‘feeds’ (e.g. Google Scholar or Web of Science); by doing this, you can be kept informed of newly published literature related to your studies. If there is anything interesting, you can always bring it up for journal club!
Writing is an essential part of academia. Writing is part of the thinking process. Joyce encourages you to set aside some time to write weekly. Even if you are just taking classes, you can write about what you have learned. Writing takes practice. Scientific writing is all about revising your writing and is not intuitive to most. When you are reading scientific journals, take note of what are the part that are good and try to use it in your own writing. If you need help with writing, please let Joyce know or talk to others in the group. Everyone has a different way of writing. Outlining and brainstorming etc helps to organize your writing. Get feedback from Joyce and others in the group and try not to be offended by criticism. We are here to help you grow to be a better science writer so do not take it personally. Joyce is not the best writer so we are all here to learn together.
Students often have these questions when it comes to writing:
1) What is the timeline for writing? There are usually no datelines for manuscript. Since writing is part of the thinking process, this can be up to you. If you think your progress is too slow, do consult with Joyce. She will be happy to help you along.
2) When should I write? This is up to you but do set aside time for writing. If you do not set aside time and wait for inspiration, that might not happen. Even if it is for a few minutes. If you need the writing to be broken down more, please reach out to Joyce, she will be happy to help.
3) Am I expected to know how to write scientifically? No, especially not for your first paper. Scientific writing is a whole different beast from regular writing essay. Typically for a class, you write an essay and the only feedback you get is your grade. In scientific writing, there will be many revisions as our thinking changes and we discover more of the results as we write. The writing will also be different depending on who your audience are. Writing a proposal will be different from writing for scientific publication.
4) Why is there so many edits in my first draft? Am I a bad writer? No, you are not a bad writer but might just not be a good scientific writer yet. If you are unsure about edits, do talk to Joyce or whoever gave you the edits to help you understand their thought process. Note that it usually take some time to go through just one paragraph. Do not be offended by edits or criticism. They are meant to help you grow as a scientific writer.
5) Can I use AI tools for writing? Yes, but make sure you give credits….? Some peer-reviewed journals have added policies so do check. Do not blatantly copy/paste from AI tools. Useful for brainstorming, generating acronyms, grammar, (coding? -Stackoverflow!).
Take part in scientific writing workshops, take a course to write your fellowship proposal. The way to get better is to practise and get feedback. Joyce encourages you to have a conversation with her about writing. Everyone has different idea of what drafting means. Some people just writes everything onto paper before organising, others like to outline or brainstorm before organizing. If you want a group writing time, reach out to the group and organize it. Setting aside group writing time with the lab group or your peers can help you be accountable for the few hours you sit down to write.
Software like Overleaf (there is institutional license at Georgia Tech) can be useful for collaborative document using latex.
Writing tool: Zotero (unlimited storage with Georgia Tech email), Dropbox
Write. Write. Write.
Communicate, communicate, communicate!
We generally have group meetings and brown bag group lunch weekly depending on everyone’s schedule.
Everyone can discuss their progress, problems, and goals during the group meetings and more informally during group lunch.
Everyone is expected at group meetings and encouraged to attend group lunch.
Group meetings typically become journal club where one person picks a paper for the group to read and presents the main findings. Journal club is meant to be a casual setting for everyone to have a scientific discussion to practice for other more formal settings.
The group decides what we do for group meetings but sometimes there are designated events (like going through this living vision document every Fall! or a visitor etc).
We have done CV review, tutorials for illustrator, making a poster, paraview etc.
These typically last 1-1.5 hrs.
When we have new people or guests, be prepared to give your elevator pitch on who you are and what research you are working on.
We sometimes organize writing and/or coding sessions (typically two hours in the geophysics lab) where the group comes together and state what they want to achieve during that session and go on to do it. This is a good space to ask for help debugging and have someone look over a draft etc.
Joyce dedicates an hour/week for each group member. Please work with Joyce on what time/day works best each semester especially if it changes. Do note that these one-on-one meetings can increase/decrease in frequencies. Particularly for students, each term, try to sit down together with Joyce and identify reasonable goals to be completed by the end of that term. Write these goals down and revisit them periodically. In general, these one-on-one meetings are a good time to check in on research progress and other logistics that might come up. Please do come prepared with what you want to talk about and take good notes. Joyce will generally encourage everyone to take to-do notes on a shared communication channel like slack or email so that everyone is on the same page and there is accountability.
Please respond to emails within a few days, unless otherwise stated. You are not expected to respond to emails outside of normal working hours (e.g., on weekends or official holidays). Joyce will try her best to do so as well but if you have something urgent, it is usually better to use slack or call.
We use a group slack account for more direct communication. Please do sign in and check it often as we often use that for quick announcements and perhaps to organize for lunch/journal club etc. If there are anything more official, Joyce tends to send an email out to the group. If you are unsure about communicating on slack or email, please let Joyce know.
Sometimes, students are unclear what they should be doing early in a project. This is normal. Talk with Joyce, talk with fellow group members. Joyce is here to develop overarching ideas and projects with you, and guide you when you run into barriers. Other members of the group are your primary resource if you need focused technical/coding help. In academia, it is important to be open to criticism. Criticism can be a difficult aspect of a PhD; many of the things you will work on become so important to you that it can be hard to maintain perspective. Feel free to talk out edits or critiques with other group members to create a plan of action if you feel overwhelmed. Please do not take criticism personally. Work together to find a common agreement when conflict arises. If you ever need help with a workplace issue, talk to the labmates, but if you need further advocacy, you should reach out to the EAS admin or an ombudsperson (https://www.gatech.edu/ombuds).
If accepted into the EAS PhD program at Georgia Tech, you will be supported for a guaranteed 5 years. Your support will likely come from a mixture of TA/RA and fellowship funds. Especially in your 1st year, you are expected to apply for external fellowships, for example, NASA, NSF GRFP, Hertz. As an international student, you can apply for NASA FINESST. As a Masters student, you will likely be TA-ing unless you are funded by a specific project. As a Postdoctoral scholar, depending on your discussion with Joyce, you can generally expect to write proposals with Joyce to help fund your research.
In general, you will be provided with a workstation of your choice (Mac/PC/Linux) and if you need other accessories like keyboards/monitors and mouse, please let Joyce know. There is usually supercomputing resources and orientations to get you going on the PACE clusters at Georgia Tech.
In our lab, it is important to have strong integrity and honesty in your work – never skewing, biasing or misrepresenting results to fit a previous idea. If you are unsure about anything, please talk to Joyce or with any of the group members or bring it up during our group meeting. Backing up your work at least once a week is also crucial. Consider backing up your organized files with a README when you are done, so that future students can use the data. You could, for example, use Dropbox (free to Tech students) for the ease of storage and backups that allow access across multiple computers and users. You should also consider backing up your laptop/data to an external harddrive.
Comment, comment, comment on your codes! Use git version control to help with backing up codes and have it on one of the repositories - github, bitbucket, gitlab etc. Put in a reminder to restart your computer often if you are not doing so already. If using PACE, do a monthly check to make sure you are not clogging up your scratch space.
Tracking and recording work is important. Taking clear notes feels boring but pays off massively later when you are writing. Use whatever you are most comfortable with to take notes during meetings. Write as you do your research, commenting on your plots etc. You may want to keep a separate journal to take notes on the department seminars you attend. You should use a citation management software, like Zotero (unlimited with Georgia Tech email), Mandalay, EndNote, or BibTeX, to manage the papers you’ve read (or will read) for each project (e.g., a class, your qualifying exam, a research project). It is very helpful to write a short summary in the notes about the paper so you don’t have to read the entire paper again down the road.
You will be an author on a published paper if you have provided a substantial portion of the intellectual and physical work involved, and have completed your portion of the work satisfactorily. This involves participation both in the writing and the research work involved. You will be first-author if you contributed the majority of the intellectual effort and completed the project, including the writing of the first draft. Academics often get attached to ‘this is my idea’ and people have imperfect memories so we encourage an open dialogue about who contributed to an idea being born, developed and brought to fruition. Here is an example that might be helpful. Many peer-reviewed journals, such as AGU journals, are also mandating author contributions to be made clear using CRediT.
An Individual Development Plan (IDP) is a roadmap that helps you pinpoint your existing strengths/weaknesses and the skills you aspire to cultivate in the coming semester or years. As a student, when you collaborate with Joyce, you will complete an initial IDP, and then make periodic revisions as needed. This document serves as a valuable tool for reflection, allowing you to define your objectives and effectively communicate them to Joyce for ongoing support and follow-up. It encourages a structured and thoughtful approach to personal and professional growth.
Undergraduates and postdoctoral scholars are also encouraged to do this if you would like but is not required.
Supertaster statistics:
Birthday statistics! 7,12, 17 April, 9, 27 July, 12 Dec,
Tea/coffee recommendations?
Outreach: Atlanta science festival!
GT spirit - going to homecoming!
As a graduate student in the group, you will be treated as a junior colleague who is maturing into a professional scientist. This means that you can actively co-create opportunities to meet your goals. This framework also puts a large responsibility on your shoulders to live up to the expectations of performance that are required of a colleague. As a part of your PhD, you will ideally learn:
Adapted from Jerry Mitrovica’s group and Alex Robel’s group