Our Common Commitment Recent campus events highlight the urgency of engaging the issues of our day with intellectual rigor and conducting ourselves in ways that enable dialogue and debate without fracturing the community of which we are all part.
Each one teach one I’m happy to convey the Graduate Division’s heartiest congratulations to Berkeley Professor of Physics Saul Perlmutter, who early this month shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for the simultaneous discovery --- with two competitor-colleagues half a world away at the Australian National University --- of the accelerating expansion of the universe.
Mainly, the Graduate Division is here for you Now that the semester is underway, I want to be sure you’re aware of various ways the Graduate Division might be able to assist you in the coming weeks and months, particularly if you’re new to Berkeley and haven’t yet fit us into your mental map of this complex campus.
Welcome (back) and here we go! This summer certainly seemed to speed by. I kept busy helping with efforts to streamline our administration both in the Graduate Division and throughout campus. I enjoyed continuing to mentor the doctoral students in my lab group — and l even managed to hike in, through, and around the Alps!
Changes among Graduate Division’s Deans Here is news about some significant changes in the Dean’s Office on the fourth floor of Sproul Hall...
How your (academic) travel can cost you less For many graduate students, traveling to conduct research is among the most rewarding aspects of their studies. But it can be anxiety-producing to fund the costs of travel.
A look behind the curtain at the GRE The Graduate Record Examinations General Test has been a milestone for many of us in the graduate community. A revised test will debut this coming August. How will it look to your college-bound younger siblings?
Through the rough times I welcome you heartily, if somberly, to the Spring 2011 semester at UC Berkeley. As no doubt you’re aware from media reports, the Berkeley campus and the UC system as a whole foresee a period ahead of continued austerity. It’s realistic, if small comfort, to view our situation as part of the challenge our nation, and California, face in a time that has been labeled accurately the Great Recession.
Safeguarding your academic integrity In conversation with some graduate students recently, they encouraged me to address an important if unpleasant subject: academic misconduct — cheating, plagiarism,…
Engaging Graduate Alumni Graduate alumni are pursuing the most astonishing array of careers, and it's a pleasure for Dean of the Graduate Division Andrew Szeri to interact with them, especially given their warm feelings for their alma mater—UC Berkeley.
UC Berkeley among top of recently released NRC rankings The National Research Council's Data Based Assessment of Research Doctorate Programs has been released. Berkeley did very well in the assessment, with illustrative rankings that put many of our programs at or near the top.
Welcome back! — New writer’s room and orientation announcements Now it's back to the real world with classes to teach, seminars to engage, experiments to plan, qualifying exams to study for, breakthroughs to realize, manuscripts to finish, and hoods to don!
GSAOs — A Resource For Your Success If you are a student who is new to campus — welcome! If you are filing a thesis or dissertation this month — congratulations!
New Dissertation Writing Resources Open to Students Photo: Peg Skorpinski Tom Leonard and I have both been where you are: in graduate school. Mine was Cornell (Ph.D., 1988), while…
Graduation season — A cause for celebration Graduation season, like a compass, is marked with a series of degrees. But the word “graduation” seems too, well, gradual for what actually happens when the campus blossoms with academic regalia, floral (and currency!) leis, and smiling relatives from all over the planet.
Research and educational opportunities outside California Summer is here! Maybe you’re planning to leave campus over the summer for research or other educational pursuits? If so, then my…
The Importance of Mentoring Following the adoption of this 'best practices' document by the Academic Senate in 2006, Graduate Division sought external support to establish a mentoring award — and that effort has been successful!
Attracting more and higher-quality grad students It's recruiting season, so many applicants are weighing their decisions about where to go to graduate school.
Graduate student support in the Campaign for Berkeley On the evening of October 2, I had the pleasure of speaking at a GA Delegates meeting about the place of graduate student support in the Campaign for Berkeley.
2008 Mentoring Awards Announcement We are pleased to announce the 2008 recipients of the Sarlo Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Awards. These awards have been made possible by a grant from the Sarlo Foundation of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund. They are administered by the Graduate Division in collaboration with the Graduate Council of the Academic Senate.