Chemistry 293

Professional Skills in Chemical Research, Training and

Learning

Fall/Spring 2010/11

Prof. Charles Sykes, Room 103-X, 627-3773, charles.sykes@tufts.edu

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This course is run as two 0.5 credit pass/fail classes held in fall and spring semesters.

This course is compulsory for all 1st year graduate students.

This course is similar to Seminar in Chemistry 191 (also compulsory for 1st years) in
that it does not count as one of the six core classes.
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Lecture times: Wednesday 4 PM – 5 PM in Pearson 106 (as announced via email)

Office Hours: Tuesday 2-3pm and by appointment.

Overview of Course Goals:

This course is intended to serve, as the title infers, as an arena for developing a diverse
set of skills that will aid in a smooth transition through the various stages of graduate
school and out into the working world. Meetings will be informal and will feature a range
of speakers from different departments and offices of the university as well as the
occasional outside speaker from industry and academia.

Topics:
Joining a research group
TAing
Scientific writing
Public speaking
Success in the study topic
Success in the original proposal
Literature searching and management
Thesis preparation
Research group specific safety meetings
Shipping of chemicals
Public communication
Careers in science
Involvement the local scientific community
High school science outreach.
NSF/NIH required responsible conduct in research training

Structure:
While Wednesday 4-5pm is the standard class time, the class will not meet every single
week. Also, some sessions that require coordination with outside offices/speakers will be
scheduled at other times/locations during the week. The 1st year will focus mainly on
issues relevant to the first two years in graduate school. Throughout your time in the
Chemistry Department at Tufts you will be alerted to relevant sessions (for example:
thesis preparation / looking for jobs) at the correct time. While attendance at these
sessions is advised beyond the 1st year, it is not mandatory.

Website:
All details of upcoming events, lectures, meetings, outreach etc will be listed on a link on
the Chemistry Department website. http://chem.tufts.edu/
Link coming soon….
  1 
 1 
ORAL COMMUNICATION  COMMUNICATION 

 1 
 1 
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION  PRIMARY LITERATURE 

of the course.
 3 
 2 
Learning Goals

EXPERTISE IN SPECIFIC FIELD  DATA ANALYSIS 

 2 
 3 
BROAD CHEMISTRY KNOWLEDGE  INDEPENDENT RESEARCH 

Skills and Competencies

 3 
 3 
ORIGINAL RESEARCH  ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION 

 2 
 1 
LABORATY EXPERIENCE  EXPERT OPINION 
RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT IN 

1  
 1 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE  RESEARCH 

  
 1 

  SCIENCE & SOCIETY 

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
 

Entries of 1, 2, or 3 indicate that the topic will be a primary, secondary, or tertiary focus