Grad student general:

Let's have a (prospective) graduate student thread.
Discuss all things related to graduate school: practical questions (applying, getting funded, studying abroad) as well as research questions

Sure.

PhD in Mechanical Engineering here. Will answer your questions for people.

Some background information:
>Mathematics, BS
>Mathematics, MS
>Took control theory in last semester of MS, loved it; applied for PhD.
>Currently in PhD program with a focus on dynamical systems & mechatronics

Ask away.

How could you get an ME PhD without ever doing any industry work or mechanical engineering?

My reference letters, GRE scores and classes. During my second year in grad school, I took a ton of dynamical systems/control theory courses in the ME and EE departments, both theoretical and applied.

Went through the application process for math grad school last year. I'm spending all day studying for my quals this week, so I'll answer questions for folks until this thread is (rightfully) deleted by the janitors.

What's better: H-2/H-infinity control or Geometric control(think isidori).

I should note that the first half of my second year, I took three dynamical systems courses; in the second half/last semester, I took two control theory courses and one dynamical systems course.

I like geometric because it has a better mathematical flavor to it.

So how many schools did you apply to ? How are you guys funded ? Did you contact your potential advisor before applying ?

No, generals are garbage.

>how many schools did you apply to ?
10, I think. In hindsight, I probably could have trimmed off 2 or 3 to save a little money.

>How are you guys funded ?
TAship, which is more or less standard. If your group has extra funding (all of the groups I looked seriously at did), you can get fellowships/RAships from the group pretty easily in your later years.

>Did you contact your potential advisor before applying ?
No, don't do this for a number of reasons. They're likely to not do anything to help you, you're likely to say something that doesn't sound 100% correct, and they'll probably either ignore the email or just tell you to write back after you're accepted and pass quals. Just mention potential advisors in your SOP.

I applied to two. Got accepted into one, the other rejected me on the basis of no MechE BS. The guy told me that my grades and GRE scores were incredible, but they needed people who could immediately start without any added training or prep. The other institution accepted me almost right away. They were impressed with my credentials.

I was given partial funding. I need to "prove" myself to obtain full funding. I'm taking three very applied controls courses which all have a project at the end. About half my tuition is being covered; the other half, by loans. Boo.

I contacted my potential advisor. 100% hardass and he told me about the funding situation. He's been gracious.

I wanted a TAship, but it's kind of hard with my background. I can only TA ultra specialist grad controls classes or straight up math classes. I TAed for Linear Controls and I'm TAing it again (I'm holding recitation, too!!), but those don't really cover my tuition expenses.

That's the nice thing about the math department -- they can pretty much assign everyone to Calc 1 and 2 without any issues. My department has even been fighting for better compensation for its TAs in recent years.

So I'm a senior in EE, and so far I really really like controls and think I want to focus in it. Can you into controls with a purely electrical/SW background, or do you need a lot from the mechanical side as well?

Despite being involved in an academic career, academia is a fucking joke and shitshow. Grad students are treated like trash, there's an inherent and rampant publish/perish culture and you need to be careful not to get diminishing returns.

Grad students are like worker-bees with no benefits or real compensation. It's disgusting. Thank fuck I love control theory.
You're fine, I think. You don't need to know the mechanical side, but it helps a lot.

Control theory is a really interdisciplinary approach to engineering problems. From my experience, it's mostly coding/math and simulations with hands-on experience. I took a lot of EE dynamical/controls classes.

I like it.

I'm a PhD student in the chemistry department, I'm in a computational chem lab.

Sometimes I miss lab equipment and all the stuff you are trained to do in your undergrad years, since computational chem is so different, but I do find this more interesting

I'm doing PhD in molecular dynamics in a ChemE department. Hows your day to day look like?

Thanks

I'm gonna start environmental chemistry this year, bachelors. Don't know if this is the right thread but you guys seem like academics.
Is there any money to be made in this field?
The online sources say kinda, but they're iffy. Any first hand experience?

If all you care about is money you should study economics

Having some research papers (solo, co-authored with professors- not very big stuff but I am just starting my second undergrad year) and summer research experience at JINRU will give me a chance to be admitted at a physics graduate program at an Ivy? Ofc, assuming good GRE scores as well and coming from Eastern Europe (if this has any significance)

What do you think you're gonna do your research on?

What is dynamical systems, beyond basic newton/lagrange eom for rigid bodies, flexible bodies, etc?

Then I could just become a banker. I have a soul, mate!

I'm interested in dynamical systems in grad school and possibly focusing on control theory. I don't want to end up in engineering, however, as I've already been in Mechanical engineering and definitely do not want to go back. Is the math side of control theory good for mathematicians?

>Having some research paper
>I am just starting my second undergrad year

Well I did one with a professor on coin tossing (using more advanced mechanics, Euler angles and such) and right now I am thinking about one on electrostatics and one on thermodynamics. As I said, not spectacular stuff

Hello,

I just returned from working on some stuff and studying. Off for the day.

I want to do my research on mechatronic systems. Specifically, the application of control theory and the theoretical development of how they work. I think mechatronics is a new field and it's still growing, so I don't think there's a lot of established groundwork for it. Eventually, I want to get into robotics.
>What is [a] dynamical system?
A dynamical system is merely a system that undergoes change. That's the base definition of it. But the dynamical system you're describing is very niche; broadly, it's a system which describes certain phenomena that undergoes development over a period of time. For linear cases, we see this through the lens of state space representation and ODEs/PDEs. The state space representation gives us a bird's eye view into how systems are designed and helps us determine certain things. For example, is it controllable? Given a mechanical subsystem, can we control the reference point if it keeps messing up? Using standard tools from linear algebra, we can figure out that answer. What if it's not controllable, BUT it is observable? We can figure that out, too; by observing a non-controllable system, we observe what's wrong, what isn't, etc. Typically, we also use signal flow diagrams/charts to understand how a system relates to each of their components.
The mathematical side of control theory is what literally led me into pursuing the PhD in MechE. My MechE PhD will be tailored specifically for control theory and its applications through mechatronic systems, given the lab I'm loosely associated with.

I did one too on deriving Schrodinger Equation from its integral form using basic analysis. Though it got seminared one year later. most if not all in my department understand the shit, so now many people calling me prof user.

Friend A: *Comes in and see me* Oh hello Prof. user.

As long as I am lurking

PhD in Genomic Parasitology here, you may have seen previous Parasitology threads. That is me. I am pretty sure I am the only Parasitologist on all Veeky Forums.

Academic history:
>B.Sc Biomed
>M.Sc and postgrad diploma Medical Parasitology
>PhD using genome mining techniques to improve protozoan diagnostics

Feel free to ask questions

*Don't' understand shit

I'm starting my junior year in undergrad chemistry with a 3.2 overall GPA and no research experience.

How fucked am I

Letters of recommendation > research experience > papers > gpa at least 3.5/gre scores

That's how the evaluation for grad school works at top schools. A kid I know got into Harvards math program with a 2.7, because he had three recommendations from top people in the department. Gpa is unreliable since some schools have grade inflation while others don't. So a 3.8 at Yale might be equivalent to a 3.2 at Purdue or something

start doing research asap and you should be fine. also, finish your grades strong. i guarantee you will get accepted somewhere

Bio major going to a smaller public school here in similar situation, are independent studies decent enough? We don't really have any true research opportunities beyond those

im not sure. im in a chemistry PhD program. Biology may get more applicants so that's where my uncertainty comes from. If you can sell independent studies as research that would be good.

M.A. in Applied Experimental Psychology reporting in. Had my first class today. Hoo boy. I'm nervous to get fully started and I hope I'm smart enough for all of this. Also have a meeting tomorrow about a potential assistantship so I'm kind of excited.

Almost done my master's.

Had to toss out ALL my research 1.5 years into grad school and start a completely new thesis - a dataset upon which my whole project was contingent disappeared along with a researcher who left on "temporary" stress leave and never came back. New project (100% unrelated to the first) has taken me almost 2 years to complete, without funding.

That experience left me pretty pissed off and jaded, and frankly it was embarassing to have fallen so far behind my cohort, so I didn't bother going in to my office for 90% of the last two years.

I got shit done at my home office without asking for help from anyone and am honestly better off for it, except I ended up really loving this new thesis topic and now kind of want to do a PhD. I never expected that to happen.

Problem is, I doubt I'm going to get any recommendations due to not being around in my department for like 2 years other than to go into the lab and collect my data, and I think it's too late to save face by coming in. So I'll probably need to just head toward the industry.

Sucks because I have some really innovative research ideas, but hindsight is 20/20.

Really ? Actually, I'm thinking about getting into a top math program, have 2 "research" internships (more like reading papers than writing them desu but that's how it reads on my resume) and could probably get at least one or two letters from some a few badasses in my department but no papers so that's somewhat comforting
Also, is the tuition waiving implied when you're in ? Or does it sometimes happen that some people are accepted but literally can't afford to get in ? (education is free where I'm from so I am very ignorant about these things)

5 schools

Fellowship for 3 years, TA ship for about 2years, and profs' grant/ grad program money

Contacting your potential adviser depends on your program. If you do rotations, then it might not be that important unless you really want that lab. I didn't even know about my adviser until I saw a talk my 2nd month

find a university with research and beg to join a lab there. You will be looked down on without knowing lab basics. This is totally doable, plus get good letters of rec

Yes, letters of recommendation and research experience (but not necessarily papers) are the most important things. Try applying to a couple places, see what happens. And if you get into a Ph.D. Program and don't get funded something very weird happened, masters in America aren't worth it, and are advised against unless you want to do industry

3.0 in my bs in physics. i start my ms in math in a week. It's not where I thought I'd be and there were setbacks and I'm not dead

I'll try that out, would an REU also work? I'm definitely applying to a few of those after almost getting into one last year.

I'm thinking about applying for physics and EE. Is it true that American citizens get an advatage in admissions for American universities?

Also, if my GPA is just a bit north of 3.5, 3.52, will I be disadvantaged at schools that require a 3.5 or is that just used as a cutoff?

Can professors convince a professor at your desired school to accept you?

I'm considering Mining Engineering.

Is a duel major in chemistry worth it for a prospective microbiology student? It looks like I can fit all the requirements in by the time I graduate (took some summer classes and AP credits as well) but if it doesn't help much I don't see a point in the extra money spent/stress

Question:

Did any of you go from a pure maths undergrad into an applied field for their masters?

>mechatronics
holyest of fresh bait

>PhD in Mechanical Engineering here.
>Currently in PhD program

Ah I see they already taught you that classic engineer smugness.

Starting third-year in biophysics PhD program, passed candidacy exams in late April. Glad to throw-in my two cents for life sciences PhDs, biomedical research, etc.

Many research universities have summer programs for undergraduates. One bit of advice would be to apply to a summer research program at a program where you're interested in attending grad school. It's a great way to get yourself known to the faculty, and to demonstrate that you have the potential to be a graduate student.

At my university, a big state school in the U.S., the REU programs (chemistry, biochemistry, biophysics, physics, etc.) tend to take students from smaller liberal arts schools. For one REU class in biochemistry from 2013, for example, over half of the 12 kids end up in PhD programs at the same institution.

Another option is to take two to three years off after undergrad to work as a tech. (That's what I ended up doing.)

I doubled in chemistry and molecular biology in undergrad. As much as I tout the virtues of having the chemistry background in the life sciences, it really isn't a prerequisite for every program and discipline. What specifically are you interested in?

As much as I want to tell you to go for it, I can understand how the money would be an issue. And, for microbio, it may not be necessity.

I'll chime in as well.

PhD in Chemical Engineering (misnomer, I work with in-situ electron microscopy on catalytic systems).

>Nearly BS in Engineering Physics.
>Moved to Europe, restarted school got BS in Nanotech
>MS in Nanotech
>Now doing forementioned PhD, nearly completed

For the record, I am nearly 40 years old and behind the curve because of problems. I have one of the most extensive academic backgrounds my supervisors have ever seen, however, and am working directly with the leaders in my field.

Yes, I report shitposters on Veeky Forums all day e'ry day.

>in-situ electron microscopy on catalytic systems
Nice
I will start a PhD focused on (in-situ) Raman microscopy on caralytic systems :^)

I reposted with a name sorry.

Raman is nice because it is so non-interfering with regards to your system. Fucking electron beams man...

>hey lets blast it with a beam of relativistic, charged particles
>what could possibly go wrong

Yup
Furthermore, with techniques such as SRS microscopy you don't have non-resonant background contribution (unlike CARS microscopy for instance), which is pretty neat

its just a shame about the spatial resolution, user. especially in a field like catalysis...

i know they say it doesn't matter, but...

>PhD in Chemical Engineering (misnomer, I work with in-situ electron microscopy on catalytic systems).

I'm currently doing a thesis in chem engg (as an undergrad tho, not very serious) and I find it funny how chemical engineering industry jobs seem to be all fairly similar, while any research in chemical engineering is super varied and doesn't have a lot to do with what you're taught in undergrad.

I know this isn't quite your career path, but do you think it's viable/worthwhile to get a chem engg grad job for a few years and save up before starting PhD? On one hand I really want to get a PhD and end up in academia, but that means living like a student for another 3 or so years.

almost nobody goes into industry only to later take up a PhD, unless they are switching fields or do it as an honorary thing or administrative requirment (still quite rare).

If you are going to do a PhD, you do it because you are interested in research in your field and want to have at least some background with that respect in your career path.

Either way, doing a job for some years, gaining experience, and then doing a PhD is certainly viable. I wouldnt advise it, but it is essentially what I did. I did it simply because I had to.. I always wanted to work in research, but I was not ready for many years.

What molecules do you model? Do you do work for people outside the group?

I did comp. chem for my undergrad thesis. I used Firefly from MSU.

It is not that bad with coherent raman scattering techniques desu

Why would this thread be deleted by the janitors? I mean this thread is too specific for /adv/..

Fair enough, thanks man

What type of stuff do you have to know for quals? I'm thinking about doing a PhD in math

Every department is a little different, but the idea is usually that you should know everything taught in their graduate sequence of classes. You're not expected to come in and pass from day one, though it's great if you can; you get the chance to take the classes first. To give an idea, my algebra qual yesterday had questions about maximal subgroups of various groups, proving some linear algebra fact that boiled down to a clever use of Jordan canonical form, a few different questions about commutative algebra (modules, localizations, algebras), and a question about cyclotomic fields.

I'm going to start my third year of four now and I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna touch most of those subjects in my courses. So do you basically have to self study the material?

Also at what point in time do you do these quals, before or after applying, or before or after getting picked?

Quals are exams taken during graduate school to show that you have completed the "coursework learning" part of grad school and are ready to move on to research. Again, you will take graduate courses, in grad school or before, that will cover these topics. You usually have to pass two exams, and you have until your fourth semester or so to pass your first one. If you google "math phd quals," or even better visit the websites of specific departments that interest you, and you will find their policies and often even past exams.

Oh I thought quals were like entry tests, my bad, but thanks