Professional Development Activities
The ACES Project
includes a strong focus on professional development, beyond training
in research. This effort involves both formal and informal activities.
Below is a sample of these activities.
Career Panel Discussion
In November, 2005, the Chemistry,
Math, and History Departments at Stony Brook cosponsored
a panel discussion on career options for
Ph.D. students. These three departments are all participants
in the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate. Huanyan
Cao and Kathy Parker organized the panel, and the Dreyfus Foundation
and the Stony Brook Graduate School supported the chemistry effort.
The panel included alumni who discussed careers in academia,
at both research universities and primarily undergraduate institutions,
as well as national labs, government agencies, and industry.
Alfreda James of the Stony Brook Career Center moderated the discussion.
Approximately 50 graduate students attended.
Mentoring Workshop
Troy Wolfskill and Nancy Goroff have
created a workshop for graduate students and postdocs who are actively
mentoring high school and undergraduate researchers. This workshop
examines the goals of introductory research experiences, time management
issues, methods to help new students develop research skill, and other
aspects of mentoring. As an outgrowth of this annual workshop,
we have prepared a list of expectations for students and mentors in
summer research programs. This set of Pointers for Success
is now distributed to all Chemistry REU students and their mentors.
Provost's Lecture: Elga Wasserman
Elga Wasserman
is the author of The Door in the Dream: Conversations with Eminent Women in Science
a book based on interviews with women members of the National Academy
of Science. Dr. Wasserman holds a degree in organic chemistry
from Harvard/Radcliffe. In October, 2003, ACES and the Provost's Lecture
Series cosponsored Dr. Wasserman's lecture, Women in Science and Engineering
– The Unfinished Agenda.
As a bonus event, the day before Dr.
Wasserman's lecture, the Chemistry Department screened the PBS special
Stop Forward Movement?, a
documentary that in part describes the contributions of Nobel prize
winner R. B. Woodward. Afterwards, Dr. Wasserman participated
in a discussion session based on her time as a Ph.D. student in the
Woodward lab.
Chemistry Research Day
Since 1999, our department has held an annual public
celebration of the research underway in our labs. Chemistry
Research Day includes lunch, a department-wide poster
session, and a public lecture by a member of the department.
The event generally includes over 100 posters, and draws as many as
200 attendees. Chemistry Research Day gives undergraduates,
graduate students and postdocs a natural occasion for discussing their
research with their peers and with the public, helping students to
develop their communication skills at many levels. Collaborations
have developed directly from many of these conversations. The enthusiasm
of the day carries over into the rest of the year, supporting student
feelings of community and pride in the department.
Interaction with Seminar Speakers
One outcome of the ACES/CID Graduate
Program Assessment was a request by students to have
increased interaction with visitors to the department. As a
result, we have instituted a series of informal brown-bag lunches
for graduate students with visiting seminar and colloquium speakers.
In addition, the department's seminar program now includes visitors
invited by the graduate students. The first of these speakers
was Prof. Ron Breslow of Columbia University, former president of
the American Chemical Society. Two student-invited speakers
are planned for 2006-2007, Dr. Robert Tycko of the National Institutes
of Health and Prof. Michael Duncan of the Unversity of Georgia.
Department of Chemistry
State University of New York
Stony Brook, NY 11794
Phone: 631-632-7880
Fax: 631-632-7960
