Mentoring Plan for PhD Students
Communication and Meetings
How would you describe your advising style? Does your approach vary over the course of a student's progress within their degree?
A half-hour one-on-one meeting per week, or one hour meeting fortnightly. Additional meetings for specific projects as needed.
What is the best way/technology for students to contact you? Are there time frames in which students should expect to hear from you?
Slack. If I don't respond in a day, they should try to contact me again.
How often do you plan to meet with students one-on-one (be as specific as possible, it's okay to describe multiple styles that may vary with student needs)? Is an agenda required? How long are meetings?
A half-hour one-on-one meeting per week, or one hour meeting fortnightly. They should prepare presentations with updates and questions.
Do you have regular group meetings? What does student participation look like in a group meeting?
Once per week. Each student is expected to present once per year at least.
Research and Teaching Expectations
Describe your students' primary area(s) of responsibility and expectations (e.g., reading peer-reviewed literature, in-lab working hours, etc.).
Read peer-reviewed literature. Work in lab when needed. Mentor student teams.
How do you decide authorship and/or authorship order?
I'm last author on research arising out of my group. Authorship is a group discussion that is unique to each paper. The student who leads the project is usually first author, but sometimes this can be a co-authored position. Contributions that are essential to the research in the paper are usually reflected in authorship in order of importance.
Do you ask students in your group to serve as a GSI over the course of their program?
Yes
Do you have general expectations for graduation?
Each student is different
Are you supportive of your students going on internships? If so, is there a time of year that is best? How many internships can they do?
After their first or second year. One unless the student intends to go into industry.
Opportunities for Feedback
How do you provide students with feedback regarding overall progress, research activities, etc.?
In our regular one-on-one meetings and on slack
How far in advance of a deadline should a student expect to provide written work for feedback, such as publication drafts?
2 weeks
How do you solicit feedback from your students?
In our regular one-on-one meetings and in group meetings and on slack.
Conference Attendance
Which meetings do your students generally attend? What funding is available to attend these meetings?
SICB, ICRA, IROS, Dynamic Walking. Funding is dependent on external grants or the Rackham travel grant.
Time Away from Campus
Discuss expectations regarding vacations and time away from campus and how best to plan for them. What is the time-frame for notification regarding anticipated absences?
One month ahead of time is helpful for vacations more than 2 days. Most major holidays are taken off by the group.
Are there specific standard times that students in your group generally take vacation?
Winter break
What do you do to facilitate students taking time off (e.g., do you proactively encourage people to take vacation after major deadlines)?
Most major holidays are taken off by the group. Usually, students travel and visit their families at least once per year.