An unofficial Guide for
Final Year Graduate Students (Chemistry)
Princeton University 2005
"To know the road ahead, ask those coming back."
- Chinese proverbHello Friends ! I compiled this information which is based on my limited knowledge gained during the last few months of finishing Ph.D. The sole purpose of this guide is to help you. Therefore please write to me (aditydas AT yahoo.com) with any useful inputs. This guide will help you make a checklist of things to do in the last few months before obtaining the Ph.D degree. If you have any further questions ask your departmental graduate secretary.
CONTENTS
A. Optional Practical Training for International Graduate Students
B. Health Insurance Conversion
C. Housing
D. Out of field proposal.
E. Planning your FPO
F. Thesis Formatting, Printing and Binding
G. OIT Email Forwarding
H. SNAIL MAIL FORWARDING
I. MWDD (Optional)
A. OPTIONAL PRACTICAL TRAINING FOR INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENTS (F-1 Visa)
Apply for OPT preferably one and a half months in advance. You need not have a job offer to apply for OPT. Here is the link for checklist of things to bring to the VISA office. http://web.princeton.edu/sites/visa/opt_checklist.htm
Some other information on OPT http://web.princeton.edu/sites/visa/F-1offcampuswork.htm
Note: International students are generally required by law to obtain permission to work, through the International Student Adviser in the Office of Visa Services, from the Immigration and Naturalization Service/J1 sponsor before beginning employment as a lecturer or as a pre-doctoral research assistant (PRA).
For instance, if you plan to defend in middle of the semester and you are not funded by your thesis advisor then you can obtain PRA status where you can be paid on an hourly basis. This will require you to have work authorization. Therefore if you are international students without funding (TA/RA) then you need to have work permit (OPT) to get paid from the university as PRA.
B. HEALTH INSURANCE
If you are terminated (before or after your FPO) then university no longer pays for your health insurance. You can be covered through the following health insurance. It’s expensive. http://www.princeton.edu/uhs/si_shp.html
In the above website, fill the conversion application and fax or mail it to the insurance company. It does not cover short term coverage in New Jersey and long term coverage is expensive around 400$ per month. It is retroactive. This way you will be covered from the time of termination to your next job with insurance coverage.
C. HOUSING
If you are in university housing with your contract ending before your FPO you can apply for housing extension (you are at their mercy). Note: Previous graduate students have successfully extended for a month or so.
If you are in university housing and have a contract for the housing for next year then you can terminate your housing contract whenever you want.
If you are unable to pay your rent through your salary then you can go to the rent office (new south building, third floor) and pay them the rent as a check payable to Princeton University.
One month before you leave your campus housing you need to fill in the INTENT TO VACATE form which can be obtained in the housing office. This form will start the process of obtaining your security deposit and other things. The house keys need to be returned to the superintendent or porter at the porter lodge.
D. OUT OF FIELD PROPOSAL
It’s better to finish this as early as possible or at worst a month before your FPO. Then you can concentrate of your proposal defense and thesis. Many graduate students prefer to defend few days before their thesis (individual variation). It takes around a month to write a coherent research proposal (Individual variations).
Typical length is 15-20 pages including references. No formatting guidelines.
The defense consists of 20-25 minutes presentation time interspersed with 15 minutes of discussion with the committee members where they make constructive suggestions about the proposal.
E. PLANNING YOUR FPO
"Failing to plan is planning to fail."
It’s important to think of a tentative FPO date and then back calculate your plan of writing and corrections. If your papers are written up, thesis writing takes around a month of dedicated work.
Choosing committee members (Ask the Departmental Graduate Secretary for the current rules)
Usually the FPO committee consists of four examiners. At least two of the examiners may NOT be your thesis readers. Additionally, at least one of the examiners must be a Princeton professor of chemistry (this can be an issue if you do you thesis outside the Department), and if you select an examiner that does not al least hold the rank of assistant professor, then special Graduate School permission must be obtained.Go to your committee members (including your advisor) and make a note of the days they are available in the month of your tentative defense. Chalk out the common time.
TIME LINE BEFORE FPO
1) Two months: Give your nicely written and thoroughly revised thesis draft to your advisor.
2) One month: Submit thesis to your second reader.
3) Two weeks: You need to give the Departmental Secretary the following things from the website below. Some of the forms are obtained from the departmental secretary. http://gso.princeton.edu/forms/e65/academic_forms.html
 | Advanced degree application |
| 2 Reader Reports (your advisor and second reader) |
| Ph.D Dissertation Report Form |
| 1 copy of title page and Abstract |
4) One week: Submit two bound copies of your thesis to the Departmental Graduate Secretary.
5) Day of your FPO: Submit the following to Departmental Graduate Secretary
| Microfilm agreement form |
| University termination form |
| Survey of earned doctorates |
| Exit questionnaire |
| Departmental termination form |
|
Employment after graduation form. |
6) After your FPO: the following things need to be taken to Mudd Library
$70 check made out to Princeton University (if you intend to copyright your thesis the amount will be higher around 75$). You copyright when the work in thesis might be patentable etc.
Microfilm agreement form (Dissertation publication Form)
2 bound copies of thesis
1 copy of title page and abstract. The title page should contain your advisor’s name.
3 copies of FPO report.
1 CD containing your whole thesis as a SINGLE pdf file. Label both disc and cover with the following.
“Princeton University
Last Name, First Name
The thesis title”
MUDD library will sign the FPO report form. They will keep a copy and return the original and a copy to you. Return a copy to Departmental Graduate Secretary.
7) The final destination -201 Nassau Hall (Graduate Secretary can do this for you)
| University termination form |
| Mudd library signed FPO copy |
| Survey of Earned doctorates |
| Exit questionnaire form. |
8) Departmental exit form. You need to return keys, books, close accounts etc.
F. THESIS
 | How to write a Ph.D thesis? A guide book for lost graduate students |
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/thesis.html
|
FORMATTING and other things about thesis. |
http://www.princeton.edu/~mudd/thesis/general.html
Any doubts about format, paper quality etc. then take it to the Mudd library reception
Some Notes:
| WORD FORMATTING |
Leave more margin than recommended. If page numbers are in the bottom then leave 1.6’(left) and 1.1 (top) and 1.1 (side). The problematic regions are the figures. They tend to exceed the margin. So best is to put them in separate file but DO NOT FORGET TO FORMAT the figure files. In fact making figures and formatting them are major source of delay in many cases.
|
PAPER- archival paper is recommended. |
Definition: Acid and lignin free paper that lasts longer than other papers and holds color well is referred to as archival paper. With a quality lifetime of 100 years or longer, archival paper is often used for critical, permanent records that must be kept for many years.Archival paper is expensive as it has cotton as compared to lignin in normal paper. It’s around 36$ per ream (500 pages) to 42$ per ream or more.This paper can be obtained from Staples or ordered online or obtained from Triangle Printing and Copy. Usually the paper lying around like Pro-88 Boise is acid free too but it is not lignin free. Lignin a component of tree makes the paper age faster.
| For other paper guidelines you can look up the mudd library thesis site. |
http://www.princeton.edu/~mudd/thesis/appendix_C.html
|
PRINTING |
1) You can print one copy and take them to Triangle printing and copying in 150, Nassau Street for making further copies and binding.
2) Color figure printing- Some options:
a) Kinkos: 89c per page. b) PMI-color laser printer-Donald L. Schoorman (dons@princeton.edu) -50c per page but you need to make an appointment in advance. c) Dan Nordlund (Chemistry)-dye-sub printer (or called thermo-wax printer?) for superior picture quality. Cost is $1.5 per page including paper.d) Triangle Printing and copying- 1.69c per page.
|
Quick Recipe: How to get your thesis printed and bound cheaply in three days. |
Buy 25% cotton paper from triangle (bright neenah’s paper)-make a separate file for printing text and figures- colored figs- print out colored figs from Kinkos - print black and white figs separately from black and white text- send for binding at Triangle or Shattuck for quicker binding. (Triangle can take care of copying as well)
|
BINDING |
Smith-Shattuck Bookbinding http://www.thesisbookbinding.com/services.html
Offers high-quality fully stitched binding.
Library Standard: starts at $38.00 (>101 pages)- same archival components and oversewn, but without front cover stamping (Good enough for library)
Buckram binding: starts at $50.00, Available in ten colors, Front cover stamping.
Leather binding: starts at $60.00, Available in four colors
Procedure:
72 hour turn around.
May drop off and pick up thesis at Triangle on Nassau Street on TUE or FRI, or Smith-Shattuck location (Route 206N, approximately 3 miles from the campus)- Any questions? Call them 497-1445
G. OIT EMAIL FORWARDING
How to forward your emails to your standard yahoo account and how to create an alumni account.http://helpdesk.princeton.edu/kb/display.plx?ID=2754
Moreover you need to download your emails e-mail and files from OIT servers to your local computer http://helpdesk.princeton.edu/kb/display.plx?id=3992
H. SNAIL MAIL FORWARDING
Use the following service for forwarding your snail mail. Alternatively you can go to the post office to notify them.https://moversguide.usps.com/?referral=USPS
I. (OPTIONAL) Minority and Women Doctoral Directory
If you have already received your Ph.D. degree or expect to do so within the next three semesters you can register with MWDD. The MWDD is a national listing of minority and women students who have already received or are about to receive their doctoral degree. More than 700 colleges and universities subscribe to the Directory and use it in recruiting for openings on their faculties.Your listing in the Directory is free of charge, as is the optional CV/resume distribution service. For more information or to download the registration form, please visit http://www.mwdd.com.
DISCLAIMER
For the information available in this website, I do not or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed.