Acknowledge federal funding.

Writing:

Check paragraph structure.  Make sure that the first sentence of each paragraph summarizes the entire paragraph, and every later sentence is there to support the first sentence.

Do not start a sentence with a variable.

Look up the difference between "which" and "that" and check their usage throughout.

Make sure every figure or table is referred to in the text.

Provide enough details that a later student can reproduce what you did, included function names, etc.  Use appendix if needed.

Avoid colloqial language, such as instead of "we got," write "we measured."

• You will likely adjust your code to go from running the 100% to the 10%. Make sure you actually re-process the 10% with the 100% code and check to see that every value is duplicated correctly. This was a problem for both Jacob's and Brian's box opening.

1. Don't use adverbs. Quantify!
2. Refer to a figure or table before discussing it -- not after. 
3. The first sentence of a paragraph should summarize the whole paragraph. 
4. Know the difference between "that" and "which".
5. Be careful. Are you using "I", "we", or no identifier? Be consistent. Is it personal or objective? 
6. Be careful with past and present tense. Be consistent!
7. Avoid extreme words such as optimal, best, always, never, perfect.  A sentence containing such an extreme word is almost "always" inaccurate, and only invites the reader to argue with exceptions.
8. Brevity.  If you can say the same thing with fewer words, do it.  It will be more powerful.
9. Don't forget acknowlegements!  Funding agencies, or sources of funding, people who provided valuable advice.
10. Learn when to use hyphens
11. Define an acronym the very first time you use it (in the main text, not in the abstract), and then only use the acronym from then on.
12. Use Fig., Tab. and Eq. with the same abbreviation and capitalization consistently throughout. 
13. Every paragraph should have more than one sentence, and see #3.

Things to say, and not say, in a paper.

This is a list of things that should be expected when trying to make and run icemc.

1. The directory includes a Makefile.arch, but seems to have lost it’s
StandardDefinitions.mk, which was necessary in previous versions. Is it no
longer necessary?

2. When you try to execute “./icemc” it tries to make an
“outputs/coherent_sum_data_file.root” object. But “outputs” is not a default
directory, so it will fail: “SysError in <TFile::TFile>: file
outputs/coherent_sum_data_file.root can not be opened (No such
file or directory)”.

3. The default settings for inputs.conf have the “Apply impulse response to
digitizer path: 1” enabled. However, this can only be done if the Anita tools are
sourced: “Signal chain impulse response can only be applied when
the Anita tools are sourced”. So “icemc” will not run out of the box for a more
“casual” user without anitaBuildTool. See anitaBuildTools for installation. \

4. When we source the anita3 input file “./icemc -i inputs.anita3.conf” it has
both the apply impulse response digitizer and apply impulse response trigger enabled
by default. This is in direct contradiction to the GitHub documentation where its says
these are not enabled. Because of this it does not run (since these require the anitaBuildTools). The default should not be
enabled. 

5. If the user forgets to set the environment variables “ICEMC_SRC_DIR”,
“ICEMC_BUILD_DIR”, and to update the LD_LIBRARY_PATH as instructed on the
GitHub, the code will proceed as if everything is fine by printing the following message:
“Warning! Could not find environment variable ICEMC_SRC_DIR.
Will guess icemc source directory is present working directory”.
However, the code will segfault. When one sets up the
environment variables correctly first, icemc will execute and produce the correct
output files. If icemc cannot actually run without the environment variables set
correctly (which is fine if that's the intentional design decision), then the error
messages are misleading, and should be removed and icemc should return 0 for the
user and tell them to set the variables.

Lessons Learned from a Year in ARA Hardware

• Test samples, then build batches.

  • If building a new board, always build one to completion to verify functionality before building the rest.

  • We lost lots of time to the ARAFERFv5 for this reason.

• Building in batches is easier than building to order.

  • Maybe this should have been obvious, but it is easier to build 10 of something in an assembly line than to build 10 to completion individually.

• Strain relief is essential.

  • We ran into problems on both the APWR and the ARAFE RF boards with not properly strain relief-ing these systems. They will be jostled, and worse, handled by overzealous grad students. Strain relief the heck out of everything. Sacrifice board space if you have to.

• Lead times suck.

  • We use lots of proprietary technology that can have long lead times (LARK filters, IsoRate cables/adapters, SBC and SSDs…). Plan ahead, and order in at least 25% excess. If you need 12, order 16 to allow for failures.

• You always need spares.

  • Things break, or don’t work how you’d like them to, and sometimes the only solution is outright replacement. Order spares in the quantity ~20%.

  • If you run out, assume you need a spare, and order immediately. Waiting until you actually, desperately need the spare is a recipe for high cost and unnecessary stress.

• It’s not done until it has been thermal tested.

  • Solder joints crack, transistors aren’t wired right, amps don’t behave quite like you expect. It all happened this year. We must thermal test and validate the results before assuming something is ready for pole.

•  “Quick start” manuals are essential.

  • It is not enough to tell people to “read the code”. If you write a new piece of software, put a “1-minute guide" to its compilation and use in the header.

• Redundant, deep experience is necessary. Parallelized skill is better than cascaded.

  • Having only one person with deep knowledge of how a system is put together leads to bottlenecking.

  • Good counterexample: TUFF construction had two people, Oindree and Jacob, that could both fully build and characterize a TUFF without consulting the other person. Jacob and Oindree were “clones” of one another, so when something broke/got stuck, both could fully debug without needing the other.

  • “Extra hands”, e.g., untrained students, are not the solution. The solution is to bring on a long-term second person who can become trained. Interim visitors (~1 week) are not helpful, nor is mass help (lots of students) who don’t have the time (several weeks of only lab work) to dedicate to becoming skilled.

• Special cases are bad.

  • When at all possible, eliminate special cases in how station elements are constructed.

  • Wire connectors, boards, etc for maximum “swappability”. The power box for A4 should work for A6 with no changes, etc.

Advice about physics from Marjorie:

• Always start with the physics!
• Triggering is where the physics is

Yay, it's April Meeting time! This is the biggest conference for the high-energy physics community in the US.

Resources and Lingo

• A high level summary of the meeting can be found here: https://www.aps.org/meetings/april/upload/AP18Program.pdf
• You can download an app from the app store to make a schedule, etc.: https://www.aps.org/meetings/mobileapp.cfm
• Plenaries
  • The "plenaries" happen in the morning
  • they are usually in the big conference hall, and are meant for everyone
• Scientific Sessions
  • The scientific sessions happen in the later morning and throughout the afternoon.
  • You pick and choose what session you attend, or even what talks you attend within a session.
  • It's completely normal to change rooms after each session concludes, and you are even welcome to jump between sessions to catch specific talks.

Sessions of Interest

• What sessions should I attend?
  • If you're totally clueless as to what would be interesting for our science, I'd recommend anything pertaining to "neutrinos", "cosmic rays", or "dark matter".
  • Some I'd recommend in particular:
    • Saturday 3:30: High energy particle astrophysics: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR18/Session/D07
    • Monday 10:40: Detection and origin of high energy astrophysical neutrinos: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR18/Session/R17
    • Monday 1:30: Neutrinos, Gamma rays, and cosmic rays oh my!: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR18/Session/S17
    • Monday 3:30 (our session!): Ultra-high energy neutrinos: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR18/Session/U17
• Go to activities and socials in the evening or during lunch. Some ones of note:
  • For everyone:
    • Sunday 6:30-7:30PM: Improving the climate for LGBT physicists roundtable: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR18/Session/N21.1
    • Sunday 6:30-7PM: National Society for Black and Hispanic Physicicst (NSBP, NSHP) Reception: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR18/Session/N20
    • Sunday 7-8:30PM: Education and Diversity Reception: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR18/Session/N22
  • For the undergrads specficially:
    • Saturday 12-1:30, round table with grad students: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR18/Session/B20
    • Sunday: 10-2: career workshop and preparing for work outside the academy: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR18/Session/G20, http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR18/Session/J20
• Go to talks which are more than typical "science" talks. For example:
  • Monday: History of Women Pioneers in Astronomy: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR18/Session/U07
  • Monday: Physicsts and Human Rights: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR18/Session/R07
• You might avoid some of the more "eclectic" sessions:
  • Tuesday: "New Directions in Gravitation I and II " : http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR18/Session/X13  , http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR18/Session/Y13

Making the Most of the Conference

• Taking Care of Yourself
  • No one can actually stay focused from 8AM-6PM listening to science talks. It is is expected that you'll skip a session here, or miss a talk there.
  • Break the monotony. Get coffee, walk a lap of the convention hall, talk to people at exhibition booths instead of going to science talks.
• Networking
  • It really means just meet new people. That's it. Here's the easiet, foolproof way to do it: "Hi, I'm Brian Clark from OSU. I really liked your talk. Can I ask you a quick question about xxxx..." and go from there.
  • It's very easy to meet new people at receptions. I found dinner buddies, for example, at the LGBT roundtable and the Education and Diversity reception. Then you can chat with them for the coming days, add them on linked in, etc.
  • Also, OSU will have a large contingent. If you're hanging out in this large OSU group (grabbing dinner or coffee or lunch), and see someone you've chatted with before who you know could use a buddy, invite them to join.
• Courtesy
  • Do not ask questions during a talk; wait till the end. The speaker has 10 minutes to speak with 2 minutes reserved at the end for questions. Wait till the end to ask questions.
  • Don't heckle a speaker, even if you disagree with them a lot or they insult your experiment/paper/idea. It's unprofessional and makes you look bad.
  • Try to actually listen to talks; minimize laptop use. You'll see lots of people with their laptops open, working during talks. This is normal, and there's nothing really wrong with it. But try, as best you can, to actually pay attention to the talks. If you're going to spend the whole session not listening to the speaker at all, then go grab a table in the convention hall lobby instead. You'll be more productive and the speaker will have a more engaged audience.
• Professional Behavior
  • Read and abide by the code of conduct: https://www.aps.org/meetings/policies/code-conduct.cfm. 
    • We should always strive to be collegial: no crude jokes, no behaviors that make the meeting unsafe or unwelcoming for anyone (based on nationality, disability, gender, sexuality, etc.).
    • Anything we do reflects badly on ourselves, the Connolly Group, OSU, Columbus, and the US (this is an international conference). And physicists have very long memories.
  • For those old enough to drink, drink responsibly.
    • There will be alcohol available at some receptions, and networking after the conference can often happen at bars.
    • We never have an excuse to be excessively intoxicated and do something which makes the meeting unsafe or unwelcoming for ourselves or others.
    • Remember, as a representative of OSU at this conference, we are still held to the OSU Code of Conduct even though the event is off campus.

Don't start a sentence with a number.

For numbers less than or equal to ten, spell out the word.

Put a space between a number and the unit?

Different ways on which TProfile can estimate and plot errors.

Here are a bunch of my thoughts on prepping for Antarctica. This mostly pertains to my experience travelling to the South Pole in support of the 2017-2018 ARA commissioning and calibration activities. I was  at the South Pole for about a month, and accumulated about of week of time in MCM due to flight delays.

Attire and Clothing Distribution Center (CDC)

• When you go for clothing distribution, don’t take your long johns with you, but do take your thick wool socks. Try on your ECW boots with your thick wool socks on so you know they fit right.
• Trade the wind pants for Carhartts. Just ask. The people at the CDC are really nice, and they won’t give you as much trouble as it looks like they will. They really just want to help.
• Lots of people will tell you to trade the Bunny boots for Baffin’s (or another type of boot). Whether that’s a good idea depends on you and your work. The bunny boots are super warm—we did lots of outside work, and people with Baffin’s were always complaining of cold feet, while Bunny Boot folks never did. The Baffin’s are lighter, taller, and buckle up (no strings). I’m also told they are more “natural” for walking—the Bunny’s really suck for walking long distances.
• Get the fit of your clothing right while you’re at the CDC. It’s embarrassing sometimes to sit there and have to go back and forth repeatedly to get something to fit right (especially if you’re a bigger person). But your life depends on this stuff. Just keep at it, they really do have stuff for people of every size there.
• Bring a pair of good, waterproof hiking boots. I made the mistake of only having my ECW boots and tennis shoes (along with shower shoes and slippers). The thing is, if you want to go on a 5-10 minute walk somewhere—and you have to do that a lot at Pole and McMurdo—tennis shoes are too light and ECW boots are too heavy.
• Bring a good medium weight sweater/jacket, or keep the little red they give you. It’s really nice to have medium weight outer wear while you’re there.
• Bring a spare pair of backup eyeware. My primary eyeware is contact. I brought two pairs of backup glasses. This was a good idea. I scratched my “primary” backup glasses my first week at pole, and was glad to have a “backup” backup pair of glasses.

Packing

• Most people have four bags: (1) backpack, (2) suitcase/big personal duffle, (3) orange bag from CDC, (4) orange bag from CDC. My advice:
  • For CHC->MCM
    • The backpack as a carry on
    • One orange bag as boomerang bag
    • Other orange bag for excess ECW
    • Suitcase stays as suitcase
  • For MCM -> NPX and NPX -> MCM
    • The backpack as carry on
    • One orange bag as carry on
    • Other orange bag for excess ECW
    • Suitcase stays as suitcase
  • For MCM -> CHC
    • The backpack as carry on
    • One orange bag as carry on (stuff backpack inside this if they get fussy about having only one carry on)
    • Other orange bag for ECW
    • Suitcase stays suitcase
• For your trip from CHC to MCM, pack a boomerang bag with (at least) two changes of clothes. Some people will tell you to not pack a boomerang. I disagree. I’d say you should carry a backpack (with your laptop and stuff in it) and then also one of the orange bags with your change of clothes and stuff.
• Once they take your bag dragged bag, you might not see it for a week. We got stuck at NPX waiting for a flight, and I was without my checked luggage for 6 days.
• For your trip from NPX to MCM, pack a really heavy carry on. I packed three days change of clothes, but then got stuck in NPX (without my bag!) for six days. I was very thankful I had my heavy carry on, even though it was a pain.
• Bring a good, sealing water bottle. You can also buy one when you arrive in Antarctica.
• Always always always pack your tennis shoes in your carry on. You do not want to be stranded in MCM for days and days with only bunny boots as footwear.

Logistics

• Do laundry in CHC. You’ll have been travelling for two days, and then you have two days to sit and wait in CHC. Don’t go to pole with four days of dirty laundry in tow. Do laundry in CHC.
• You will be given an opportunity to store bags of personal belonging at the CDC on the day of your clothing issue. So, if you want to camp in a tent around NZ when you get back from the ice, you can store that at the CDC.
• In MCM, do bag drag in two trips. Don’t try to haul all your luggage to 140 (the transport building) in one go, you’ll be miserable.
• They will squawk a lot about “one bag carry-on limits” in the paperwork and on the screens. Ignore them, >50% of folks bring two carry-ons, and no one will bat an eye.
• Before you leave for transport or for bag drag, check the computer monitors outside the galley in Building 155. Check this monitor (or the TV in your room) frequently for updates. You can also check the McMurdo intranet.
• They will make a big deal about the computer screening. Pay attention and do what they ask—it’s good for your computer. That said, if your computer fails the screening, they don’t check when you want to connect to the internet, so it doesn’t really matter.
• The military flights are really loud, and they will give you ear plugs to help. Some people have some success with ear plugs + noise cancelling headphones. In any case, you should bring something to read (like a kindle or book) because talking is totally out of the option, and music might be also. Some people watch a movie with subtitles on, but that’s personal taste I think.

Living and Working at Pole

• The NPX and MCM don't really have wifi. So if you have a mac, you really want to make sure not to forget your ethernet -> USB/thunderbolt adapter.
• You’ll be working at the ICL a lot, which is about a 2km walk (part of the return trip is uphill) from the South Pole Station. So be prepared to do some walking, as you’ll probably walk this twice a day (because you usually walk back to station for lunch). If you don’t want to walk that much, you might consider bringing lunch with you to the ICL everyday.
• The ICL has an outhouse and not a bathroom. No running water either. So pack water and be prepared.
• MCM sells tissues, but there aren’t many lying around. Pole as lots of tissues lying around everywhere.
• Pole has hand warmers available everywhere in great quantities—don’t buy or pack them. MCM has them in the “outdoor supply” closet in 155.
• Antarctica, and pole specifically, is really really dry. Assume you’ll go through ~1 chap stick once every week or two.
• The pole store (Pole Mart) is really well outfitted with basic necessities. You can buy cold meds, pain relievers, q-tips, eye glass repair kits, etc. I was surprised how much I could buy there. Don’t count on them having your favorite moisturizer or soap though—they only stock one kind of deodorizer per gender, for example.
• I highly recommend taking the Diamox they will offer you. At worst, it doesn’t help. Some people get the dry mouth side effect really bad, if so, talk to the physicians.
• Expect to wear your ECW every time you go outside. MCM is ~25-30F, and pole is hardly ever warmer than -15 or -10 F. The windchills frequently push down to -40F or -50F, even in condition 3. Folks that had been to MCM and were first time at pole didn’t realize that to go outside for any extended period of time, you really do have to be dressed fully (wool socks, carharts, balaclava, goggles, big red).
• Working at pole is really tough (considerably harder than in MCM). You are at >10,200 ft elevation, and you have no time whatsoever to acclimatize. The atmosphere is just thinner—there is just less oxygen, and you have to deal with it. Expect climbing stairs, lifting heavy boxes, etc. to wind you faster and to be more tired even after you’ve caught your breath. When you walk outside you’re wearing all your ECW, remember that you’re essentially mountain climbing with a 30 lb extra weight at 10,000ft elevation. It’s just harder. Take your first two or three days easy—that’s going to be frustrating. Invariably your flight will have been delayed and you will be behind schedule. But you will regret hurting yourself otherwise.

Food

• In MCM, some of the hot food is available 24/7, namely pizza and waffles. You can also always make a deli sandwich, get cereal, chips, and ice-cream along with juices.
• In NPX, hot food is only available during meal times, but definitely use the left-over fridge and microwave if you need food during an off-time. Also, in the bar area in the galley, there is usually chips (like goldfish, pretzels, and lays) in addition to a breadbox and peanut-butter jelly supplies.

Last Words

• Especially at pole, just sit down and say hi and start talking. Pole is extremely communal. People will think it’s weird if you don’t say hi in the hallway. People generally welcome a new conversation or new friend, so don’t be shy in this regard.
• Lots of people around you might be on their 10^th trip to pole. They are fountains of wisdom. Much of the lifesaving advice I got (like packing tennis shoes in my carry on) I only got because I had chatted with more experienced travelers. So don't be shy. It's everyone's first time to Antarctica at some point, and the "veterans" are usually thrilled to be talking to a new person.

Hello fellow undergrads,

Another thing to check out is internships with NASA. It's ridiculously easy to apply for an internship at JPL (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/intern/apply/summer-internship-program/), but for other sites the application looks more like what one would expect for an internship position (https://intern.nasa.gov/ossi/web/public/main/)

Good luck to all!

I am writing instructions specific for adding code to an exisiting repository such as this one: https://github.com/osu-particle-astrophysics/BinnedAnalysis

From your terminal, get the repo:

git clone https://oindree@github.com/osu-particle-astrophysics/BinnedAnalysis.git

To add a file to /anita3code/Diffuse/ type:

Hi All,

I applied to a few REUs last semester and am applying to around 7 this semester, so I decided to put some of what I have learned and the link for the NSF site here for reference to other undergraduates.

You can find the list of REU topics here: https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.jsp

Just click on your topic of choice and a list will show you all of the offered REUs

Requirements:

All REUs that I have found require you to do four things:

Fill out the online form

Obtain 2-3 reccomendation letters

Write a personal statement

Sumbmit an unofficial copy of your transcript (easily downloaded via buckeyelink)

You might also get to submit a resume

Expectations:

Acceptance to REUs are rare, especially as a sophomore. I would suggest searching for research that fit well with your skillset and/or interests and not focus as much on the university hosting it.

Also, apply to a good number of them, especially since you just need to make a few tweaks on your personal statement between universities.

Note that most application deadlines are in February, but some are occasionally during late January so plan ahead, especially with your rec letters!

Best of luck!

Suren Gourapura

Don't use the word "guaranteed" to talk about neutrinos from GZK.  Although they are strongly expected to be there, nothing is guaranteeed in science and if they were guaranteed it wouldn't be interesting to discover them.  The cutoff in the CR spectrum could be due to the sources turning off at that energy.  Who knows Lorentz Invariance could be violated and make them all brem electrons before they reach us.

BC: By extension, don't refer to the GZK cutoff as proof of neutrinos needing to exist. It's purely circumstancial (at this point) that CRs are supressed right at the cliff of the proton+photon -> delta threshold.

Never underestimate the joy people derive from hearing something they already know. - Enrico Fermi

Keep your talk at a simple level, much simpler than you would think.  You should be embarrassed to say such simple concepts in front of a bunch of physics PhDs.

Have your talk rehearsed and never, ever go over the time that they tell you that you should speak.  That is a cardinal sin for a job talk.

When you introduce the topic, explain why *you* are excited about it.  They will appreciate hearing your take on it instead of the same boiler plate explanation they have seen a million times.

Keep the number of words per page low.  

When you show each figure, carefully explain each axis before talking about the plot.

Starting from a high level (birds-eye view), slowly zoom in on what you actually did and explain its impact on the physics.  If possible, show pictures of yourself doing the thing you did.

At the end show that you are forward looking and give your take on the future of the field and your role in it if you plan on continuing in the same field.

To get the newest root on a mac: this is what Carl and I went through today 

Note that root was installed on my mac by IT earlier

First we tried:

brew update

That gave:

==> Migrating root6 to root

==> Unlinking root6

Error: Error occurred while migrating.

Permission denied @ unlink_internal - /usr/local/etc/root/HistFactorySchema.dtd

Backing up...

Error: Could not link:

/usr/local/share/zsh/site-functions/_brew

Please delete these paths and run `brew update`.

Error: Could not link:

/usr/local/share/doc/homebrew

Please delete these paths and run `brew update`.

Then we tried:

brew upgrade

this actually did work to download some things so that was good but did not really solve the problem 

Then: 

brew install root6

Same problem: 

==> Migrating root6 to root

==> Unlinking root6

Error: Error occurred while migrating.

Permission denied @ unlink_internal - /usr/local/etc/root/HistFactorySchema.dtd

What is a symlink? 

symlink is a file pointer 

points to another location

So, if you had a root on your computer (installed by IT in my case) you might have stuff on there that is conflicting with the new stuff

for me, brew suggested I do this: 

brew link --overwrite root

this gave lots of errors as I did not have permissions to write to lots of directories (as set up by IT) 

so then did

sudo chmod 775 /usr/local/etc/root/*

sudo chmod 775 /usr/local/etc/root/*/*

sudo chmod 775 /usr/local/etc/root/*/*/*

sudo chmod 775 /usr/local/etc/root/*/*/*/*

And then: 

brew link --overwrite root

Hopefully then you get 

Linking /usr/local/Cellar/root/6.10.08... 9717 symlinks created

After this, I had the latest root and it worked

Pay close attention to the wording of your stated level of support in the first sentence, and in the last paragraph.  Make sure it is as strong as you mean it to be.

Is the person you are writing for already working at the level of the position they are applying for?  If so, state that and give examples.

Congratulations, you've been selected to deploy to Antartica in support of ARA or ANITA. This mostly covers my experience in preparing to go to the South Pole for ARA.

1. First, you wil be notified that you are either a primary or back-up for deployment to the ice.
   • Your experiment's contact person will send you an email request for basic info below. This will all be enterd into a Support Information Package (SIP) which will generate a document for you to Physicall Qualtify (PQ).
     • Name exactly as it is listed in your passport.
     • Address where things can be sent to you,
     • Best email address for getting important information,
     • Phone number - work and mobile if possible,
     • Institution name,
     • Your airport of departure if you do deploy,
     • Nationality on your passport,
     • Expiration date of passport,
     • Your birthdate
   • For me, this happened on March 23 2017, with my deployment scheduled for January 2018 (the earliest people in my "grouping" to go to pole started heading to pole in early November though).
2. Then, you must complete the PQ process.
   • See my other elog here (http://radiorm.physics.ohio-state.edu/elog/Advice/21) for advice on doing that.
   • My PQ packet arrived on May 17 2017. I sumbited my completed medical PQ on July 31, and my completed dental on August 17 (my dental was complete later because they made me report a filled cavity; I mailed the "first round" of dental stuff in one packet with the my initial medical PQ stuff on July 31).
   • We went back and forth about a few things, and I sumbited final information on October 3, and got my PQ on October 5.
3. While PQ paperwork is being processed, you shoud fill out travel paperwork, which will be in a packet labeled "Antarctica Deployment Packet for Grantee and Technical Events".
   • You do not have to wait for your PQ to submit travel paperwork. They will make you agree to appropriate use of technology in Antarctica, will collect information about your travel, your passport, and your clothing sizes. On the "Trip Details" page....
     1. If you are going to Pole, the travel proceeds like this. You start in your home city (Columbus for me). Then on to Christchurch New Zealand (CHC), then to McMurdo, then on to South Pole. You will have two nights of layover (minimum) in CHC, and one night of layover (minimum) at McMurdo. If your final destination is McMurdo (ANITA) obviously you stop there. You should plan on arriving in Christ Church (CHC) two days in advance of your CHC -> McMurdo flihgt. It takes between 2 and 3 days of commerical travel to fly to CHC (the flight is 15 hours from Columbus and you lose a day crossing the international date line). The advice Jim Haugen gave me is to budget five days of travel before your first pole on-ice date. So, my first on-ice date at pole was Jan 4, so I would need to be in McMurdo on Jan 3, Christ Church by Jan 2, and therefore requested to leave Columbus on Dec 30.
     2. For the return to the states, you should just reverse the procedure above.
     3. If you want to take personal travel on the front end of your deployment, then you should list that on the form and make a note.
     4. If you want to take personal travel on the back end of your deployment, then you should fill out the form as if you were taking no personal travel. The return ticket from Antarctica is actually booked a few days before you are scheduled to leave the pole. They buy a fancy provisional ticket with a flexible date. So you should not worry about telling them about personal travel at this phase.
4. Buy supplies.
   • Oindree and others have already written down some great advice (here: http://radiorm.physics.ohio-state.edu/elog/Advice/13 ) concerning what to pack.
   • The Antarctic program will provide you with the following: a parka, a light outer coat, overalls, boots, hat, scarf, gloves, goggles. You are responsible for four critical items. All of which you can obtain at Cabelas / Bass Pro Shop / REI or online.
     1. Thick socks and sock liners (I bought these sock liners and  these socks, both from Cabelas)
     2. Light-weight baselayers. Yes, they really are called "baselayers" (you can go into a store or google this term and people will know what you mean). My recommendation is Merino Wool. (I bought these tops and these bottoms).  The cost roughly as much as polyester which you could buy at Cabelas (eg, these ), but the Merino wool is better in my opinion. Some people find wool scratchy, but I tolerate it well, so there's that to consider.
     3. Mid-weight baselayers. (I bought these tops and these bottoms).
     4. Sunglasses. Buy a nice pair (I bought a ~$100 pair of sports sunglasses from Native at Cabelas) and a cheap backup pair (~$15 from Foster Grant at Walmart). They need to be polarized and 100% UV light blocking, so make sure to check carefully for that. A shocking number of expensive (>$100) sunglasses (both sport types like Oakley and Native and fashion types like Ray Ban and Vera Wang) are not polarized. They need to have plastic frames (metal frames get cold from the air and can hurt you).
5. About a month ahead of your travel date, you will receive a phone call from the ASC travel office to confirm your travel dates. About week after that, you will be issued your tickets. My tickets came Dec 5 2017.

In order to go to Antartica, you first have to Physically Qualify (or "PQ"). Here is some advice from my PQ experience that should hopefully make this process smoother for you.

General Advice

1. Read everything they send you. Seriously though. There's a lot, and it's not terribly well organized. But read it.
2. Start immediately. Schedule your medical appointments (physical and dental) within a week or two of receiving your PQ packet.
3. Keep a copy of everything. The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) coordinates the receipt of all documents, and they are famous for losing things. Keep a copy of all forms and keep the receipts with tracking numbers of all paper packages you send them. Keep copies of the transmission confirmation on all faxes.
4. It is easiet to mail the first round of paperwork as one packet. So put your physical exam and your dental exam in one folder, and send it to UTMB, with tracking. After that, you can usually just fax forms.
5. If UTMB asks for follow up info, go ahead and write back with clarifying questions. They are pretty communicative if you make an effort to engage with them. Basically, don't be afraid to email with them.

Physical Exam Advice

1. Drink lots of water before doing the lab tests. They will take ~10 vials of blood, so you will want to be well hydrated.
2. Allow for about an hour and a half to finish everything, meaning physical exam and the blood draws.
3. Make sure your doctor prints your EKG in landscape.
4. Do not let your doctor skip any parts of the exam. They will try (especially if you're young, and they don't usually do that test on a person under 50, e.g. rectal exam, etc.); insist that they don't skip it. UTMB will send you back if they skip it.
5. Schedule your appointment on a Mon-Wed or a Friday. They will give you a TB skin test, and the TB test has to be read between 48-72 hours after being given.
6. If you are working for ARA, or plan to do work at pole, ask your doctor to write you a perscription for medication to treat altitude sickness. The South Pole is at ~9000 ft elevation, and you are not given time to acclimate (you fly from McMurdo at sea level to South Pole at altitude in one go). Your doctor will likely give you acetazolamide (name brand Diamox), but it's of course their call.

Dental Exam

1. Get your dental office to print out your bitewing x-rays and your panoramic x-ray on glossy, high quality photo paper (they should be able to do this no problem). UTMB is picky about getting these in paper form.
2. Have your dentist fix any problems (cavities, etc.) before filling out your dental form. That way, the cavity is reported on the form as "treated" instead of "present." Otherwise, UTMB will make you go back and get proof treatment was completed.

Check out this seminar series:

http://erdosinstitute.org/industry.html

R

Python

Various machine learning tools such as TensorFlow (this is on OSC)

Oindree:

Concept used in Brian Dailey and Sam Stafford's analysis:

S_up = Maximum signal that can fluctuate down to expected background with 10% probability

So, we can say with 90% confidence that S_up is the largest the signal can be 

This is used to set a limit on, for example, the Kotera model for predicted neutrino flux 

Below is some advice. The most important point is that you must file a eTravel request online at etravel.osu.edu.

General Advice

• Overestimate all of your expenditures. The university gets really upset if your expenditures come back larger than your travel request budget, but don't care if you spend less. So always overestimate. You can usually accomplish this easiest by over estimating your taxi/parking needs, hotel wifi needs, etc. My travel requests are usually $200-$300 higher than my actual expenditures.
• Never travel without filing an eTravel request, even if you don't intend to spend money. The university gets very upset if you travel without filing and getting the eRequest approved before you leave. This is also important from a protections standpoint. If you are injured during travel, or get stranded for some reason (especially internationally), the university travel insurance and extraction policy will kick in, but only if you have filed a eTravel request first.
• Start your eTravel request at least 1 week in advance. You will work with our administrator Eric Robbins to file your travel request, and the admins are instructed to try and have paperwork moving 1 week or more before your travel starts.
• Budget roughly $1000 minimum for any domestic air trip, and roughly $2000 for any international air trip. A 4-day conference like APS April meeting typically comes out around $1500; a big 10-day international conference like ICRC is usually more like $2500-$3000.
• Save all receipts (itemized) except for food. You need itemized receipts for anything you buy that you want to be reinbursed for, except food.
• If you want to take vacation during travel, or want to drive to a location instead of fly, you must do a comparison form. ASC wants to make sure money is spent wisely, so you need to file a comparison form, found here: https://u.osu.edu/hafs2017/files/2016/12/Travel-Comparison-Worksheet-106z30q.pdf

Advice for Doing your Cost Esimates

1. Transportation
   1. If you are flying: either enter the value of the flight (if you have already bought it) or a generous over-estimate of the cost. Don't forget to include baggage fees. You have to buy air tickets through Concur these days, and the eRequest must be filed to pay for the ticket, so estimating this accurately really isn't a big deal anymore. A domestic flight out of CMH typically runs between $300-$500. An international flight is probably $1000.
   2. If you are driving: estimate both the cost of the rental car and the cost of gas for the rental car. Upload the rental car receipt, and maps of where you are going with mileage list (google maps will do this). Estimate gas at a rate of $3/gal (this is generous). You must rent your car from either Enterprise or National according to the university rental car contract, and should probably book it through Concur to be safe: https://osutravel.osu.edu/discounts/rental-car-discounts/
   3. If you are taking a train/bus/etc: treat this like you would treat flying.
   4. Taxis: you are reimbursed for getting to and from the airport in both Columbus and your destination city. Estimate $30 in taxis for each trip to the airport (so $120 total).
   5. Parking/Metro: If you are going to need parking, make sure to estimate it. In an expensive city, this might be upwards of $10/hour.
2. Meals
   1. Food reimburstment is done per-diem. This means you receive a fixed stipend for food for every meal you have to eat while travelling. The amount varies on where you travel; more expensive cities (NYC) will have higher per-diem rates than cheaper cities (Palestine TX). You can use the per-diem estimator to figure out what meals you are reimburst for. It's your job to stick to the per diem budget, otherwise extra food comes from your pocket. They will not require you to turn in individual receipts for food because of the per-diem policy. The per-diem budget is usually very generous, and for the pre-travel request, you should assume you need all of it. When you file the actual expenditure reports, you should probably only request as much per-diem as you need to actually cover the cost of your food (don't make money off the trip in other words). John Beacom gave some good advice which I attached.
3. Hotels
   1. If you have made a hotel reservation, file for the estimate on your reservation plus ~10% for taxes, and maybe an extra $15/night for Wifi. If you haven't made a reservation, make some approriate estimate. In a big city (Chicago, NYC) you probably can't get a room near the conference for <$160 per night. In a cheaper city, ~$100 is probably a good estimate. Always check to see if the conference/meeting has arranged a discounted hotel block.
4. Registration
   1. Most major conferences have registration fees. These typically vary from $50 up to $300 if you're staff/postdoc/facutly. Make sure to include this in your estimate, and attach your regsitration receipt. If you're registering onsight, make sure to keep this receipt.
5. Other
   1. If you are doing any international travel, you likely need a VISA. If Amy agrees to reimburse this, you can file it here.

When you Get Back

When you get back, you should email all of your receipts (except food) to Eric Robbins so he can start your reimbursement procedure. The sooner you start this, the sooner you get your money back. It typically takes about 6 weeks, though it can happen in as few as 2.

For Young Travelers

Travel at OSU is done on a reinburstment model. This means you will pay for the entire trip out of pocket, and be reimbursed after you get back. This reimbursement process typically take about 6 weeks. This means two things.

1. You will likely have the cost of the trip on your credit card bill for at least one monthly cycle. If you do not have the liquid cash to pay for this, you would be charged interest on this! That's crazy. Instead, you should request a travel advance. The university will write you a check before you leave for the cost of most of your trip. This way you are not out the cost of the trip while your reimbursement paperwork is being processed. Tell Eric, and he can do this for you. You should request a travel advance two weeks before you leave. You can also buy the biggest part of the trip (usually airfare) through OSU's online reservation portal Concur on the travel homepage: https://osutravel.osu.edu/
2. If you have a low credit limit, you should think carefully about how to reserve hotel rooms and buy flights. Hotels almost always require you to put down a credit card to hold the room, and they typically charge it for the cost of the room + tax + ~$50 dollars in damages. That charge probably exceeds your credit limit if your limit is <$1k. If you're in this boat, you should definitely request the travel advance.

If You're Travelling Internationally

• You must buy supplemental health insurance. This is required by OSU travel as described in this link: https://oia.osu.edu/preparing-to-depart/health-insurance.html
• If you are travelling to a country that requires a Visa, start this process no later than 6 weeks in advance. Visas take time to get, and are mad expensive you have to rush them (>$200). So don't, start this process ahead of time. The state department has this list: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/general/americans-traveling-abroad.html . Some destinations that require visas might surprise you (Australia, Brazil, China, parts of the Europe), so don't assume you don't need one.
• I attached an email with more information.

A few basic principles for writing a proposal, many of which I got from Scott Gaudi in Astronomy:

1. Make sure that the first sentence of every paragraph summarizes the entire paragraph, and that 

2. All of the important points are covered in the first sentence of some paragraph.  That way a busy "skimmer" gets all of the important points.  Use italics to make the most important points jump off the page.

3. Say up front, right away what you want.  Don't take several pages to build up to it like you would in a paper.

4. Make the case that you (or your group, or collaboration) are uniquely qualified to carry out the proposed plan.

5. Make the case that the proposal is timely

6. Make the case that if they do not fund you to do this now, then the world will fall apart.

7. Identify the strongest weaknesses of your proposal and address them up front.  You can even turn a weakness around and make a major objective of your proposal to fix it.

8. Demonstrate that you are already doing what you are proposing to do.

9. Include a table showing what you will do each year, including what you will publish and when.

10. Leave no ambiguity in what you say you will do (even if in reality you might change it later).

Kaeli's Advice:

Writing the poster:

1. I generally start off my posters by using a template found at this website: https://brand.osu.edu/presentations/ They are easy to use and this way you don't have to worry about making it the right size.
2. Before writing your poster, think of the topics you want to cover. Some good ones are: introduction to neutrinos, ANITA/ARA, your specific project, results, next steps. 
3. Gather some plots and diagrams that would be good. Try to have at least one that you created that shows your results somehow! I usually have 2-3 pictures per panel.
4. After you arrange the plots and diagrams, write information around them. 
5. Last steps: format title sections, caption pictures, read everything out loud to find any typos, and ask someone else to proofread it!

Presenting a poster:

1. For things like the Denman, I always ask the judge what their background is. That gives me an idea of how specific I need to be with the background information. For example, this year one of my judges was a high energy particle physicist, so I knew he would be interested in the particle side of things, so I catered my presentation in that way.
2. Don't mention things you don't know well! Don't say things like "neutrino events in the ice are rare" unless you can give them a number to go with that. 
3. Practice your presentation out loud, especially the first part. Having a strong opener helps to get the listener on your side.
4. Many times the judge will interrupt you and ask questions. Follow their lead here; they might want to spend more time on one section, so be patient and don't just barrell through until you're sure they understand.
5. You will be graded on the following categories: why you're doing the research, how you're doing the research, what the next steps are, logical flow, preparedness/professionalism, and verbal skills.
6. Make sure you also know the limitations of your project. It is much better if you point out the things that are not "done" yet, rather than them. 
7. Finally, have fun! Don't focus too much on the judging aspect, just think about it as an opportunity to share your work with other scientists. This year I tried to just be excited and not worried, and it's the year that I did the best!

Oindree

I am terrible at ROOT, so I have started to read the Users Guide on ROOT (attached). It's 700 pages.. so it's like a Harry Potter book, no big deal. 

Also I just learned about TChain::Draw (also in the Users Guide). Here is an example:

TChain c("adu5PatTree");   

for (int run_number = start_run; run_number <=end_run; run_number++) { c.Add(TString::Format("/Users/oindreebanerjee/OneDrive/flight1617/gps/gpsFile%d.root",run_number)); }   

c.Draw("latitude:realTime","attFlag==0", "");

This draws, for all my runs together, latitude vs realTime, cutting on attFlag. That is, only when attFlag==0 (0 is good, 1 is bad) 

f.Draw("threshold:realTime >> hthreshold","(threshold>0 && threshold<4096)","colz"); is another example. Here I have specified the draw option as colz for a 2d histogram

Sam

see attached .txt file

Brian

I wrote down some advice on how to actually get ROOT's time axis to work. It's in the attached "ROOT's Time Axis Feature.docx" file.

I was in Antarctica for 2 months in year 2016 to launch and support the ANITA-4 mission. I was mostly at/near McMurdo (MCM) Station. 

What to pack (thanks to Steph Wissel, Brian Hill for heavily contributing to below list):

(You will be issued Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear at the USAP CDC in New Zealand.)

-- TISSUES. If you use tissues to blow your nose, bring 'em. There are none on that continent but you WILL make insane amounts of nasal mucus. 

-- Plenty of normal street clothes, like what you wear everyday here. In MCM you can do laundry once a week, but if you are traveling to field camps probably not as often. 

-- Several leggings for wearing under clothes as needed. There were days when I wore JUST warm leggings for pants and I usually regretted not layering up more. 

-- Couple pairs of thermal underwear (e.g. from Cabela's) for when staying out for longer periods of time. Definitely for hikes. Remember, if it is nice in MCM doesnt mean it will be nice everywhere and weather in a desert can CHANGE very quickly and drastically.

-- Long thick socks (Costco has good deals) 

-- At least one warm hat, preferably one that preserves body heat (e.g. from Cabela's) 

-- Earplugs, noise canceling headphones (to mitigate military plane LOUD noise, room-mate's snoring, loud talking, etc.)

-- Good Eye mask in case your roommate's schedule is different from yours, plus remember 24-hrs sunlight during Summer there 

-- Slippers for going to the bathroom.  Some dorms have community bathrooms. Others share bathrooms between two suites. 

-- Workout clothes and shoes. There are 2-3 gyms in MCM. 

-- Warm Slippers for wearing in dorm, common room. I also wore a warm fuzzy house-gown a lot in the dorm and everyone else wished they had one. 

-- Work gloves that you can grab screws with. Good to have these in addition to the gloves you will be issued. Throw in some hand-warmers if needed. You get hand-warmers in MCM. 

-- Decent-ish sunglasses, few pairs.  You don't want really cheap ones since you really rely on them. They might break so you might want a few. I bought one $100 Michael Kors pair that lasted me the whole season. 

— Spare prescription glasses, contact lenses 

— Washcloth and towel

— Sandals for the shower as they are dorm style

— Good Body Lotion, it is VERY dry there

— Power adapter for your time in New Zealand

— Lightweight boots or decent shoes for hiking and wearing around McMurdo. The hikes are over snow, gravel and rocks, you don't need anything extravagant but you probably want decent shoes.

— Some sort of music player, book, or something to keep you busy during the 45 min rides to and from LDB (for ANITA). NO internet on your phone there. 

-- Nice Clothes for holiday dinners (Christmas, Thanksgiving) 

-- Good camera 

— Backup harddrive (at least 1-2TB) 

— If you have space, backup laptop.

-- Medicines. Lots and lots of cold meds, pain-relief type meds, digestion/diarrhea meds, general first-aid kit stuff is nice to have. You can get some meds there too but bring your own supply. 

— Any arts and crafts supplies or games, etc. you really want to have. You can check out musical instruments and ski equipment from the station. There is an arts and crafts room. Games are available in the wine bar. There are two gyms, one with aerobic machines and another with weights. There are also yoga classes and a knitting community.

— For television, there are VHS and DVD players in the lounge. There is a TV in grantee's rooms that plays movies regularly. I brought a 256GB flashdrive full of movies and shows. 

— Party clothes. There are several dance parties throughout the summer season. There's also a costume party on Halloween, but people just usually go to Skua (a place where people get rid of stuff and others pick it up for free.

-- Wipes for cleaning hands, etc. on the plane or in a field camp. Military plane bathrooms are very interesting and may not have the stuff you are used to. 

— Some people buy whiskey in Christchurch at this whisky wholesaler and then they have a nice bottle for the entire season. You can bring liquor in your luggage if it meets the weight restrictions.

Tips about getting ready for the flight from Christchurch:

— Most importantly, when you check in for your flight, you should assume that your bag is going to be taken away from you and you won’t get it back for a few days. So pack a change of clothes, shoes, underwear, and grooming supplies in your carryon. 

— The CDC gives you orange bags to pack your ECW into. You can expand your carryon to accommodate your backpack and shoes that way.

— Make sure to use the restroom on the plane well before you land in Antarctica. You won’t be able to use the restroom for at least an hour or two after you land, because you have to ride from Pegasus to McMurdo on a slow moving people mover (say hello to Shuttle Bob for me, I miss him terribly).

Brian Hill's advice collected by Steph/Oindree:

You will be issued a lot of gear at the clothing distribution center (CDC) in Christchurch. My advice to you is to take everything. You will be given an opportunity to try things on, so try everything on.

I would recommend making the following changes:

-Swap the bunny boots to Baffin boots or if you can't get Baffin boots, switch to FDX boots.

-Make sure you get little red, it's like a windbreaker but with a lot of pockets. I normally wore pants or shorts, a t-shirt and maybe little red. If it was cold, I could wear another layer under little red.

-If you are going to spend any time in the field, ask for gauntlet gloves. I found it really nice to throw a bunch of handwarmers in the gauntlet gloves so I could do whatever fine work I needed to and then put  the gauntlets on to warm up my hands.

-I would swap the windpants they issue you for Carhartts. 

If they give you a hard time tell them you are a grantee and will be in the field. I will turn most of the stuff back in because I don't need it, but it's better to find that out through your own experience.

There is a library there with books, DVDs are available at no charge, there is a gym, they have an ATM, a limited selection of toiletries are available but they have everything soap, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, lotion, deodorant... Food is free, alcohol is available for purchase in at least the bars and probably the store. There is a gift shop in McMurdo and at the New Zealand base, Scott Base.

Here is a shot of the gear that can be issued. Not all of it is issued to you, some of it you have to ask for.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_th9f3B97Gno/TQcLMjUCHoI/AAAAAAAAAyo/-VfzNvCWrPY/s1600/IMG_2624.JPG

I'll point out a few things, the boots are on the right. It's hard to see, the top are Baffins, the middle are FDXs, the bottom are bunny boots which are the default. Most people don't like them, but some do. I think it's worth switching to something else and if you really don't like what you got, blame me.

The gauntlet gloves are green and just to the left of the FDX boots.

All the items I suggested swapping for are available or were available from the CDC.

You must get the boots, big red, carhartts or windpants, and goggles. They also issue you little red, a fleece jacket, fleece pants, thermal underwear, socks, multiple gloves, mittens, glove liners, a balaclava and maybe a neck gator. If you are familiar with cold weather, we shouldn't see much below about -30F,  and you have your own gear, I would say bring your own. I would plan on doing a one for one swap so for example if you have a fleece jacket, or a good midlayer, I would say forgo the one from the CDC and bring your own. However, Christian has a lot of his own gear, but I think he will be leaving it here because he doesn't want to lug it around with him.

Yes you can mail things from McMurdo, that includes postcards, letters, and packages. Because of the weight restrictions a lot of people mail gifts back. They have postcards and stamps available for purchase there.

Each person can list one favorite restaurant per category, or add their name to someone else's entry if you share a favorite.  Feel free to add any comments on your favorite thing to order, etc.  Also go ahead and add categories.

Breakfast

Brian - Grand Day Cafe 1284 W 5th Ave, Columbus, OH 43212  http://www.granddaycafe.com

Oindree - Bob Evans :), First Watch 

Amy - Starline Diner, 4121 Main St, Hilliard, OH  http://www.starlinerdiner.com  Who knew that Cuban french toast is also cubic.

Chinese

Indian

Amy - Amul India 5871 Sawmill Rd. http://www.amulindia.net

Oindree - Dosa Corner at Kenny & Old Henderson Center, 1077 Old Henderson Rd, Columbus, OH 43220

Italian

Amy - Leone's Pizza 5413 Sinclair Road http://www.leonespizza.com I am listing this in the Italian category because I like to order their pasta dishes.

Japanese

Amy - Meshikou 1506 Bethel Rd Japanese noodles.

Suren - Fusian 14 E 11th Ave, Columbus, OH 43201. The chipotle of sushi, cheap and good.

Korean

Suren - Diaspora 2118 N High St, Columbus, OH 43201. Large quantity of fresh and fairly traditional korean food.

Mexican

Amy - Los Guachos 5221 Godown Rd. http://los-guachos.com

Pizza

Amy - Natalie's Pizza 5601 N. High St. http://nataliescoalfiredpizza.com

Suren - Blaze Pizza 1708 N High St, Columbus, OH 43201

Brian - Houndog's Pizza 2657 N High St, Columbus, OH 43202 www.hounddogspizza.com/ 

Oindree's advice:

My experience is with taking the Physics PhD Candidacy Exam at The Ohio State University in the Connolly Group. Here, I will be sharing my personal experience and guideline, starting with covering what is candidacy and what a first-year grad student should focus on and ending with what to do on the day of your oral exam. Here goes: 

WHAT IS CANDIDACY?

• 6 week formal exam required by graduate school
• Advisor / committee chooses a topic
• Typically not something you have worked on
• But good for you to know
• You do a literature review, some calculations and become a mini-expert on the assigned topic
• Deliverables: 20 page paper (at the end of 4 weeks) + Talk (at the end of 6 weeks) 
• The talk / oral exam makes students nervous because they can be asked any question from the assigned topic and in-context Physics during the talk. In my program, this talk is given only to the candidacy committee. In other programs, the talk may even be open to the public. 

IF YOU ARE A FIRST-YEAR GRAD STUDENT

Focus on finding a good PhD advisor: 

• Professor with whom you feel relatively comfortable
• To interact with regularly and ask questions
• Has research money OR ability to get TA support
• Has project ideas that interest you

Yes, in that order

IF YOU ARE A SECOND-YEAR GRAD..

Hopefully, you have found a good PhD advisor. If not, keep looking or get out of the program. There are plenty other things you can be doing. 

A PhD is not worth doing unless you have found a good match for a PhD advisor.

And, usually you take the candidacy exam with the professor you hope to get your PhD from so.. don't worry about candidacy until you have found your match. Personally, I found my match for a PhD advisor in the fourth group I tried out in grad school. This delayed my candidacy by a few months, but in the big picture that is not a big deal. 

YOUR CANDIDACY COMMITTEE

Usually comprises 4 professors as follows: 

• 1. Advisor: you choose this person (say experimentalist)
• 2. In-field experimentalist, advisor recommends this person
• 3. In-field theorist, advisor recommends this person
• 4. Out-of-field professor, you choose this person

For your out-of-field, choose someone you are relatively comfortable with. Ideally, a professor who would have loved to be your advisor - the next best thing is to be on your committee.

It is important to foster good professional relationships with multiple professors in your department, not just your advisor.

Since I worked with multiple professors in the department and maintained great professional relationships with all of them, most of my committee ended up being professors I had directly worked with at some point. Candidacy is hard work either way but familiarity with your committee members can definitely make the process seem less scary. 

TIME IT RIGHT 

• Professors are BUSY
• Ask them to be on your committee >= 4 months in advance
• Schedule your exam on a day and time that works well for you – this is your candidacy
• Make sure your oral exam is on your committee members’ schedules 
• If a committee member is a hard-to-get professor such as Chair of the department, talk to their assistant for scheduling and don't rest until he/she has your exam on the professor's schedule!

ONCE YOU GET THE TOPIC REMEMBER YOU ARE NOT ALONE

• Candidacy is not a lone journey, so don't make it one
• You will need help and so get ready to ASK FOR HELP
• Ask clarification from advisor / committee on the topic – What are their expectations? Broadly, what outline should your paper follow? 
• Communicate profusely with your advisor / committee

They picked the topic, they want to see you are interested in it – Ask away, they will tell you when they cannot tell you something

FIND THE LOCAL EXPERT!

• Your candidacy topic is not something you have worked on directly – but someone else in the department probably has. 
• Find that person!
• Ask around if needed
• There has to be a professor, or a postdoc, or a senior grad
• Who will know the literature on this topic way better than you

Meet with the local expert, take their suggestions

START WORKING ON YOUR PAPER ON WEEK 1

Don’t wait till week 3, start writing or at least making notes as you are reading. You will read a LOT during candidacy but everything you read will be NEW. Something you read during week 1, you might forget during week 2. So, write it down! Make notes, flash cards, whatever works for you, but find a way to easily revisit the things you have read and noted to be important or have questions about or want to include in your paper.

It is when you revisit a point and think about it again or differently that you really learn it

Personally, I had a go at the literature and made a list of all the things I did not understand or had questions about. Then, I attacked this list and slowly went through and looked up or worked out everything I did not know. When I went to meet with my local expert I already had topics I wanted to go over with him. I met with him the first day for about 2 hours and over the course of my candidacy maybe total 3 hours, but you will be surprised how much you can learn from an expert even in a few hours! So, don't forget to track down the expert of your topic!

GET EARLY AND REGULAR FEEDBACK ON THE PAPER

• If your advisor / committee members like to give a lot of feedback, then that feedback flow needs to start on week 1, not week 3. Or, it will be very overwhelming. 
• Most students are worse scientific writers than they think
• So it is essential to incorporate your advisor + group's feedback into your paper to make it better
• You can also catch mistakes in your conceptual understanding by asking for feedback. 

You might think you know something well but you will be surprised by how many misconceptions you might have about the work that your research group does. Candidacy is when you clarify these things and learn them for good!

GIVE A PRACTICE TALK

• Schedule it a week before your real talk
• Invite everyone in the department (at least some will come)
• It’s going to be brutal
• Have someone else take notes
• Make note of all weaknesses and gaps in your knowledge

AFTER THE PRACTICE TALK, STUDY STUDY STUDY

• It’s OK, no one does well on their practice talk – Go home and cry if you need to
• But then, STUDY
• Study topics you were shaky on / didn’t know – This last week you learn the MOST

ON D-DAY

• Now that you know more, you will know how little you know

• If you are feeling beyond nervous, tell yourself to fake it till you make it

• Remember the idea is to make your committee feel confident that you are ready to be a PhD candidate

• Get to the exam early
  – get familiar with room, whiteboards, set up your talk

• During the exam – station yourself near a whiteboard, do NOT try to hide behind your talk. No crutches allowed! You won't always have an immediate answer to their questions. You will have to work it out on the board. So, show that you are a professional and willing to work it out!

• Remember, having the right attitude goes a long way. 

• Be very respectful, alert and attentive

• Your committee wants you to succeed. Failing you will inconvenience them!

  If you get stuck / flustered under questioning they might throw you a lifeline – recognize, utilize and move on!

• Carry a water bottle. My candidacy oral exam was exactly 2 hours. Good to stay hydrated. Good to breathe. You can do this!
• Good luck and let me know if there are any questions! 

Kaeli's Advice:

If grad school is something you want to do, make sure your activities throughout college reflects that! Get involved in research, SPS/ Sigma Pi Sigma, apply for REUs, and spend the summers learning as much as you can about research in your chosen area. Take on leadership positions in clubs if you can, and try to do some sort of outreach too (ASPIRE is great for that by the way).

By the summer before your senior year, you should know whether or not you're planning on applying to schools. Here's what I did:

June-August: Study for the physics GRE. It sucks, and it's not fun, but doing a little bit each week really helped me. I recommend the book "Conquering the Physics GRE" by Yoni Kahn and Adam Anderson. Do all of the problems, then do all of the problems again. You probably forgot more than you realize. Also sign up for the GRE early (in July or so) so you get to take it on campus at OSU.

September: Take one practice GRE test a week leading up to the September test. Get lots of sleep and make flashcards for the equations you really need! 

October: Take the Physics GRE again. Generally people do about 50-100 points better on the second one they take (including me). Also, apply for the NSF Fellowship! This is due at the end of October, and the personal statement you use for the NSF can be easily reworded into your personal statement for grad schools. I also took the regular GRE at the beginning of October. I studied vocab for about a week beforehand and did fine, so don't stress about this one.

November: make a list of schools you want to apply to. By this time you'll have at least one of your GRE scores back, and based on that and your GPA you should have an idea of what grad schools you'll be competitive for. But, don't let these things limit you if there's a program you're really interested in! Grad schools care a lot about research experience and rec letters as well as grades and GRE. Make sure you have at least one school that you are very sure you will get accepted to. I applied to 13 schools which was probably too many, but it also increased my chances of getting in to a good program. Also, make sure you have your letter writers lined up by the beginning of November so they have time to write good letters. If you can, send them your resume or a personal statement so they can talk about specifics in their letters.

December: Write your personal statement for your favorite school and make sure you mention specific people that you want to work with. I put that information in the second paragraph so they knew I was serious about getting in. Have at least 3 people read your personal statement, especially your research advisor. Be prepared that applications are generally due around the same time as finals week (December 15th for many places) so manage your time as best you can! I submitted my applications for every school by December 15 even if their applications weren't due until January. This way winter break wasn't stressful.

Some people recommend reaching out to faculty before your application is submitted, but I didn't have time for that. I got in to 9 schools out of the 13 that I applied to, so I must have done something right! However, lots of people do this differently and also get in to really good universities, so I don't think there's one "right way" to get admitted. I started hearing back from places in late January. Also, don't check grad cafe! It will stress you out and it's not worth it.

Good luck!

Oindree's contribution:

I am attaching one of my undergrad research proposals as an example. I got this research award for the year 2012-2013. --Oindree

Oindree's contribution:

1. mentally prepare to spend 60 hours a week doing homework, 20 hours for each core class

2. know that everyone else is struggling too, in some way or the other

3. for homework -- do the problems you can do by yourself first, get them out of the way, the ones you are not sure about, work as a group

4. go to office hours of the professors - even the really strict ones might actually be quite nice and helpful during office hours 

5. remember to eat, sleep and bathe

6. having a personal life also helps, as it can remind you that life has meaning outside of grad school (importance of supportive family / partner / cat / dog / non-school activity cannot be over-emphasized ) 

7. if you are a TA, it will help you do better, not worse, in your classes as teaching is a great way to learn. Also TA-ing forces you to have a more structured/constrained schedule for doing homework. 

John Beacom: http://degreeofsatisfaction.blogspot.com/ A good site from a the view of a data scientist with a Ph.D. in physics about how industry is different than academia.

Ryan Hype: "While I was looking for an industry position I was able to get some pretty good advice from the OSU Career Counseling and Support Services office. They have an entire section dedicated to graduate students looking to go into industry. Here is the link to the relevant section of their website. http://ccss.osu.edu/graduate-professional-students/job-internship-search-strategies/jobs-outside-of-academia/ They also occasionally run workshops on how to convert CVs into resumes, how to search for jobs, etc. "

Carl: A link about transitioning into Data Science from Academic Physics. https://philadelphiaphysicist.wordpress.com/2016/11/11/transitioning-from-physics-in-academia-to-data-science-lessons-learned/

Brian D.:  A few things if you are looking into industry. 

               1) Learn SQL- Every interview I have had asked about SQL. There are various tutorials online to learn syntax. It is not complicated, but seems necessary to use

               2) Start looking into statistical programs/languages to familarize yourself-Companies use different packages than academics do. One common package I have seen is called 'R'.

            Apply for lots of jobs. There are many different website you can use to find listings (indeed.com, monster.com, linkdin). Even if you do not think you are qualified, apply anyway. The worst they can say is no. Your education (masters/Ph.D) carries weight and companies may be interested even if you don't meet all the criteria they ask for. 

           Networking is, unfortunately, a large part of getting a job. Knowing a person can get your foot in the door. Past group members, current group members significant others, your relatives. You need to use them all!

            Interviews: Before phone interviews and in person interviews, research the position and company. Be prepared for the general questions all interviews ask (https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-answer-the-31-most-common-interview-questions is a decent starting point). Find out if the company is pursuing a goal (machine learning, energy efficiency, etc). Bringing that up in an interview shows you did your homework and shows your interest in the company.

      Bring your resume to your interview. They may ask you to go through it and discuss key points.

      Common question: "what do you bring to this job that others dont? / What do you think makes you stand out from other candidates". A list of common questions and how to approach the answers can be viewed here: https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/27-most-common-job-interview-questions-and-answers.html

      Elevator pitch: Can you give the basics of your thesis in 30-60secs? As if you were explaining to someone with no technical background? This shows you can communicate ideas to others effectively.

      Have a list of questions ready for when the interviewer asks if you have any. Examples: What do you like about this company? What is a typical day like? What's one thing you would change if you could? The more specific the better.

      Ask questions that are important to you. Work life balance? Hours? Schedule? This shows you are interested in the position. Don't take a job that you feel won't work for you! Being miserable doesn't help anyone.

      Ask for a tour of the building/work space. Again, shows enthusiasm. (maybe after 2nd interview?)

Amy's advice

Remember that they are not always looking for the "best" person on some absolute scale, it's about "fitting into a slot"  (that's what my advisor told me once anyway)

Be able to say a few sentences on what you do, why it is interesting from a "bird's eye level."

What is your 5 year plan

What is your 30 year plan

Which grants will you apply for (one of them should be one of the prestigious awards like CAREER)

What will your grant proposal be about

Who will you work with here (distinguish yourself from others  -they never want two people doing exactly the same things - but find synergies too)

What lab space will you need (square footage)

What classses will you want to teach (don't say everything)

Have you taught before

Examples of projects for students -undergrads and grads, if applicable

Other jobs you are applying for

In your talk, give lots of general info.  One of the purposes of it is to see what your teaching would be like.  If you can introduce your research in a little different way that motivates it better, that's good.

Highlight what you did without going into so much detail that you lose people.

If you have a two-body situation, go in with a strategy for how you are going to bring it up, with who, and when.

What are you going to do if your experiments fail or are not funded

Jordan's Advice and Whittier colloquium 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uiobzv2d3o16s2r/Colloquium.pdf?dl=0

That is a link to the colloquium I gave recently at a successful job interview at Whittier College in Los Angeles.  Here is a link to a teaching example on electronic filters that they asked me to prepare:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wnkl9p4k5ebouxb/simple.pdf?dl=0

I spoke with Amy, Steve Barwick, and Scott Gaudi to prepare for this interview.  Scott Gaudi is an astronomy professor at OSU, and I was required to meet with him as part of my CCAPP fellowship.  All three individuals provided great advice.  Main takeaways, the stuff that stuck out for me:

1) Why here? Why this place? Why us? Be able to explain why you want this job, not just a job.

2) Do not for any reason reveal that you don't have a plan.  Be deliberate, be a professional.  For example, if they ask you to give a lecture, do not go over time.  Do make it as interesting as possible, for as many as possible.  Be able to explain every detail, but don't expect to be required to do it.

3) Absolutely be yourself, and put yourself in the right state of mind.  Have faith in yourself.  If you can't add the type of value for which they are searching, then it won't be a good fit anyways.  Make sure you ask questions about how life is like there, and how you can fit into their community.  A university is more than an office building, it's a scholarly community.  Good luck!

Carl's Advice (other than that already listed above)

1. For a colloquium presentation, try to make your slides general. You are an expert in your field but in all likelihood, no one else in the audience will be. Don't concentrate too much on details unless they are asked for.

2. It also helps to make a colloquium a little fun/inspiring. Don't make the presentation too goofy or else it might not be taken seriously enough but it helps to include elements that are relatable to a larger audience.

3. Questions to have an answer for:

        How many people will you look to have in your lab? How many undergraduate students and how many graduate students? How many post-docs?

        If the department you are applying to is mixed (physics and astronomy, natural sciences, etc.), how will you try to connect your work with the broader department atmosphere?

        Do you have experience in and plans for outreach? (not a critical component but it helps to indicate that you are interested in the broader community)

Oindree's contribution:

1. Have slide numbers on the slides! So you can say ".. in slide 9 you can see .." instead of "in the next slide". On phone calls, it is hard to know what is the "next" slide. 

This is a checklist we should all complete when giving talks.

Note that the source .tex code is in the .tar.gz file.

When applying for jobs, all it takes is time!  Have faith in yourself.

~Jordan