Submission and Formatting 101: Master the Dissertation, Thesis, and Report Process

Students who are completing a dissertation, thesis, or report are invited to join the Graduate School to learn about the resources available to them to assist in scheduling their defense, formatting their documents, and submitting their documents.  In one afternoon, you can learn everything you need to be successful and complete your degree in a timely fashion!  Faculty and staff who assist students with submissions are also welcome to attend.  Attend the entire event, or stop in for the seminar that interests you.

  • When: January 23, 2018, 1 – 5pm (see detailed schedule below)
  • Who: Students completing a dissertation, thesis or report; faculty and staff who assist students with submission
  • Where: Forestry G002; the Forestry Atrium will have snacks and seating for breaks or live online (register to attend online and receive participation instructions)
  • Registration: Please register to receive handouts via email or attend online. The seminar will be available online as well as on campus.

If you are unable to join us, the event will be taped and available online after the event. The previous semester’s seminars are always available online.

Information on submitting, formatting, and more can be found online for dissertations and theses or reports.

Detailed schedule

  • 1 – 2pm – Submission 101
    Learn what is required to submit your document to the Graduate School and the deadlines for the upcoming semester.  Best for students who are completing their degree this semester or next semester.
  • 2 – 2:45pm – Formatting 101: Using the Guide and Word Template
    Learn how to find what you need in the Guide and use a Word template to create a perfectly formatted document the first time. LaTeX resources will be referenced, but not emphasized.
  • 2:45 – 3pm: Break
    Enjoy snacks in the Atrium and network with other attendees
  • 3 – 4pm: Formatting 102: Copyright for your dissertation, thesis, and report
    Learn how to use copyrighted materials in your document, including papers you have published as well as materials created by someone else.
  • 4-4:45pm: Formatting 103: Checking and fixing your document
    Learn how to use Adobe Acrobat to check your document to ensure it meets our formatting requirements and correct it without recreating the PDF.
  • 4:45 – 5pm: Final questions
    Have a question that hasn’t been answered yet? We’ll be available to answer any additional questions you have.

 

Global Grant Scholarship 2018-2019

The Rotary District 6220 Global Scholar Program provides $30,000 scholarship awards for graduate studies at a qualified college/university (i.e., has a graduate level program of study that directly relates to at least one of The Rotary Foundation’s  Areas of Focus) outside the USA for US citizens; or, for international citizens (namely, cannot have U.S. citizenship or have a green card or in the process of applying for U.S. citizenship), outside their native country where a Rotary host club can be identified.  Scholars must commence studies no earlier than the beginning of the academic year in the fall of 2018 and conclude no later than December 30, 2019 and expend the scholarship funds within 12 months of starting studies.

NSF ASSIST Travel Grant Opportunity

Apply for the NSF ASSIST Travel Grant to attend the Academic and Research Leadership Symposium at the National Society of Black Engineers Annual Convention in Pittsburgh, PA March 21-25, 2018.

Apply here: https://leveragefaculty.org/events

The Academic and Research Leadership Symposium (ARLS) is co-located with the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Annual Convention. The ARL Symposium has two threads: (1) a faculty development thread, and (2) a research networking thread. The faculty development thread hosts workshops organized by members of the ARL network that strengthen and demystify fundamental components of academia. The researcher development and networking thread is critical to the goal of a self-sustaining ARL ecosystem.  Through funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), NSBE is able to fund up to 40 early-career faculty, post-doctoral scholars, and Ph.D. candidates to attend ARLS (NSF Grant #EEC-1548319).

ASSIST Travel Grants
Travel grants will cover expenses incurred to attend the Academic and Research Leadership Symposium (ARLS) and NSBE National Convention up to $2,000.  Eligible expenses include airfare, lodging, registration, meals, and other travel costs (e.g., parking). When you apply to attend, you will be asked to indicate which expenses you need grant funds to cover.

ASSIST Eligibility Requirements
Applicants for ASSIST Travel Grants must be early-career faculty members, post-doctoral professionals, or graduate students, and must meet the following criteria:

  • Faculty applicants must have held their appointment for five years or less.
  • Faculty and post-doctoral applicants must hold engineering appointments in an ABET accredited institution; and faculty from two-year colleges must teach STEM-related courses.
  • Post-doctoral applicants must have completed a Ph.D. in engineering within 48 months prior to their application.
  • Graduate students must be within one year of graduating with an engineering degree, in good academic standing, and enrolled as full or part time students.
  • ASSIST Travel Grant recipients must be US Citizens or have permanent resident status.

Application Process
A complete application includes

  • Responses to a short set of eligibility questions.
  • Statement of Interest – describe what you hope to gain by participating in the event and how the experience will benefit you and your career.
  • Statement of Diversity Contribution – describe your contributions to engineering diversity as well as your future diversity-related goals.
  • NSF Bio – A biographical sketch that adheres to NSF guidelines.

The deadline for applying to attend Academic and Research Leadership Symposium (ARLS) is December 31, 2017, 11:59 pm PST, and applicants will be notified of decisions by January 26, 2018.

Nominations open for 2018 MAGS Excellence in Teaching Awards

Nominations are now open for the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) Excellence in Teaching Awards.  Michigan Tech may nominate one student at the MS and PhD level. Each graduate program may nominate one student at the MS and PhD level. Nominations are due to the Graduate School no later than 4pm, January 10, 2018.

Eligible students

  • will have been enrolled at Michigan Tech during the 2017 calendar year and have a teaching appointment
  • will have earned the Michigan Tech Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award
  • will have an excellent teaching portfolio and student evaluations

See the application page for complete details on what is required for a nomination.

Checking Your Margins Using Double-Side Formatting

Welcome back to the Michigan Tech Graduate School Newsblog. Since Thesis, Dissertation, and Report writing season is in full swing now we thought it might be helpful to give you a brief reminder on how you can check your margins before submitting your document to the Graduate School.

There are two ways described in “The Guide” to format your dissertation, thesis, or report: Single Side and Double Side formatting. In the post below we will walk you through how to use Adobe Acrobat Pro to check your margins in a Double Side formatted document. If you’re using Single Side formatting, click here to access our previous post on that topic.!

Checking Your Margins Using Single Side Formatting

Welcome back to the Michigan Tech Graduate School Newsblog. Since Thesis, Dissertation, and Report writing season is in full swing now we thought it might be helpful to give you a brief reminder on how you can check your margins before submitting your document to the Graduate School.

There are two ways described in “The Guide” to format your dissertation, thesis, or report: Single Side and Double Side formatting. In the post below we will walk you through how to use Adobe Acrobat Pro to check your margins in a Single Side formatted document. If you’re using Double Side formatting, check out our post on that here!

EndNote Workshop at the Van Pelt and Opie Library

Learn how EndNote can help you easily create and manage bibliographic information and incorporate references into your writing. EndNote also offers a relatively easy way for faculty to upload citations into Digital Measures.

This combined EndNote Basic and Cite While You Write workshop will be held from 5:05 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday (Nov. 9) in Library 242.

During the session, we will cover how to create and build an EndNote “library,” add references from online databases and PDFs, and organization best practices. Incorporating references into a Microsoft Word document and changing output styles will also be covered.

Registration for the workshop is required. Register for the EndNote Basic and Cite While You Write workshop.

The Library 242 instruction room has EndNote X8 installed on Windows workstations. Attendees may bring their own laptops with EndNote X8 downloaded prior to the session. Visit the library’s EndNote Guide to download the software and get a sneak peek at what EndNote can do for you. Email library@mtu.edu with any questions.

Fall 2017 Finishing Fellowship Recipients

The Graduate School is pleased to announce the awarding of Finishing Fellowships for doctoral candidates. Fellowships are available through the generosity of alumni and friends of the University. They are intended to recognize outstanding PhD candidates who are in need of financial support to finish their degrees.

(listed by nominating department)

Fall 2017 Recipients

Atmospheric Sciences
Pei Hou

Biological Sciences
Kavitha Satish Kumar

Chemical Engineering
Rui Shi

Civil and Environmental Engineering
Ting Bao
Amaneh Eslami Kenarsari
Shuaicheng Guo

Electrical Engineering
Navid Pourramzan Gandji
Xu Zhang

Materials Science and Engineering
Liang Chang

Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
Brandon Jackson

Physics
Shiva Bhandari
Teresa Wilson

Portage Health Foundation Fall 2017 Kevin Sunderland

Kevin Sunderland
Biomedical Engineering

Kevin Sunderland            The sciences have been an interest of mine ever since my high-school years, but it was studying how the human body functions (and its numerous dysfunctions) that I found the most fascinating. This interest might be contributed to my (rather unfortunate) exposure to a variety of health problems that have impacted a number of my family and friends over the years. While people close to me have suffered from a variety of health concerns, but it was having to watch a family member struggle with neurological damage that I found the hardest to deal with. It wasn’t just how neurological damage can forever change a person, but it was also seeing how much the person’s family and friends also suffer when these conditions strike a loved one.

I pursued a degree in biology in college, and knew that after my undergraduate education I wanted to focus on health research. I was fortunate enough after college to begin working alongside a multidisciplinary research group that brought together talent from clinicians, nurse scientists, and engineers to study a variety of complex health issues. It was during this time that I was able to see just how much advances in technology lead the way in researching medical conditions and impacting the next generation of health. This drove me to pursue my graduate education and research in a place where I could combine my academic interests in health with current advances in technology. I have been lucky enough to find such an ideal place with the community here at Michigan Tech.