So you want a graduate degree...
I only accept fully funded graduate students. I work with agencies to find research questions and supporting funds, and then I post graduate degree opportunities online, including the Texas A&M job board.
Graduate school presents a unique opportunity for high-bandwidth learning. Your development as a scientist during graduate school will have long-term career consequences. Successful graduate students across the country are putting in more than 40 hours per week. I hope your excitement about science fuels your intensity and ultimately gives you the edge in the job market. Optimism, curiosity, and integrity will also drive your success.
Graduate school presents challenges not found in other jobs. The tasks before you can seem vague. Once clarified, the tasks can seem overwhelming. Not every part of the work will be a wonderful learning experience (but overall experience is). Part of my job is to help you though these struggles. I hope to establish an open line of communication that will keep you moving in the right direction.
We conduct applied research. I expect all my graduate students to build relationships with professionals from supporting agencies. These people want to see us succeed, and will help us do so. I expect all project deliverables to be submitted on time and with the highest standard of professional quality. I will help you do this.
I expect you to do the vast majority of your work at your desk in the UI graduate office. Work at home might include supplemental reading, emails, or coding, but when the grad office is open, you should be present. I expect you to contribute to the intellectual atmosphere by showing up with a smile on your face and a desire to learn from your peers. If you need time away from your project to travel home or recreate far from Moscow, you must coordinate with me. Leaving unannounced for several work days would violate the trust that prevents me from micromanaging your activities.
Graduate students are my partners. We have mutual interests that we develop and explore together. This should lead to fun conversations about philosophical ideas that extend beyond the particulars of our immediate research. My PhD advisor, Brent Danielson, encouraged me to read widely and wildly. Through such readings, conversation with me and lab mates, and your various private computational endeavors, I hope you begin developing a unique worldview of science, ecology, and management that enables you and those around you to make sense of a complex world. This is the ultimate challenge and reward of our endeavors.
-Matt Falcy