welcome 2017 []

Introduction Program Matters General requirements Possible schedules for MSc students PhD students

Welcome 2017

Jiahua Chen

Graduate AdvisorESB 3136

604 822 [email protected]

August 25, 2017

Jiahua Chen MSc/Ph.D. Welcome 2017


Welcome to the department of statistics, University of BritishColumbia

The fact that you are sitting here is the combined luck of twooutcomes:

you beat over 200 other applicants and win out;the department beats many other departments and hassucceeded at convincing you to join us.

This is definitely a win-win game!



Here is your home for the next couple ofyears: make good use of it.



As a graduate advisor, I am here to say a few words aboutcourses, credits, financial support, TA, RA, research and so on.

Financial supports are dispensed in the form of TA, RA andfellowship.

Fellowships are awards based on past achievements. Receivingone is an honour, be proud! Work hard to meet theexpectation.TA is a job: there are not many jobs with such a high hourlypay in this world. Be grateful to ordinary tax payers in Canada!RA is not free money: someone worked hard to earn the trustof the funding agencies. It is disappointing if a recepienthardly work!



In addition, TAship is a far rewarding than one realizes.

The work is paid generously.

You learn more from teaching than from taking courses.

It sharpens your communication skills.

You learn from other body’s mistakes (rather than your own).



TAship can lead to a few issues:

Not all TA jobs have equal amount of work. The effort neededvaries from one course to another with the same payment.

You should realize that the payment is generous in all cases.

If English is not your first language, be proactive by talkingmore to undergraduate students, making friends and seekinghelps.

A job is a job: be responsible or you can be fired!

TAship is the most effective platform in learning a language:the process can be painful but is rewarding.



RAship: it is nearly too good to be true.

You are paid to work for yourself. Good work benefits yourselfmost. Can you name other jobs like this in this world?

Your good work leads to healthier funding of your sponsor andmore opportunities of other grad students.

Rapid progress leads you even better paid job early!



Be sharp at locating and taking advantages of opportunities

Use your time wisely

Talk to faculty members (we are nice!)

Learn new things, teach something new



Opportunities:

RA requests from other departments

Part time jobs from local companies

Scholarships

Research projects

Seminars



You do not have unlimited amount of time. Time managementskill is needed and can be learned.

Start working on assignment problems, projects early.

Complete a project/assignment is better than having allprojects/assignments nearly done.

Do not wait for deadlines, beat them.

Discuss with your peers rather than work alone (if allowed).

Do have fun. There are a lot of activities organized bygraduate students.



Things I strongly advice against:

Staying up until 3:00-6:00 in the morning.

Having difficulties to catch the 11:00am class.

Start working on projects/assignments only when it isabsolutely too late.

The department will not help you manage the time. Learn ityourself.



Things I recommend:

Attend all seminars;

Come to the department everyday and interact with otherstudents and department members;

Find hobby in sports and be physically active.

Greet each other and smile a lot!



Be responsible and watchful:

You are not individually managed by the department.

Don’t wait for problems to magically go away (or somebodyelse to fix them)

Ask the graduate advisor (me), your peers, and otherprofessors.

Read e-mail carefully/Listen carefully, so you do not miss out.



Goals, future plan, and others

Your decisions will have consequences

What do you want to do when you graduate? Do not wait forothers to tell you what to do (ask!)

move to next level of education?find a job related to statistics?work on something of your own?



More often than not, you will need reference letters

Let professors know you and your talents.

Show off whenever you get a chance.

Fundamental theorems of grad school:

Research + reference letters > grades

Communication/computing skills+ reference letters > grades

Grades are very important, particularly to secure externalawards ($$$)



Communication skills:

They are very important, beyond language proficiency

It is not about ESL

The Department provides many resources.

Relevance: TA, work / co-op, conferences, course work(STAT551, reports, presentations), thesis writing



Something about Stat550/551:

Stat550/551 can be waived; apply one month before the termit is offered; provide supporting materials to the upcominginstructor. However, the credit requirements (of 30) are notwaived.

Percentage grades will be introduced waiting for approval.

Reports passed deadline will loss 2 marks per day. This policywill be strictly enforced.

Discuss with the instructor early.



My observations:

Communication problem can be by choice, not by ability.

Communication problem may reflect the lack of knowledge onthe topic.

Communication problem happens when you do not want todiffer (from authoritative figures).

My suggestion: say what you mean, mean what you say.



Awards: symbols of reputation, achievement, and is rewarding($$$).

Reputation → CV and reference letters

$$$ lead to more time to focus on building communicationand research skills (I question this point).

There are a lot of possible awards out there. Be active tofigure out how to apply (forms, letters, deadlines) and thenapply.

We will help, but would not do it for you.



Supervisor:

Be prepared to seek for a supervisor.

Start early, and February/March is a good time to look.

Take initiative, do not wait to be offered a project

Ask (do not be shy), work on acquiring skills that will makeyou a desirable candidate

Summer financial support is linked to your success!



MSc program: Thesis or Project?

Thesis counts for 6 credits; requires research component,innovation, communication skills, computing

Project counts for 3 credits; requires application component,communication skills, computing

Co-op does not count to credits; you gain job experience,communication skills, computing. Be aware that earning 30credits in time can be difficult.



Thesis or project:

Be a thesis or project, it is likely the outcome of an RA work.

The quality of your RA work is the determining factor to haveit classified into one of them.

Current consensus: a summer RA work leads to a projectunless your work is judged of high quality so that it can bemade into a thesis.

Do not count 6 credits out of your RA project unless yoursupervisor gives you explicit permission.

In all cases including co-op, a 30-min department seminar is part ofthe requirement.



Co-op: Lang will tell you more.

Important dates: early Fall application to UBC Science Co-op.

Application process + interviews Work on acquiring skills thatwill make you a desirable candidate

Contact Professor Lang Wu ([email protected])

Co-op is a great program within MSc. It cannot be over-stated.



Time line:

Recommended: 18 months; most commonly: 24 months;minimum: 12 months.

The co-op: two work terms, three course terms –30 credits ofcourse work exclusively.

Students are not assigned a supervisor. They are expected toinitiate the supervision relationship early 2nd term. A researchproject should then be outlined and worked on in the firstsummer term.



Requirements:

Total: 30 credits; including 3 from project or 6 from thesis.Students are working on a project by default unless promotedby a professor.

At least 24 credits from courses above Stat 500. One maytake Stat 404 for 3 credits for instance.

Six credits of 3xx or 4xx; 5xx courses from other dept subjectto approval from Graduate Advisor to prevent repeats andirrelevant courses.



Requirements:

Minimum 18 credits for the first year, 12 for the second year.Lowest mark qualifying for credit is 75%.

Required courses: statistical inference Stat560 and Stat 561;Advance probability or stochastic process course: Stat547C.Students took Stat460/461 in undergrad years are waived ofStat560/561.

Stat 550 and Stat551: students with consulting experiencemay apply to have them waived. In this case, advancedapplication is required.

The total number of credits required remains the same.



One of the requirement is: at least 3 credits from the followingapplied statistics courses

STAT 527 Analysis of Longitudinal Data,

STAT 538 Generalized Linear Models,

STAT 541 Multivariate Analysis,

STAT 543 Time Series, STAT 545 Data Analysis

In reality, one 538 is regularly offered. You can select other coursessubject to my approval: Stat545A and 547M are good choices;Stat547L is another.



MSc Biostatistics:

The number of courses available to you seems limited.

Be alert on what two departments are offering and what arerequired.

Sometimes, the courses you need have time-conflict. Let meknow if this happens.

We have to work together to resolve these issues. Either meor future grad-advisor may not know all details as you do.



Regulations:

”Head Start” Admission to the Ph.D. Program and Transferfrom M.Sc. to Ph.D. Program: Consult website.

Credit Transfer: Not allowed for Ph.D. students. Masterstudents can transfer up to 12 credits not used for otherdegrees.



Where to get 30 credits:

Grad courses in other departments upon approval fromGraduate Advisor;

Up to 6 credits in 4XX courses

Be aware of time conflicts, the possibility of certain desiredcourses not offered.

Do not underestimate time demands! Take ownership! Makesure you are meeting the program requirements.



Courses of this year:

STAT 535A Statistical Computing

STAT 536C Statistical Theory for the Design and Analysis ofClinical Studies

STAT 538A Generalized Linear Models

STAT 540 Statistical Methods for High Dimensional Biology

STAT 545A Exploratory Data Analysis

STAT 547C (probability theory)

STAT 547H Statistics in ecology; STAT 547L SpatialStatistics; STAT 547M (Data science)

STAT 560 Statistical Theory I; STAT 561 Statistical Theory II



Requirement

9 credits other than required courses (Stat550; 551; 548).

Pass Stat548 in the first year;

The PhD Comprehensive Exam in the end of the second year.

Defend the thesis to graduate.



Stat 548

Read 5 papers and write 5 reports with 5 professors.

Complete two in the first term, three in the second term.

Deadlines are the last day of class in both terms.

You may discuss deadlines for individual report, but not theoverall deadline.



Stat 548: feel the urgency from the first day!

A penalty of 2 marks for each day after deadline will becharged to the total (not to the average).

The pass mark is 83% average over 5 reports.



My advices:

Definitely attend all seminars;

Be proactive at research: do not regard doing research as away to satisfy your supervisor.

It is most satisfying to identify a research project yourself.

Excel at research is the entire name of the game of the Ph.D.program.


welcome 2017 []

Documents