This text serves as a brief introduction to the process of applying to graduate programs. The chapters are structured around concrete tasks for students to complete, and the overall organization of the book overlays onto a 15 week semester. The book was written to be used in a field introduction course so that students could begin the process of researching graduate programs early.

All too often international graduate students become paralyzed when asked to write in a Western academic context.  They are concerned about their grammar and formatting and they lose sight of the assignment's meaning and purpose.  In addition, the students, who already have an undergraduate degree related to their field of graduate study, often forget about their content area expertise in their concern for producing "correct" work for their professors in their graduate classes.  In the beginnign phases of recognizing writing as a process, researcher Peter Elbow examined the uses of freewriting in his classrooms, calling it the best way to get out ideas in a disorganized fashion so that the editing and organizing can go on later in the writing process. (Elbow 1973)  He likens the freewriting process to the use of voice; a writers voice must be formulated and created before it can be molded and shaped (Elbow 1973). Therefore, freewriting is one of the biggest gifts to give international students so they can find their voice and create authentic text in later drafts.  Remind the students of their expertise in the field via allowing for free expression of ideas through the use of free writing.  It is a first step for the students in creating the academic texts that will be necessary throughout their academic careers.Resource: Writing Without Teachers. New York: Oxford UP, 1973

This group project is designed for international students to research into topics related to the theme of success in graduate school and give a presentation to their classmates on their topic, preferably teaching the class on that topic but also engaging the class in the lesson. Students will also listen intently as their classmates present and critique some presentations formally. The instructor usually offers the students a variety of topics but groups can propose other topics to the instructor for his/her approval. Created by Steven Harris-Scott, Ph.D., and Amy Lewis, Ed.D., for INTO George Mason University with support from Mason 4-VA. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Life in academia is like life in no other profession. The intellectual freedom in conducting research coupled with the ability to positively impact the lives of students through teaching makes it exciting and noble. The road to success in making a difference through knowledge creation (research), knowledge dissemination (teaching) and activities related to both (service) is riddled with many challenges. While PhD programs are designed to teach students the nitty gritty details of conducting research, few focus on the broad issues of how to build a successful research program, how to build an effective teaching portfolio and how to do deal with the many other challenges encountered. Navigating the broader challenges of academia is often accomplished by trial-and-error or ad-hoc mentoring one may receive. Road to Success: A Guide for Doctoral Students and Junior Faculty Members in the Behavioral and Social Sciences by Viswanath Venkatesh provides advice and tools, seeks to help researchers achieve success by navigating through these very challenges.

Tell us how you are using this book If you are a graduate student or prospective graduate student, a course instructor, a scholar conducting research, or another reader please complete the form at https://bit.ly/roadtosuccess_interest

Available formats:
Paperback (ISBN:978-1-949373-73-8)
PDF (ISBN: 978-1-949373-74-5)

The book comprises 20 chapters that are organized into five major sections:
1. Research
2. Managing the PhD program
3. Life after the PhD
4. Teaching and service
5. Broader advice

In addition to the author, both junior and senior scholars have provided contributions to share their own experiences and observations of others who have been successful.

The most important components of the book are the various tools (e.g., how-to advice, checklists) that are provided to help junior researchers head up the road to success and to arm senior researchers to guide junior researchers along the way. The various tools target the following six areas:
1. Building and sustaining a research program
2. Writing a paper
3. Responding to reviews
4. Planning and monitoring through various stages of the PhD program
5. Becoming an effective teacher
6. Achieving work-life balance

About the author:
Viswanath Venkatesh is Verizon Chair of Information Technology at the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. Please visit http://www.vvenkatesh.com for more information.

Accessibility note:
Virginia Tech Publishing is committed to making its publications accessible in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The screen reader-friendly PDF utilizes header structures and includes alternative text which allows for machine-readability.

This course provides broad exposure to research in biophysics and physical biology, with emphasis on the critical evaluation of scientific literature. Weekly meetings include in-depth discussion of scientific literature led by various MIT faculty on active research topics. Each session also includes a brief discussion of non-research topics including effective presentation skills, writing papers and fellowship proposals, choosing scientific and technical research topics, time management, and scientific ethics.

A brief history and introduction of Library and Information Science.

Reading List:
Bates, M. "The Invisible Substrate of Information Science." https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/bates/substrate.html

Malik, H. "Relationship of Library Science with Information Science. Similarities and Differences." https://www.slideshare.net/Libcorpio/01-ls-vs-is

"Toronto's amazing science fiction library, the Merril Collection, has a new head librarian." http://boingboing.net/2017/08/07/only-a-mother.html

Alexander J.A.M. van Deursen, Jan A.G.M. van Dijk; Using the Internet: Skill related problems in users’ online behavior, Interacting with Computers, Volume 21, Issue 5-6, 1 December 2009, Pages 393–402, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intcom.2009.06.005

"Why Page 2 of Google Search Results is the Best Place to Hide a Dead Body." https://digitalsynopsis.com/tools/google-serp-design/

Graham, R. "Long Overdue: Why public libraries are finally eliminating the late-return fine." http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2017/02/librarians_are_realizing_that_overdue_fines_undercut_libraries_missions.html

A major challenge when writing with sources as a graduate student is learning just how to integrate the material you read into your writing in a way that:

•Shows you understand the material•
Allows room for your own ideas•
Distinguishes your ideas from your sources’ ideas

In this lab, students will try to explain a vocabulary or concepts without using a specific word. Students will utilize other vocabulary or description to communicate their message.