GradSWE now has a listed group on LinkedIn! You can find us by searching for "SWE Grad Community" or by clicking here: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8412361/

This is a great place for blog posts related to women in STEM, career opportunity announcements, and general professional discussion within our community.

Rasika Bhalerao
​GradSWE Communications Coordinator

After the fun-filled and exciting WE Local Raleigh conference, the next WE Local is heading to Buffalo, NY on March 27 – 28, 2020. The WE Local Buffalo will take place at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. Early Bird Registration is still available! Register for  WE Local Buffalo!

• Early Bird Registration Deadline: Friday, February 28, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. ET
• Overall Registration Deadline: Friday, March 13, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. ET
• On-Site Registration is *only* available for a Career Fair Registration. Credit/debit card and cash will be accepted. No Premier or Awards Dinner Admission registration will be granted on-site.​

​Note that you can save $20 by taking advantage of early bird pricing as a collegiate member. Prepare for your WE Local Conference by reviewing registration rates and securing your hotel room with SWE’s discounted room blocks for WE Local Buffalo. This registration includes *four* meals, one heavy appetizer social event, two keynote speakers, two networking events and plenty more. Register by this Friday to save!

There is a lot that WE Local Conference offers you as a Graduate Student! Learn from keynote presentations and 30+ breakout sessions at each conference to enhance your professional and personal growth. Regardless of your major, there's so much to discover when you attend a WE Local. The Career Fair at WE Local Buffalo will feature engineering and technology organizations from the local area and surrounding region. As a graduate student, don’t miss the opportunity to gain benefit in terms of networking, job opportunities, and professional connections during WE Local in a more intimate setting!

Connect with graduate members at WE Local! Join the #welocal Slack channel for Graduate Student sessions and meet-up information! If you haven't already, connect with the Graduate Community Slack Channel to join in the conversation.

The early bird deadline is this Friday. Don’t forget to Register for WE Local Buffalo! For more information, visit welocal.swe.org. Questions about WE Local can be directed to welocal@swe.org or Kazi Tasneem, GradSWE WE Local Liaison, at kazi.m.tasneem@vanderbilt.edu.
​
Kazi Tasneem
WE Local Liaison

By: Karla Morrissey

​“My PhD candidacy exam was super easy.”-Said No One Ever.
 
The words “PhD candidacy exam” have very different meanings depending on the university you attend and the program you are studying. Regardless of what a PhD candidacy exam means for you, however, there are some tips you can follow to make writing and presenting a PhD proposal much less stressful!
 
First, I’d like to briefly describe the format of the PhD candidacy exam for my program in chemical engineering. My exam consisted of writing a 15-page NSF-style proposal of the research I planned to do for my dissertation. The proposed work had to be entirely original, and a 30-min oral presentation summarizing my proposal was required.
 
1. If writing a proposal, find a template that you can follow to make sure you address all relevant topics of your proposed work. 

Some universities and doctoral programs give you a template to follow when drafting your proposal. My university did not, so my first objective was to find a template to follow that would make the writing process more efficient and organized. From a quick internet search, I found a great template for a 15-page NSF-style proposal from Tufts University [1]. This template was incredibly easy to understand, and it even offers suggestions for a “timeline” to follow for writing and submitting your proposal. Note, if you plan to use this template or another, make sure to ask your advisor if it adheres to the guidelines of your program.
 
2. Give yourself a minimum of five months to begin thinking about your topic, and at least one month to start drafting your proposal.  

Although I defended my candidacy in July, I started really thinking about my topic and objectives in January. I began collecting journal articles that I felt would help in my literature review as well as help with formulating original objectives for my work. The writing process for me took exactly one month; however, I spent January-April reading through all of the articles I had collected and making outlines of the direction I wanted to take for my research. While all of us have different ways we work more effectively (How Do You Work?), I can almost guarantee you’ll be quite stressed if you do not give yourself enough time to prepare and start writing!
 
3. Consult with your advisor at the beginning, middle and end of your preparation process.  

Throughout the entire preparation process, I provided my advisor with updated drafts. If I had to guess the number of drafts I gave to my advisor, it’d probably be at least five drafts, spanning from 2 pages for the first draft, to 15 pages for the last. A two page summary was, for me, a great way to begin my research and have a conversation with my advisor over my topic and general objectives. From there, I began drafting the actual proposal using the template, and I had my advisor check every section I wrote as I was writing it. Towards the end, I felt confident that my final draft was ready for submission to the rest of my committee.
 
4. Set a date. 
​
There’s nothing more motivating than having a hard deadline. To be honest, I waited a bit too long to set a date as the mere thought of it gave me so much anxiety! However, I regretted it, as I was ready to defend by the end of May, but due to scheduling conflicts, I had to wait until July. Anxiety can build as you wait, so start sending polls for schedules early on and set a date for your defense! It’s scary, but you’ll fit your schedule accordingly in order to be ready!
 
These are just some tips that really helped me prepare for my candidacy exam. For preparing the presentation, it honestly comes together quite nicely once you’ve written your proposal! The only tip I’d give for the actual presentation is to remain calm, and rehearse! I rehearsed my presentation twice, timing myself each time. Good luck to all of you out there, you can do it!
 
References

1. https://ase.tufts.edu/biology/graduate/documents/gradQualExam.pdf