Making the Most of Your Academic Experience
Research is an integral part of many graduate student experiences, and the skills learned in conducting research will benefit students throughout their professional careers. Learning to be effective and responsible in conducting research means that you will become a critical thinker at the highest levels of proficiency, and you will be able to manage projects and to collaborate among a diverse group colleagues who have different perspectives and different knowledge bases.
Establishing a good working relationship with your advisor, creating project plans for your research, learning the tools and methods for conducting research, and understanding ethical considerations are all part of an effective and responsible graduate student research experience.
- Mutual Expectations of Advisors and Advisees. This resource from the Georgia Tech Catalog articulates key contributions that advisors and advisees should make to their relationship to ensure success for both parties.
- Best Practices for Qualifying/Comprehensive Exams. Prompted by the Graduate Student Experience Survey that identified the Qualifying Exam/Comprehensive Exam as the leading cause of stress among graduate students, Graduate Education did a study among schools to identify best practices to avoid undue stress in administering this exam. The following list was discussed and then endorsed by the Institute Graduate Curriculum Committee in September 2017.
- Resources for Conducting Research:
Advocacy and Conflict Resolution
Assistance to graduate students and postdocs in solving problems and resolving conflicts related to research and to academic administrative offices and actions.
Tutoring Services
The Georgia Tech Office of Graduate Education has proudly partnered with Knack, a platform enabling students to book course-specific peer-to-peer tutoring services.
Knack Tutors are fellow students who have previously aced the courses they offer assistance in. Tutoring is completely free, and sessions take place online.
Naugle CommLab
The Communication Center aids Georgia Tech students with communication skills and projects related to their classes, careers, and civic and community lives.
Language Institute
The Language Institute provides high quality learning experiences for English language learners to help them develop the linguistic and cultural competence they need to reach their academic, professional, and personal goals in the 21st century.
Library
From the Graduate Student Community space to research data management, the Georgia Tech Library hosts a collection of learning, knowledge, and information resources for graduate students.
Catalog
The Georgia Tech Catalog contains useful information about Tech's degree programs, courses, and graduate policies and procedures.
Registrar
From the Academic Calendar to degree information, the Registrar's Office provides a variety of resources to maintain and protect the official academic record for every student at Georgia Tech.
Graduate Policy Library
The Graduate Policy Library serves as a centralized resource for Institute administrative policies and graduate student regulations, including graduate student life, academic affairs, and research policies.
Additional Support Resources
Center for Teaching and Learning
Provides resources for graduate teaching assistants ranging from the Teaching Handbook to learning technology support.
Institutional Research Board
If you will enroll Tech employees or students in a research study, you need to confirm with the Office of Research Integrity Assurance whether the Institutional Review Board should review and approve your work prior to starting it.
Managing Unexpected Situations
When an unexpected situation occurs that impacts you academically, you may want to have an exception to a university rule, such as withdrawing from classes after the deadline. The “Petition to Faculty” is the mechanism for requesting these types of exceptions. For personal or medical emergencies, please contact the Dean of Students for assistance.
Student Resources
Resources to support you during your time as a grad student at Tech, including information on health and wellness, campus services, living in Atlanta, and student organizations.
SMARTech
Tech's institutional repository, containing more than 58,000 scholarly works, including more than 22,000 Tech theses and dissertations.
Postdoctoral Services
A unit in the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Education that supports postdoctoral fellows at Tech.