ST 811 Navigating the PhD program and beyond: perspectives, skills, and strategies
Link: Statistics faculty actively seeking new PhD advisees.
Lecture slides and resources
- Link: lecture slides.
- The story of sci-hub Radiolab episode: The Library of Alexandria.
- Role of simulation studies in statistics
Link: Morris (2018). - Effective writing in statistics
Link: Marron (1999).
Assignments
- Homework 1: Identify one of the six "types of statistics research" that is of interest to you, and find one manuscript that fits within the type you idenified. In a .tex file, write a few sentences to justify your classification of the paper you found, and include a citation to the paper using a .bib file. Email me the compiled .pdf file from your .tex file.
Due: beginning of class on 2 September 2026 - Homework 2: Read the manuscript by Marron (1999) — linked above under "Lecture slides and resources" — discussing effective writing in statistics. Based on Section 3 "Presentation of Mathematics", write up a description of the idea of a bootstrap sampling distribution. Limit your write-up to not more than 1 page in length, and use whatever combination of words and notation you feel is most readable. Email me the .pdf file of your write-up.
Due: beginning of class on 23 September 2026 - Homework 3: Write a literature review on a topic that you might consider working on for your dissertation. Identify key articles (published or unpublished), and implement a forward and backward citation search on these articles. Summarize key and relevant articles in the level of depth appropriate for the scope of the literature review. Refer back to the lecture slide on "Things to consider in writing a literature review" for guiding remarks/questions. Identify open research questions related to the topic.
Due: beginning of class on 14 October 2026 - Homework 4: To prepare for the faculty panel on 21 October, formulate and email me at least one question you have for the panel. Your questions will be kept anonymous.
Due: beginning of class on 21 October 2026 - Homework 5: Create a set of slides for a full-length (45 minute) research presentation on a topic of your choosing. Then reduce the set of slides to a new set of slides for a short-length (10-15 minute) talk. Send me the pdf files of both sets of slides.
Due: beginning of class on 18 November 2026