Graduate Student Handbook

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Intention/Role of Handbook

This handbook is intended for graduate students who are pursuing MS or PhD degrees. The UW- Madison Graduate School is the ultimate authority for granting graduate degrees at the University. The Department of Botany administers the Botany graduate program under the authority of the Graduate School. The Graduate School’s Academic Policies and Procedures provide essential information regarding general University requirements. Program authority to set degree requirements beyond the minimum required by the Graduate School lies with the Botany program faculty. The policies described in this handbook have been approved by the program faculty as a whole. Degrees and course requirements may change over time. However, students must meet the degree and course requirements in effect when they entered the program (or, if they elect, revisions enacted during their degree program). Administrative procedures and processes change over time. Students are required to follow the procedures and processes listed in the current handbook. The information in this handbook should be supplemented by individual consultation with your advisor and committee so that individual needs/interests and all degree requirements are met. Additional information is available via the Department’s Web page. Students may also wish to consult the Graduate School’s Web page.

Key Terms

Where these regulations refer to the “chair,” this typically means the Chair of the Botany Department.

“Faculty” refers to the faculty of Botany and affiliates.

Key Individuals and Roles

Graduate Program Coordinator & Director of Graduate Study (Student Services Coordinator) Graduate Program Chair (Director of Graduate Studies – Faculty as appointed by Botany Department Chair)
Graduate Committee: Consists of the Graduate Program Chair, Graduate Program Coordinator, four faculty members (as assigned by the department chair) and four graduate students (assigned by department liasions, after graduate students are surveyed for preferences of committee assignments)

Overview

The Department of Botany at the University of Wisconsin has an active graduate program leading to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Graduate students work with faculty and staff on a wide range of projects in plant biology at any level of organization, from molecules, through cells and organs, to populations, communities, and lineages of organisms. Major areas emphasized are molecular biology, genetics, cellular and developmental biology, structural botany, physiology, ecology, evolution, taxonomy, and molecular systematics. Advanced instruction and opportunities for research are also available in phycology, bryology, ethnobotany, paleoecology, and restoration ecology. Increasingly, graduate student projects in Botany encompass more than one of these categories.

Students also interested in fields bordering botany will find rich opportunities for coursework, collaborative research, and seminars in many other departments and schools such as Agronomy, Bacteriology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Engineering, Entomology, Forestry and Wildlife Ecology, Genetics, Geography, Geology, Horticulture, Physics, Plant Breeding/Plant Genetics, Plant Pathology, Soil Science, and Zoology and in the Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies.

Interdisciplinary work is encouraged.

Graduate study in the Department of Botany requires a combination of advanced coursework, participation in seminars, and original research. The course requirements have been set up in four tracks: General Botany; Ecology; Evolution; and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. Independent research is usually initiated soon after arrival. Through consultation with a faculty member supervisor, each student selects a track that includes a combination of courses and research topics that are related to his or her interests and that will provide the array of techniques and detailed knowledge needed for effective research.

Application and Selection Process

Completion of the Graduate School’s electronic application initiates the application process. Applications that meet the Graduate School’s entrance requirements, as described in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School Catalog, are forwarded to the Botany Department. The Botany Department’s Graduate Program Committee selects candidates for advanced degrees from the applications forwarded from the Graduate School. The number of admissions possible in any given year is typically limited by the department’s ability to provide financial support.

Admission is based on the applicant’s

undergraduate record,
Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores,
three letters of recommendation,
previous research experience, and
shared interests with one or more potential faculty advisors.

To ensure consideration for both admission to and financial support from the Botany graduate program, complete applications are due by December 1st. Late applications may be reviewed until April 15th. All applicants are required to take the GRE general test. The GRE subject test in Biology or in Cell and Molecular Biology is not required but, if available, will be considered in the admissions process and in awarding assistantships.

Botany Department and Graduate School Application Check List

All Applicants complete the University of Wisconsin – Madison Graduate School Electronic Application at https://www.gradsch.wisc.edu/eapp/eapp.pl including

A series of forms requiring personal, demographic and background information

Reasons for Graduate Study/Statement of Purpose: describing current degree goals and reasons for selecting the UW-Madison Botany program. Statement are uploaded as a separate document (Adobe PDF or MS Word preferred)

Supplemental Application (accessed after initiating the online application) that includes:

Botany Applicant Information Form about the applicant’s interest in botany
Course History Form highlighting relevant botany, biology and science courses
Current CV
Unofficial copy of transcripts: Applicants are asked to upload unofficial transcripts through the supplemental application to facilitate the review process. This does not replace the need to submit official transcripts.

Three (3) recommendations submitted online by selected faculty or supervisors. Instructions for submitting letters of recommendation can be found at: http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/admin/admissions/elorinstructions.html

Official GRE scores sent from ETS to UW-Madison via electronic transmission (Institution code: 1846, Department code: 0205)

Nonrefundable application fee payable to the Office of Graduate Admissions International applicants, whose native language is not English or whose undergraduate

instruction was not in English, submit official TOEFL scores (Institution code: 1846, Department code: 37)

Send OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS FROM ALL institutions of higher learning attended for credit to: The Graduate School, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 217 Bascom Hall, 500 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706, admissions@grad.wisc.edu

Application for Financial Support

The Botany Department offers financial support primarily through teaching, research and project assistantships. (Refer to the “FUNDING AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION “ section.)

Recommended Prior College-level Coursework

Mathematics: up to and including one semester of calculus
Statistics: at least one semester
Biology: strong background in the biological sciences, typically including coursework in cell biology, ecology, evolution, genetics, molecular biology, and systematics
Chemistry: general chemistry and organic chemistry
Physics: at least one course that included electricity and light
Foreign Language: two years at High School or two semesters at college

Incoming graduate students who have not taken the recommended prior coursework may be directed to make up deficiencies that are deemed sufficiently important to the student’s graduate program by the department’s Academic Advisory Committee and/or the student’s major professor and graduate committee.

Learning Outcomes (aka “Learning Goals” or “Training Goals”)

M.S.

Knowledge and Skills

Acquire and demonstrate fundamental understanding of the basic properties of plant life from the subcellular to the ecosystem level of organization.
Use critical elements of the methodological or theoretical framework in a specialized botanical subdiscipline to develop hypotheses, acquire scientific information, and interpret results in the context of the historical scientific literature.
Develop the skills of communicating scientific information, especially in written form.
Engage in the critical evaluation of botanical scientific data and its interpretation.

Professional Conduct

Recognize and apply ethical conduct in the collection, analysis, and presentation of scientific data.
Develop the skills essential to critical debate, discussion, and exchange of scientific information among peers and audiences of diverse intellectual and personal backgrounds.

Ph.D.