PhD Milestones
Many new students will already have an advisor who has recruited and agreed to at least partially support them in their research. Others must seek out and align themselves with a research advisor as quickly as possible. The choice of an advisor is not irrevocable, but it should not be taken lightly either. Often, an advisor has committed resources and made plans that were dependent upon your participation. Changes can only occur with the approval of the graduate coordinator. As noted below, a research advisor must be in place substantially prior to entering the Qualifying Review process.
After a student has been admitted into the PhD program and has a research advisor, there are several points in their academic career that require special attention. We cover these in more detail in the following.