Grad School Help Desk Newsletter

October 2022

“October had tremendous possibility. The summer's oppressive heat was a distant memory, and the golden leaves promised a world full of beautiful adventures. They made me believe in miracles.”

Sarah Guillory

Formatting Your Electronic Thesis or Dissertation (ETD) Presentation

Tuesday, October 4, 2022 from 11AM-12:30PM in Reid 333.

All graduate students writing a thesis or dissertation are required to format their paper according to the Graduate School's requirements and then have it approved before it is uploaded to ScholarWorks.

Come to a presentation with the MSU Graduate School, Library, Writing Center, and Counseling and Psychological Services about formatting, publishing, copyright, writing, and submitting your final ETD. After attending the workshop, consider submitting an early draft of your ETD for preliminary feedback.

Tuesday, Oct. 4:Presentation on formatting your ETD.

Monday, Oct. 24:Priority registration opens for Spring 2023.

Tuesday, Nov. 8: Election Day. No classes, offices closed.

Friday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day. No classes, offices closed.

Monday, Nov. 21 - Friday, Nov. 25: Fall Break. No classes all week. Offices closed Thurs. & Fri.

Friday, Dec. 2: Last day for master's and doctoral comp exam or thesis/dissertation defense if planning to graduate Fall 2022.

Friday, Dec. 9: Last day for formatting approval of thesis or dissertation if planning to graduate Fall 2022.

See here for a full list of Graduate School Dates & Deadlines.

Invite the Dean!

Craig would like to get out and meet groups of graduate students in your labs, research, or study spaces. If you would like to host the dean for a ~30min. informal chat, please contact craig.ogilvie@montana.edu.

Bounty of the Bridgers Food Pantry

The Bounty of the Bridgers Campus Food Pantry provides supplemental and emergency food assistance to students, faculty, staff, and family members at no cost.

Identify scholarships and research funding for your graduate education!

The MSU Graduate School maintains a Funding & Fellowships webpage listing various ways you may find funding throughout your time at MSU.

The University of Illinois has an excellent Fellowship Finder featuring awards that are open to grad students from any university. It features several filters to aid your search.

The National Research Council postdoctoral program Is used by federal agencies across the country to support postdoc searches. This is a great place to look when you are close to finishing your PhD and the salaries are quite good. Quarterly application deadlines.

TL1 Translational Research Training Program

The TL1 program is a prestigious 1-year, NIH funded training opportunity for PhD students interested in translational medicine. Students maintain current research objectives, but get additional exposure to experts in translational medicine. This program creates a cross-disciplinary community of emerging researchers and provides them with specific training, career development opportunities, and team science skills to help them function effectively within translational science teams. More information about the NIH TL1 Scholars program is available here.

For more funding opportunities, visit MSU’s Research Funding Opportunities and the MSU Graduate School's Funding and Fellowships webpage.

Blackstone LaunchPad’s Big Idea Challenge

This competition is open to all Montana State University students (undergraduate and graduate) and will feature $10,000 in prize awards.  All Ideas are welcome, including but not limited to new products, services, non-profit ventures, and social impact focus. The applicant must be a current student (undergraduate or graduate-level), be a founder/co-founder (i.e., the person with the original idea), be in the earliest stages - have an idea or have just started building on an idea, create a profile on Startup Tree and apply as an individual or in teams of 2. The Ideas Competition application will include a short 1 to 2 minute video of you summarizing your idea focusing on the problem and solution.  This video does not need to be edited or professionally created, and can simply be a smartphone video of you explaining your idea. See here for more information on the Big Idea Challenge.

Optimize: How to Make the Most of the MSU Library's Resources

For BIPOC Students: Tues, Oct. 18, 11AM-12:30PM

Co-hosted by MSU Library, Diversity & Inclusion Student Commons (DISC), and The Graduate School.

This event for BIPOC graduate students will include a short social hour and professional development workshop focused on how to optimize use of the MSU library's resources. Topics will include various research databases/tools for graduate-level research, tips for literature reviews, and information on the library's Research Consultation services.

Refreshments will be provided. Bring your questions and come hang out!

Another session for ALL graduate students will be held on Wednesday, October 19th from 11AM-12PM.

Professional Development: GradCat 360

GradCat 360 is a comprehensive professional development program for graduate students at Montana State University. It is a series of programs and events designed by the Graduate School and departments across campus that center around nine focus areas. These areas are tailored to help students cultivate a unified set of skills and knowledge for educational success and professional preparation.

Check out our GradCat 360 Event Calendar, specifically curated for Graduate Students. We are constantly updating the GradCat 360 calendar with workshops and events that are uniquely useful for Graduate Students.

MSU Writing Center

The MSU Writing Center offers ongoing support to students working on graduate-level writing.