Integrative Graduate
Education and
Research Traineeship

Highlight

Project Planning Course

PERT Diagram

Projects:

Integrative Nanoscience and Microsystems

Institution:

University of New Mexico

Primary Strategic Goal:

Discovery: Foster research that will advance the frontiers of knowledge, emphasizing areas of greatest opportunity and potential benefit and establishing the Nation as a global leader in fundamental transformational science and engineering.

Secondary Strategic Goal:

Learning: Build the Nation's research capability through critical investments in advanced instrumentation, facilities, cyber infrastructure, and experimental tools.

Achievement/Results

During 2008, the NSF IGERT in Nanoscience and Microsystems at UNM organized a short course as part of the educational program aimed at preparing Ph.D. students to assume leadership positions after they graduate. The goals of the course were to teach students how to manage projects that depend on teamwork and participation by a team. The course was taught by a consultant from industry. As part of the course, the students planned several outreach projects that they would execute over the coming semester. One of the outcomes of the course was to teach students to organize their research activities by taking time to plan these activities in advance. Based on student and faculty feedback from this course, we have now decided to use the essential elements of this short course as part of the orientation for all incoming students.

Address Goals

The course on project planning aims to cultivate a world class workforce that can play leadership roles in science and engineering. We plan to integrate project planning in our orientation for all incoming students. During our fall orientation, each incoming student will prepare a detailed plan for their graduate education, including a list of specific milestones such as qualifying and comprehensive exams, course requirements, and other success metrics (publications, presentations, etc.). Students will learn to estimate and allocate time for various tasks by creating a work breakdown structure (WBS). Specific tasks will include conduct of their research, writing their manuscripts, writing their dissertation and preparing their resume. Having a well developed project plan for each student will help the IGERT achieve our goals of graduating students in a timely fashion (~4 years after their BS). Students will also be able to monitor their progress towards meeting their milestones. More important, understanding the students’ needs and goals will help the IGERT program improve our mentoring roles and help in advisement.