iMEGRAD Vol. II No. 49 (2/10/2017)

Impending Important Deadlines:

Master's Candidacy Due on February 17th 

Please find below the forms:

1. 5th Year Candidacy
2. M.Eng Candidacy
3. Standard MS Candicay Plan II
4. Standard MS Candidacy Plan I

Add/Drop & Change of Grade Options and Units

To change your class schedule from now until April 28, 2017:

1. Complete the ADD/DROP form.
2. Have it sign by your Major Field Advisor.
3. Submit it to the Student Services Office.

Graduate Slam Deadline: February 15th

The February 15 deadline to submit your three-minute video for this year's Grad Slam competition is fast approaching! 

This is a unique opportunity for graduate students who are engaged in substantive original research projects to develop oratorical skills, dynamic deliveries, and compelling content when presenting their academic research — while attracting the notice of academic, media, and private and public sector leaders from across the state.

Entrants compete in preliminary rounds on their UC campus, with prizes awarded at each stage of the selection process. At Berkeley, up to ten semi-finalists will receive prizes of at least $100. Chosen after the campus-wide live competition on April 5, 2017, three finalists will then be awarded prizes of $750, $1,000, and $3,000, respectively, with the top finalist advancing to the system-wide competition to be held on May 4, 2017. If the Berkeley contestant places in the top three at the system-wide event, that person will receive additional award money ranging from $1,000 to $3,000.

Learn more about guidelines, awards, and resources on our Grad Slam website.

Call for Nominations: Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship of GSIs - March 6th

The Graduate Council's Advisory Committee for GSI Affairs and the Graduate Division's GSI Teaching and Resource Center are pleased to announce the​ 2017 Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship of GSIs.This award recognizes faculty (including both Senate and non-Senate faculty) who have provided GSIs outstanding mentorship in teaching at Berkeley and preparation for the teaching graduate students may do in future careers. Nominations are sought from graduate students who have served as GSIs.
 
Up to three awards will be given. Awards will typically be presented to faculty members mentoring GSIs in multi-section courses, in stand-alone courses (e.g., foreign language or Reading and Composition courses), or through the teaching of a 3​​​75​ pedagogy ​course.
 
Nomination Deadline: Monday, March ​6​, 201​7. Guidelines, nomination portal, and statements of mentoring philosophy from previous recipients can be found at http://gsi.berkeley.edu/programs-services/award-programs/faculty-mentor-...​.​

Please contact the GSI Teaching and Resource Center at gsi@berkeley.edu or 642-4456 if you have questions.

Commencement 2017 - Tuesday, May 16th

Online registration will begin in early March. College of Engineering students completing degree requirements for the summer and fall 2016, and spring, summer and fall 2017 semesters are eligible to participate. The registration deadline is April 21, 2017.

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Important Language Proficiency Testing Information

Please note,  if there is any chance that you need to be a GSI for Fall 2017 and English is not your native language, please follow the instructions below:

1. All continuing graduate students who do not speak English as a native language and who plan to teach for the first time as a GSI in Fall 2017 must complete the online Language Proficiency Screening Questionnaire by March 1, 2017 (if they have not already submitted one) in order to be scheduled to take a language test this semester. Students currently enrolled in Lan Pro 380 (formerly offered as Lan Pro 100A) courses should not fill out the questionnaire as they will be scheduled for OPT testing later in the semester.

2. Once we review the questionnaire, student will be notified as to whether they need to be tested and, if so, which test they need to take.  Please not that the SPEAK test and the Versant English Test are no longer administered on campus.

3. Oral Proficiency Tests (OPTs) for continuing students who scored 40 or 45 on the SPEAK, from 51 to 75 on the Versant, or 22 to 25 on the Speaking Section of the TOEFL iBT taken within the last two years, will be available from March through mid-April if those students wish to be appointed for the fall.  
4. Any graduate student who plans to teach in Spring 2018 who believes he or she may need to take an English language proficiency course (Lan Pro 380 [formerly Lan Pro 100A]) in order to be able to pass the test, should also complete the Language Proficiency Questionnaire at this time so that we can advise on next steps.

Please keep in mind the following:

     * OPT appointments from mid-April through May are reserved for students enrolled in Lan Pro 380 (formerly 100A).
     * OPTs are not available during the summer break.

Information about testing can be found on our website. Key deadlines students and departments should be aware of can be found here. 

Please feel free to contact us at langpro@berkeley.edu should you have any questions. 

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Where to Get Support?

See Flyer here!

Link Foundation Ocean Engineering & Instrumentation Ph.D. Fellowships - Deadline: March 1st

 The Link Foundation is offering $28,500, 1-year Ph.D. fellowships to support research related to all areas of ocean engineering and ocean instrumentation (which includes the development of instrumentation to support oceanographic research). The fellowships are tenable at any university in the US and Canada and do not have any restrictions on citizenship. Further information and online application instructions can be found at www.linkoe.org. The application deadline is March 1, 2017.
 

 Announcing the Elsevier 3D Printing Challenge

To encourage researchers to come up with new ideas, Elsevier is holding its first 3D Printing Grand Challenge. The winning project will receive a prize of $15,000. 
An innovation prize of $10,000 will also be awarded.

Details here!