Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling Group – Harvard University

Not this year.

It makes no difference as far as the criteria for admission, the research you’ll do, the stipend you’ll get, the office you’ll be in, the students you’ll hang out with, or the general requirements for the Ph.D. The only differences are in (1) the courses you’ll be asked to take (even there the difference is slight), (2) the teaching requirement (see question on teaching requirement below), (3) the administrators you’ll interact with, and (4) the label of your Ph.D. SEAS students generally apply in the Environmental Science and Engineering (ESE) area, though I have had a few coming in through Applied Math or Applied Physics (the only difference here is in the courses you may be expected to take). The current graduate students in the group are split between SEAS and EPS. Browse through the SEAS and EPS web pages and decide where you’d feel most at home.

No. Even if you did, you are not expected to submit the scores.

Not necessarily. Atmospheric chemistry is an interdisciplinary science. My graduate students come from a diversity of backgrounds from applied math to engineering to chemistry and everything in between. Some students come in with zero chemistry; others come in with little physics. Many have had little or no exposure to atmospheric science, while others have had quite a bit. Gaps are expected, and the purpose of your courses at Harvard will be to fill these gaps. I do expect applicants to have had at least two years of college math.

No. Most incoming students have little or no scientific programming experience. This is best learned on the job, like laboratory skills. It is important however that you feel enthusiastic about learning programming.

The application deadline is sometime in December for admission to the following fall semester. Check the departmental web sites (see links above) for the exact date. The application folders get to the faculty by mid-January – I don’t see them before then. Decisions on admissions are made in early February and applicants are contacted immediately after the decision whether it is positive or negative.

The most important criterion is research experience. I will often take students with weaker grades if they have demonstrated talent for research. GRE scores (for EPS applicants) are a very minor consideration. Although the Harvard application form allows you to be ambivalent about which professor you wish to work with, in practice I get so many applications that I only look seriously at the ones that express a clear intent to work with me (your statement of purpose is important for this). I also look for students with clear interests in atmospheric chemistry modeling – if you think you want to do experimental work or climate dynamics then you shouldn’t apply with me. I strongly encourage you to email me before your application to express interest, so that I can give you feedback on your preparation and also look out for your application. I am committed to gender and racial diversity in the group and specifically encourage applications from under-represented minorities.

Once you are admitted you will be officially invited by Harvard for a visit and Harvard will cover your travel expenses. Visiting prior to admission is not expected, do it only if convenient and useful for you. You can send me an email and if you seem like a promising applicant I will arrange a meeting and will also have you meet with some of my students.

Yes. If your admission letter identifies me as your adviser it’s because I have expressed willingness and commitment to support you. You may decide during your first year that another adviser is a better fit to your interests and if so that’s perfectly fine, all you need is for that other adviser to agree to commit to you. It gets a little more complicated after the first year because by then you should really be engaged in PhD research and preparing for your qualifying exam – it can be done, it’s just more difficult. Another possibility is to have another professor as co-adviser – I have had a number of students co-advised with colleagues. A danger is that you can fall through the cracks, as both your co-advisers may think that the other is supervising you and as a result you get no attention. But as long as you take initiative to avoid this the co-advising arrangement can work very well.

Loretta and I co-lead the Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling Group. We have complementary research interests and approaches, as you can see from our web pages and publications. You can decide which fits your interests best. In practice, Loretta and I talk all the time and often share students depending on projects, so you can very easily end up working with the two of us. We also share notes about applicants so you shouldn’t worry about compromising your chances to work with one by applying to work with the other. Students working with either of us belong to the same group, share offices, work together, etc. There’s no distinction.

You will have a lot of freedom to choose your own project within the general sphere of activity of my group. The group web site should give you a good idea of our research directions. Check out in particular our current research web page. I generally encourage students in their first year to take just 3 regular courses a semester (a full load is 4 courses) plus a “reading and research” course with me that is an opportunity to start thinking about research. The summer after the first year is an important time in which to get started on your Ph.D. research. In the second year you typically take 0-2 courses a semester and can begin to really spend time on your research, and after that you’re 100% research.

It’s not very productive to discuss future projects with much specificity at the time of your application, because I generally don’t have projects “on ice” —it wouldn’t make much sense to keep something interesting on ice instead of working on it right away. That being said, if you need to discuss specifics of future projects for a fellowship application or for your own agenda then sure, let’s talk. I recommend that you browse through the current research web page to get a sense of the general research areas that we are engaged in, as it is likely that your future project will build on those. We’ll get serious about defining your project when you actually start. The range of projects for you to choose from is truly wide open and not limited by funding. In fact, beginning graduate students often start on projects for which I don’t have external funding—if it’s a good idea then we will eventually get it funded.

All Ph.D. students admitted to SEAS or EPS are guaranteed tuition and stipend, i.e., a graduate fellowship, for the normal duration of their time at Harvard. During the first academic year the funding comes from Harvard, after that it comes from my research grants. I encourage my students once at Harvard to apply for external fellowships, because they look good on your CV and of course it brings some relief to my research grants. But that’s not always feasible and I fully expect to be able to support you out of my grants in any case.

If you want to work with me you need to apply to the Ph.D. program. In fact there is presently no relevant MS program to which you can apply in SEAS. Ph.D. students can pick up their MS degree at the end of their coursework if they so wish, and can also get MS degrees in Computational Science or in Data Science (to name two popular options) by taking a few extra courses. Students who enroll in the Ph.D. program and decide after 1-2 years that this is not for them have the opportunity to leave with a MS or ME degree.

A requirement of your graduate fellowship is that you serve as Teaching Fellow (TF) for 1-2 classes during your time at Harvard.  TFing a class means teaching a section, grading homeworks, and having office hours. It is expected to take no more than 10h/wk. You will typically satisfy the requirement by TFing one of the atmospheric or environmental classes. 

You have to take a qualifying exam in the spring of your second year (at which point you’ll typically have completed all or almost all your coursework). This exam consists in an oral presentation of your Ph.D. research proposal. This is an excellent opportunity for you to get feedback on your research direction from a faculty committee. Just betweeen you and me, I have never seen anyone fail the exam – sometimes a student may be asked to take an additional course to address an apparent gap, and in rare cases a student may be asked to retake the exam. So it is really more an opportunity for the student than a selection tool for the faculty. We can afford not to be selective at the qualifying exam level because we are highly selective at the admission level. The duration of the Ph.D. is typically 5-6 years. We shoot for five.

I have graduated many Ph.D. students over the course of my career. Most have gone on to become university professors or research scientists. Some have become program managers or have taken their skills to industry or to non-governmental organizations. I encourage you to browse through my alumni directory to see the variety of paths taken by my former students.

Yes, and they’ll be happy to help. See the group list. I encourage you to check out their web pages to see what they’re working on.