Fellowships do more than pay (some of) the bills. They help people build their dreams, become who they hope to be. One example is a relatively new fellowship for immigrants and the children of immigrants — the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. In its first decade, the charitable trust created by Mr. and Mrs. Soros has supported the graduate education of 293 students nationwide. Currently 58 Soros Fellows at 21 universities study in 21 different fields. The alumni of this one program include authors of 21 books, 35 clerks for Federal judges (five at the U.S. Supreme Court), three composers whose works were premiered this year by leading orchestras, and holders of 24 patents — living proof that immigration is an often-constructive aspect of American life.
At Berkeley, we are delighted to have as members of the graduate community three 2007 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship recipients:
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While news cycles tend to repeat bad or simply odd news these days, it's reassuring to see that there’s something we could call the cycle of excellence: a top-rated campus with stellar faculty continuing to attract the very best students. Another indicator of Berkeley’s excellence just came out: For the third year in a row, more winners of National Science Foundation fellowships indicated UC Berkeley as their first choice, where they hope to put that fellowship support to use. That preference is a big compliment to the campus; even better is the fact that beyond intent, most of them will, in all probability, come here. Berkeley's "take" of NSF winners is traditionally high; they stick by their preference, despite the temptations and blandishments of our primary rivals in this sweepstakes, MIT, Stanford, and Harvard (usually in that order). It's a vote of confidence we're happy to accept — and we'll do our best to live up to their expectations!
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We’re pleased, too, that three Berkeley graduate alumni — atmospheric chemist and Antarctic explorer Susan Solomon M.S. '79, Ph.D. '81, University of Maryland-College Park President C.D. "Dan" Mote B.A. '59, M.S. '60, Ph.D. '63, and Berkeley biochemist Caroline Kane Ph.D. '79 — were honored last month by the California Alumni Association with some of its highest awards, for the excellence of their achievements and service.
Mary Ann Mason
Dean of the Graduate Division
Graduate Degrees
- Tips on Filing
Graduate Fellowships
- Guru Gobind Singh Fellowship
- Dr. and Mrs. James C.Y. Soong Fellowship
- AIR/NCES Fellowship for Graduate Study
- Albert Newman Fellowship for Visually Impaired Students
- UC ACCORD Fellowships
- Intercampus Travel Grants
Graduate Policy
- Updates to the Guide for Graduate Policy
Deadlines, Events, and Workshops
Graduate Assembly
- Fee referenda directly affect graduate students — Vote April 11-13
California Alumni Association
- Alumni award nominations
Newslinks
- Chancellor Birgeneau expands matching gift program
- Urban Design competition winners
Deadline for May
- Submissions are due April 16
TIPS ON FILING
Filing for your degree in May?
If you are planning on filing your thesis or dissertation for your degree this semester, here are several suggestions that can make the filing go more smoothly:
The deadline to file for a Spring 2007 degree is May 18, but we recommend that you not wait till the last day to file in order to avoid long lines.
If you have any questions about the format of your manuscript, you can bring a draft to the Graduate Services: Degrees office in 318 Sproul Hall for review. We are happy to help you identify any problems with the format, paper stock used for the library copy, margins, type size, and page numbering. Our guidelines document (PDF) has all of the information on format, but sometimes having another set of eyes to review the manuscript is helpful.
If you plan more than incidental use of your own previously published or co-authored material in your manuscript, you must apply for permission from the Dean of the Graduate Division at least three weeks before you file. You must also provide signed written statements from each co-author and publisher granting you permission to use and reproduce the material as part of your dissertation. Please note that emails giving permission will not be accepted.
The name you list on your title page must match your official registered student name. Check Bear Facts in time to submit an official request for a name change with the Office of the Registrar if that is needed.
You can list any previously received degrees that appear on your Berkeley transcript (check Bear Facts for the listed degrees). If any degrees are not currently on your Berkeley transcript, you will need to have original, official transcripts showing award of the degree sent to Graduate Services: Degrees about three weeks before you plan to file. Graduate Services: Degrees staff will review the transcripts and make a formal request to the Office of the Registrar to add appropriate degrees.
The members of your dissertation committee listed on your title page must match what is on file in the Graduate Division. If your committee has changed since you advanced to candidacy, be sure to file a Request for Change in Higher Degree Committee form (PDF) at least three weeks before you plan to file.
To be eligible to file your thesis or dissertation, you must be registered for this semester, or have an approved filing fee status.
A paper copy of all dissertations must be submitted for archiving in the UC Berkeley library. However, you may submit your second copy for the ProQuest database electronically. See “Electronic Filing of the ProQuest Copy (Dissertation only)” in our guidelines document (PDF) for instructions on how to prepare your electronic document. Master's students must turn in a library permission form. Doctorial students must turn in the library permission form, ProQuest agreement form, and two doctoral surveys. See page 20 of "Instructions for Preparing and Filing Your Thesis or Dissertation" (PDF) for more information and links to the forms.
TopGuru Gobind Singh Fellowship
This fellowship is intended for graduates of universities in specific areas of India and Pakistan who are currently pursuing a graduate degree at the University of California. To be eligible, a student must also be committed to returning to his or her country of origin after receiving the graduate degree and must not have engaged previously in graduate study at any other institution of higher learning in the United States. Students at any stage of graduate study may be nominated, but preference is given to those holding a master's degree, and particularly those who have reached the dissertation stage and have exhausted the normal sources of financial support. The fellowship will provide $26,000 for 2007-2008. For more information or to get an application, contact Shaya Kahali in the Graduate Services: Fellowships Office, 318 Sproul Hall. The deadline to submit applications is Thursday, April 12, 2007 by 4 p.m.
Dr. and Mrs. James C.Y. Soong Fellowship
The Dr. and Mrs. James C.Y. Soong Fellowship for academic year 2007-2008 is open to graduate students from Taiwan who are enrolled full time at UC Berkeley in any field of study. To be eligible, students must: 1) have graduated from a fully accredited, 4-year college or university in Taiwan, with a GPA of 3.7 (A-) or higher; 2) be a citizen of the Republic of China and have lived in Taiwan consecutively for at least ten years; and 3) have demonstrated financial need in pursuit of advanced degrees. The fellowship may be renewed one time. Each department may nominate one student who meets these criteria. Submit nominations to the Graduate Services: Fellowships Office, 318 Sproul Hall, by 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 12, 2007. Please contact Shaya Kahali if you have questions. Applications are available online.
AIR/NCES Fellowship for Graduate Study
The Association for Institutional Research (AIR), as part of its contract to improve the quality of institutional research in U.S. postsecondary education systems and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), announces a new national graduate fellowship program funded by the National Center for Education statistics (NCES)., The fellowships are for graduate study advancing or leading to careers in institutional research (IR), thereby increasing the national level of expertise of institutional research officers and the data that they produce. Specific program goals are to have more people better trained in IR and completing advance degrees. Fellowships will be awarded for credit-bearing graduate study at various degree levels, with different levels of funding. The annual mix of proposals will determine how many of each will be awarded. Full-time doctoral students: maximum $30, 000 over a three-year period ($10,000 per year). No full-time awards will be made to first-time graduate students with no IR work experience. Part-time graduate students: maximum $9, 000 over three-year period ($3,000 per year). Part-time students could move to full-time and apply for an increased award. Part-time awardees may re-compete at the end of the three-year period. The submission deadline is April 15, 2007. Proposals must be submitted electronically as MS Word or PDF e-mail attachment to air@airweb2.org. More information is available online.
Albert Newman Fellowship for Visually Impaired Students 2007-2008
Basic aspects of this fellowship are these:
Completed application and supporting documents should be submitted to the Graduate Services: Fellowships Office, 318 Sproul Hall #5900, Berkeley, CA 94720-5900. Applications are available online (PDF). The deadline for applying is Wednesday, April 18, 2007. Submit your completed application with transcript to Graduate Services: Fellowships Office, 318 Sproul Hall #5900, Berkeley, CA 94720-5900. Applicants will be notified of decisions by mail in late May or June 2007.
UC ACCORD Fellowships 2007
UC ACCORD, the All Campus Consortium On Research for Diversity, is an interdisciplinary, multi-campus research center devoted to a more equitable distribution of educational resources and opportunities in California's diverse public schools and universities. UC ACCORD calls for proposals in several research categories:
Intercampus Travel Grants
Awards, generally budgeted at $1,000, are available to help graduate students and postdoctoral researchers initiate UC intercampus collaborations with individual researchers or with existing or potential research groups on projects related to the goals of the UC Toxic Substances Research and Teaching Program. Graduate students who will interact with research groups are encouraged to gather preliminary data that will provide the basis for future extramural funding. Currently registered students and postdoctoral fellows in any UC graduate program are eligible. Proposals will be accepted anytime throughout the 2007-2008 academic year. Full information is available online.
Note: these grants are not available for travel to scientific meetings.
The short section that follows consists of recent updates to the Guide to Graduate Policy, an online publication of the Graduate Division. The changes are important, hence this early placement in eGrad, and are primarily of interest to Graduate Advisers, the faculty members who are responsible for the academic advising of graduate students. However, graduate assistants and graduate student affairs officers, and graduate students may also find the guide useful.
The list below contains the most recent updates to the guide. A complete list of updates is available in Chapter N of the online guide.
January 10, 2007 – Chapter A. Introduction. Replace pages A3 and A4. Updated directory.
January 11, 2007 – Chapter D. Registration and Exchange Programs. Replace page D2. Change in Late Registration Fee.
January 12, 2007 – Chapter D. Registration and Exchange Programs. Replace page D10. Eligibility requirements for the Filing Fee. Summer Session enrollment must be for a minimum of three units.
March 7, 2007 – Chapter B. Admissions. Replace page B5. How to request additional slots. Clarification in first paragraph on how to make your request.
March 12, 2007 – Chapter B. Admissions. Replace page B5. How to request additional slots. Clarification in first paragraph on how to make your request.....”Requests for overallotment spaces should be addressed by the program’s Chair or Head Graduate Adviser....”
TopNote: check other headings for category-specific dates, such as fellowship application deadlines and more detailed information.
APRIL 10, 11, 12 (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
Tanner Lectures on Human Values — "Power, Reason, and Politics"
4:10 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Toll Room, Alumni House (opposite Zellerbach Playhouse). Free and open to the public. Joshua Cohen, professor of political science, philosophy, and law, Stanford University
Joshua Cohen is a renowned political theorist trained in philosophy (at Yale and Harvard). He is the director of Stanford's Program on Global Justice. Commentators: Charles Larmore, professor in the humanities, Brown University; Elizabeth S. Anderson, professor of philosophy and women's studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Avishai Margalit, professor of philosophy, Hebrew University, and Kennan Professor at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study. More information is available online.
APRIL 11 (Wednesday)
Graduate Diversity Program Brown Bag Series — "Academic Writing: Grants, Papers, Publications"
12 to 1 p.m., Tilden Room, fifth floor, Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union
Sabrina Soracco, academic coordinator, Graduate Division
APRIL 11, 12, and 13 (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday)
ASUC Elections
(More details are below, under the Graduate Assembly heading and online.
APRIL 12 (Thursday)
Wine and Cheese at the Berkeley Art Museum
6 to 9 p.m., back terraces of the museum
Refreshments, live music. $4 with Cal student ID and proof of age.
(More details are below, under the Graduate Assembly heading.)
APRIL 14 (Saturday)
Third Annual International Reporting Conference
8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., library of North Gate Hall, Hearst at Euclid Avenue. Free to UC Berkeley journalism school students, staff, and alumni; $40 for other journalists.
A hands-on day of panels and one-to-one discussions, by and for journalists, featuring reporters and producers from the New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, and PBS Frontline World. Reservations must be made by April 10 (email smeron@gmail.com); registration will take place on the day of the conference. Schedule and other details are available online.
APRIL 15 (Sunday)
Deadline for AIR/NCES Fellowship application (electronic submission)
(More details are above, under the Graduate Fellowships heading.)
APRIL 18 (Wednesday)
Application deadline for Albert Newman Fellowship for Visually Impaired Students
(More details are above, under the Graduate Fellowships heading.)
APRIL 19 (Thursday)
Workshop on Teaching — "Teaching and the Academic Job Search"
12:30 to 2 p.m., 170 Barrows Hall
Presented by the Graduate Division's GSI Teaching and Resource Center.
APRIL 20 (Friday)
Deadline for 2007 UC ACCORD Fellowship applications
(More details are above, under the Graduate Fellowships heading.)
APRIL 21 (Saturday)
Cal Day / UC Berkeley Open House
APRIL 26 (Thursday)
Presentation Ceremony: awards to faculty for distinguished mentoring of graduate student researchers
2 to 5 p.m., Tilden Room, fifth floor, Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union. Reception with refreshments (appetizers).
Cosponsored by the Graduate Division and the Graduate Assembly.
To be presented: the Graduate Division's new Sarlo Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Awards for UC Berkeley Faculty and Junior Faculty and the Graduate Assembly's fifth annual Distinguished Faculty Mentors Awards. (Please note: a separate ceremony — honoring outstanding graduate student instructors and faculty mentors of GSIs in their role as teachers — will take place in May, details to be announced.)
APRIL 28 and 29 (Saturday and Sunday)
International Career Fair
Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason Street, San Francisco. Registration is free to candidates.
Organized by Apec, a French national agency specializing in the employment of graduates, engineers, and executives, the fair's objective is to bring together highly qualified university graduates and alumni with leading multinational organizations offering international opportunities in engineering, research, and business. Further information is available online and by email.
MAY 8 (Tuesday)
Instruction ends
MAY 11(Wednesday)
Final exams begin
MAY 18 (Friday)
Deadline for dissertations and theses
Spring semester ends
MAY 21 (Monday)
Summer Session begins
MAY 28 (Monday)
Memorial Day holiday
Fee referenda directly affect graduate students — vote April 11 - 13
ASUC elections will be held on April 11, 12, and 13. You can vote online or at polling places listed on the election website. There are four fee referenda that directly affect all grad students. A very brief and incomplete summary of the four referenda follows:
The full text of the referenda and more information are available online http://ga.berkeley.edu/ or http://election.asuc.org/. The Graduate Assembly does not support or oppose any of these referenda.
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Graduate Social Club "Wine and Cheese at the Berkeley Art Museum" is coming April 12
Grad school is not all academics. Enjoy the finer things in life from 6 to 9 p.m. on the back terraces of the Berkeley Art Museum, presented by the Graduate Social Club. Featuring fine wines, organic Acme breads, cheese from the local Cheeseboard Collective, other light snacks, local brews, and vegan options, with live music from Jen Folds, jazzy local singer/songwriter. Entry fee is $4; Cal student identification and proof of age are required. Bring up to two guests. This event tends to have a large turnout, so arrive early.
Highlights of upcoming films and events (times and detailed program information are available at the PFA website)
April 10 (Tuesday) — A Self-Preservation Workshop for Film and Video Makers
Artist and preservationist Bill Brand will talk about how artists can implement simple steps to take better archival care of their films and videos. Later that evening, Brand presents a range of works preserved or printed by his firm, BB Optics, including avant-garde pieces and films confiscated from the Nixon White House by the FBI.
April 11 (Wednesday) — The 1933 French film Zero for Conduct, an anarchic account of rebellion in a boarding school, meets a live musical soundtrack provided by UC Berkeley student DJs.
April 11 (Wednesday) — Bay Area premiere of Joe McKay and Xik in Performance, a raving report by Marcin Ramocki and Justin Strawhand about the demimonde of game hackers and chip tuners. Xik is a sound artist who authored an interface that allows MIDI to run the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment Station. McKay is a media artist specializing in unique, often whimsical and non-combative, video games.
April 17 (Tuesday) — Ross Lipman, a film preservationist from the UCLA Film and Television Archive, presents prints of four of Kenneth Anger's most famous films (Fireworks, Rabbit's Moon, Scorpio Rising, and Kustom Kar Kommandos) and talks about the challenges involved in restoring them.
April 24 (Tuesday) — Mark Toscano, a preservationist at Hollywood's Academy Film Archive, presents abstractions, conceptual pieces, and dryly humorous film, all preserved in the past year at the Academy. The program will conclude with a new restoration of a film by Stan Brakhage, whose more than 350 works are currently being preserved by the Academy. Toscano is a graduate of UC Berkeley and the George Eastman House's L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation.
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Highlights of programs available in Berkeley during April
UCTV programs may be seen using cable, satellite, or computer (all day, every day, all year long on the latter). Offerings and detailed schedules are available online.
Two poets from Berkeley's highly regarded Lunch Poems series are featured this month: Will Alexander, novelist, essayist and educator as well as poet (Exobiology as Goddess), and Dunya Mikhail, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1996 after increasing harassment over her work, which confronts war, exile, and suffering. In 2001 she was awarded the U.N. Human Rights Award for Freedom of Writing.
Eavesdrop on fascinating "Conversations with History" hosted by Harry Kreisler, executive director of Berkeley's Institute of International Relations. He talks with French political scientist Olivier Roy about globalization's impact on Islamic religion and culture, the balance of power between Islamists and neofundamentalists, the dynamic propelling terrorism, and appropriate responses of the West to the challenges all these interaction pose. In "Intuition and Rationality," Kreisler welcomes Princeton psychologist Daniel Kahneman for a discussion of Kahneman's Nobel Prize-winning research.
Daniel Kahneman talks on his own in the two lectures that brought him to Berkeley in early February, under the basic heading of "Explorations of the Mind." The first program is called "Intuition: the Marvels and the Flaws." The second is "Happiness: Living and Thinking About It." Kahneman, who earned his Ph.D. in psychology at Berkeley in 1961, taught here from 1986 to 1994 and went on to win the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics. His talks were Hitchcock Lectures, presented by the Academic Senate's Graduate Council and the Graduate Division.
UCTV can be seen nationwide via community cable channels, such as Berkeley's community channel 33 and government channel 28 at scheduled times; via Direct Broadcast Satellite on the Dish Network, Channel 9412, 24 hours a day, seven days a week; and on the Internet, via 24-hour live stream and subsequent video-on-demand.
Other ways to see and select programs:
Nominate outstanding UC Berkeley alumni for high honors
Every year the California Alumni Association singles out UC Berkeley alumni — with either undergraduate and/or graduate degrees — for the honor their lives and achievements have brought to the University.
Recent CAA award recipients include Donald G. Fisher B.S. '50, founder of The Gap, Karl Pister B.S. '45, M.S. '48, former dean of the College of Engineering and chancellor emeritus of UC Santa Cruz, Natalie Coughlin B.A. '05, Olympic gold medalist, Leroy Chiao B.S. '83, NASA Mission Commander, and C.D. "Dan" Mote B.S. '59, M.S. '60, Ph.D. '63, President of the University of Maryland - College Park.
Who should be honored next? That could depend on you. Do you know about any great alumni achievers? They could be in any field, anywhere on the planet. Share your nominees with CAA by emailing Cindy Leung. Nomination forms and more information are available online. Nominations are due May 31, 2007.
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Chancellor Robert Birgeneau is expanding a student-support-matching concept from the graduate level to help undergrads as well. In both cases, it doubles the impact of personal gifts from the campus community. The new program is called "Our Promise. Their Future. Chancellor's Challenge for Student Support." It extends the successful Named Fund Initiative, which began in 2005 and has raised nearly $2 million from some 90 donors — current faculty, emeriti, surviving partners, and others. "It's a no-brainer," says Michael Manga, associate professor of earth and planetary science and a fellowship donor through the Graduate Divisions matching program. "It's a stretch for a lot of faculty and staff to donate, but with the campus doubling your gift, it seems like the obvious right thing to do."
An interdisciplinary team of five Berkeley graduate students has won the fifth annual Urban Land Institute Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design competition, beating finalists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and two groups from Harvard, capturing a $50,000 prize. Team members were Christopher Lollini, Andrea Gaffney, Robert McCracken, Aditi Rao, and Brooke Ray Smith. Their plan is a proposal to redevelop a 16.5-acre block in Los Angeles.
TopNews and other items for the May 2007 issue of eGrad are due Thursday, April 16. Please send your information to gradpub@berkeley.edu. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity, and accuracy.
eGrad is produced by Graduate Communications & Events, distributed by email, and archived online. Graduate students, alumni, faculty, and staff are invited to send timely news and announcements of interest to or utility of graduate students and the graduate community. Please submit items to Dick Cortén, editor, at gradpub@berkeley.edu.
