9. Career & Milestones

Departmental milestones

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ChemE outlines the formal timeline and requirements for PhD degrees and Master’s programs. Along the way, two key checkpoints are the PhD qualification examination and your annual Research Committee Meetings (RCM). We’ll also try to do an Individual Development Plan (IDP) to check in on your broader goals.

Internships

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I think internships are great, especially closer to the end of your program when you have a strong foundation and are starting to think about your next step.

Opportunities and sponsorships

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There are many opportunities and sponsorships out there; we track their deadlines in a shared spreadsheet. They take time and energy, but they’re good for your career, and applying is a good way to put your work in perspective.

Letters of recommendation

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For a letter from me, please give me at least five business days’ notice. One day works in a pinch, but really rarely. Send me your CV and what you want highlighted.

Don’t feel bad pinging me with a reminder; it really helps. Be selfish about these and make sure the letter gets in.

For requests from people outside the lab, I need at least a month’s notice. I can be more flexible for people in ChemE or people I know.

Proposals

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If you have a research proposal or idea, we want to iterate on it two or three times over about three weeks so you have time to think between drafts. The fastest route is booking a meeting so we can go over it together.

Thesis

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My personal opinion: theses are a relic of an older academic structure, and very few people read them. Don’t overspend time on yours. Staple your papers together and add an introduction and a conclusion.

The conclusion matters most. This is where you write to your past self: what did you want to hear when you started? It’s where you show you’ve grown into an expert on a topic and can explain clearly what you’ve learned. Be very careful with AI here especially, and spend time thinking about what you want to say in your own words.

If it’s done one week before the deadline, that’s fine, as long as the work is published. For AI use in your thesis, follow U of T’s AI guidelines.

Outreach

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I encourage outreach a lot. It’s a great way to remind yourself where our work sits within everything else. I’ve run STEM workshops for high school and undergraduate students, and I’d like to start Toronto science clubs in the future. Informal talks and partner programs are great too. If you have ideas, I’m really open; I’m always thinking about how we can do more.