Graduate school is more than courses and research.  It is a commitment to lifelong learning and it is our purpose to provide you with the tools you need to fulfill that commitment.  The verbal and writing skills you learn in graduate school will provide you with the basis to find that job you have always wanted.  Graduate school is also where professional relationships develop.  Contrary to popular media great scientists are also great at socializing and surround themselves with friends and colleagues.  Throughout your career the scientific conferences and meetings you go to will play a big role in your success.  To succeed you will need to know how to present yourself and your research in an effective professional manner.  At the University of Wyoming we understand education beyond the classroom and the research lab.

•  Presentation Skills   Your knowledge is only as valuable as you ability to communicate it to others.  In our graduate program you will have many opportunities to develop your skills at presentations.  These begin with helping our undergraduates in their chemistry lab course and end with your final public seminar covering your research.  We require new students to attend our professional training course to teach you how to present in front of a group.  Presentations are not only in front groups, but also journal articles and proposals.  Writing professionally is not a skill that is taught at the undergraduate level.  Our professional development course includes technical writing for journal articles, research proposals, and business reports.

•  Teaching Skills   Even if you are not interested in becoming a teacher the skills you learn while teaching in graduate school will prepare as a professional chemist.  Most incoming students are required to be teaching assistants their first year.  Teaching not only sharpens your presentation skills but it also reinforces your knowledge of chemistry.  Teaching at the University of Wyoming begins with orientation week and workshops from our Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning http://www.uwyo.edu/ctl/, followed by departmental training for chemistry specific problems. 

•  Professional Development  Your professional career begins with job interviews that require well prepared resumes, proposals, a history of authorship, and foremost a professional presence that makes you the winning candidate.  Our professional development course will teach you the basic skills required to get an interview and to work in an academic or business environment.  We have many social events in the department to provide opportunities for students to meet each other and to meet the faculty.

UW Chemistry Graduate Program