As an IPEM Fellow, I take it as my duty to bring you up to speed on "the IPEM experience," and by that I mean, what life is like in the program. In actuality, it is my duty, because the powers that be figured it would be pointless for you to hear about life as an IPEM fellow from the perspective of someone who...well, isn't one. Makes sense, right?
So, clearly I'm just one guy, and I am too busy actually being an IPEM fellow and a graduate student to do some top-notch market research on what all of the other fellows are thinking. Nevertheless, the things I'm about to tell you will certainly apply in general and, where applicable, are scalable to your knowledge and interests.
Now, I've separated this little guide into a few parts, each dealing with a different aspect of IPEM life. Let's break it down:
The IPEM Retreat: Where the newbs introduce themselves to the silverbacks
About the most frightening thing to do to four people who have never met one another and who are new to a program is to send them off into the woods with dozens of professors in four departments, many of whom will have some bearing on their futures. What a great reason to hold such an event every year! Don't worry, it'll be fine! Read more...
Moving between campuses: Why it's definitely not so bad living in Pullman for a semester...
Okay, so you're making that cushy IPEM cheddar. All right, moving's no biggie. Yeah right! But don't worry, and take it from me: I have forged lasting friendships and research networks by visiting another campus. Read more...
Modeling, modeling, and more modeling: The Evolutionary Modeling Survival Kit
There is some heterogeneity in the amount of mathematical and computational experience that IPEM fellows possess from the outset. Personally, I started out with little more than a bit of an academic crush on people like John Maynard Smith and Martin Nowak, and have ended up with a broad reach of analytical and computational skills that would have been much more difficult to train without the IPEM fellowship. The flexibility that the award allows, interaction with the high-powered modelers through coursework and IPEM seminars, and interaction with your more modeling-savvy IPEM peers will help flatten out the learning curve and broaden your theoretical and methodological scope.
Okay, enough of that...you're going to need to do some reading, and I suggest you start early (especially if you are a modeling newb). I've developed an Evolutionary Modeling Survival Kit to help you along the way. Interested? Read more...
Four Reasons to Go to the NSF IGERT Project Meeting
If you have any career interests outside of academia, or if you want experience with truly cross-disciplinary communication of ideas and research, I recommend you compete for the NSF IGERT Project Meeting slot. If I haven’t convinced you already, let me run through a list of reasons why you should try and go. The idea is, you create a poster (ideally with your project team) about the research you’ve done so far, and present it to a bunch of scientists from diverse fields who are also getting cushy stipends. Unfortunately, the beer isn’t free. But at least there’s beer. And wine, for the more discerning palate. Anyway, about those reasons: Read more...
Of course, there's much more to the IPEM experience: summer research, opportunities at affiliated institutions, and the opportunity to present your research before the National Science Foundation.
My fellow IPEM-er, Devin Drown, describes his first year in the program, including an international conference, fieldwork in New Zealand and a workshop at the Santa Fe Institute. Interested? Read more...
