BSOE Graduate Student Newsletter
New Announcements
Contra Costa Water District (CCWD): Internships Applications Due Feb 10!Hands-On Workshop: How to Write R Packages With Literate Programming
Come Celebrate the Lunar New Year at our Silicon Valley Extension Campus (2/6)
Announcements
Key Winter 2025 DeadlinesUCSA & UCGPC Optional Fees
2025 SFI Education programs for graduate students
SIP Summer Funding Opportunity: Call for Mentors!
Writing Support For UCSC Graduate Students!
Call for Applications: UC HSI DDI Pre-Professoriate Fellows
Contra Costa Water District (CCWD): Internships Applications Due Feb 10!
Hands-On Workshop: How to Write R Packages With Literate Programming
Come Celebrate the Lunar New Year at our Silicon Valley Extension Campus (2/6)
Announcements
Key Winter 2025 Deadlines
*Please note the following upcoming university deadlines, and ALWAYS check the official UCSC Academic and Administrative Calendar for important dates and deadlines. Bookmark this year's Academic and Administrative Calendar and refer to it regularly.
KEY WINTER 2025 DEADLINES:
Thursday March 7th - Deadline for Grade Change Option: This is your last day to change your grading option for any courses you are enrolled in for winter 2025. IMPORTANT: The system defaults to Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading. Instructions for how to change your grading option to letter grades (ABC) can be found here.
Friday March 8th - Deadline for Late Add Permission: Deadline to add a class by permission or petition for winter 2025.
Friday March 21st - Deadline for Removal of Incomplete: Deadline to file petition and submit class work for winter 2025. Graduate Incomplete grade within the last three quarters.
**Friday March 21st - Deadline for Completing Degree Requirements/Submission: Deadline to complete all degree requirements for winter 2025. *Students participating in commencement need to complete all requirements by May 31 to be listed in the program.
UCSA & UCGPC Optional Fees
Did you know that you can opt out of the UCSA or UCGPC Association charges by submitting an online form before the third-week deadline of the affected quarter? If you opted out and wish to opt-in, you will need to complete the same form. Follow the navigation below to access the form in your MyUCSC portal.
Instructions:
MyUCSC >> Graduate Student eForms tile >> UCGPC Registration Fee Opt-out link in the left navigation
Reminder: After the third week of instruction (the Add/Drop/Swap Deadline on the Academic and Administrative Calendar) you are no longer able to opt out of the fees for the current quarter, but you may opt out for future quarters. A refund of current fees may be directed to the UCSA or UCGPC.
2025 SFI Education programs for graduate students
The nonprofit Santa Fe Institute (SFI) focuses on research and training in the quantitative modeling of complex systems, including social, cultural, and political systems, and economies. We would be grateful if you could circulate the opportunities below to interested graduate students, postdocs, and other early-career researchers:
- Complex Systems Summer School:
- intensive 4-week residential program consisting of seminars, workshops, and group research projects.
- June 8 - July 4, 2025
- For eligibility, cost, and more information: https://santafe.edu/csss
- Application deadline: January 28, 2025: https://apply-sfi.smapply.org/prog/csss2025
- Graduate Workshop in Computational Social Science Modeling & Complexity:
- 2-week residential workshop, where graduate students (2nd year or later) add computational & modeling approaches to their existing thesis research.
- June 22 - July 4, 2025
- For eligibility, cost, and more information: https://santafe.edu/gwcss
- Application deadline February 27, 2025: https://apply-sfi.smapply.org/prog/gwcss2025
**Scholarships are available based on need.
SIP Summer Funding Opportunity: Call for Mentors!
We are actively recruiting graduate students, postdocs, research staff, and faculty across all subjects to serve as Mentors, in-person, for the Summer of 2025. As you plan for this summer, please consider including a few high school students to support your ongoing research.
ABOUT THE SCIENCE INTERNSHIP PROGRAM (SIP)
SIP engages high school student Interns, ages 14-17, in university-level open-ended research projects in a variety of academic disciplines, including the arts, humanities, and social sciences. SIP Interns work in small groups of three or more, and each group is supervised by a PhD student, postdoc, or research staff Mentor.
Over the course of the 8-week program, Interns will work on a specific research project under the direct supervision of their Mentor. While advancing their own research, Mentors will also support their Intern's critical and analytical thinking, skill acquisition, and confidence in a research setting.
Visit our 2024 Research Project page for more context about research projects and Intern tasks. We encourage you to watch our short SIP visual story and visit the SIP website to learn more.
TO APPLY:
Please fill out the SIP 2024 Mentor Application to submit your research for consideration for the 2025 program. All 2025 SIP Mentors will need to create an account and password to login (even if you were a SIP mentor in a previous summer).
-
Applications Open: January 7, 2025
-
APPLICATION DEADLINE: APRIL 15, 2025
STIPEND
This is a 30% appointment with Mentors expected to work 15 hours/week.
-
Mentor Advisors (Graduate Students): $5,250
-
Graduate Student Mentors: $4,750
-
Postdocs, Research Staff Mentors: $2,750 (in lieu of PTO)
-
Undergraduate Mentors: $2,750
IMPORTANT DATES
-
Mentor Employment Dates: Friday, June 13 - Friday, August 15, 2025
-
SIP Program Dates: Monday, June 16 - Saturday, August 9, 2025
-
Saturday, August 9, 2025: Presentation Day
Mentors must be available on campus for the 8-week program (June 16 - August 9), and maintain a minimum attendance of 80% (Monday-Friday). All meetings with Interns, except for the week of June 16, must be conducted in-person. Any time away from the program, with the exception of emergency or illness, must be pre-approved by SIP staff in advance of the appointment start date. Mentors are expected to facilitate Project Meetings at minimum 3 days per week, and work in-person with their Interns at minimum 9 hours per week.
If you have any questions, please reach out to the SIP staff at hr-crest@ucsc.edu. We look forward to an exciting SIP program this summer!
Writing Support For UCSC Graduate Students!
The Writing Center offers UCSC graduate students one-on-one writing tutoring and supportive writing groups through the VOCES Program. The VOCES Graduate Student Writing Center is staffed by advanced graduate students who serve as individual tutors and writing group mentors. Bring us your budding ideas, your developing thoughts, your unpunctuated drafts, or your final polishing needs. We are here to work with you and provide support for diverse writing needs!
Writing Process:
● Prewriting
● Writing
● Revising
● Exploring your writing process and understanding your strengths and needs
Academic/Creative Writing
● Low-Stakes and High-Stakes Assignments
● Graduate Seminar Papers
● Proposals and Articles
● Dissertation Chapters
● Narrative and Fictional Writing
Professional Writing:
● Resumes and CVs
● Personal Statements & Artist Statements
● Grant and Fellowship Applications
● National Science Foundation Grant Writing
TO GET WRITING SUPPORT:
- Visit The Writing Center website and learn about us and our services
- Register, schedule an individual tutoring session (use the “VOCES Tutoring for Grad Students WIN2025” schedule)
- To inquire about joining a grad student writing group, email the Writing Center at writeon@ucsc.edu
All services are free, and take place online. Services may be synchronous (online in real-time) or asynchronous (students submit writing to tutors in advance for review, the tutor then reads the document and provides feedback in writing (email) or in a Zoom meeting conversation.
Call for Applications: UC HSI DDI Pre-Professoriate Fellows
The 2025-26 UC President’s Pre-Professoriate Fellowship (PPPF) supports PhD students (three per campus each year) who are California HSI alumni and have advanced to candidacy at UC. The fellowship aims to foster their interest and preparation for the professoriate.
The program’s goal is to enhance faculty pathways for historically underrepresented groups, particularly Chicanx/Latinx, African Americans, American Indians/Native Americans, Filipinx, and Pacific Islanders in all disciplines; women in STEM; and Asian Americans in the humanities and social sciences. The intent of the program is to provide fellowships for domestic historically underrepresented minorities from federally-designated Californi
This UC PPPF is only available to UC doctoral students who are matriculated in academic Ph.D. programs and have advanced to candidacy. Professional students (e.g. M.D., J.D.) are not eligible.
A note regarding students receiving a Master’s en route: if a student did not earn a bachelor’s degree from a California HSI, and was not enrolled in a master’s program at a California HSI, but was awarded a master’s degree en route to the Ph.D. (at a UC HSI), that student should NOT be considered eligible for this fellowship. If a student was enrolled in and completed a master’s degree at a California HSI (including a UC HSI), that student is eligible for the fellowship (regardless of whether or not the student completed a bachelor’s degree at a California HSI).
For transfer students from California Community Colleges: Effective January 2022, UCOP has expanded the eligibility of UC PPPF students to include those that transferred to UC from a federally-designated HSI California Community College. In order to qualify, students must demonstrate substantive and significant participation at their HSI CCC by having completed at least 24 semester units (or quarter equivalent). All other criteria/requirements remain and must be met.
Eligibility Criteria
-
Must be exceptional students (as demonstrated by their research achievements).
-
Must have received their bachelor’s or master’s degree (please see Master’s definitions and criteria above) from a California Hispanic Serving Institution (CA HSI)—public or private. As of January 2022, students that transferred to UC from a federally-designated HSI California Community College are also eligible if the student completed 24 semester units (or quarter equivalent).
-
Must have advanced to candidacy prior to being selected for the fellowship.
-
Must have letters of support from Faculty Advisor(s) that address the student’s performance and potential as an exceptional academic, and comment on the likelihood that the student will pursue a professoriate path after receiving their Ph.D.
-
Must have a demonstrated record of advancing issues of inclusion, equity, and diversity; actively supporting underrepresented communities; and show commitment to pursuing these efforts throughout their career.
If you know of students who meet the eligibility criteria, please encourage them to apply. Interested students should submit the following materials to Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Lorato Anderson (lorato@ucsc.edu) by February 3, 2025:
-
Nominee's CV
-
Letter of application (2 pages maximum) from the nominee/student that speaks to the eligibility criteria and how much fellowship support the student has received to date
-
Letters of support from Faculty Advisor(s) via email to Director of DEI in Graduate Studies Lorato Anderson (lorato@ucsc.edu)
Please see the attached documents for more information, and direct any questions regarding the application process to Lorato Anderson (lorato@ucsc.edu).
Contra Costa Water District (CCWD): Internships Applications Due Feb 10!
The Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) has several exciting internship opportunities available for Spring and Summer 2025!
Additional info about the specific positions and the application process is provided below and also shared via Handshake.
Current Internships (Online application deadline: February 10, 2025):
- Construction Engineering Intern
- Relevant Fields of Study: Civil/environmental engineering, construction engineering, construction management, and other related fields
- Preferred Availability: Full-time or part-time during Spring 2025, and full-time during Summer 2025.
- Water Quality Intern
- Relevant Fields of Study: Civil/environmental engineering, computer engineering/data science, chemistry, and other related fields
- Preferred Availability: Full-time or part-time during Spring 2025, and full-time during Summer 2025.
- Diversity Equity & Inclusion Program Intern
- Relevant Fields of Study: Public administration, business management, organizational development, human resources management, industrial/organizational psychology, and other related fields
- Preferred Availability: Full-time or part-time for up to one year, beginning Spring 2025
Upcoming recruitments: More info coming soon!
- Environmental Planning & Watershed Management Intern
- Water Resources Intern
Additionally, check out Baywork, another great online resource to get connected to jobs and internships in the local water industry.
When applicants visit www.ccwater.com/jobs and click on the “Employment Opportunities” link it will take them to the governmentjobs.com website where all CCWD job recruitments are posted.
Applicants must set up a profile on governmentjobs.com and submit an online application specific to each internship position for which they’d like to be considered.
Applicants are also encouraged to submit a Job Interest Card, to be alerted via email about future CCWD recruitments for “Internship” (and/or 39 other occupational categories).
Program Contact:
Steven Currie (he/him)
Workforce Development Program Manager
DEI Division
P 925-688-8295
C 925-471-2057
Contra Costa Water District
2411 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520
BAYWORK Vice President
Hands-On Workshop: How to Write R Packages With Literate Programming
Hosted by Baskin Engineering's Statistics Department, this is a great workshop for students or researchers for whom writing and packaging R code is a core skill.
In this workshop, we will demonstrate a simple new approach to writing R packages. The idea is that you write a single R markdown file and then when you press knit, an R package will be created in addition to the usual html file. Using this approach means that you can present your code in a logical, well explained fashion, complete with latex equations, section headings, figures, and examples. Your research collaborators and your future self will find it easier to understand, modify, and extend code written this way. Feel free to bring a laptop if you'd like to try it out during the workshop.
For more on the approach we will be using, see here: https://jacobbien.
There will be coffee and refreshments!
Speaker: Jacob Bien (USC)
Date/Time: Monday February 10, 2025, 9:00am - 10:30am PST
In Person Location: Engineering 2, Room 475
Zoom link: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/
Come Celebrate the Lunar New Year at our Silicon Valley Extension Campus (2/6)
Happy Lunar New Year All,
May the Year of the Snake bring you luck and good health!
The RCs, Grad Student Commons (GSC), and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Graduate Studies Office welcome grad students to celebrate the lunar new year with free games, food, and drinks at our Silicon Valley Extension Campus on February 6, 2025 (Thursday | 5 - 7:30 pm).
It will be an opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new friends over games, food, and drinks.
For more information and accessibility-related needs, please email: ercadmin@ucsc.edu
Looking forward to seeing you at the event!