This Week's Ph.D. Newsletter Includes |
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Important Dates: Registration deadlines and university holidays
- Announcements: Fellowship Opportunities, Oral Exam Information
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Upcoming Events: Mathematics Tea, STEM Bytes Seminar Series Spring 2026
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Archived newsletters can be found here.
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The USC Graduate School has announced fellowship opportunities for continuing PhD students in the 2026-2027 academic year. These opportunities are intended to provide enhanced support for students as their funding needs evolve, particularly for those in the later stages of their programs.
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Dean’s Dissertation Completion Fellowship nomination site can be found here
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Support students nearing completion of the dissertation
- Second Century Fellowship nomination site can be found here
- Designated for continuing PhD students beyond their initial funding packages
- Summer Research and Writing Grant application site can be found here
- Designated for PhD candidates in fields that typically lack summer support.
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To apply for these fellowships, students must complete the following items by March 1, 2026.
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A description of the student’s dissertation, which should demonstrate the project’s contribution to the field and its grounding in relevant scholarship and methodology. The proposal should make a compelling statement about the planned work and be accessible to scholars in a broad range of fields. The research area/dissertation description submitted by the candidate to the PhD program should be in 12-point Times New Roman, single-spaced with 1” margins, numbered pages, and a header on every page that includes the student’s name and title of the dissertation (approximately 500-1,000 words).
- A curriculum vitae
- Summary of progress and plans for degree completion, including dates of screening, qualifying exams and anticipated dissertation defense, listed in a table format
- Brief summary of funding to date. For example, dates of internal and/or external fellowships, RA and/or TA appointments, listed in a table format
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One letter of recommendation provided by a faculty member in the student’s home program. (letter should be a PDF targeting a BROAD (non-math) audience)
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INTERNAL DEADLINE TO APPLY: Send materials to Director Sami Assaf by March 1, 2026.
Final submission deadline for all three opportunities is Monday, March 9, 2026 at 11:59pm.
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The Oral Exam has 3 major components:
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Partial results: Expectations for what constitutes partial results varies by area and by advisor. For some applied areas, partial results might be a preprint, though for other areas it could be a small lemma. It’s up to the advisor (not the student) to establish the bar the student is expected to meet. Students should talk with their advisor to ensure they understand what is expected.
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10-page written proposal: The proposal must include background on the research problem(s) and a literature review with references to prior work. Students should include precise statements and proof sketches but not rigorous proofs. The proposal must be typeset in LaTeX, and the writing should be of the quality we expect of papers submitted to area journals.
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1.5 hour oral exam: The exam begins with a presentation by the student during which the committee will ask clarifying questions to assess the student’s domain knowledge. The student should prepare a 45 minute presentation so that the exam plus questions is 75-90 minutes.
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The Oral Exam Committee must be formed at least 2 weeks (preferably 4) prior to the exam date. The committee consists of FIVE USC faculty members:
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- Committee Chair = Mathematics faculty advisor
- 3 tenured or tenure-track faculty in Mathematics*
- 1 tenured or tenure-track faculty at USC outside of Mathematics
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Students may choose ONE current postdoc to serve as ONE of the 3 tenured or tenure-track faculty in Mathematics. Teaching faculty in any department or postdocs from other departments are not appropriate for committee members.
- AMAT students with an advisor outside of Mathematics: your internal/math advisor is the chair, and your actual external/non-math advisor is the “outside” member
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If you have other strange considerations, please check with me and/or Alexis as far in advance as possible.
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We will soon have a Google Form for setting up the Oral Exam Committee available from our forms page (https://dornsife.usc.edu/mathematics/forms-for-current-students/) that will streamline setting up the committee. Until then, please reach out to us with questions or to get started with your “Appointment or Change of Qualifying Exam Committee Form”.
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The USC Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) program is hosting STEM Bytes seminars this Spring 2026 via Zoom, and we are currently looking for volunteer speakers. We would love to have you participate by presenting a 20-minute general talk on your research, followed by 5-10 minutes of Q&A. This invitation is open to all USC PhD students and postdoctoral scholars, regardless of gender. Feel to share this invitation with your colleagues.
If you are interested in presenting, please complete the form linked below with your full information to sign up. A confirmation email with more details will follow.
Link to sign up: https://forms.gle/gP3fXrkJKo42NSZQ7
About STEM Bytes
The USC WiSE program hosts a series of seminars aimed at undergraduate students titled STEM Bytes. The goal of the series is to introduce students to research opportunities in science and engineering at USC, while giving PhD students and postdocs an outlet to present their research in a fun and casual space. Undergraduate and graduate students in various disciplines attend the seminars.
Talks
The seminars are one hour long with two speakers. They will be held on Zoom in Pacific Time. Talks should be a max of 20 minutes, followed by 5-10 minutes of Q&A. Talks should be general since the seminars are open to undergraduate and graduate students in various STEM fields.
For questions, feel free to contact lachicam@usc.edu
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