FAQS

What is IGERT?

IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training) is a National Science Foundation program developed to meet the challenges of educationg and training Ph.D. scientists with multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary backgrounds and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for career demands of the future. The program is intended to produce scientists who are well prepared for a broad specturm of emerging career opportunities in industry, government, and academia.

Does IGERT grant degrees?

IGERT in Urban Ecology is not a degree-granting academic unit. Degrees are granted through the academic unit in which the student is enrolled.

How many courses do Fellows need to take in their cross-discipline minor, and which are mandatory for that discipline?

This question applies to Fellows only. IGERT Fellows will take two to three courses in their minor concentration (i.e., if your home department is in the life sciences, you would "minor" in an earth or social science). Flexibility is central to the program, and we will meet with Fellows to see what is appropriate for them. Students are responsible for showing how they plan to be immersed in the complementary discipline. We expect that students will learn a minor well enough to be able to apply the tools and approaches of this discipline in their research.

What exactly does it mean to be interdisciplinary?

More than one discipline, certainly. If multidisciplinary is a collection of disciplines, then interdisciplinary represents work that is inherently integrative. Some disciplines have always tended toward interdisciplinarity. Geography, for example, can be seen to encompass the social and physical sciences, although we would expect geographers to go beyond their own discipline.

Does IGERT's collaborative requirement have to be interdisciplinary?

This question applies to Fellows only. IGERT Fellows may work collaboratively with someone (undergraduate, graduate, faculty member, nonacademic researcher) within their own discipline. Yes, the dissertation needs to have an interdisciplinary component, but that can come from your own interdisciplinary approach, it does not have to be a collaboration with someone outside your discipline.

How much knowledge should a scientist have in each different discipline to be able to carry out an interdisciplinary project?

To be interdisciplinary is to immerse yourself in another discipline and be conversant in the language of that discipline.

How will you get students from different disciplines to collaborate?

Collaborations are sparked by workships, an intellectual issues seminar, a professional issues seminar, traning in a complementary discipline, and, for both Fellows and Associates, the stimulating environment provided by the IGERT Synthesis Center, a facility where IGERT students gather to plan, write, and brainstorm. These activities are resulting in a greater understanding of other disciplines and many opportunities for collaborations.

Is IGERT just for Ph.D. students?

No. To take advantage of great student interest in issues surrounding urban ecology and to enhance collaboration, elements of the IGERT program are open to a wide audience, most notably IGERT Associates, who are generally M.A. o M.S. students.

Is the protocol for an IGERT Associate the same, only shorter in duration, to that of an IGERT Fellow? For example, to what degree after the associateship expires does the Associate work with the outside complementary discipline advisor, attent workshops and seminars, and steer the direction of the dissertation?

The protocol for Associates is not the same as for Fellows. Fellows meet the expectations of their home department and supplement them with the interdisciplinary aspects of the IGERT program (workshops, seminars, and a "minor" in a complementary discipline). IGERT Associates are expected to take the one-credit Urban Ecology Reading Group, attend the monthly CAP LTER All Scientists Meeting, and participate in the IGERT Distinguished Visitor Series and other appropriate events. Associates are not required to work with an outside advisor or have a collaborative component to their research.

What ties remain betwen IGERT Associates and the IGERT program after the year of support expires?

There are three main ways that IGERT Associates can remain involved in the program after their first year of support. For one, there is a possiblity for renewing the Associateship. Second, there is a possibility of becoming an IGERT Fellow (only open to Ph.D. students). Third, it is hoped that former Associates will continue to benefit from IGERT activities throughout their program of study.

What sort of collaborative work are other IGERT programs doing?

For a complete list of IGERT programs in the U.S. go to the National Science Foundation's IGERT website. Of particular interest to our urban focus are the Certificate on Humans and the Global Environment (CHANGE)-IGERT at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and IGERT in Urban Ecology at the University of Washington.

How do professors involved in the program see IGERT changing their research?

Faculty members are being influenced by their participation in IGERT activities, such as co-teaching IGERT courses with faculty members from other disciplines and involvement with IGERT student research.