Tour Agenda for President Molly Corbett Broad

							Graduate Studies in Statistics
       at NC State:
We Train Problem Solvers

       Kimberly Weems
 Department of Statistics, NCSU
         Raleigh, NC
          Acknowledgements
 Pam Arroway, Assoc. Professor & Co-DGP
 Jacqueline Hughes-Oliver, Professor
 Sastry Pantula, Professor & Dept. Head
         Overview of the Department
   First Statistics Department in the country
   Started by Gertrude Cox in 1941 – first female
    Statistician to Head a Statistics Department
   Strong foundation in Mathematical Statistics, with
    an eye towards application

   Approximately 40 faculty in Statistics
   Diverse faculty cover most topics in Statistics
Our Faculty
          Broad Areas of Research
 Biostatistics
 Environmental Statistics
 Statistical Genetics/Bioinformatics
 Also have associations with
    – Operations Research
    – Biomathematics
    – Financial Mathematics
           Current Student Body
 Graduate program has ~140 students
 One of the largest graduate statistics
  program in the US
 About one-half international / one-half US
 About one-half male / one-half female
 About one-third with ugrad stat / one-third
  math / one-third other
        2006-2007 Diversity Information
   Twelve minority graduate students
    –   1 received PhD in December
    –   2 doctoral candidates
    –   2 have passed qualifying exams
    –   3 will take qualifying exams in August
    –   2 biomath students
    –   2 bioinformatics students
       Master’s Degree Requirements
 Master of Statistics takes 2 years
 Coursework only (typically no research)
 Regular Master’s or one of 4 concentrations


    Biostatistics          Environmental Statistics
    Statistical Genetics   Mathematical Statistics


   12 classes required: 4 semesters*3
    courses/semester
              PhD Requirements
 PhD takes 3 years beyond Master’s
 At least 7 classes (often more)
    – 2 Advanced Inference
    – 2 Measure Theory/Advanced Probability
    – 3 electives
                Financial Support
   Teaching Assistantships
    – 20 hrs/week: grading, tutoring, teaching
    – Many first-year students are on TAs
   Research Assistantships
    – 20 hrs/week
    – Duties can vary widely from institution to
      institution and student to student
    – Typically not until 3rd year or later at NCSU
                Financial Support
   Graduate Industrial Traineeships (GITs)
    – 20 hrs/week working with a local company
    – During regular semester and/or summers
    – Continue taking classes (do NOT delay
      graduation!)
    – Many of our students do a GIT at some point
      (one-third to one-half of students)
   US EPA, GSK, DCRI, SAS and other area
    companies
               Financial Support
   NHLBI Biostatistical Traineeships
    – Research in CVD
    – Work with faculty from NCSU & Duke
   NSF VIGRE: Vertical InteGration of
    Research and Education
    – Fellowship, mentoring & teaching components
     How should students prepare?
        Basic Pre-requisites
 Calculus I-III
 Matrix theory / linear algebra
 Introductory Statistics
 Advanced Calculus / Real Analysis
 Minimum GPA of 3.0
 Take GRE (general test)
             Typical Schedule
 First year: Take core courses
 First summer: Take MS and PhD written
  exam
 Second/Third year – Take Ph.D. courses
  and/or application courses – Choose advisor
 Third summer – Take Ph.D. preliminary
  exam
 Fourth year – Research!
             Typical Schedule
 Fourth summer – Take candidacy exam
 Fifth year – Complete research; Do final
  defense; Graduate!
         NCSU Graduates, Academic
   Bucknell             Montana State
   Duke                 Univ. of SC
   Cal Poly             Univ. of Pittsburgh
   Carnegie Mellon      Univ. of Alaska
   Emory                UNC-Greensboro
   Louisiana State      Washington Univ.
       NCSU Graduates, Pharmaceutical
   Becton Dickinson Technologies, NC
   Bristol Myers, CT
   Clintrials, NC
   Eli Lilly & Company, IN
   GlaxoSmithKline, NC
   Merck Research Labs, PA
   Proctor & Gamble OH
   Schering-Plough, NJ
                NCSU Graduates
   Capital One, NC
   Environmental Protection Agency, NC
   Intel, CA
   Pratt & Whitney, CT
   Research Triangle Institute, NC
   SAS Institute, NC
   The Mayo Clinic, MN
                      SAMSI
 NSF-funded institute located in Research
  Triangle Park
 Partnership between Duke, NCSU, UNC,
  and NISS
 Several research programs each semester
 2007 Undergraduate Workshop
    – May 21-25 at NCSU
    – www.ncsu.edu/crsc/events/ugw07/
                          SIBS                        SIBS



   Summer Institutes for Training in Biostatistics
   Six-week biostatistics program
   An opportunity for undergraduate students
    majoring in mathematics, science and other
    quantitative areas of study
   Earn college credit
   NCSU/DCRI, UW-Madison, Boston U
   Sponsored by NHLBI
             A Typical Day in SIBS
   Mornings: Classroom
    Instruction
    – Lectures
    – Presentations
    – Panel discussions
   Afternoons: Hands-on
    computer activities
    – Data analyses
    – Simulations
                SIBS 2007 & 2008                     SIBS



   June 11 – July 20, 2007
   June 9 – July 18, 2008
   We are still accepting applications for SIBS 2007!
   To apply, visit
    – http://shp.bu.edu/sibs
    – www.stat.ncsu.edu/sibs
    – www.biostat.wisc.edu/trainingandstudentinfo/SIBS/