Graduate Student Annual Reports

The following is an excerpt from the Graduate School Handbook for Directors of Graduate Study:

Beginning with the 2004-5 academic year, all doctoral students beyond their initial year of study at Duke University will be required, as a condition of their enrollment, to file annually with their Director of Graduate Studies a written report on their progress towards the Ph.D. degree. This report will be due on April 15 of each year a student is enrolled in the Graduate School. The Director of Graduate Studies will subsequently certify to the Associate Dean of the Graduate School that this report has been received and will, where deemed appropriate, forward copies to the student's doctoral committee. The Graduate School will track the submission of the annual reports as a "milestone" in the student's official record. Failure to submit this annual progress report will jeopardize a student's continuation in the graduate program.

For students who have not completed coursework or qualifying/preliminary examinations, this report should identify the likely schedule of courses still to be taken, and the likely dates at which the student will sit for the Qualifying and/or Preliminary examinations. For students who have passed the Preliminary examinations, the report should specify annually the progress of their dissertation research, identify any portions of completed written work, establish a clear time-line for completion of any remaining chapters of the dissertation, and set a target date for final defense.

In response, the Mathematics Department Graduate Affairs Committe has approved the following reporting requirements for graduate students in Mathematics:

• First Year students will file a report listing
  • the courses taken in year one
  • the likely courses to be taken in year two
  • the status of their qualifying exam:
    • the written qualifying examination dates and outcomes
    • oral qualifying exam topics, syllabus and committee members
    • anticipated oral qualifying examination month (and day, if possible)
  • plans for funded summer research, if applicable
  • research related activities (see below)
• Second Year students will file a report listing
  • the courses taken in years one and two
  • the likely courses to be taken in year three
  • oral qualifying exam committee members, date(s) and results
  • provisional committee members for the preliminary exam
  • anticipated preliminary examination month (and day, if determined)
  • plans for funded summer research, if applicable
  • research related activities (see below)
• Third Year students will file a report listing
  • the courses taken in years one, two and three
  • any courses to be taken in year four
  • the status of their preliminary exam
    • chair and committee members for the preliminary exam
    • preliminary exam date and outcome
  • research plans and progress
    • efforts to select a thesis advisor
    • proposed thesis topic and brief outline of initial work
  • plans for funded summer research, if applicable
  • research related activities (see below)
• Fourth Year and higher students will file a report listing
  • courses taken, if any
  • preliminary exam date and outcome
  • thesis advisor and thesis committee members
  • proposed thesis title
  • brief outline of progress on thesis research
  • summary of any portions of completed written work
  • timeline for completion of remaining thesis chapters
  • target date for final defense
  • research related activities (see below)

In addition, students will include the following information about any activities related to research in their annual report:

• talks or posters presented (for example, in the graduate student seminar, or at conferences, meetings)
• conferences attended
• collaborations with post doctoral fellows and/or faculty
• publications
• applications to programs (summer schools, fellowships, grants, ...)

Here is a LaTeX template for your report.