Supporting Graduate Students' Academic and Professional Success
You’ve finished your coursework and passed your written exams. Now you’re moving into the core of what it means to be a doctoral student: your own research project. You’ll have discussions with your advisor about your topic, from which you will derive the research questions that you aim to answer. You’ll begin collecting data, or looking for data that has already been compiled and made available for researchers like you to use. Then you’ll need to analyze your data - and that’s where the consulting team in GradQuant (the Graduate Quantitative Methods Center) comes into the picture.
In addition to your advisors, peers in your program, and maybe even the postdocs in your lab/department, GradQuant consultants can help steer you toward a suitable data analysis method, clarify confusing concepts, and point you to resources that you may not have known were freely available to you. What statistical method will work best for your data and research questions? What data analysis software or program is available and suitable for your purposes? The GradQuant consultants can help you answer these important questions. Whether you need help running statistical tests for a linear regression, or need to know how to handle missing data, let our GradQuant consultants know what your challenge is. They enjoy coming up with a solution that works! They don’t do the work for you, but you can expect them to make your work more productive and rewarding.
[Image Description: An enthusiastic man with glasses and a bow tie claps with satisfaction after skillfully sorting mail in an office mailroom.]
Pictured: All right! This is how to get it done!
We also want you to know the GradQuant consultants as a team, not just as individual grad students with their own expertise in statistics and programming for data analysis. If the person you're working with isn't as expert in a particular approach, that consultant will readily refer you to one of their teammates that they know can provide you with better solutions. All of our consultants are proficient in R and Python, but you can also find support for statistical inference and probability theory. Just ask Da (Economics), our Lead Consultant, or Brian (Statistics), our newest team member. Want to know more about multilevel modeling or network analysis? Come ask Jake (Psychology). Machine learning? Michael (Evolutionary Biology) is a good resource. Having interacted with fellow graduate students and postdocs from many departments on campus, our consultants have likely already provided assistance to someone else in your program.
[Image Description: Kevin Hart, wearing a medical mask under his chin, says "You are not alone."]
Pictured: Like Kevin Hart, we are here to support you.
Similar to other resources on campus, GradQuant is here to support you. One of the most rewarding experiences we hope you have while you are a grad student here at UCR is partnering with others toward a common goal. Our consultants welcome the opportunity to partner with you in discovering and creating statistical and programming solutions that move your research project forward. And they do this for postdocs, too! Just remember that you don't have to go it alone - make an appointment for a consultation (or stop in to drop-in hours!) when you feel stuck, confused, or frustrated. As fellow grad students, they know the feeling… personally.