Graduate Student Annual Reports

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

... all doctoral students ... 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.

The Mathematics Department has the following requirements for graduate students in Mathematics:

• Write a 1 to 2 page summary of your academic activities and progress in the Graduate Program.
• Submit the report to your mentor or advisor for feedback and revisions to be made.
• When your faculty supervisor has approved and signed the final version of your report, forward it to the DGS by the April 15 deadline.

• First Year students will file a report listing:
  • Courses taken in year one (both fall and spring)
  • Likely courses to be taken in year two
  • Status of their qualifying exam:
    • The written qualifying examination dates and outcomes
    • The oral qualifying exam topics, syllabus and committee members
  • Plans for summer activities: research, summer programs, ...
• Second Year students will file a report listing:
  • Courses taken in year two (both fall and spring)
  • Any remaining courses to be taken in year three
  • Oral qualifying exam committee members, date(s) and results
  • Research directions and planned research advisor
  • Progress towards the prelim exam
  • Plans for summer activities: research, summer programs, conferences, ...
• Third Year students will file a report listing:
  • Any remaining courses to be taken
  • Status of the preliminary exam
    • chair and committee members for the preliminary exam
    • preliminary exam date and outcome
  • research plans and progress
    • Thesis advisor
    • Proposed thesis topic and brief outline of initial work
  • Plans for summer research, summer programs, conferences, ...
• Fourth and Higher Years students will file a report listing:
  • Courses taken, if any
  • Thesis advisor and thesis defense committee members
  • Planned thesis title
  • 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

Students should will include 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 on research projects or departmental activities
• Publications
• Summer programs, summer schools, fellowships, grants, ...
• Departmental and University activities (seminars, tea, grading, teaching, tutoring, student representatives, student government, ...)

Here is an example LaTeX template for the report.