Join us

Interested students will need to apply through Indiana University’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. The department offers guaranteed support for 2-5 years depending on degree and background. Applications are generally due around December. Potential candidates are encouraged to get in touch to discuss fit.

Things I wish I knew before applying to grad school:

• There is significant luck in terms of timing, which means that rejections are not personal. Sometimes professors simply don’t have the money to pay you, or have too many students already.
• Admission in many (or most) programs involves the potential research supervisor, department, and university/school. Generally, the research adviser and department both need to say yes to an application, then ultimate authority to offer admission comes from higher up. So while a professor can encourage you to apply, and can have space for you, the decision ultimately is outside their control.
• Fully funded has different meanings different places. Make sure to understand how summer funding works, and how often you will be expected to be a teaching assistant.

This information is modified modified from the EAS Atmospheric Sciences group.

We want to help you put together the best application possible. Here is some advice!

Our primary questions are:

• Will this student succeed in our program, i.e., will they:
• Do well in our graduate classes?
• Be productive in research, including writing peer-reviewed papers?
• Complete a good thesis in the normal amount of time (2 years for a masters, 5 for a PhD)?
• Does this student’s research interests align with the PI’s interests?
• Do we have funding to support the student for their entire time here?

We look at the entire graduate application to see if there are clear answers to the above questions. This includes rating applicants on specific questions:

• Does the applicant have excellent academic preparation (e.g., relevant coursework, grades, GPA, etc.)?
• Does the applicant have research experience and/or interest, and if so, how does it relate to research that we do?
• Does the personal statement give a clear sense of what motivates the applicant to apply to our program specifically?
• Does the student have clear goals that our program will help them accomplish?
• Does the student student show that they have put careful thought and effort into considering what they might work on?
• Does the applicant have good letters of recommendation from sources who give us specific information about how and why they think the applicant would be successful in grad school?
• Does the applicant’s research interest align with research directions for which we have funding?
• Is there anything in the application that gives us reservations about the applicant (e.g., are there bad grades in the transcripts that the applicant does not address in the personal statement)?

Other qualities that help applicants stand out are:

• Excellent communication skills
• Evidence of strong self-motivation
• Strong technical skills, especially with data analysis or computing