Student Resources

This page brings together practical information and resources that may be useful to graduate students in Ecology and Evolution at the Department of Biological Science at Florida State University. The goal is to make commonly needed information easier to find, particularly for students who are new to the department.If you notice outdated information or have a resource that should be included, please contact the acting EERDG Vice President. Current contact information is available on the About EERDG page.

Looking for something worth adding to your reading list? EERDG members have compiled a collection of recommended reading based on various topics including pursuing and communicating science, metacognition, introductory material to ecology and evolution, and generally navigating academic life. Each recommendation includes a brief overview or why a contributor found it useful.

Getting Started

> Keys and Building Access

Graduate students may need several forms of key and card access depending on their laboratory, office, research, and teaching assignments. Requests can be submitted through the Department of Biological Science Property Request Form.

Common requests for new graduate students may include:

  • After-hours and weekend card access to the King Life Sciences Building.
  • Card access to the fourth floor of King.
  • Access to Biological Science Unit I.
  • A key for your assigned laboratory.
  • A key for your office or office cluster.
  • A key for teaching rooms associated with your TA assignment.
  • A key for the graduate student computer lab in KIN 4056.
  • Access to field equipment storage at the loading dock.

Required access varies among students, so consult your advisor, instructor, or fellow students if you are unsure which permissions you need.

> Parking Permits

Fees for parking are waived for graduate students! But you do have to register for a new permit every semester manually. The Parking Permit Portal can be accessed here. If your parking permit shows a cost, contact Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS) at (850) 644-5278 or transportation@fsu.edu to ask them to set your primary record to your student profile rather than an employee profile. If you are an active student paying fees, you get a "free" parking permit.

> Grad Beta and Degree Progress

Although Grad Beta may soon be phased out, it is still currently being used by the Department of Biological Science system to track requirements, forms, and milestones associated with graduate degree progress. Students should review their Grad Beta record periodically to ensure that required steps have been completed and properly recorded.

Grad Beta can be accessed here.

> Tuition, Fees, and Waivers

Graduate students are responsible for reviewing their student account each semester and ensuring that required fees, tuition waivers, and related forms are completed by the appropriate deadlines. Graduate assistants may receive tuition waivers as part of their appointment, but administrative requirements can vary by semester and appointment type.

Because FSU's student financial systems and waiver procedures change periodically, students should follow the current instructions provided by the Department of Biological Science graduate office rather than relying on older step-by-step guides.

> Health Insurance

Eligible graduate students may receive a subsidy toward the cost of university-sponsored health insurance. Eligibility, enrollment procedures, deadlines, and subsidy amounts can change, so students should carefully review information sent by FSU and the graduate program each semester.

Students should confirm that any applicable insurance subsidy has been properly applied before making payments associated with their university health insurance plan.

Department Resources

> General Printing

Printers are available to students in computer labs on the first floor of the King Life Sciences Building (KIN 1057 and KIN 1058) and on the second floor of the north wing. The graduate student computer lab (KIN 4056) is restricted to graduate students and requires a key.

Depending on the printer and network configuration, students may also be able to configure department printers on personal or department-issued computers. Some printers may require users to supply their own paper.

> Poster Printing

The Department of Biological Science maintains large-format poster printers for research presentations. Poster printing is available in the King Life Sciences Building and Biological Science Unit I.

Current instructions for preparing and printing posters are available on the Biology Computer Support poster-printing page. For additional assistance, contact Biology IT.

Research and Professional Development

> Graduate School Advice

Graduate education and the broader academic landscape continue to change rapidly. Graduate students are navigating developments in scientific communication, artificial intelligence, research integrity, funding, publishing, and career opportunities that differ substantially from those encountered by previous generations of scientists.

These changes make it increasingly important to develop skills not only in research, but also in evaluating scientific information, communicating responsibly, collaborating effectively, and adapting to new technologies and professional expectations.

Students beginning graduate school may enjoy two complementary essays by Stephen Stearns and Raymond Huey, commonly referred to together as Cynical and Acynical Advice for Graduate Students. Stearns' essay offers a deliberately pragmatic perspective on academic life, while Huey's response provides a more optimistic counterpoint. Together, the essays address advisors, coursework, mentorship, publishing, professional relationships, and career development. We have compiled resources that we found helpful here.

> Departmental Awards

The FSU Department of Biological Science offers scholarships, fellowships, research awards, and other funding opportunities for graduate students. Applications open every year on August 15 and the deadline for all application materials is midnight on September 15. Current opportunities and application information are available on the department's Graduate Awards and Scholarships page.

> Pivot

Pivot is a searchable funding database available to the FSU community. It can be used to identify grants, fellowships, scholarships, travel awards, and other funding opportunities across disciplines.

Users can create customized searches and funding alerts based on research interests, career stage, eligibility, and other criteria. Graduate students may find it useful to create several narrowly targeted searches rather than relying on a single broad funding alert.

> EERDG Funding Resources

EERDG is interested in developing an internal collection of funding opportunities relevant to graduate students in ecology and evolutionary biology. Such a resource could complement broad databases such as Pivot by highlighting grants and awards that EERDG members have previously identified, applied for, or received.

Members interested in contributing funding opportunities or helping develop this resource should contact the EERDG acting Vice President.

> Conference Funding and Travel

Despite their importance in academia, conferences can be cost-prohibitive. Fortunately, students have access to a variety of funding sources that can help reduce the financial burden:

  • The Congress of Graduate Students (COGS) maintains a COGS Grant Program that provides funding to help cover conference and travel expenses on a first-come, first-served basis. Visit their website for funding timelines and eligibility criteria.
  • The Graduate Student Resource Center (GSRC) offers Attendance Grants ($500) and Presentation Grants ($1,000) to full-time FSU doctoral candidates seeking assistance with expenses related to travel to an approved professional conference or event relevant to their program of study. Visit their website for funding timelines and eligibility criteria.
  • Additionally, the College of Arts and Sciences offers $500 awards to female graduate students three times per year to support travel expenses associated with presenting at conferences or professional meetings. Visit their website for funding timelines and eligibility criteria.

Travel funding can be limited, so students should explore available support as early as possible after deciding to attend a conference. Deadlines, eligibility requirements, and reimbursement procedures may vary among funding sources. Students should also review the conference website, as many conferences offer discounted registration to members of affiliated professional societies or volunteer opportunities that may reduce or reimburse registration costs.

Undergraduate Mentoring

> Directed Independent Study (DIS)

Work in progress. Will include a brief description, application deadlines, different approaches to DIS, one or two syllabus examples (Soltis and Field), and incentive description like experimental biology fullfilment.

> Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP)

FSU's Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) provides an opportunity for graduate students and laboratories to mentor undergraduate researchers. Depending on the project, undergraduate students may assist with ongoing research while developing experience in scientific methods, communication, and presentation. UROP is a very competitive program so Graduate students interested in working with DIS students should consider using UROP as an opportunity to recruit from a very large pool of highly-qualified undergraduates.

Students interested in mentoring through UROP should visit the UROP website and talk to fellow EERDG members about their experience with the program.

> Undergraduate Funding Opportunities

The FSU Department of Biological Science also offers scholarships, fellowships, research awards, and other funding opportunities for undergraduate students. Applications open every year on August 15 and the deadline for all application materials is midnight on September 15. Current opportunities and application information are available on the department's Undergraduate Scholarships and Awards page.

Campus Resources

> University Library Resources

In addition to their physical resources and interlibrary loan system, FSU Libraries boast an impressive selection of workshops, including:

Visit the FSU Libraries website for the full workshop calendar!

> University Health Services

University Health Services provides on-campus medical care for FSU students, including primary care and other routine health services. Available services, insurance requirements, appointment procedures, and costs may vary.

Students can find current information and schedule appointments through University Health Services.

> Counseling and Mental Health Resources

Graduate school can be demanding, and FSU provides counseling and mental health resources for students. Available services may include individual counseling, group counseling, workshops, crisis support, and referrals.

Because counseling services and appointment procedures may change, students should consult the FSU Counseling and Psychological Services website for current information.

Technology and Research Tools

> Artificial Intelligence

Generative artificial intelligence tools are increasingly used in research, programming, writing, data analysis, and other academic workflows. These tools can be useful for brainstorming, troubleshooting, learning unfamiliar concepts, and automating some repetitive tasks.

However, AI-generated outputs may contain factual errors, fabricated citations, inappropriate analyses, insecure code, or other inaccuracies. Graduate students remain responsible for understanding and verifying work produced with AI assistance.

The Biology Department's AI committee is drafting guidelines regarding the use of AI in Graduate Milestones. These guidelines are intended to provide structure while still allowing flexibility and guidance from individual committees. More information will be included as it becomes available.

> Citation Management Programs

Citation management software can make it substantially easier to organize literature, annotate articles, maintain bibliographic information, and insert citations while writing.

Zotero is a free, open-source option that can import references directly from journal websites and integrate with common word-processing software. Other commonly used programs include Paperpile and Mendeley.

Each platform takes a somewhat different approach to reference organization, PDF annotation, collaboration, and cloud storage, so it is worth comparing several options before building a large personal library. Note that we hate Mendeley and recommend other options instead.

> Coding

Computational skills are increasingly valuable in biological research. Programming can improve the reproducibility and efficiency of data processing, statistical analysis, visualization, simulation, bioinformatics, and many other research tasks.

A few practices can make learning to code more manageable:

  • Learn by doing. Practice writing and modifying code rather than relying exclusively on copied examples. AI tools, documentation, and online examples can be useful learning resources, but you should understand and evaluate code before using it in your research.
  • Develop a strong foundation. Concepts such as data types, data structures, conditional statements, loops, functions, and debugging are broadly applicable across programming languages.
  • Write code for other people to read. Use descriptive variable and function names, maintain consistent formatting, and document important analytical decisions. Clear code is easier to debug, reproduce, share, and revisit later.
  • Keep analyses reproducible. Whenever possible, preserve the code used to clean data, conduct analyses, and generate figures rather than relying on undocumented manual changes.

R is widely used in biological research, particularly for statistics, data visualization, ecology, evolution, and population biology. Its extensive package ecosystem includes tools developed specifically for many areas of biological research.

Students interested in learning R can begin with this introductory tutorial.

Python is another useful general-purpose programming language with applications in data science, bioinformatics, automation, machine learning, and scientific computing. Developing proficiency in either R or Python provides a strong foundation for many graduate research workflows.

> Note-Taking Programs

Many applications are available for organizing research notes, literature notes, protocols, meeting notes, and project documentation. Obsidian is one option that stores notes as Markdown (.md) files and allows users to create links among related notes.

Because Markdown files are simple text files, they are portable and can remain accessible even if a particular note-taking application is no longer used.

> Typesetting Programs

For documents requiring extensive mathematical notation, references, cross-referencing, or precise control over formatting, markup-based typesetting systems can provide an alternative to traditional word processors.

LaTeX is widely used in academic publishing, particularly in quantitative disciplines. Typst is a newer typesetting system designed to provide many similar capabilities with a comparatively streamlined syntax.

Either can be useful for students interested in reproducible, highly structured, or technically complex document preparation.