You made it! The end of your first year is almost here. Congratulations! You’ve taken a decent load of courses and – I assume – nailed it.
Gradually, as you progress through the PhD program, you will take fewer and fewer classes and focus more on research. Instead of signing up for regular seminars and courses, you will sign up for more and more hours of COGS 299: Individual Study. Even when you are not enrolled in a directed study course, research activity is expected, including over the summer.
The Individual Development Plan
Before the end of Spring, you should schedule an annual feedback meeting with your primary adviser. To do so, you must complete your Individual Development Plan (link), which you can use to discuss summer research expectations if you haven’t already.
The second-year exam
The second-year exam is one of the major milestones of the graduate program in Cognitive Sciences. It should be scheduled in the Fall of your second year, but you need to start planning for it no later than the Spring of your first year. You need to work with your advisers to assemble a three-person committee.
Your committee
Your committee should consist of your adviser and two other faculty members. At least two of the three committee members must be from Cognitive Sciences. You should meet with them no later than Spring of your first year to make a reading/study list that covers the basic background of your research area. Note that some faculty may add conditions before they agree to be on your committee – they may require regular check-ins, for example. Either way, they are there to help you succeed, so be sure to take advantage of their knowledge and experience.
The review paper
During the summer, you should write a critical review of the literature circumscribed by your reading list. The key component of a critical review is that it is more than a mere summary of the papers. What makes a review critical is that it is integrative across multiple papers – you identify and discuss trends and themes that bind papers together. Ideally, you start by identifying 3-4 overarching themes or open questions from the literature and then use your review paper to describe the current state of the field.
A good conclusion to a review paper is a thorough description of some open questions that result from your review or that active researchers are currently exploring. Ideally, the review paper sets the stage for your own future research activities and you might then be able to reuse your writing as the introduction section of a research manuscript.
It’s generally a good idea to ask your adviser or committee members for specific feedback and input on drafts of your paper or sections of your paper. Many junior researchers are hesitant to share drafts because they are not polished products. You should leave that hesitation behind as soon as possible; your life will become easier once you do.
Some students include their own original research and new empirical data in the review paper. That is certainly allowed, but it is not required. However, note that your adviser and exam committee can set additional requirements for the paper, beyond the basic requirements described here.
The finished paper should be officially submitted (via email) to your committee and to the Department Office no later than ten days before the exam is scheduled to take place.
Properties of a typical paper
A typical review paper starts with a list of references that the committee has compiled. Often there are about 40-50 references spanning three or four broad topics. The review paper should involve the majority of those references, and may include additional references, but it should stick closely to the scope defined by those papers (i.e., you are not expected to explore every reference in the papers you read, as this would lead to an exponential explosion of the reading material).
Often, these review papers are organized in four or five sections – one for each broad theme, and a general summary. In a successful paper, each section includes a brief discussion of the relevant papers and—importantly—a critical discussion of what ties these papers together, what trends this grouping of papers indicate, and perhaps what the next steps in these trends are. The general summary can focus on those trends alone and may give some indication of your future research plans (although the latter is not required).
The exam
The second-year exam consists of a 30-minute prepared presentation about the research area. The presentation can have the same structure and content as the paper. During and immediately after the presentation, your committee members can ask you questions about the content of the paper and presentation. Additionally, you should speak for about 10 minutes about the work you plan to do in this area and how it connects to the literature.
After the exam, complete the 2nd Year Exam Request Form.
What the UCI Catalogue has to say
The UCI Catalogue is the sole authoritative source on academic requirements. About the second-year examination, it says this:
Second-year examination. During the first year, in consultation with their advisor, the student should establish an advisory committee consisting of three faculty members, one of whom should be the primary advisor. At least two of the three must be Cognitive Sciences faculty members. The committee should meet with the student no later than spring quarter of the first year to determine the student’s area(s) of research interest and to identify the published literature with which the student must be familiar. At the beginning of the fall quarter of their second year, students will be required to take a second-year examination. It will involve (1) the student writing a critical review of work in their area of research interest, and (2) a presentation by the student followed by an oral examination by the committee. Should the student fail the second-year exam, the student will be allowed to repeat the exam in the winter quarter. A subsequent failure results in the student exiting the program.
Finally, keep in mind that advisers and committee members have broad authority in matters of evaluation. They may set additional criteria beyond the ones mentioned here. As always, frequent communication is key.
We get it
Of course, all of this does not mean you can’t take a break over the summer – you absolutely should! Make sure your advisers know well in advance if and when you are planning to take time off or be away.
Lastly, I don’t need to tell you that getting a lot of work done is trickier than usual these days – but I am. Cut yourself some slack. We get it. Stay healthy.
