Syllabus: Phy 796: Graduate Seminar
Semester: 2026: Spring / Summer / Fall
Instructor: David Jeffery

Items:

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  3. Catalog Description:
    1. Phy796: Graduate Seminar (Department description): Students are required to give presentations on topics outside their Ph.D. work and to discuss the presentations. Presentations by graduate students will be given on a regularly scheduled basis, will last about an hour, and will be given at the non-specialist level. A total of three acceptable presentations in three different semesters during the six semesters of enrollment will be required. May be repeated to a maximum of six credits. Prerequisite: Graduate standing. 1 credit.
    2. Graduate Seminar (UNLV Catalog description): Students required to give presentations on topics outside their Ph.D. work and to discuss the presentations. Presentations by graduate students given on a regularly scheduled basis, last about an hour, and given at the nonspecialist level. Prerequisite: Graduate standing. 1 credit.
    3. Note, the catalog topics must be covered in the course by UNLV policy.
  4. Library: See also Library Search. There are NO library and NO specific external information resources recommended for this course.
  5. Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI can be used as extra resource. However, authored papers should be the main source for presentations.
    NO AI generated text is allowed for presentation words, but AI can be used for spelling and grammar checking and to generate equations (e.g., in LaTeX).
  6. Course Website / Extended Syllabus: None for this course.
  7. Textbook: None for this course.
  8. Required readings: None for this course.
  9. Assignment Due Dates: List of speakers and dates:
    1. Wednesday Aug26: David Jeffery: History of Cosmology: Part 1: Up to Newtonian Universe.
    2. Wednesday Sep23: Half taken for short talk.
    3. Wednesday Sep30 Taken for long talk,
    4. Wednesday Oct07: Taken for long talk.
    5. Wednesday Nov11: UNLV: Academic Calendar Fall 2026--Summer 2027: Nov11 Veteran's day, UNLV holiday.
    6. Wednesday Dec02:
  10. Evaluation:
    1. 90 % of grade: Students are required to give one hour-long non-specialist presentation which is really 40 minutes with 10 minutes for discussion. The presentation must be outside of their Ph.D. work. The hour-long will count as two short presentations and should be a bit polished.
    2. 90 % of grade: The alternative to item 1 is two short non-specialist presentations which may be half or, if necessary, a third of the class period. So 20 minutes with 5 minutes for discussion or 15 minutes with time for one or questions from audience. The short presentations can be on thesis work and can be a bit rough.
    3. 10 % of grade: Attendance and participation. There at 15 class periods this semester and students are required to attend 10 (in person or by zoom) unless there are extenuating circumstances. Students should be polite and pay attention to the talks of their colleagues.
  11. Exam Schedule Including Final Exam: None for this course.
  12. Remote Instruction Qualifications: None for this course.
  13. Summer Semester Qualifications: None for this course.
  14. Student Learning Outcomes:
    1. Students will have increased their experience in giving talks.
    2. Students will have learnt a little about subjects unfamiliar to them.
    3. The only tip on giving talks the instructor will give is the opening statement should be a bit rehearsed. Steve Lepp gave me this tip and he got it from Alex Dalgarno (1928--2015) who probably got it from David Bates (1916--1994) who probably got it from ... from Aristotle (384--322 BCE).
    4. We should have some fun with our talks.
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