Colloquiua and Journal Club
The department schedules colloquia about every two weeks during semester and also has a weekly journal club. Both of these offer students the opportunity to broaden their knowledge about topics in astronomy which may not be covered in their coursework, and so attendance at colloquia and participation in journal club is expected. Participation in journal club includes sending suggestions for articles, voting for the article to be discussed, and active participation in the discussion.

Absences
Grad studies has policies for graduate students taking Holiday, Vacation, Parental Leave and Sick Leave, see the School of Graduate Studies policies and procedures for more information. A grad student should check with his or her research advisor and (if appropriate) with the instructor for whom she/he is working as a TA before scheduling vacation time, and inform these people in the case of sick leave.

Research Projects
In general, a graduate student will work with two different faculty members on research projects in their first two years, although this can be changed, with the permission of the Director of Graduate Studies, if both student and advisor wish to make the first year project longer.