Writing is an important part of the scientific process, as both a medium for communicating your work and also in helping to organize your own ideas. Clear writing is clear thinking. We hope that your PhD will help you develop these skills. Writing will also be important in many aspects of your career. Thus, our goal in the Department of Chemistry is that you leave the University of Texas with strong writing, communication, and scientific skills.
To this end, we expect students to assume direct responsibility for the accuracy and intellectual provenance of all text and figures included in any “milestone” writing assignment. This includes candidacy exam documents, fellowship applications, and dissertations. You should discuss with your advisor what use of AI is appropriate for preparation of quals materials including proposal text, figures, or presentation slides. A brief description of how AI was used should be included in written documents, and you should be prepared to describe, during the exam, how AI tools were used. In addition, we expect that you will be able to defend any statement or claim made in the document as well as to have a deep understanding of the science described in your documents. Furthermore, we expect that your PhD will train you to use AI thoughtfully and responsibly, such that you are prepared to succeed in your future career.