# Seminars, Works-in-Progress, and Journal Clubs

Seminars, works-in-progress, and journal clubs are central to the educational program. The opportunities to regularly encounter scientists and build critical analysis and presentation skills are of major importance. All students who have not yet passed the thesis proposal are required to register and participate in seminars, WIPs and journal club activities. These remain required courses by some MTAs and T32 training grants for the duration of the PhD (please check with your MTA directors). 

First-year students will fulfill the journal club requirement within their Core Curriculum. They are encouraged to attend additional seminars and journal clubs in areas of their particular interest or areas that they wish to explore. 

Advanced students are expected to participate in the journal club and seminar activities of their MTAs, as well as laboratory journal clubs, departmental seminars, and WIPs recommended by their dissertation advisor.

**See** [**Standards for Maintaining Satisfactory Progress**](/graduate-student-handbook/chapter-1-1/phd-in-biomedical-sciences-and-neuroscience/program-requirements/standards-for-maintaining-satisfactory-progress.md)


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://ismms-gs.gitbook.io/graduate-student-handbook/chapter-1-1/phd-in-biomedical-sciences-and-neuroscience/curriculum/seminars-works-in-progress-and-journal-clubs.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.