In addition to your work on a specific comps question, successful completion of comps requires attendance of 10 approved research seminars. Typically the majority of these are fulfilled by the Monday afternoon seminars hosted by the Biology Department. These talks serve to expose you to research from a variety of disciplines within Biology. Upcoming seminars can be found on the Department Events Calendar or check the Full Seminar Schedule.
In addition to the Monday afternoon seminars, there are occasionally other talks that count toward the required 10 seminars. For example, the overview of literature databases run by Carleton’s Science Librarian early in the term will count toward the requirement. Talks by candidates for faculty teaching positions also fulfill the requirement. Some seminars offered by other departments will count toward the Biology Department seminar requirement, but these must be approved beforehand by the comps coordinator.
While the department admin tracks your attendance through sign-in sheets, it is the responsibility of individual students to keep track of the number of seminars attended.
Seminar attendance during spring term of sophomore year after major declaration day, plus both junior and senior years counts toward the seminar requirement. The seminar requirement must be met by the end of the Week 8 of spring term of senior year.