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Advice to Applicants

For Prospective Students

The new realities of financing research and graduate studies mean that universities are accepting fewer students on fellowships and asking more of them to pay their way. If you come with funding (e.g., NSF, USDA, EPA, Kaplan, etc.) I am open to collaboration. Be prepared to pay for your first semester of tuition and living costs. For candidates with a very clear idea of their research interest I may agree to work with you to raise the funds through various sources. If you feel you have such a question, please send me a 300-word (approx.) explanation as follows:

What do we know now about your topic?

What don’t we know?

Why is the gap in knowledge important?

how do you plan to fill the gap?

Also few students are accepted who do not meet the following criteria:

Choosing your research topic


The three Ps:

Pertinence: Identify a research question that is urgent, important, and interests many people.

Passion: Choose a research topic you are excited to understand better and methods you enjoy using... for years.

Practicality: pick a project you can complete with 1-2 years of data collection plus 1-2 years of analysis, interpretation, and writing (lower end for Masters and higher for PhDs).


If you contact Dr. Treves to inquire about joining CCL, please make the above three criteria clear in the body of your email and include a resume/CV plus transcripts of undergraduate work.

For all applicants (visitors, collaborators, post-docs)


My criteria for co-authorship

A co-author must contribute substantially to 3 of 5 tasks associated with writing a scientific article:


If you plan to visit or are preparing to move to Madison, please see information generously provided by a colleague on visiting Madison and moving here.