1. LHC Theory Initiative “Graduate Student Support” Talk presented at the Organizational Meeting at Madison, May 4, 2005 S. Nandi Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma Center for High Energy Physics (OCHEP) http://ochep.phy.okstate.edu

2. Recruitment an training of graduate students are vital for the long-term survival of the field Graduate students are a very important ingredient for our research productivity Graduate students must be heavily involved in LHC physics research Need financial support for graduate students

3. Current Research Support for Theory Graduate Students in HEP Mainly two agencies: DOE and NSF DOE*NSF**Total Faculty 212119331 Postdoc. 9750147 Grad. Students 12044164 Total Theory HEP Graduate Students in US: 384*** # supported by research funding : 164 *DOE Website,**NSF data 2003,***DOE-NSF Census2003 The rest working as TA

7. Problems : Physics departments are under pressure for TA positions Departments are reluctant to support so many TA’s in a particular area TA duty ~20 hrs/week cuts down the vital research time for the graduate students, especially for the advanced students TA support are not available during the three summer months.

8. How LHC Theory Initiative can help ? Support graduate students in HEP Theory Commit substantial fund in the budget Encourage graduate students to get involved in LHC physics research by providing financial support Level of support Support 40 students/yr $25k/yr/student Total budget: $1 million/yr Given as a competitive fellowship Not subject to IDC

9. Logistics : Graduate students, together with their faculty advisor, submit a two page proposal for their proposed LHC research project A graduate student support committee be formed from the faculty members of the LHC physics Center The Committee choose 40 top applicants per year Each awardees submit a progress report at the end of the year 20 top producers be renewed along with 20 new awards Students preferably will be in 3 rd year or higher and must have advanced to the Ph.D. program. Supported students will spend 1 summer month at CERN. A workshop will be organized where students will report their findings. Two faculty members will supervise this activity.

10. Impact A new mechanism for supporting graduate students in HEP theory research Fills a significant void in the current support structure # of graduate students support in HEP theory research increases by ~ 25% Will attract top-notch HEP theory graduate students to LHC physics Such a major item in the LHC Theory Initiative proposal will be attractive to the funding agencies.