The departments (or faculties) are on a lower level of organization than the University. They
provide homes for all the education and research that is conducted in the University. The
departments report to the University, which is therefore centrally responsible for all of the
education that occurs at Cambridge; the students pay the University tuition fees, not department
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fees. (Also, it is the University that administers exams at the end of each year.) Each
department has its own building (or set of buildings), administration, and teaching and research
staff. However, many lecturers of the departments (and therefore also of the University) also fill
roles as senior members of the Colleges, thus further muddling the distinction. Professors in
departments at Cambridge are comparable to full professors at MIT, only they are rarer at
Cambridge. Lecturers and readers are the equivalent to assistant professors at MIT. Your
supervisors, who conduct your supervisions (discussed below in the section 5.3), are professors,
lecturers, post-docs, or graduate students who are members of your department
Your main source for academic support is your Director of Studies (DoS), who is a member of
your department (and usually a member of your College, unless your College doesn't have any
qualified senior members in your department). His or her role, similar to that of an advisor at
MIT, is to look after your academic welfare, advise you on subject choices (within your
department), monitor your progress, appoint you supervisors (for your supervisions), and deal
with any academic problems that may arise. If you chose to take classes outside of your major
(e.g. HASS courses), you will need a DoS for that discipline. This DoS may be assigned to you
or you may have to actively seek him/her out (because cross-disciplinary study is not normal at
Cambridge). It is very important that you be proactive about meeting with your DoS(s) at the
beginning of each of the three terms, especially if you need special arrangements (possibly for
extra supervisions) at the beginning of the year.

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