General Information
In addition to passing the six (6) credits of graduate biochemistry core, Ph.D. students must pass a qualifying examination. This examination mustbe taken by the end of the seventh semester after entrance, including summer semesters. In the event that a student changes from the M.S. program to the Ph.D. program or changes major advisors within the Biochemistry Program, the student will be given four semesters (including summer semesters) after the change to pass and complete the qualifying examination unless the Supervisory Committee recommends otherwise to the Graduate Studies Committee. If a student transfersfrom any other degree program to the Biochemistry Program, that student will be considered a new student in the program and will also have seven semesters (including summer semesters) from the semester of transfer in which to complete the qualifying exam.
The qualifying examination will include three parts: a written research proposal, two round-table discussions/justification of the proposal between the candidate and the supervisory committee, and a public research proposal presentation.
The formal, written research proposal in the section below "Guidelines for the Qualifying Examination in the Biochemistry Program" document. The proposal must contain original ideas, but it will be based on the student's own research project. Consequently, direct assistance from the major advisor will not be permitted in either the writing or the formulation of original avenues of investigation. A student is permitted to solicit information from others, including faculty. However, this must be done on a strictly limited basis and good judgment must be exercised on both sides. It is expected that originality and the bulk of the preparation of the proposal represent the student's own work. If a student is in doubt about the propriety of requesting information in a specific case, the examination committee should be consulted. Any information in the written proposal obtained from others should be acknowledged.
Two weeks after submitting the written research proposal, the student will meet with the supervisory committee in a round-table question/answer session about the approach and significance of the proposed work. The purpose of this meeting is to provide guidance for any necessary modifications that should be included in the final version of the proposal submitted as a part of the comprehensive exam. While the first submission is not formally evaluated as a part of the exam, a final proposal submission that does not appropriately respond to feedback given during the first round-table from the committee will result in a cancellation of the 2 nd round-table meeting without specific feedback from the Committee. In this case, the student will have one additional attempt to modify the proposal and submit it as a “final submission” to the committee. If it is again determined insufficient for evaluation, the Committee may recommend that the exam is considered a “fail” and the student counseled with options that may include transition to the Master’s program or leaving the graduate program.
Following approval to submit the proposal for evaluation as a “final submission”, the proposal will be presented at a formal, open seminar (see “Guidelines for the Qualifying Examination” below for timeline details). Following the seminar, the supervisory committee will meet with the student for a second round-table discussion/justification of the proposal with the expectation that any problems or lack of knowledge noted in the first round-table discussion has been rectified. The committee will decide if the student has passed or failed each of the components of the exam at this time. In the case of no more than a single negative vote, a recommendation of pass will be forwarded to thestudent. In the case of a failure of any portion of the exam, the conditions that must be fulfilled by the student to pass the exam upon a single retake opportunity and the time period within which these conditions must be met will be provided in a Committee letter to the student within one week following the conclusion of the meeting.
The student’s supervisory committee will serve as the examination committee except that the major advisor will not participate as a voting member of the committee and is not permitted to participate, ask, or answer questions during the round-table discussions unless asked to do so by the committee. A biochemist member of the supervisory committee will serve as chair of the examination committee and the student will select the chair from among the biochemistry members. Upon petition, a student who fails the examination may be allowed to retake it once, upon approval of the examination committee. Consequently, the written document given to the student following the examination must be agreed upon by the Committee in detail before being transmitted to the student. The conditions for retaking the examination must be explicit enough so that someone who was not present at the meeting can judge exactly what is expected of the student. The time period within which the examination must be re-taken must be clearly stated (a date would be most appropriate). The conditions for the second examination, if approved, will be set by the examination Committee.
Students who do not pass the examination may request transfer to the Master’s degree program. If, after completing the Master’s degree, a student failing the oral exam wishes to reapply to the PhD program, the student must petition the Graduate Studies committee to that effect. This petition should explain why the student believes they can succeed in this program, and any extenuating circumstances concerning their previous failure. In addition, this petition must be supported by at least one faculty member in the Department who would be willing to accept the student into their research group if they are readmitted to the Ph.D. program.
For a complete breakdown of the Biochemistry Qualifying Exam, including formatting instructions, committee procedures, and evaluation criteria, see our Biochemistry Guidelines for Qualifying Examination page.