Each student must successfully pass a preliminary exam to advance to PhD candidacy. To be eligible for the preliminary examination, students must have an overall grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) and have completed the Special Skills requirement.
The preliminary examination should be completed by the end of the student’s second academic year. The preliminary examination must be passed at least 12 months prior to the date of the awarding of the PhD degree.
All course work need not be completed before the examination, but at least 75-85% should be completed and all required courses for our program must be completed.
Time Table for Preliminary Exam for Second Year Students:
|
Month (2nd year): |
Activity: |
|
May |
Pre-Proposal submitted to the Program Director;
Preliminary Exam Committee appointed |
|
May |
Pre-proposal approved or revised |
|
June-July |
Research proposal written |
|
August 1 |
Research proposal submitted to committee;
preliminary exams scheduled |
|
August-September |
Oral preliminary exams completed |
The preliminary examination consists of an oral examination administered by a Preliminary Examination Committee. The oral exam consists of a defense of the student’s research proposal, which is written using the format recommended by the National Institute of Health (NIH). The student has free choice of the topic, which may or may not be the subject of the dissertation research. At least three months prior to the date of the preliminary examination, the student must submit a pre-proposal to the Chairperson of the Preliminary Examination Committee outlining the research proposal. Included in the pre-proposal should be a statement of the hypothesis, rationale, specific aims and a description of the project in sufficient detail without including details of methodology. The pre-proposal typically is no longer than two single-spaced, typewritten pages.
Within one week the committee will either approve or reject the pre-proposal. If the pre-proposal is rejected, the Preliminary Examination Committee will meet with the student to address the deficiencies and provide guidance for remediation. Following approval of the pre-proposal, the student will prepare a detailed written research proposal following NIH guidelines. Preparation of the written proposal must be completed within two months of approval of the pre-proposal. The proposal must be submitted to the committee at least one month before the scheduled date of the examination, which is determined by the student and Chair of the Examining Committee.
The outcome of the oral exam is determined by the Examining Committee. In case of failure, the committee can recommend that the student be dropped from the program or that reexamination be allowed. A second examination will be scheduled no earlier than six months from the date of the first examination. A student may be reexamined only once.
Upon successful completion of the preliminary exam, the student is promoted to PhD degree candidacy status by the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.