Other Requirements of Ph.D. StudentsGraduate Program Home Laboratory Rotations Ph.D. students are required to do three laboratory rotations before the end of the winter semester first year. To facilitate these the academic year is considered as having six parts, two each semester, one between semesters and one which includes the first 3 weeks following the end of winter semester. Part 1 is for introduction to faculty research (show & tell what is going on in investigators’ laboratories). The remaining 5 parts are for actual rotations. Faculty interested in having students rotate will indicate blocks of time during which they are willing to accept students into the laboratory, the students will designate 3 laboratories they wish to spend rotations in and a member of the graduate education committee will match the students with the faculty/laboratory. Rotations will not be given a written grade but the mentor will provide a brief written evaluation at the end of the rotation. Students are to select a laboratory in which to study no later than part 6 of the first year. If necessary, students may change dissertation labs at a later date upon petition and approval of the graduate studies committee of the department.
Qualifying Process The graduate education committee will conduct an in depth review of the first year performances of each student in formal courses, laboratory rotations and teaching. The committee will provide the department faculty with review summaries and make recommendations to the faculty who will decide on qualifications of the students for continuance in the program of study. A written assessment of the student’s progress will be provided to the student and kept in the student’s file.
Comprehensive Examinations- Ph.D. Students Timing The comprehensive exam must be completed within 2 ½ years of the date of matriculation into the graduate program. This would normally be starting the exam during the summer or Fall following the 2nd year and be completed within that calendar year. A failing grade will be recorded if the examination is not completed in that time. In the case of failing grade a student will be required to satisfactorily complete the examination within 5 months of the first failure. Failure to do so will result in recording of a second failing grade and termination of the program of study. Format The examination will be a written research proposal on a topic and format chosen by the student’s dissertation advisory committee and will be in an area considered important by the committee for furtherance of the student’s education. It will be in an area outside the intended area in which the student will conduct dissertation research. It is to be a written scholarly work provided to the committee and will be orally presented and defended before the committee within the guidelines of the Dissertation Proposal - Ph.D. Students During the third year of study students are to complete a research proposal. This will typically follow similar written and oral formats as the Comprehensive Examination and will be prepared after the Comprehensive Examination. Ideally it will be submitted before the end of fall semester year 3 but no later than the end of winter semester year 3. Failure to submit it within six months of the successful completion of the comprehensive exam will be judged as unsatisfactory progress and may result in academic probation and possible loss of stipend. Teaching Experience Ph.D. students are required to spend three semesters in the department’s undergraduate course offerings. For example, in a laboratory course, the first semester is an apprentice period and will require their presence during one laboratory period. During the other two semesters they will serve as teaching assistants and will assist in the laboratory as required by the course director (currently 2 periods per week and grade, and tutor students) and will prepare and deliver one or two pre-laboratory introductory discussions per semester. Usually the T.A. experience will be obtained during the first 3 semesters but may be undertaken during other semesters as appropriate. Seminar Presentations During the second semester first year a seminar will be prepared on a topic concerned with a laboratory rotation and presented to the mentor of the rotation and the faculty teaching scientific communication (MPP 9417). Students will present one seminar each year they are enrolled in the University to a limit of 5 including the first year seminar. The topic of the seminar for the second year will be selected by the students dissertation advisory committee on a topic not related to student’s dissertation research. The student may suggest a topic. Topics for seminars beyond the second year can be dissertation related, including the proposed research and progress reports. |
