A. Candidacy Exam Timing
BMB Program students must petition to take their Candidacy Examination by the end of their second year at the GSBS. Most students will therefore take the exam sometime in their second summer or in the fall of their third year of study. However, students can schedule to take the exam earlier if eligible. To be eligible to take the exam the student must have completed all GSBS and BMB Program course requirements and be in good academic standing. Students are encouraged to begin making arrangements for the exam during the Spring semester of their second year. A meeting for students who anticipate taking the exam in the Fall will be held in early January to present an overview of the exam and a tutorial on the elements of an effective research proposal.
B. Program Examination Committee and Student’s Examination Committee
The Program Director will nominate a Program Examination Committee (PEC). This shall consist of a Chair and five or six other Program Faculty who will serve for a period of up to three years. The Chair will rotate every one or two years. The responsibility of the committee will be to ensure consistency and high standards of the candidacy exam, as outlined below. The 2011/2012 Exam committee members are:
Vasanthi Jayaraman, Ph.D. (Chair)
Shane Cunha, Ph.D.
Cheng Chi Lee, Ph.D.
William Dowhan, Ph.D.
Ann-Bin Shyu, Ph.D.
Michael
Blackburn, Ph.D.
John Spudich, Ph.D.
Eric Wagner, Ph.D.
It is the responsibility of the PEC Chair to select each student's Examination Committee in consultation with the student and the student's thesis advisor. The student's Examination Committee consists of three members of the PEC, a GSBS faculty member from outside the BMB program and the Chair of the PEC who will serve as Chair of the Examination Committee. If the PEC Chair is the student’s thesis advisor, a fourth PEC member will be added to the Examination Committee, with the PEC Chair replaced by a pro-tem Chair. Expertise relevant to the student’s proposal will be an important consideration in selecting committee members, and ad hoc appointments may be made as necessary.
The responsibilities of the Examination Committee members are to read the students proposal and ask questions during the oral component of the candidacy exam. The responsibilities of the Examination Committee Chair include: 1) Advising the student regarding the exam format and procedures used for selection of Examination Committee members; 2) Ensuring that the Examination is conducted in a fair, consistent and professional manner.
C. Format for the Candidacy Examination
1. Selection of Topics
Students will write three “off topic” (see below) abstracts that could be developed into a full written proposal. The abstracts will be evaluated by the student’s advisor and then advisory committee. This committee will select the abstract that will best serve as a subject for the main written proposal. The three abstracts will be considered (along with other factors) at the final advisory committee meeting in deciding if the student should petition for candidacy. Students should do sufficient reading on the three topics so as to be certain that they can develop a full proposal based on the abstract selected.
2. Definition of “Off Topic”
The topic of each abstract and the main proposal should be different from the students planned dissertation work. The goal is to allow the student to devise their own original research plan and to learn about other areas.
The topic must be unrelated to the student’s dissertation project. The central hypothesis and specific aims should NOT:
Include work the student has already done or is planned in the dissertation project.
Overlap projects the student completed as part of a previous thesis or dissertation.
Overlap projects that are being worked on by others in the mentor’s lab, or overlap projects known to be planned by the mentor.
Be based on trivial variations of published work or of the student’s dissertation project.
Repeat experiments that have already been published or presented by others.
If an abstract or proposal is deemed by your advisory committee to be “not off-topic” the student will be required to submit another abstract.
3. Abstract Format
Abstracts will each be a maximum of one page in length excluding references. The abstracts should include background, significance and an original experimental hypothesis addressing a current gap in knowledge. The hypothesis should be the student’s own idea and not taken from any other person. However, the student can consult with their advisor to determine if the topic is indeed of topic and defendable. It should be possible for the student to develop specific aims and an original research plan from the abstract that will be used in the main proposal.
4. Final Advisory Committee Meeting, Evaluation of Abstracts, Petition for Candidacy
The student’s advisory committee has the responsibility of determining whether the abstracts written by the student are indeed off topic and are appropriate for the development into a full proposal. Students will develop the three abstracts and will present them to their advisory committee who will then choose the abstract that will be developed into a full proposal. Students matriculating in the Fall semester, must have their advisory committee meeting to approve the abstracts no later than August of their second summer to allow for approval by the September GSBS Academic Standards Committee. The schedule will be appropriately modified for students matriculating at other times during the year.
Following the approval of the advisory committee, the student will meet with the PEC Chair to decide the composition of their Candidacy Examination Committee and complete the Candidacy Exam Petition for submission to the GSBS Academic Standards Committee.
5. Writing the Proposal
The proposal should be prepared by the student without assistance from any faculty member. The completed proposal should be emailed to the members of the examining committee fourteen days prior to the candidacy examination date. The Research Proposal should include Title Page, Abstract (350 words or less), Specific Aims, Background and Significance, Research Design and Methods, and References as described below: The entire proposal should not exceed 15 pages (excluding references, abstract and title page). Please number pages. Use 11 point Arial font and 1 inch margins.
- Specific Aims: State concisely and realistically what the research is intended to accomplish and/or what hypothesis is to be tested. Do not exceed one page.
- Background and Significance: Briefly sketch the background to the present proposal, critically evaluate existing knowledge, and specifically identify gaps which the research is intended to fill. State concisely the importance of the research by relating the specific aims to longer term objectives. Do not exceed three pages.
- Research Design and Methods: Briefly summarize the experimental design and the procedures to be used to accomplish the specific aims of this research. Include a description of the types of data to be obtained and how they will be analyzed to accomplish the specific aims.
6. Candidacy Exam
The candidacy exam must be held within 8 weeks of obtaining the approval by the GSBS Academic Standards Committee.
The student will email the exam to the committee 14 days prior to the scheduled exam date.
The student is responsible for reserving a room for the exam for a three hour period and for informing the exam committee of the exam date and location.
The exam will begin with a 30 min oral presentation by the student on the written proposal. This will be followed by questions from the examining committee. The results of the exam will then be decided at a closed door executive session with the committee following the GSBS guidelines.
