Preliminary Exam Guidelines 2006–2007
- Graduate Studies Committee will select all members of the Examining Committee, including the Chair. The committee will be comprised of 3-4 individuals with broad expertise, including cognate members with relevant expertise from another department.
- The student will identify three topics from the most recent issues of the following: Annual Reviews of Immunology, Cell Biology, Microbiology, Genetics or Biochemistry. The student will submit the citation and a brief (one or two sentence) synopsis of the topic to the Graduate Studies committee. Topics must not be related to the research being done in the student’s lab.
- The Graduate Studies committee will select one of the topics. Michelle Melis will then notify the students of the choice and who will serve on the Examining Committees.
- The student will prepare a grant proposal on some aspect of that topic; the proposal must have two specific aims and the length should be no more than 15 pages single-spaced. The student must work independently in developing the proposal. Students are encouraged to have practice prelims with their colleagues.
- The Proposal is due four weeks from the date on which the student is notified of the topic.
- The exam should be taken within 10 days of proposal submission. This year, Michelle Melis will be scheduling the exam dates and times.
- At the exam, the student is allowed to use one overhead or figure and no other notes or slides. Emphasis should be on knowledge of the topic and related biology, and the experiments the student has designed to carry out the specific aims.
- The Examining Committee will prepare a written summary statement describing the student’s strength and weaknesses. The exam committee may make a recommendation regarding the outcome of the exam, pass, fail, remediate.
- The final decision regarding the exam outcome and progression to Ph.D. candidacy will be made in timely fashion by the Graduate Studies Committee, taking into account the student’s performance on the preliminary exam as summarized by the Examining Committee, as well as performance in the classroom and in the laboratory.
- Students are required to submit a final copy of their written proposal to Michelle Melis, Graduate Studies Coordinator, for their file. A copy of this year’s schedule can be found here.
