For all students

• The written exam is a proposal based on the student’s potential thesis research, although it can be on a non-thesis topic.
• The format is an NIH-style, 15-page grant proposal complete with Abstract, Specific Aims, Background/Introduction, and Research Design and Methods sections.
• The proposal is developed in the Grant Writing course (PHCO 732), and a pre-proposal must be approved before writing the full document.
• The student has 6 weeks to write the full proposal, which is evaluated by a committee of four faculty members
• The oral exam is a 2-hour oral defense of the written proposal administered by the same faculty from the written exam.
• Upon successful completion of both the written and oral exams, the student spends full time in the laboratory on their thesis project.

• Required Courses
• Examples of Individual Curricula
  • BBSP
  • MSTP
• Qualifying Exams
• Dissertation Research
• Dissertation Completion