Qualifying Exams

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.