Ph.D. Degree Policy
Dissertation Committee
Within six months following successful completion of the Qualifying Examination, the student proposes a Dissertation Committee comprising at least four members of the faculty, at least three of whom are members of the Molecular Biophysics Graduate Program. At the time of the Dissertation Defense, this Committee may be augmented by an additional member from outside the University. The constitution of the Dissertation Committee must be approved by the Steering Committee.
Within thirty days after forming the Dissertation Committee, the student presents to the Discussion Committee a written summary of his or her proposed dissertation research project and preliminary research progress toward the project's goals. This initial meeting generally involves a thirty-minute oral presentation by the student, followed by discussion and suggestions from the members of the Committee.
Every student must hold at least one meeting of his or her Dissertation Committee each year. Additional meetings may be called at any time by the student or by the Committee. The Dissertation Committee provides a written evaluation of the student's progress based on research accomplished, course grades, and journal club and other presentations.
Dissertation Defense
A complete copy of the dissertation must be approved by the Dissertation Committee before a public dissertation defense can be scheduled. The defense is composed of a public lecture describing the main observations of the research, followed by an oral examination by the Dissertation Committee. Attendance during the oral examination is restricted to faculty of the Graduate School and participation is restricted to the examination committee.
Master of Science (M.S.) Degree Policy
Only students intending to achieve the Ph.D. degree are admitted to the Molecular Biophysics (MB) Graduate Program. Circumstances may arise, however, in which a student must leave the University before completing all requirements of a doctorate degree. In those cases a student may petition the MB program for permission to seek a Master of Science (M.S.) degree. The petition's merit will be evaluated based on the the student's academic and research progress as well as advice from the student's Dissertation Advisory or Qualifying Exam committee and research mentor. Final approval of the request to transfer to the M.S. track will be the decision of the Program Chair.
Once a petition is approved, the student and mentor are committed to timely completion of degree requirements and thesis defense. When the thesis M.S. track is chosen, an M.S. Degree Advisory committee will be assembled by the Program Chair after consultations with the student and mentor and will consist of no fewer than three members (including mentor) with at least two MB Program members. The M.S. Degree Advisory committee can consist of a pre-existing Dissertation Advisory committee or can be assembled de novo.
Requirements of the M.S. degree are:
Completion of all program course requirements with a minimum G.P.A of 3.0.
AND
Passing the Candidacy Qualifying Exam OR Completion of a thesis based on an approved M.S. research project.
A written M.S. thesis will be considered complete when it is equivalent in scope to a scientific publication in the mentor's field of research, defended before the M.S. Degree Advisory committee and submitted to the graduate school within 12 months of submitting the M.S petition.
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