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Important Deadlines

• End of secnd semester – Course Approval Form to MCB Director & Graduate Chair.
• Beginning of fourth semester –Dissertation Committee Information (CAS#5) to the MCB Director & Graduate Chair.
• End of fourth academic semester – Dissertation Proposal approved by Dissertation Committee, Dept. Proposal Approval Form to MCB Director & Graduate Chair.
• End of sixth academic semester – Comprehensive exam finished, Recommendation to Advance Student to Candidacy for PhD Degree (CAS#6) to MCB Director & Graduate Chair.
• Graduation semester – Apply to graduate.
  • Submit dissertation to committee at least two weeks prior to defense and provide thesis title and abstract to office staff.
  • Check TAD for their deadlines.
  • Submit Report of the Oral Thesis Examination/Dissertation Defense (CAS#8) to Graduate Chair.
• End of every fall semester – MCB Graduate Student Progress Report.

Graduation Requirements

• A. Successful completion of:
  • PBIO 5170 Biological Research and Science Ethics (1 credit)
  • CHEM 5901 and CHEM 5902 Biochemistry (4 credits, each)
  • MCB 7200 Molecular Biology (3 credits)
  • MCB 7300 Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory (3 credits)
  • MCB 7600 Advanced Cell Biology (3 credits)
  • PBIO 5180 Writing in Life Sciences (3 credits)
  • PBIO 5150: Statistical Methods in Plant Biology (4 credits) or PBIO 5160: Problem Solving with Bioinformatics Tools (3 credits)
  • Two additional courses in PBIO
• Each student is required to complete a minimum of 30 graded graduate credit hours.
• Must maintain a 3.0 GPA to remain in the MCB program and to graduate. If a student receives a grade of C+ or less in more than two courses, they will be terminated from the MCB program.
• A minimum of 60 credits hours of Dissertation (PBIO 8950).
• Successful completion of MCB (7410) each year.
• Must pass a comprehensive examination composed of written and oral sections no later then the third year (i.e., 9 th semester) or face dismissal from the program.
• Must successfully complete a research dissertation, with the intent of submitting multiple publications to peer-reviewed journals.
• Must orally defend a research dissertation.

Program of Study

• A student may be co-advised by two PBIO-MCB tenure-track faculty members.
• A student may change advisors, but only after approval of the current and potential advisor, and the MCB Director. If a student leaves their advisor, for whatever reason, they must find another advisor within four weeks or before the start of the following semester. An unadvised student cannot remain in the PBIO-MCB graduate program beyond this time limit.

Doctoral Advisory Committee (DAC)

• Will advise the student of courses and requirements, conduct the comprehensive exam, approve the dissertation research proposal, and conduct the Ph.D. exam for approval of the dissertation.
• Will be chaired by the student’s advisor and must have at least four faculty members, at least three (3) of whom are MCB Faculty.
  • At lest one faculty member must not be associated with the graduate program of the home department.
  • Names must be submitted to the MCB Graduate Chair for approval (Dissertation Committee Information form) and submission to the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences.

Dissertation Proposal

• The dissertation proposal should describe a comprehensive, multi-study research project.
• The student must meet with her/his dissertation committee no later than the end of the fourth academic semester to discuss the proposal.
  • This meeting should, but does not necessarily need to be, a formal meeting for proposal approval.
  • The purpose of this meeting is to determine research direction and progress and to offer constructive criticism and suggestions on proposal improvement. 
• The dissertation committee must unanimously approve the research proposal by signing the PBIO Proposal Defense Form. The form should be presented to the Graduate Chair along with a hard copy of the proposal.
• If the research project changes substantively (i.e., hypothesis or experimental design), the student must submit an updated proposal and seek approval of the committee.
• An approved proposal will make the student eligible to take the comprehensive exam.

Comprehensive Examination

• Will contain a written and oral section.
• Must be completed before the end of the third year of study and will be planned and organized by the student and advisor.
  • Failure to take the exam on time will result in termination of the MCB program.
• Eligibility to take the Comprehensive Examination:
  • Minimum 3.00 GPA for all graduate courses.
  • An approved research proposal.
• At least four members of the Dissertation Committee will be the examiners for the exam.
  • The student should contact her/his examiners the semester before the exam to discuss expectations, exam format, and to receive reading assignments.
  • The Graduate Faculty Representative of the College of Arts and Sciences may choose not to participate. Another MCB faculty member may substitute for one of the Dissertation Committee members.
• Written section:
  • Each examiner will prepare a written examination.
  • The examinations will be scheduled over the course of 10 days, one or two per day.
  • Results of the written examination will be communicated to the student and MCB Graduate Chair by the advisor.
  • A student receiving no more than one failing vote in the written section will be permitted to retake the oral section.
• Oral section:
  • Prior to the oral examination, the student will meet with each of the examiners to discuss the results of the written section, withholding the student’s answers. The answers will become part of the student’s permanent record.
  • The oral examination will take place within two weeks after the student and MCB Graduate Chair have been notified of the results of the written section.
  • Following the oral examination, each examiner will be asked to either pass or fail the student
    • All passes: The Report of the Comprehensive Exam for the Ph.D. (CAS#4) form will be forwarded to the College of Arts and Sciences. The student may enter candidacy for the Ph.D. Degree (CAS#6).
    • Pass, one failing vote: The Report of the Comprehensive Exam for the Ph.D. (CAS#4) form will be forwarded to the MCB Graduate chair, but not dated and not signed by the MCB Graduate Chair or one examiner.
      (1) Once the examiner is satisfied, CAS#4 can be signed and dated by examiner and MCB Graduate Chair and forwarded to CAS.
    • Fail, two failing votes: a report of the comprehensive examination indicating that the student has failed will be forwarded to the College of Arts & Sciences.
  • A student who fails the comprehensive examination twice will be dismissed from the graduate program.

Ph.D. Dissertation

• The student should meet once a semester with each committee member for informal progress reports. The committee must have the option to review a chapter prior to submission for publication. Review turnaround time is four weeks.
• The dissertation must use the format provided by the Thesis and Dissertation Services (TAD) by using the template provided by TAD.
• The Ph.D. dissertation must be submitted to the committee at least two weeks (i.e. 14 days) before the examination date. The committee must approve the examination date.
• The dissertation will be orally defended in a formal, public presentation (e.g. PBIO colloquium). After the public presentation, the committee will conduct a closed-door defense to thoroughly evaluate the quality of the research. At this time, the committee will provide constructive comments to improve unsatisfactory sections.
• The oral defense must be approved unanimously, as evidenced by presenting a committee signed CAS#8 (Report on the Oral Dissertation Examination Defense) to the MCB Graduate Chair.
  • If a student receives only two passes, the committee, advisor and student should work together in an attempt to satisfy the dissenting opinion via revision or additional work.
  • If a student receives less than two passes, a report of the thesis examination (indicating that the student has failed) will be submitted and the student will be dismissed from the graduate program.
• The dissertation committee completes the Assessment of the Dissertation Form to be submitted to the MCB Graduate Chair.
• A PDF of the finalized thesis will be submitted to TAD, along with CAS#8.