Oral Qualifying Examination

The oral qualifying examination is the second part of the qualifying examination and must be taken within the six- to nine-month period following the date of successfully completing the written qualifying examination. This period starts from the date of sitting for the written qualifying examination. The student cannot take the oral examination without having first passed the written examination. The oral examination is held in the presence of the Advisory Committee and must be scheduled by the student so that all members of the Advisory Committee can attend.

If you are unable to meet this requirement, a letter to the Governing Committee must be submitted by the student and signed by the student's advisor as to why the delay in the oral examination prior to the deadline. The student must include a proposed date in which this requirement will be met. The Governing Committee will review the request and forward their recommendations to the student and his or her advisor.

The purpose of the oral qualifying examination is to test the student's ability to verbally express his or her basic knowledge of biochemistry, particularly in the areas of (1) the student's anticipated field of study towards the Ph.D. thesis and (2) any demonstrated weakness as revealed from answers to the written qualifying examination. The exact format of the oral examination is determined by the student's advisor and, at the advisor's discretion, consultation with the rest of the Advisory Committee.

The student is required to present to each of the members of the Advisory Committee, at least one week prior to the date of the oral examination, a short (10-20 pages) description of the proposed Ph.D. thesis research project and/or preliminary results towards the thesis. A copy of this proposal should be forwarded to the Director of the Program, for your file. In addition, it is required that the student provide a brief presentation (20-30 minutes) of their accomplishments so far undertaken towards the Ph.D. thesis and/or of the anticipated area of study.

The purpose of this examination is to determine whether after two years of course work and time at the bench in the laboratory a student can put together a coherent series of experiments addressing a particular well-focused topic. These experiments should be well thought-out, well-controlled, and backed-up by an alternative approach. The student should be able to predict and interpret the potential outcomes of these experiments, and to place the outcomes in the context of how this moves the field forward. In theory, this is what one does each time one writes a grant proposal, and for our specific use as a tool in the candidacy process, significant preliminary data ARE NOT REQUIRED.

The Advisory Committee may ask any questions of the student pertaining to any aspect of the student's written or oral description of proposed thesis work, to any perceived weakness in the student's understanding of the basic biochemistry of his or her proposed area of work, and/or to any aspect or area of biochemistry or related subjects that any of the Advisory Committee members consider the student should have a basic understanding.

The length of the Oral Qualifying Examination is unspecified, but normally runs between two or three hours.