Curriculum: Doctorate

Doctor of Philosophy Degrees

The awarding of a Ph.D. degree requires the successful completion of formal courses and demonstration of accomplishments in basic research, qualifying examinations, scientific writing and formal presentations of research data. Your ultimate goal is to demonstrate capabilities as an independent investigator. A student admitted to Graduate Studies for the Ph.D. is considered an aspirant for the degree. After passing the Comprehensive Oral Exam, you will become a candidate for the Ph.D. degree.

The general mission of graduate education for the Ph.D. degrees within Molecular Biosciences is to enhance your academic knowledge base, teaching ability, communication ability, and, in-depth basic research ability within a particular scientific area in the discipline.

Specifically:

1. To provide academic training in current knowledge in the field through graduate-level coursework;
2. To develop in-depth basic research ability in a particular area within the discipline, through basic at-the-bench research, which will advance the knowledge in the field and allow the student to operate as an independent investigator in applied or basic research;
3. To develop instructional skills through teaching undergraduate laboratories;
4. To develop substantive writing ability through completion of a dissertation or manuscript on the research performed; and,
5. To provide overall training which will:
1. Allow you to obtain further training in a post-doctoral program;
2. Qualify you for an instructional/undergraduate research position in a four-year college or university academic unit which offers both bachelor's and master's degrees; and/or
3. Qualify you for a research scientist or postdoctoral position in industry.

General Requirements for All Ph.D. Students

Graduate Studies Requirements—All Graduate Studies requirements as explicitly stated in the Graduate Studies Catalog must be fulfilled, including the Foreign Language or Research Skills (FLORS) requirement.

Departmental Requirements—Please refer to each degree discipline area listed below to determine specific course requirements in conjunction with the following general requirements for the Ph.D.

1. At least three individual lab rotations are required for each new graduate student during the first year of graduate study.
2. Enrollment in Molecular Biosciences Seminar (BIOL 701) is required every semester.
3. Completion of a common core curriculum (see below).
4. A Foreign Language or Research Skill (FLORS) requirement must be met (satisfied by completion of BIOL 818).
5. Two semesters (minimum) of graduate teaching are required.
6. Before the beginning of the second year of graduate study, a graduate advisory committee must be established. This committee must meet at least once per year.
7. Students must enroll in “Research Grant Proposal Preparation” (BIOL 925) in the spring semester of the second year. A written preliminary exam in the form of a research proposal must be completed by the end of the course. Successful completion of the research proposal allows for scheduling of the Comprehensive Oral Exam.
8. The Comprehensive Oral Exam must be held no later than October 1st of the third year of graduate study.
9. Upon successful completion of formal coursework and research, candidates present, for evaluation by a dissertation examination committee, a dissertation based on original research. The dissertation is presented and defended in a formal public lecture.
10. Students must complete the degree within seven years. Exceptions to this requirement require a recommendation for extension of study by the Department's Graduate Director and Chairperson, and approval by Graduate Studies.

First-Year Course Requirements for All Ph.D. Students

1. Topics in Molecular Biosciences (MB Seminar)—BIOL 701 (every semester)
2. Graduate Molecular Biosciences—BIOL 807 (fall)
3. Techniques in Molecular Biosciences—BIOL 818 (fall)
4. Laboratory Rotations—BIOL 985 (both semesters)

Second-Year Course Requirements for All Ph.D. Students

1. Topics in Molecular Biosciences (MB Seminar)—BIOL 701 (every semester)
2. Research Grant Proposal Preparation—BIOL 925 (spring)

Specific Course Requirements by Degree

Research Proposal Requirement

Students must enroll in “Research Grant Proposal Preparation” (BIOL 925) and must complete and submit a research proposal by the end of the spring semester of the second year of graduate study. This proposal will be written in the format of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) or National Science Foundation (NSF) grant proposal. The proposal must develop a research topic related to the general areas of molecular biosciences. The student, in consultation with your Graduate Advisory Committee, decides upon the topic of the research proposal. The successful completion of the research proposal is required before scheduling the Comprehensive Oral Exam.

Comprehensive Oral Examination

Once Ph.D. aspirants have successfully completed the required formal courses, research proposal requirement, and FLORS requirement, the Comprehensive Oral Examination will be scheduled. This examination must be held by October 1 of the third year of graduate study. Exceptions to this deadline require approval by the student’s Graduate Advisory Committee. Your Comprehensive Oral Exam Committee will give the exam. You must provide each committee member with a final copy of the proposal at least 3 weeks before the exam takes place. Your Major Advisor may not attend the exam but will instead submit a letter to the Chairperson of the committee, providing a detailed justification of your preparedness for the exam or your absence of qualifications for admission to Ph.D. candidacy. After the exam and discussion of the Major Advisor's letter, committee members will decide whether or not you passed, thus becoming a candidate for the Ph.D. degree. The Graduate Program Assistant will forward this decision to the College Office of Graduate Affairs.

IMPORTANT: The exam must be scheduled with the College Office of Graduate Affairs at least two weeks before the exam actually takes place. This means that, after receiving approval from your Major Advisor and Comprehensive Oral Exam Committee, you must notify the Graduate Program Assistant to get scheduling assistance (date, time, location) and complete the Do-All form to send to the College Office of Graduate Affairs.

Exam Format: You will defend your research proposal to the Comprehensive Oral Exam Committee. The committee will also examine you with respect to more general subject areas (not necessarily related to the research proposal) associated with your research, formal coursework and scientific literature of all areas of the discipline. Proficiency levels on the orals exam are divided up into eight separate skill components. These are outlined in the Forms Appendix.

Performance on the examination will be rated as “Honors,” “Satisfactory,” or “Unsatisfactory” and this rating will be submitted to the College Office of Graduate Affairs. If you receive a rating of “Unsatisfactory”, you may retake the exam, but no earlier than three (3) months, and no later than six (6) months after the date of the first exam. If you do not retake the exam by the six-month time limit, you will not be allowed to complete the Ph.D. program. If there are unusual circumstances, you may, with approval from your mentor and graduate committee, petition the Graduate Program and Policy Committee of the Department to retake the comprehensive oral examination after the six-month time limit. Under no circumstances will you be allowed to take the Comprehensive Oral Examination more than twice. If you fail to receive a rating of “Satisfactory” after the second attempt, you will not be allowed to continue in the Ph.D. program.

Final Oral Defense Of Dissertation

Once the Comprehensive Oral Exam has successfully been completed, you will form a Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Committee. This is usually the Comprehensive Oral Exam Committee plus the Major Advisor. This committee is responsible for giving you permission to begin writing of the dissertation. At least three members of this committee will be selected as dissertation readers (one of these being the Major Advisor). Once the final draft of the dissertation has been accepted and approved by the Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Committee, the Final Dissertation Defense is scheduled with the Graduate Program Assistant. All dissertation readers must be present at the exam.

Following the successful defense of dissertation, the Committee will decide if the result was deemed “Honors” or “Satisfactory.” This decision will be forwarded to the Graduate School.

Dissertations are now to be submitted electronically. Check out http://www2.ku.edu/~etd/ for instructions.