Previous General Exam Guidelines
General Exam: Oral Component
Prior to the oral examination, a graduate student in the Department of Genome Sciences will have successfully completed a written thesis proposal.
A. At least one week before the oral examination, the student will provide the committee members with a synopsis (one page max) of the thesis proposal.
B. During the oral examination the student is expected to:
- Give a brief (15-20 minutes) presentation of the thesis project: salient background, major questions and results to date, and projections for the immediate future.
Answer questions concerning the bases of experimental procedures employed, the conclusions drawn from the results to date, and possible alternate strategies.
Be able to demonstrate an understanding of other experimental approaches being used in other laboratories to answer the same and related questions (which may use other organisms, prokaryotic or eukaryotic).
- Be able to describe and evaluate the major experimental and/or conceptual foundations of the thesis project (for example, much current work with eukaryotes is conceptually indebted to earlier work on prokaryotic systems).
C. Examination Format:
- The committee should meet alone before the examination to review the students record and the results of the written proposal.
The chair person of the exam committee shall be someone other than the thesis advisor to encourage objectivity in the conduct of the examination. The chairperson will ensure that the lines of inquiry adhere to the guidelines in section B above. (Following completion of the exam s/he may also serve to convey to the student and advisor any specific suggestions and criticisms made by the committee.)
The thesis advisor must refrain from volunteering information during the questioning unless requested to do so by other members of the committee.
Sufficient time without interruption should be available for each examiner to pursue a line of inquiry. ("Sufficient time" should be agreed upon by the committee members prior to commencing the exam.)
- After consulting with the thesis advisor, the committee shall make its appraisal of the student's performance with both the student and the advisor out of the room.
General Exam: Written Component
Successful progression into candidacy for the Ph.D. demands mastery of research approaches and relevant scientific literature. To this end, graduate students in Genome Sciences are now required to write up the plan of their thesis research in the format similar to that required for federal grant proposals. This requirement is intended to encourage thoughtful design of an effective research strategy and comprehensive understanding of the relevant issues at an early stage of the overall research effort.
Format:
The thesis proposal should be 12-15 pages long (double spaced in 11-point or 12-point font) not including additional pages of figures and references. The various sections and their approximate lengths should be as indicated below:
Research Plan (1 page)
Briefly describe the key issues and how you plan to achieve an experimental solution. You should specify one or more clear-cut hypotheses and define a few (2-5) Specific Aims that will enable you to test each hypothesis.
Background (3-4 pages)
Describe in detail how this problem has been studied in the past, what was learned, what remains unsolved, and why.
Preliminary Findings (2-3 pages)
Describe work you already have done on the problem and discuss your data. If relevant data are lacking, describe related kinds of work you have done and how the skills and findings learned from this work influences your plans for the proposed work.
Methods of Procedure (3-4 pages)
Detail the technical aspects of your planned work with regard to each of your Specific Aims. What specific experimental procedures will you employ? Where applicable, justify your use of the specific procedures chosen as opposed to others that may be available.
Alternative Approaches (1-2 pages)
You should be prepared in your oral examination to discuss how the broader scientific issues you are proposing to address in your work might be studied in another experimental system (preferably in another organism). Outline at least one such alternative approach here in your written preparation.
Significance (1 page)
How might you expect your future findings to advance scientific knowledge more broadly and/or benefit human welfare?
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