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Education / Graduate Education / PhD Programs / Biochemistry & Molecular Biology / Curriculum / Handbook / Qualifying Exam

Qualifying Examination

The purpose of the Qualifying Examination is to determine whether the student is qualified and competent to continue work toward a Ph.D. in Biochemistry. It is primarily a means of determining the potential of the student for independent thought, experimental acumen, comprehension of the general field, and potential for exploiting a relevant problem in a scientifically sound manner. Research productivity and potential is also a factor in passing the examination. 

The examination will be administered by the student’s thesis advisory committee, excluding the advisor and including one or more faculty assigned by the Graduate Advisory Committee or Program Director. The advisor may be present during the examination but will not be a voting member of the committee and will not participate in the exam unless consulted by the committee. Non-voting members of the committee may participate in the exam, but do not vote on the exam’s outcome. A report written by the Graduate Advisory Committee representative will be submitted to the student and included in the file.

The examining procedure involves preparation by the student of a written Ph.D. thesis research proposal. Because a career in science will undoubtedly involve submission and defense of research projects (whether in an academic or industrial setting) we recommend using a modified NIH proposal outline as described below. The qualifying exam should be completed by October 15 of the third year of graduate study. 

Students must have completed a minimum of 24 hours of course work credit, as outlined above, at the time of the Qualifying Exam. The Plan B Master’s Degree will be awarded upon successful completion of this examination. If the examination is not passed, the exam committee may allow the student to take a second exam. The second exam must be taken after 5 months but no later than 6 months following the first exam.

Procedure:

  1. Schedule Qualifying Examination with committee members and the faculty member appointed to the exam committee a minimum of 6 weeks prior to the exam.
  2. At least 6 weeks prior to the exam, inform the program Coordinator of date/time of the exam, confirm committee members and schedule a room. At least 25 business days prior to the exam, submit title and abstract (30 lines of text maximum) online currently. The Graduate Studies Coordinator will complete paperwork and submit to the Registrar.
  3. Submit a copy of the proposal a minimum of 10 business days before the exam to each committee member and the Graduate Studies Coordinator.
  4. The annual Research Review form may be completed at the time of the Qualifying Exam. The form is available in the department office. Please return to Graduate Studies Coordinator.
The proposal should not exceed 14 double spaced pages (type font set at Arial 11 with margins set to 0.5 inches on all sides). Page lengths are based on standard double spaced pages. Include page numbers for sections 1-4 indicated (see below). A title and abstract page is required at the time of registration and does not count towards the page limit. A face page should be included with the title of your proposal, your name, the date of the oral exam, exam location (or Zoom link), and your Ph.D. advisor’s name. The abstract should not be longer than 30 lines of text. The format and length of the proposal is like a pre-doctoral fellowship application, which you will be strongly encouraged to apply for.





The proposal should be the student’s own work and should be in the student’s own words; however, the student may consult with their advisor and colleagues for advice. Refreshments should not be provided by the student for the examination.

  1. Specific Aims: State concisely and realistically what the research described in the proposal is intended to accomplish and/or what hypothesis is to be tested. Do not exceed two pages.
  2. Significance: Briefly sketch the background to the proposal and critically evaluate existing knowledge. State concisely the importance of the research described in the proposal by relating the specific aims to longer term objectives. This section should be approximately 2-3 pages long.
  3. Preliminary Studies: This section should summarize the work that has been done by the student and others to indicate that the proposal is realistic and significant in scope. Graphs, diagrams, tables, and charts relevant to this section can be included as "Appendix" material. Make sure to properly cite figures with legends, text or appendix material. This section should be approximately 2-3 pages long.
  4. Proposed Experiments: Discuss the experimental design and the procedures to be used to accomplish the specific aims of the work described in the proposal. Describe the protocols to be used and a tentative timetable for the investigation. Include how the data will be analyzed and interpreted. Describe new methodology and its advantage over existing methodology. Discuss the potential difficulties and limitations of the proposed procedures and alternative approaches to achieve the aims. Include information about species of animals to be used. There is no page limitation for this section but make every attempt to be concise. This section should be approximately 6-8 pages long.
  5. References: Use a standard journal format (with titles, and a full list of authors, up to 10 authors). Note: The Reference section is not included in the page limit.
  6. Appendix: Graphs, diagrams, tables, and charts, all with proper citations and legends, supporting the proposal should be included in this section. Note: The Appendix is not counted in the 14-page limit.


The student is expected to present an overview of the thesis research proposal for the first 15-20 minutes using blackboard, slides or overhead projector. The committee will then examine the student orally. A typical examination will take between two and three hours. The candidate is judged on the written and oral presentation; a grasp of the fundamental issues; the ability to apply the background from formal course work to problems related to the proposal; and a demonstration of critical assessment of results. It is important to recognize that while the written proposal serves as a focus for the oral examination, questions about distantly related areas will be raised. The Qualifying Examination will be evaluated using the official program rubric, which is provided in the Appendix of this handbook.
The Chair of the examining committee or the committee will discuss with the student the strengths and weaknesses of the qualifying exam performance and will inform the student of whether they have passed the examination. The Chair will also report whether the students has passed or failed to the Senior Associate Sean for Graduate Studies of the Medical School and to the Graduate Studies Coordinator, who will inform the Director of Graduate Studies. 

If the student passes pending modifications to the thesis proposal, they will be given 14 calendar days from the time the student receives the committee’s feedback to make the necessary revisions. 

If the student fails the examination, the student’s performance will be reviewed for the BMB faculty, and a recommendation will be made to the Senior Associate Dean of Graduate Studies. The recommendation may be that the student must retake the qualifying examination or that they must leave the program.