Department Exam

Important Deadlines:

• September, Year 2 - Sstudents work with their advisor to identify and contact the 3 faculty they would like to have serve on their committee to confirm faculty willingness to serve.
• Fall quarter, Year 2- Students receive final Department Exam Committee assignment.

Students begin planning their thesis work during the summer after their first year of graduate school. An important aspect is the choice of thesis committee members. The Second Year Exam Committee forms the basis of the eventual thesis committee and consists of three faculty: two inside the student’s research track and one outside the student’s research track. Students first consult with their advisor(s) on the choice of appropriate committee members and then they contact the potential committee members to request their participation on the committee. Students are urged to discuss their 2nd year exam committee membership with their advisor to make sure the choices are scientifically appropriate. Additionally, students are advised that some faculty members may be overcommitted, in which case an alternate(s) will need to be identified.  Advisors and Co-Advisors will not serve as a member of the 2nd year committee. Once the three faculty have agreed to serve, the student submits the list of their Second Year Exam Committee to the Graduate Affairs Committee for final approval. Students will receive their Second Year Exam Committee assignments during the Fall quarter of Year 2 of the PhD program. Second Year Exam Committee members normally continue to serve on the student's Doctoral Committee.

Important Deadlines

• Friday Week 8, Fall quarter Year 2 - Approval from research advisor is required before submitting final proposal to committee.
• Friday Week 10, Fall quarter, Year 2 - Final Research Proposal due to Second Year Exam Committee Members. 

For the first component of the Second Year Exam format, students will prepare a Written Research Proposal. The Research Proposal is a grant-writing exercise that takes place during the Fall of the 2nd year. Students are strongly encouraged to consult with their advisor and Second Year Exam Committee in the preparation of their Research Proposal. 

The Written Research Proposal is designed to:

• Encourage the student and research advisor to work together at an early stage to develop a research project.
• Train the student in formulating hypotheses and developing strategies to test their hypotheses.
• Have the student become familiar with the background literature relevant to their project and to see how their project fits into the bigger picture.
• To have each student and their advisor enlist members of his/her Dissertation Committee early in the graduate career and to begin to solicit help from their committee members.
• Develop writing skills of the student, particularly for proposals/fellowships.

Written Research Proposal Content:

Students should work with their advisor and Committee members as soon as possible. When reviewing the research proposal, the Second Year Exam Committee members will be looking at whether the research proposal focuses on a significant problem, the methods are appropriate and rigorous, the research has been thoroughly and carefully designed, pitfalls have been considered and alternatives can be accomplished in a reasonable period of time. While students should seek guidance from their research advisor, the Research Proposal should be written independently by the student.

Written Research Proposal Format:

The written proposal should be maximum 6 pages in length and must include specific aims, background, approach, expected outcomes, potential pitfalls and alternative solutions, figures/tables, and no more than 50 references. (The references do NOT count towards the 6-page limit). The document should be single-spaced using a font size of 11 points and 1-inch margins. Preliminary data are not required for the proposal, but can be included if appropriate.

Written Research Proposal Feedback:

By Friday of Week 10 of Fall quarter of the 2nd year, students must have obtained final approval of their proposal from their Research Advisor and must have submitted a copy to their Committee. The Research Advisor should include additional comments about the Written Research Proposal in their 2nd Year Research Evaluation of the student.

Committee members will evaluate the written proposals and provide feedback by early January directly to the student.  Your committee will choose one of three options as the outcome. The options are:

If all three committee members assign A or Bs, you can proceed with the scheduling of the oral portion of the exam. If you receive a C, you will have to send the committee a revised proposal and the committee has to approve it before you can schedule the oral exam. The student must then pass both the Written and Oral Presentations in Winter Quarter in order to pass the 2nd Year Exam.

Important Deadlines:

• Winter Quarter, Year 2 - Confirm Oral Defense date/time with Committee
• Friday Finals Week Winter Quarter, Year 2 - Successfully pass the Oral Research Proposal Defense

The second component of the Second Year Exam consists of an Oral Defense of the Research Proposal. The student will orally defend the Research Proposal in front of the same 3-member Committee who approved the Written Research Proposal.

The purposes of the Oral Defense of the Research Proposal are:

• To develop the student's oral presentation skills.
• To test the student’s understanding of core material from the first year track curriculum, particularly that relevant to their research area.
• To test the student’s understanding of topics relating to the student’s research project including (but not limited to) the background literature, the “big picture” into which their research fits, the methods that the student plans to use and their appropriate choice for the questions being asked.

Research Evaluation from Research Advisor:

Prior to the Oral Exam, the student’s Research Advisor will complete a research evaluation that will be shared with the Second Year Exam Committee and the student. The evaluation should be submitted to Student Affairs at least one week prior to the exam date for inclusion in the student’s exam folder, for the Committee’s review.

Exam Format and Feedback:

The Oral Exam should take approximately 60 min, of which no more than 30 minutes should consist of the student’s presentation, and 30 minutes for questioning. Questions posed by the Committee will cover the area of the student’s presentation as well as fundamental principles of all relevant disciplines of Biochemistry and/or Molecular Biophysics, especially as they relate to the proposal.

At the end of the oral presentation and examination, the Committee will deliberate under direction of the Chair of the 2nd year exam committee and deliver a critique of oral presentation of the proposal according to the rubric. The results shall be conveyed to the student immediately and to the Student Affairs office via email.

Satisfactory performance on the oral exam will permit the student to proceed with full time research as well as earn the MS coursework degree for qualified Ph.D. students. Unsatisfactory performance may necessitate re-writing or re-presenting the oral defense, or result in a recommendation that the student withdraw from the program.

Scheduling the Exam

Students are responsible for coordinating with their committee to schedule a two-hour, in-person exam. All committee members must attend in person unless prior approval for a hybrid format is granted by both the Research Advisor and the Vice Chair. Begin scheduling early to ensure the exam is completed by the end of Winter Quarter. 

Once the exam date is confirmed, it is strongly recommended that students send a calendar invite to all committee members to ensure the time is reserved on their schedules.

Exams may not be scheduled on weekends or university holidays, for example:

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Presidents Day
• CBC Graduate Recruitment Days

Room Reservations and AV Requests

After confirming the date and time with all committee members, students must submit a Room Reservation Request no later than Week 5 of Winter Quarter and at least two weeks prior to the exam. Student Affairs will send room confirmations and distribute exam notices via email. Conference room details and availability can be found on our website.. 

PhD students are eligible to receive an MS degree in Chemistry if they meet the criteria below. Students should indicate to Student Affairs of their intent to obtain an MS degree no later that Friday Week 2 of the quarter they plan to obtain the degree/meet criteria. 

Eligibility:

• Achieve a minimum overall GPA of 3.0.
• No prior MS degree in the field of Chemistry or related.
• Complete/In Progress a minimum of 36 units. Note the following stipulations.
  • All courses must be taken for a letter grade unless offered S/U only.
  • Complete a minimum of 16 units of letter-graded (A, B, etc.) courses.
  • Lower-division courses may not be applied towards the degree.
  • A maximum of 12 units upper-division coursework may be applied. Requires pre-approval from Vice Chair.
  • A minimum of 24 units of graduate-level coursework. Of which a minimum of 14 units of Chemistry graduate level courses are required. Courses taken outside of the department must be approved by the Vice Chair.
  • A maximum of 8 units of non-thesis research (CHEM 298), maximum of 2 units of Teaching Methods (CHEM 509), and maximum of 2 units of Chemistry seminars may be used towards the 36 units requirement.
  • CHEM 251 and CHEM 299 may not be applied.
• Be part of the CH75 or CH84 PhD programs.
• Successfully complete the 2nd Year Exam.

For a visual chart to look at these requirements, please click on the link below.

BMB - Coursework Map for Plan II MS Along the Way.

Please email chem-gradadvising@ucsd.edu for any questions about coursework and eligibility.