Students
The Advancement to Candidacy Exam requires students to demonstrate critical thinking skills as they integrate knowledge derived from didactic coursework and research experience into a research proposal, and will be offered by the Department in August/September of each year.
Exam consists of a three-step process:
Students who have passed the comprehensive exam may review further instructions and forms here.
Students will submit a Research Proposal (10 pages maximum) to the student's examination committee and Graduate Program Coordinator via e-mail by mid-August (specific date to be announced by the Graduate Program Coordinator). Although it is anticipated that this proposal will describe the student's thesis research, it is not required that the research proposal specifically address a student's thesis research. The research proposal will be used as the basis for the public seminar, the written exam, and the oral exam.
Proposal Format
A proposal that follows the NRSA format is required for advancement to candidacy within the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. The proposal will consist of an abstract and a research plan as described below.
Required Sections
Title
A brief descriptive title of the research project.
Abstract
State the broad long-term objectives and specific aims. Describe concisely the research design and methods for achieving these goals. Avoid the use of the first person. This description is meant to serve as a succinct and accurate description of the proposed work when separated from the proposal. Do not exceed 250 words.
Research Plan
This consists of four sections, a through d. Organize these items to answer the following questions:
- What do you intend to do?
- Why is the work important?
- What has already been done?
- How are you going to do the work?
Do not exceed 10 pages for Items a through d, combined. All tables, graphs, figures, diagrams, and charts must be included within the 10 page limit. The 10 page limit will be strictly enforced. Applications that exceed this limit, or use a type size less than 10 point font or 15 cpi, or have more than 6 lines of type within a vertical inch, will be returned without review. The following format and page distribution is strongly recommended.
- Specific Aims : List the broad, long-term objectives and what the specific research proposed in this application is intended to accomplish. State the hypotheses to be tested. One page is recommended.
- Background and Significance : Briefly sketch the background leading to the present application, critically evaluate existing knowledge, and specifically identify the gaps which the project is intended to fill. Two to three pages are recommended.
- Preliminary Studies/Progress Report : Use this section to provide an account of your preliminary studies pertinent to the proposal and/or any other information that will help to establish your experience and competence to pursue the proposed project.
- Research Design and Methods. Describe the research design and the procedures to be used to accomplish the specific aims of the project. Include how the data will be collected, analyzed, and interpreted. Describe any new methodology and its advantage over existing methodologies. Discuss the potential difficulties and limitations of the proposed procedures and alternative approaches to achieve the aims. As part of this section, provide a tentative sequence or timetable for the project. Although no specific number of pages is recommended for this section of the application, the total for Items a through may not exceed 10 pages, including all tables and figures.
Literature Cited
Include a complete list of all literature cited within the proposal. Each reference must include the title, names of all authors, book or journal, volume number, page numbers, and year of publication for all cited works. The references should be limited to relevant and current literature. While there is no page limit for the references and it is not included in the ten page limit for the Research Plan, it is important to select only those literature references pertinent to the proposed research.
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The written exam will take place within three weeks after submission of the written proposal, September 5, 2008. The written exam will consist of one 6-hour afternoon session. The written exam will consist of a menu of six specific questions based on the student’s research proposal. For example, these questions could be more searching questions relating to the proposed methods, could probe weaknesses in the proposal, or could ask about the rationale for the proposal.
The six questions will be developed by the Examination Committee (see below). The proposal is the main basis for the questions on the written exam. Faculty will have an opportunity to ask questions on the written exam, or in the oral, that may be research area specific but that relate to the student's proposal. The student will be required to answer four of the six questions. The exam will be open-book.
A 4-person Examining Committee will be selected for each candidate. The committee will consist of the candidate's advisor, as Chair, and three additional Faculty members. All committee members, except the candidate's advisor, are allowed to vote on whether the candidate passes or fails to subsequent exam sequence. In exceptional circumstances, additional members could join the student's Examining Committee. The Examining Committee Chairman (student advisor) is responsible for compiling the written exam, and ensuring that the exam questions are reasonable and fair. If a committee member does not agree with the Examination Committee Chairman with regard to the appropriateness of a question, a majority vote of the committee will determine whether the question is included in the examination. The student's advisor will not select the written questions; this will be a committee selection process. The Graduate Program Director will receive the questions from each Examination Committee Chair; the director will then compile and administer the exam, and be responsible for distributing the student’s responses to questions. The graded exams should be presented to the Examination Committee Chair, who will compile the results and obtain an overall grade of pass or fail from the Committee members. This information will be transmitted to the Graduate Program Director.
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After the written exam, students will orally present their proposal in a Seminar. The seminar will be open to all faculty and students. The student is responsible for setting the date with thier committee and seeking approval of that date from the Graduate Program Coordinator. The Examining Committee will be expected to attend. All faculty and students (except the Committee) may ask questions at the seminar. Immediately following the seminar, the Examining Committee will meet in closed session to orally examine the candidate. Questions will probe the research proposal and answers to the written exam questions. The Graduate Program Director may appoint a non-voting observer to participate in the exam if it is believed that this would be helpful.
Following the oral exam (which should not exceed two hours except in unusual circumstances), the candidate will be asked to leave, and the Examining Committee will discuss his/her performance based on (1) the research proposal, (2) the written exam and (3) the seminar and oral defense. See, Guidelines for Grading the Advancement to Candidacy Exam. A majority of the voting members of the Committee must vote to pass the candidate in each of these areas. Students will not be advanced to candidacy until they have passed all 3 sections of the exam. The candidate will immediately be notified of his/her grade -- pass or fail by the Examining Committee. In the case of a failure, a summary of the Examining Committee's findings will be prepared within one week and submitted to the student. The Examining Committee will indicate the reasons for the grade and which components of the exam should be retaken.
Students will be given one additional opportunity to retake the written and/or oral components upon failing. The retest will take place within one semester after the initial Advancement to Candidacy Exam. A second failure will result in dismissal from the Ph.D. program.
All components of the Advancement to Candidacy Exam should be completed by the end of the 6th semester.
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What should I do after I pass the exam?
After students pass the exam, they should complete an Application for Admission to Candidacy form. This application needs to be endorsed by the advisor and the graduate program director. You also must complete the Graduate School Record form.
The originals and one copy of these two forms--Application for Admission to Candidacy and Graduate School Record--should be submitted to the Graduate School Dean's Office, 110 South Paca St., Fourth Floor.
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