Qualifying Exam
Each student submits a paper focused on his or her early research
project, and makes an oral defense of his or her research paper.
Research Component: Written and Oral Defense
The written component of the research consists of a write-up of the
early research project in a form suitable for publication or as an NRSA grant application (but not subject to its page limitation). The student
is free to pick the journal format (e.g., Journal of Neuroscience,
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, or Journal of Neurochemistry) that
he or she will follow. The style, however--including the title page,
abstract, citations, reference list, figures, and other components of
the manuscript--must adhere strictly to the format of the journal
chosen.
Since this paper is used to evaluate the student's
ability to prepare a scholarly work before being advanced to candidacy
for the Ph.D. degree, it should represent primarily the work of the
student. The conduct of experiments, analysis of the research data, and
their interpretation can and should be discussed with the adviser. On
the other hand, the manuscript itself must reflect primarily the
organizational thinking and writing ability of the student and contain minimum input from the adviser.
The committee recognizes,
however, that even some of the best manuscripts require revision before
they can be published in a journal or submitted as a grant application. Thus, the committee will accept
certain manuscripts even if they need some revision and resubmission.
Candidates must submit their manuscript to the committee
chair no later than 5 p.m. on the first Friday in
September of their third year in the program.
If the committee
accepts the manuscript, the chair will schedule an oral
examination and early defense of the manuscript. Typically, these oral
examinations occur during the second or third week of September. The
examination opens with an oral presentation of 15 to 20 minutes by the
student outlining the early research project. This is followed by
questions from the committee, which may range from technical,
methodological, and conceptual aspects of the research and manuscript
to literature that relates to the project.
Manuscripts deemed
unacceptable by the committee are returned to the student for revision,
and the oral portion of the examination may be postponed. At this time,
the student may solicit the adviser's advice in preparing a revised
version. While the adviser may offer specific help on the organization,
structure, style, and content of the manuscript, the actual writing is
to be the student's.
To pass the qualifying
examination, the student needs affirmative votes from a majority of the committee members. Since the purpose of the qualifying examination is
to identify weaknesses or deficiencies that a student must rectify
before graduation, the program encourages faculty advisers to attend
their students' presentations and subsequent examinations as silent
observers.
No more than three weeks after completing the examination, the program
notifies each candidate in writing of his or her results. This letter,
which becomes part of the candidate's permanent record, also will
detail strengths and weaknesses that were identified by the examination
and suggest steps to remedy deficiencies.
Policies Governing Reexamination
If
the student fails either or both portions of the examination, he or she may be permitted to retake the failed portions one time only. Thus,
the reexamination may involve the oral presentation, manuscript
defense, or both. Working with the student's adviser, the
qualifying examination committee sets the time for the reexamination.
In no case should that date be later than December 20 of the year in
which the initial examination was taken.
