Second-Year

All students are required to enroll in and complete one journal club course each term (except summer term) while in the Program. View the list of clubs.

The qualifying exam begins with the student preparing a dissertation proposal including an original aim developed entirely by the student. The format follows that of the current NIH format for F30 or F31 applications. Details about the procedure, timeline, and grading are available from the MCB Office and on the intranet.

The committee is comprised of the student's thesis advisor (non-examiner role) plus three other faculty. The student and thesis advisor will select two members of the qualifying exam committee, who will go on to serve as the student's thesis advisory committee. After reading the proposal, they will recruit a third qualifying exam committee member. Of the full qualifying exam committee, no more than one member may be from outside the MCB program.

Carefully read through the Qualifying Exam guidelines before beginning the process and contact the MCB Office with any questions. The MCB Office will maintain tracking on each student's progress with each step of the qualifying exam process. Remember that meeting deadlines is an importnat component of the final grade. The student is responsible for keeping the MCB Office updated as each step is completed.  Students will also be required to enroll in GENE 100 for Fall term of third year to receive a grade for the Qualifying Exam process.

Each student will register for BIOL 169 during the term that they are assigned to do a TA. Teaching assignments are made at the end of the Spring term of the first year in the MCB Program. This teaching assignment is a program requirement, typically completed during a student's second year.