For Advancement to Candidacy, a student must complete the following prior to beginning the 5 ^th semester of study. First, the student must pass the Candidacy Examination described below. A dissertation topic will then be proposed to the student’s Dissertation Committee. A student advances to candidacy following approval of the proposed dissertation topic by the student’s Dissertation Committee and the Dean of the Graduate School.

The Dissertation Committee:

Following completion of the laboratory rotations and no later than the beginning of the 3rd semester, a student will select a Dissertation Advisor who must be a member of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Biology Faculty, but not necessarily a member of the Department of Biology.

A student will form a Dissertation Committee that includes the advisor, who will serve as chair or co-chair of the committee. A students Dissertation committee is to be composed of no fewer than 4 members, two of whom must be from the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Biology Faculty; at least 50% of the committee must be members of the Department of Biology. The remainder of the committee should complement the proposed plan of study and reflect the interdisciplinary focus of the program. The inclusion of 1 member on the Dissertation Committee from outside the University of North Carolina at Charlotte is strongly encouraged. The Ph.D. Coordinator will request approval of the Dissertation Committee from the Dean of the Graduate School after appropriate consultation with the Dissertation Advisor and the student. One additional member of the Dissertation Committee will then be appointed by the Graduate School to serve as graduate faculty representative.

The Student and his/her committee must meet no later than the beginning of the 4th semester to set a timeline for the candidacy exam. In addition, a student is required to meet with his/her dissertation committee at least once a year after the establishment of the committee. This provides the committee with an opportunity to give input for the student’s research and spot deficiencies, if any, in his/her course of conducting dissertation research.

Program of Study:

A student’s program of study (i.e. the classes they intend to take) must be approved by his/her Dissertation Committee and the Ph.D. Coordinator. The approved program of study must be approved prior to taking the Candidacy Examination.

Candidacy Examination (preparation and oral defense of a grant proposal).

Details of the written and oral components of the examination are given below.

   Written Proposal:

The purpose of the written portion of the candidacy examination is to demonstrate the ability to both formulate an appropriate research problem and clearly express the scientific approaches used to address the problem in writing.  This will be accomplished by the submission of a research proposal based on the NIH R03 model. 

The scientific problem is limited only in that it can not be a current or proposed project (in written format) in the student’s laboratory. Once the student has determined the scientific problem and hypothesis, the specific aims that will directly test the hypothesis and general research approaches to be used, these will be presented to the student’s Dissertation Committee (see Preproposal submission below).  The student’s mentor and Committee act as the NIH study section and thus will provide constructive criticism at the Committee meetings.  However, the problem and approaches may be developed, clarified and refined by discussions with other students. Once the problem, hypothesis and specific aims have been approved by the Committee, the student must submit a completed written proposal to the Committee within one month of approval of the Preproposal and then establish a time for the oral examination.

             1. Preproposal submission:

A preproposal of 2-3 pages in length, double spaced, must be submitted to the Student's Committee at least 2 weeks before the presentation. The preproposal must describe an original research problem, the hypothesis to be tested, and a brief description of specific aims that will test the hypothesis, without going into extensive experimental detail. The preproposal must be approved by all members of the student’s Committee. Students will give a brief (no more than 20 minutes) presentation explaining their preproposal to the Committee.  Following the presentation the Committee will ask questions. If the preproposal is accepted, the student may proceed with the written proposal.  If the Committee determines that further work must be done on the preproposal changes must be made within 30 days and another meeting scheduled to present the new proposal if the Committee deems it necessary.

             2. Proposal submission:

The student must expand the approved preproposal into an NIH R03 model. The proposal can be no more than 10 pages in length, excluding title page and references. Preliminary data is not necessary.  The clarity of the writing is extremely important. Information on R03 grants can be obtained at the following sites:  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html;  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-03-108.html;  http://cms.csr.nih.gov/NR/rdonlyres/199E9CAC-985E-4249-9332-C6D7B72FB18C/5763/R03ReviewGuidelines.pdf. Examples of successful R03 proposals are available from the Ph.D. Coordinator. 

The proposal should contain the following sections:

     a. Specific Aims: This should state concisely: 1. The broad, long-term research objectives, 2. What the research in this application is intended to accomplish, and 3. hypothesis to be tested.

     b. Background and significance: Briefly outline background material relevant to evaluate the proposal and to describe how the proposal will provide new scientific information.  It is important to describe how the broader impacts of the proposal.

     c. Experimental design and methods: Describe the research design and the methods to be used to accomplish the specific aims of the project. Include information on the data collection, analysis and interpretation.  Describe potential pitfalls and alternative approaches to achieve the aims.

     d. References: Include complete references (authors, titles, journal, inclusive pages)  for all references.

The written proposal must be entirely the student's own work.  Again, the student can and should seek feedback from other students regarding the written proposal.  The students mentor can provide minimal help, and acts in the role of program officer.  Ideas may be presented to the mentor and general feedback may be given.  However, specifics related to the proposal aims and writing are not provided at this time by the mentor of members of the Committee.  The Committee members act as the study section.

The student must submit the proposal to each member of the Committee at least 10 days prior to the scheduled defense of the proposal and no later than 30 days after approval of the preproposal.

   Oral Examination:

The purpose of the oral examination is to test the student's ability to orally defend their written proposal, their knowledge of background material and methodology for the proposal, and their basic knowledge of concepts including their core graduate course work and advanced graduate courses.  A block of no less than 2 hours should be reserved for the examination in  order to allow for adequate time for questions and answers (thought the examination may last longer or shorter than this time).

The student should be prepared to give an oral presentation in which the proposal is presented to the Committee using PowerPoint (no longer than 20 minutes).  The examination is not public.

When the Committee is finished with the questions, the student is excused. The Committee then evaluates the student's performance with respect to the following components: the written proposal, the formal presentation, the defense of the proposed research, and the general knowledge of science exhibited by the student during the examination period. After this discussion, the Committee will vote on the student’s performance.  The student will be informed as to whether or not they have passed immediately following the Committee vote. The student will not be informed of the vote tally.

If a Committee deems that a student has not passed, the student may apply for reexamination on a date to be set no less than 30 days or more than 45 days from the date of the previous examination. The Committee will determine the nature of the second examination. In the event that a student does not pass the second examination, the student will not be allowed to continue in the Ph.D. program.

It is the student’s responsibility to consult with the Ph.D. Coordinator to ensure that all paperwork required is take to the meeting and subsequently to make sure that is has been filed appropriately.

    Retake of the Candidacy Examination:

A student who fails to successfully complete the Candidacy Examination may be given the opportunity to revise components of their research proposal, or repeat the oral defense of the proposal at the discretion of the Dissertation Committee. If requested, a revised proposal must be submitted within one month. A student who fails the Candidacy Examination twice will be dismissed from the Ph.D. Program.

Dissertation Topic Approval

A student will propose a dissertation topic to his/her Dissertation Committee. A student advances to candidacy following approval of the topic by the Dissertation Committee and the Dean of the Graduate School.

Time Line for Advancement to Candidacy (to be completed prior to the beginning of the 5th semester of study):

1. Select Dissertation Advisor (by end of the 2nd semester).

2. Select Dissertation Committee (submit form by end of the 3rd semester).

3. Submit approved Program of Study (complete course description section of Appl for Admission to Candidacy form)  to the Dean of the Graduate School.

4. Select the topic of the Candidacy Examination.

5. Schedule a topic approval meeting with the Dissertation Committee.

6. Submit 2-3 page description of the grant proposal topic to the Dissertation Committee at least 1 week prior to topic approval meeting.

7. Following topic approval, write the full research proposal using National Institutes of Health National Research Service Award Guidelines (www.nih.gov).

8. Complete the proposal within 1 month of the date of topic approval. Provide copies of the proposal to Dissertation Committee members 10 days prior to the scheduled oral defense date.

9. Be prepared to discuss all aspects of the grant proposal at the oral defense and anticipate questions relevant to the Ph.D. Core Curriculum. (Must be completed prior to beginning the 5th semester of study)

10. Following successful completion of the Candidacy Examination (form), propose a dissertation topic to the Dissertation Committee. The Dissertation Committee and the Dean of the Graduate School then must approve the proposed topic (submit form by end of 5th semester of study).