Current Graduate Students

• Area Qualification and Courses​

• Preceptor Selection and PhD Committee​

• Doctoral Qualifying Exam​

• 2nd Year Seminar​

• Comprehensive Exam​

• Research and Awards​

• PhD Defense

• Area Qualification is a useful tool to help you develop breadth of chemistry knowledge​

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• Five ‘Areas’ in which you can qualify by examination:

  Physical, Analytical, Organic, Inorganic, Biological​

   

  You need to qualify in three of these areas by either passing exams or via course work​

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• Multiple opportunities (10 total) for you to take exams in all areas: ​

  • Two offered during Graduate Orientation​

  • Four offered on the Tuesday after Labor Day during Fall semester​

  • Four offered on the Tuesday after Martin Luther King Jr. Day during Spring semester​

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• Graduate and select 400-level courses can serve as area qualifiers too.​

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• You need to qualify by 3rd semester of graduate study - best to complete by 2nd semester​

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• Instructors of graduate courses may, at their discretion, select a ‘self-assessment’ exam for you to take to help you evaluate your readiness for graduate level instruction in the areas covered by the course.

• Your graduate preceptor will advise you throughout your graduate education​

  • Mentoring role​

  • Instructional role​

  • Leadership and research design role​

• Selection of graduate preceptor and research group is a two-way street​

  • You are looking for a preceptor you can work with and research topics that interest you​

  • Preceptor and other group members are looking for you to be a self-motivated and teachable peer they can work with to advance research aims​

• Fellow students in research group often become friends, support network​

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• Preceptor selection process occurs in Fall semester of your first year of graduate study​

  • Talk to at least three faculty, obtain signatures​

  • Attend group meetings and engage students in groups​

  • Schedule formal rotations (~4 weeks long, usually three rotations in Fall semester)​

  • Work with senior graduate student mentors during rotation to verify the group is a good fit ​

     

    *Note: not all faculty can accommodate all rotation requests​

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• List top three faculty selections on the Preceptor Selection Form

  • submit form to Grad Program at beginning of December​

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• Learn of research group pairing at end of Fall semester

• Typically held during summer after your first two semesters of graduate study​

• Must be completed by the end of the third semester of graduate study​

• First time your PhD committee will meet with you all together​

• Doctoral Qualifying Exam Request Form

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Two major requirements for completion of the Doctoral Qualifying Exam​

• 2-page NSF GRF style research proposal​

• 20-minute presentation to PhD committee to discuss research plans​

• Expect the 20-minute presentation to take one hour due to questions from PhD committee​

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2-page NSF GRF style research proposal is a succinct document intentionally designed for you to focus on the big picture…​

• What challenge is your research project intended to address? ​

• How will it address it? ​

• What are the expected outcomes?​

20-minute presentation should go into more detail and articulate the following:​

• Motivation for the research – what are you trying to achieve and why is it important?​

• Hypotheses or reaction scope that underpin the research plan​

• Your progress so far​

• Your planned research to address the hypotheses or to expand the reaction scope​

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You will also demonstrate proficiency in written and spoken English with the DQE

• Typically held during Fall or Spring semester of your second year of graduate study​​

• 25-minute presentation + 5-minutes for questions​​

• Scheduled during regular area seminar time slot​​

• Two options for topics that are aligned with choice of original research proposal that will be developed for your Comprehensive Exam

Option 1: Related to Research

• Selected if you plan to develop an ‘Original Inside Aim Proposal’ for Comprehensive Exam​

• Seminar should focus on fundamental concepts or reaction mechanisms that underpin your dissertation research​

• Highlight two or more contemporary papers in literature where those concepts were important to the authors’ conclusions​

• Two faculty graders will comment on preparation for Comprehensive Exam​

• Graders must be members of your PhD committee​

Option 2: Distinct from Research

• Selected if you plan to develop an ‘Outside Proposal’ for Comprehensive Exam​

• Seminar should focus on fundamental concepts or reaction mechanisms that underpin your outside proposal topic + highlight at least two papers from contemporary literature related to the planned outside proposal topic​

• Two faculty graders will comment on suitability for Outside Proposal

Comprehensive Exam Requirements:

Original Research Proposal Options:

Option 1: The Original Inside Aim Proposal

• Original Inside Aim Proposal is related to your dissertation research
• Opportunity for you to evaluate a critical need in the literature and to demonstrate the ability to formulate a hypothesis-driven research plan to address it
• You should develop a research plan that is distinct from and builds on your Inside Research Proposal in a significant way
• This option for the original research proposal is often paired with the ‘Related to Research' option (Option 1) of the 2nd Year Seminar

Option 2: The Outside Research Proposal

• Outside Proposal is distinct from your dissertation research
• Opportunity for you to evaluate a critical need in the literature and to demonstrate the ability to formulate a hypothesis-driven research plan to address it
• Any topic related to some aspect of chemistry or chemistry-related research may be developed
• This option for the original research proposal is often paired with the ‘Distinct from Research’ option (Option 2) of the 2nd Year Seminar, that can serve as the literature review for development of the Outside Proposal

Outcomes of the Comprehensive Exam:

Final Defense Examination Request Form

The 5th Year and Beyond requirement was designed to give the student, his/her mentor, and the other Ph.D. committee members an opportunity to define a mutually agreeable exit strategy for the student.

All graduate students completing their 4th year in residence will be required to meet with their advisor to discuss their exit from the program. To complete this requirement, please submit the 5th Year and Beyond Agreement Form.

The option for the student and advisor to convene a meeting with the entire Ph.D. Committee is also available. Should this be the avenue chosen, please submit the 5th Year and Beyond Committee Meeting Form.

This requirement should be completed during the summer semester after a student's fourth year in residence. If the student is in their second semester of their fifth year in residence, it should be completed by June 1, except if the student has already scheduled their defense to be held by the end of the summer in the student's fifth year. In addition, each graduate student will be required to convene a similar meeting with their committee every subsequent year until they have a final defense date scheduled.

5th Year and Beyond Agreement Form

5th Year and Beyond Committee Meeting Form