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A.
Standing* and Ad Hoc Committees
1. Executive Committee*
2. Advising Committee
3. Qualifying Committee
4. Dissertation Committee
B.
Curriculum and Examinations
1. Curriculum Plan by the year
2. Qualifying Exam
A.
Standing and Ad Hoc Committees
1. Executive Committee
The Executive Committee for the Biology Joint Doctoral Program consists of five faculty members selected from the Joint Doctoral Faculty by the Coordinator of the program. For the academic year 2016/2017, this committee is chaired by Ricado Zayas, with Marina Kalyuznaya, Scott Kelley and Nicholas Shikuma.
Functions of this committee include:
1) Select
students for admission
2) Establish
curriculum
3) Advise
incoming students until a Dissertation Advisor is selected (end of year
1)
4)
Evaluate and provide recommendations on the placement of students
into
dissertation laboratories, and
5) Select the
Advising Committee members in consultation with the student and
Dissertation Advisor.
In addition, the
Executive Committee monitors the academic progress of all Joint Doctoral
students. This will include 1) insuring that
all course work, laboratory rotations, and teaching assignments are
completed in a timely manner, and 2) verifying the completion of the
Qualifying Exam by no later than the end of the Fall semester of the
third year.
2. Advising Committee
The Advising
Committee will be established by the Joint Doctoral Graduate Advisors
from SDSU and UCSD in consultation with the student and the Dissertation
Advisor. This committee will consist of
three faculty members chosen jointly from SDSU and UCSD.
The Chair of the Advising Committee will be the Dissertation
Advisor; at least one member must be from UCSD.
The Advising Committee will establish the student's course of
study from year two on, and will also select the Qualifying Committee.
3.
Qualifying Committee
The
Dissertation advisor will serve as a member of the Qualifying Committee.
The members of the Qualifying Committee will be selected by the Advising
Committee in consultation with the student. In
order to provide continuity between exams, at least one member of the Qualifying
Committee shall be a member of the SDSU Executive Committee.
Final appointment of Qualifying Committee members will be made jointly by
the Graduate Deans of SDSU and UCSD.
The Qualifying Committee will be responsible for carrying out the
Qualifying Exam and the Chair of this committee will report the outcome
of the exam and any related academic recommendations to the Executive
Committee. The Chair will also provide a
written evaluation of the student's performance.
The Chair of the Qualifying Committee is responsible for
notifying the members of the time and place of the exam, and the student
is responsible for obtaining all required documents necessary for the
exam four weeks before the scheduled exam time.
4. Qualifying Exam
The exam will be administered in one session* and consists of two
parts.
First Part: Oral presentation
of dissertation research results and proposed dissertation plan
(duration 40-50 min, similar to a formal seminar presentation, slides,
etc.). The student should come prepared to
defend the overall experimental design, including possible outcomes and
interpretations, and be thoroughly familiar with the literature in
his/her chosen field. A major portion of
this examination will be devoted to background information so that a
student can demonstrate the context in which the proposed research
project lies. A succinctly written version
of the proposed dissertation plan (maximum 14 double spaced pages)
should be provided to committee members at least two weeks before the
presentation. Prior written approval by all
SDSU Qualifying Committee members stating that the written dissertation
proposal is sufficiently developed must be obtained before the oral
presentation takes place.
Second Part: In consultation
with the members of the Qualifying Committee, the student will select
two subject areas broadly related to the dissertation research.
Two members of the Qualifying Committee with expertise in these
areas will serve as primary mentors. The
student will carry out literature research in each of the topics and
select three to four research papers in each area to be discussed during
the Exam. Each of the papers to be discussed
must meet the approval of the two primary mentors.
The student will be expected to answer questions on the selected
papers, relevant background, and potentially related topics.
A major goal of this portion of the exam is to test the student's
ability to extract information from the literature, to critically and
objectively analyze this information, and to formulate a thorough
knowledge base of the subject area.
*Currently, the
two parts of the exam may be administered at separate times.
5. Dissertation Committee *
Upon completion of the Qualifying Exam the Dissertation Committee
will be established. This committee will be
selected by the Advising Committee in consultation with the student and
his/her Dissertation Advisor. The
Dissertation Committee will consist of five faculty members; two should
be from UCSD with at least one UCSD tenured faculty member from the Biology Department.
The Chair of the Dissertation Committee will be the Dissertation
Advisor. The Dissertation Committee will be
appointed jointly by the Graduate Deans of SDSU and UCSD.
In part, the Dissertation Committee will be responsible for
assessing on a periodic basis the progress of the student's research.
Regular committee meetings will be held with the student at 6 to
12 month intervals. Upon completion of the dissertation, a public oral
presentation of the work will be presented.
JDP
Forms and Information
Nomination of the Doctoral Committee
for Qualifying Examinations for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Fill out the form and return to Renee Konstantine in LS 102 Bfor
processing.
Report of the Qualifying Examination and Advancement to Candidacy
Committee For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biology.
Fill out the form and obtain your committee members' and Ricardo Zayas' signatures on the day of your Qualifying Exam.
See Marifel Alfaro at UCSD to obtain Joseph Pogliano's signature and
then pay the fee at the UCSD Cashier's Office.
Return form to the Graduate Program Administrator in LS 102 Bfor processing.
Nomination of the Doctoral
Dissertation Committee for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biology.
Fill out the form and return to the Graduate Program Administrator in LS 102 B for
processing.
*NOTE:
This form only needs to be completed if your committee
membership has changed.
Report of the Final Examination and
Filing of the Dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in
Biology. Fill out the form and obtain
your committee members' and Ricardo Zayas' signatures on the
day of your Dissertation Defense. See
Marifel Alfaro at UCSD to obtain Joseph Pogliano's signature. Take form to your
final appointment with UCSD Office of Graduate Studies.
See
Graduation Checklist for detailed information.
NOTE:
Due to delays in the graduate offices, the appointment process
often takes on the order of two months. Thus, to assure the committee is
appropriately appointed prior to a qualifying exam or dissertation
defense, it is essential that the student begin this process well in
advance.
B.
Curriculum
1.
Curriculum Plan
a) Year 1--Normally
students will be in residence at SDSU to complete three 15-week lab
rotations, and to undertake course work as indicated by the Executive
Committee. The rotation laboratory will be
determined by the student, the Executive Committee, and the PI of the
laboratory. Selection of the lab will be
dependent on 1) student research interests, 2) availability of lab
space, and 3) availability of research support in that laboratory.
To ensure well-rounded pre-dissertation lab exposure, the student
will be advised to undertake at least one lab rotation clearly outside
the indicated field of interest. The
rotation will consist of a well-defined research project to be carried
out by the student. Results of the project
will be presented in mini-seminar fashion by the student at the end of
the rotation period.
It is suggested but not required that all first year students
enroll in Molecular Biology 610. It is to
the student's advantage to acquire a well-rounded background in cell and
molecular biology; thus, some courses outside the student's indicated
research interests may also be advised.
Additionally, each student will be expected to participate actively in
Journal Clubs and Research Seminars throughout their entire time at
SDSU.
Teaching assistant assignments will be made through the Biology
Department and level of teaching involvement is dependent upon the
source of the student's stipend.
At the end of the first academic year the student will indicate
to the Executive Committee his/her choices for a Dissertation Advisor.
In close consultation with the student and potential Dissertation
Advisor, the Executive Committee will then determine the feasibility of
the selection based on several criteria including 1) space in the
prospective lab, 2) correlation of student and faculty research
interests, and 3) appropriate student preparation to undertake work in
the laboratory of choice. After acceptance
in a dissertation lab, the student will spend the summer between the
first and second years beginning dissertation research.
b) Year 2--Normally,
students will be taking courses primarily at UCSD carrying out a
combination of course work (e.g. Biology 221, 222, 223) and/or research
laboratory rotations. In conjunction with
the Executive Committee, the Dissertation Advisor and student will
determine how best to spend the UCSD residence year.
Residency can be undertaken during later years, if this better
suits the needs of the student. Also during
year 2 the student will be expected to continue dissertation research at
SDSU. Subsequent to the completion of the
second year the student should be in a position to successfully complete
the Qualifying Exam.
During the summer between years 2 and 3 the student will continue
dissertation research.
c) Years 3
and on--Year 3, and all subsequent years, will be spent
in residence at SDSU. The Oral Qualifying
Exam must be taken by the end of the Fall semester of the
third year. Upon successful
completion of this exam, the student will be advanced to candidacy for
the Ph.D. degree. The remainder of the
program will involve full time dissertation research.
Dissertation research will continue throughout subsequent years
until completion, as judged by the Dissertation Committee of which the
Dissertation Advisor is the Chair.
Generally, completion of dissertation research is indicated by the
completion of an original research project and includes publication of
at least two full length research papers in first-rate refereed journals
with the candidate appearing as first author.
At this point, the research is written up by the candidate.
Award of the degree requires acceptance of the manuscript by the
Dissertation Committee and successful Department wide defense of the
dissertation. The Doctor of Philosophy
Degree in Biology will be awarded jointly by the Regents of the
NOTE: UCSD enforces a seven year limit to
enrollment for the Ph.D.