The School of Graduate Studies

A single qualifying examination, scheduled for no later than the end of the second year, is required to advance to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. Students must submit a formal application to take the exam during registration for the spring semester of that year. The application should include the names of three or more faculty who are willing to serve on the qualifying examination committee; these must be approved by the Program executive committee. At least one member of the committee must be faculty from the campus not directly sponsoring the student.

The purpose of the qualifying examination is to test general knowledge of Bioengineering, and in particular knowledge that is pertinent to the track in which the student is enrolled, and is intended to discern the student's ability to communicate ideas and concepts. While the exam is a test of general knowledge, students are expected to be especially knowledgeable in the scientific area related to their proposed research. The format of the examination consists of oral questions and answers.

Prior to the examination the student will submit to the examination committee a short paper that is related to the potential thesis project. The student is encouraged to submit this in the form of a grant application that would be appropriate for their field of interest (NSF, NIH) and the paper should be limited to 15 pages or less. The examination is not intended to describe preliminary results, but rather to inform committee members of the scientific areas most relevant to a student's research. The paper must be presented to the members of the committee at least one week prior to the examination.

During the examination, questions from the committee will not necessarily be limited to the student's presentation, but may cover other aspects of the student's academic training up to that point. The intent of the student paper is to focus the committee's attention, and to make the members aware of the areas of interest in which the student might be expected to have particular knowledge.

The committee will consist of at least three members, one of whom must be a member or designee of the executive committee. The examination will be graded as high pass, pass or fail by majority vote. In the case of failure, the right to a second examination is at the discretion of the executive committee and the Graduate Dean or Associate Dean for Biomedical Engineering of the campus at which the student is enrolled. In the event of a second failure to qualify, students will be encouraged to request a master's degree from the Polytechnic Biomedical Engineering Master's Program. The result of each student's examination will be delivered to the Graduate School , in writing, no later than one week following the exam.