MCDB Graduate Student Handbook
Finding a thesis advisor to supervise your Ph.D. thesis research and to chair your Doctoral Committee is perhaps the most important element in maintaining normal progress toward the Ph.D. degree. You are expected to select a thesis advisor by the end of your first year of graduate study, a Doctoral committee by Winter Quarter of your second year, and to be advanced to candidacy (pass the University Oral Qualifying Exam) by January of your third year of graduate study. If you fail to find or maintain a thesis advisor within MCDB by the end of four quarters in residence, you will be placed on probationary status for one quarter, after which you will be dismissed from the program if no advisor has been found. You should discuss permanent sponsorship and dissertation research with MCDB faculty at the earliest opportunity. If you cannot find an MCDB faculty member with whom to pursue your thesis research, but identify a faculty member in another department who is willing to sponsor you, you must be accepted by and transfer to the graduate program of that faculty member's home department. MCDB will neither sponsor, nor financially support students pursuing Ph.D. degrees outside the Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology.
The Doctoral Committee consists of the thesis advisor, an MCDB faculty member who serves as the Chair of the Committee, two additional MCDB faculty members, and at least one faculty member from outside the MCDB Department (this is a University minimum requirement). At least two of these members must be tenured (that is, at the rank of Professor or Associate Professor). A faculty member from another UC campus may, by petition, serve as an "outside" member according to the regulations of the UCLA Graduate Division. The Committee is nominated after consulting with the thesis advisor and prospective committee members, approved by the Department Chair, and subsequently approved by the Graduate Division. To nominate your Doctoral committee, you must notify the Student Affairs Office of the names and ranks of your prospective Doctoral Committee members. A ÒNomination of Doctoral CommitteeÓ will be submitted by the Student Affairs Office to Graduate Division. From the point at which your paperwork reaches the Graduate Division, a minimum of three weeks is required for approval of your Committee. Graduate Division approval must be obtained before scheduling your Doctoral Oral Qualifying Examination.
The Doctoral committee conducts the University Oral Qualifying Examination and guides the student in the preparation and defense of the dissertation. At least three members of the committee (your thesis advisor, the ÒoutsideÓ committee member, and one of the two other ÒinsideÓ members) must agree to read and approve (certify) the final version of your thesis. Rules governing the constitution or reconstitution of your doctoral committee are in accord with regulations established by the UCLA Graduate Council and the Graduate Division. You are urged to consult the MCDB Student Affairs Office and to maintain an awareness of these regulations, which are available in the Graduate Division publication Standards & Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA, at http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu.