MCDB Graduate Student Handbook
The University Oral Qualifying Examination, which must be passed before you can be advanced to candidacy for the doctorate, is administered by the Doctoral Committee. You are expected to take and pass the Oral Qualifying Examination before January of your third year of graduate study. (Students who are completing a TA assignment in Fall quarter of their third year will have until the end of Spring quarter to complete this requirement.)
The Oral Qualifying Examination should offer the Doctoral committee the opportunity to judge the student's ability to think creatively and formulate significant ideas for research. The examination is comprised of two sections: presentation of an independent research proposal, and a test of your general knowledge of advanced biology. You must have selected a permanent thesis advisor and completed all coursework, as well as the DWQE requirements, prior to taking the Doctoral Oral Qualifying Examination. The exam is usually between two and three hours in length, and is administered by your Doctoral committee. The student "advances to candidacy," when an appropriately signed "Report on the Oral Qualifying Examination and Request for Advancement to Candidacy" form, which will be submitted by the Student Affairs Office, is received in the Graduate Division. This action results in a .00 fee that is billed to the studentŐs BAR account. Upon successful completion of the examination and these subsequent steps, your official status in the Graduate Division changes to "advanced to candidacy" for the doctorate.
The first step is to make sure your committee has been formally constituted (approved by the Graduate Division. See Section E) or if it becomes necessary to replace one or more members of your committee for any reason, you must contact the MCDB Student Affairs Office, so that a reconstitution form can be completed and submitted to the Graduate Division for approval. A minimum of two weeks for Graduate Division approval of the Committee should be taken into account when scheduling the Doctoral Oral Qualifying Examination.
Although there is no rigidly prescribed format for the Doctoral Oral Exam, the general pattern in MCDB has been to present the research proposal first, and then to have a period of general questioning. However, you should discuss with your advisor and your committee the procedures to be followed for your own exam. At the time of the Doctoral Oral Qualifying Examination, at least three members (2 inside MCDB and the outside member) of your Committee must indicate their willingness to serve as Certifying Members (i.e. agree to read and approve your final thesis before it is filed).