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1. The Ph.D. Degree Program
The degree program
is a list of the coursework that you have taken and expect to take as the basis
for your degree. The Degree
Program Form is available online. It must be approved by your advisor
and your advisory committee, signed by your advisor and the DGS of the EEB Program
(and the minor program if you choose to have a minor), and submitted to the
Graduate School no later than the end of your third semester in the program.
On the program form, list only graduate courses (4000, 5000 and 8000-level courses)
that you have taken or intend to take to complete your degree. The Graduate
School requires a minimum of 3 course credits and 24 thesis credits (EEB 8888)
in the major, and a minimum of 12 semester credits, either as a declared minor
or as a supporting program drawn from two or more fields that complement the
major. You need not list all courses you have taken or plan to take but you
must list the 24 thesis credits. Note that at least two-thirds of all course
credits listed must be taken A-F.
Transfer of graduate credit is not allowed
for courses taken before the awarding of a baccalaureate degree. Graduate credits
earned at other recognized graduate institutions may be applied to doctoral
degrees if the coursework is graduate level and was taught by faculty authorized
to teach graduate courses. Any transfer credits need to be approved by the DGS
of the EEB program. Once the degree program is approved by the Graduate School,
you must fulfill it in every detail. You can change the degree program at any
time with approval of your advisor, your committee, and the DGS. Changes to
the degree program need to be petitioned to the Graduate School by submitting
a petition
form available online.
Your preliminary oral examining committee is appointed by the Graduate School based on recommendations you and your advisor submit with your Ph.D. degree program. The committee is chaired by your degree advisor and includes, at minimum, two other members of the EEB graduate faculty and one faculty member from the minor or supporting program. It is your responsibility to consult the prospective members of your examining committee and solicit their willingness to serve in that capacity before you bring the program to the DGS. Once approved by the Graduate School, the members of your examining committee serve also as your advisory committee.
Submit the completed program, with recommendations for the members of your
examining committee, to the DGS of the EEB program, together with a current
transcript of the courses that appear on it and with the Checklist for Course
Requirements in the Ph.D. Program (Appendix
4). If you are declaring a minor, the DGS of that program must approve and
sign your program before you obtain the EEB DGS signature. The EEB DGS will confirm that you are meeting all
requirements of the program. After you obtained all signatures, forward the
Degree Program form to the Graduate School.
Ph.D. students are required to enroll for a minimum of 24 thesis credits. They may not register for thesis credits until the semester after they have passed the preliminary oral examination. EEB students are required to register for as many thesis credits as possible each semester (i.e., 14 credits minus the number of course credits taken during the semester) until they complete the minimum number credits. After they have taken 24 thesis credits, students are required to enroll for the one-credit FTE option if their tuition is paid through EEB departmental sources. Exceptions this rule must be approved by the DGS.
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2. Journal Club and Laboratory Tours
All new students working toward the Ph.D. degree are expected to register for the Journal Club seminar (EEB 8980, 1 cr.)
and attend the weekly meetings, during their first three semesters in residence. The goal of the Journal Club is to
facilitate exploration of major issues in the three foundation areas, ecology, evolution and behavior to promote
interdisciplinarity, and to identify important topics that are currently neglected, problems that are resistant to
solution, and important new developments. During the Fall term, first and second year students meet together. If the two
cohorts are too large, they may split into two groups such that members of each cohort and of the three core areas are
represented in both groups, or the two cohorts may meet separately in which case some of the second-year students should
accept responsibility for helping the first-year students to plan the agenda of the seminar. Thereafter the agenda is set
by the new students with the help of the DGS or other designated faculty. Students are encouraged to talk with faculty in
the three foundation areas (ecology, evolution, behavior) for ideas to explore and suggestions of papers to read and
discuss. A list of papers discussed in the Journal Club together with a brief synopsis of each paper must be submitted to
the DGS at the end of each semester. Alternatively, the DGS in consultation with faculty may provide a reading list with weekly
assignments to the students participating in the Journal Club
The following suggestions for the conduct of the Journal Club seminar have been made by students and faculty: If a cohort of students lacks internal expertise in a foundation area, they could consult a faculty member for advice about a paper to read, then ask that faculty member to meet with them for part of one weekly seminar to answer questions and explain difficult points. Writing should be a part of each week's activity, because writing contributes much to critical thinking. Each week, a student should be designated to be responsible for writing a short synopsis of the discussion that should be discussed briefly the following week. The synopses must be collated and submitted to the DGS at the end of each semester. One goal of the Journal Club is to promote cooperation, teamwork, and mutual encouragement in learning; each cohort may need to meet that goal in its own way. If the Journal Club is not productive, for whatever reasons, the DGS (or a faculty member designated by the DGS) should be notified and asked for help.
All new students are expected to register for the Laboratory Tour seminar (EEB 8980, 1 credit) during their first year. The goal of the Laboratory Tour seminar is to acquaint incoming students with the research of EEB graduate faculty, their postdocs and current graduate students. Faculty members will conduct lab tours in their laboratory and/or inform students about their research. This seminar will be organized by the DGS or a faculty member designated by the DGS.
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3. Preliminary Written Examination
No later than the end of the fourth semester, students will submit to the program, through the DGS, a research proposal
that describes the intended research for the Ph.D. dissertation in no more than eight pages, including figures and tables
but excluding references and the abstract (the abstract should be of no more than 200 words) and the budget.
For further details see Appendix 2.
The students must register for the proposal writing class (EEB 8980, 1 credit) during the Fall semester of their second year (typically
their third semester.) The purpose of this class is to learn about the structure and format of a research proposal under the guidance
of three faculty members representing the fields of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior. This class will prepare the students for writing
their written preliminary exam the following semester.
Student must register for a proposal writing workshop (EEB 8980, 1 credit) during the Spring semester of their second year (typically their fourth semester).
The purpose of this workshop is to provide a time for students to meet and discuss issues associated with writing their written preliminary exam. Students are
expected to turn in a minimum of two drafts during this semester. Drafts will be read and reviewed by students' peers. The final proposal must be
finished and submitted as the preliminary written exam to the DGS by the end of the semester. Students who are not in residence during the Spring semester of their second year
(for instance, students who are participating in OTS courses) are expected to submit their preliminary written exam by the end of the following Fall semester.
The preliminary written examination is a learning process and its form stresses the importance of clearly articulating
ideas and of writing grant proposals as part of an academic career. Advisors are expected to give their students advice
about writing proposals as well as about the specifics of the proposed research, and students are strongly encouraged to
share their research proposals with their advisor and their advisory committee, obtain feedback during the proposal
writing process, and discuss their ideas with other faculty as well. The advisor should aid the student in the planning
and organization of the proposal. The concepts, content, and writing of the proposal must be the student's own effort,
however.
Because the preliminary written examination must be completed by the end of the fourth semester in residence, a student
is not expected to write a proposal that would be competitive in, for instance, an NSF competition for the Doctoral Dissertation
Improvement Grant. This proposal should rather be viewed as a significant step in formulating the student's research
questions and developing methods for carrying out the research. The proposal should contain an overview of the student's
entire research program for the thesis, clearly formulated hypotheses, preliminary results from new research as can be
expected of a second year student, and proposed research. Methods for the proposed research need only be developed to the
extent as can be expected of a second year student.
Proposals are reviewed critically by a panel of faculty, such that each proposal is read by no fewer than three faculty.
Advisors are not permitted to evaluate papers of their own advisees. Other members of a student's advisory or examining
committees may be reviewers, but at least one member of the panel must be from outside the student's committee. Students
may submit a list of possible reviewers who have some knowledge of their field to the DGS, and the DGS will designate the
panel after reviewing the student's suggestions. Reviewers are asked to grade both the project and the proposal. The
project is either graded PASS or FAIL. If the reviewer grades the project as PASS, the reviewer must grade the proposal as
PASS WITH COMMENDATION, PASS, or CONDITIONAL PASS. In addition, the reviewers are asked to rate the proposal from 1
(EXCELLENT) to 5 (UNSATISFACTORY).
The purpose of the rating is to inform the student of the comparative strength
of the proposal if submitted to a funding agency (see below). Details on the requirements
of the preliminary written examination are explained in the The Preliminary
Written Examination (see Appendix
2).
Rating System:
1=Excellent: The proposal describes exciting and novel research questions that are extremely likely to enhance the conceptual understanding of the student's area. The methods are likely to be successful. The proposal can be made into a highly competitive proposal.
2=Very good: The proposal describes novel research questions that are likely to enhance the conceptual understanding of the student's area. The methods are likely to be successful. The proposal can be made into a very competitive proposal.
3=Good: The proposal describes interesting research questions that are likely to contribute to the the student's area. The methods are likely to be successful. The proposal can be made into a competitive proposal.
4=Satisfactory: The proposal describes research questions and methods that are not sufficiently developed. The questions, however, appear to be interesting and should be pursued.
5=Unsatisfactory: The proposal describes research questions that have major shortcomings.
The DGS will report the results to the graduate faculty with a recommendation
for action. In the case of a passing vote by the graduate faculty, the DGS will
notify the Graduate School that you have passed the preliminary written examination
by submitting the Preliminary Written Examination Form. In
the case of a failing vote by the graduate faculty, the graduate faculty may
decide either that the student may rewrite and re-submit the proposal, or that
the student be transferred into the Master's program, or that the student be
terminated (see Appendix
2 for further details). After passing the preliminary written examination,
the student eligible to take the preliminary oral examination.
The DGS will pass on to the student the comments and suggestions for improvement made by the panel. The student should use the comments and suggestions for improving the research questions and methods. The student is expected to revise the proposal according to the reviewers' suggestions and develop the proposal further in the ensuring months so that it can eventually be submitted to a funding agency, such as the NSF or NIH. (Note that the proposal cannot be submitted to the NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant program until the student has filed the degree program, and passed both the preliminary written and oral exams, in that order).
During the academic year, the student should be informed of the results no later than four weeks after submitting the proposal; delays during the summer may occur if either the reviewers or the DGS are absent, or if a faculty meeting is required to determine the result of the exam.
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4. Pre-Thesis Seminar[1]
The Ph.D. pre-thesis seminar is to be given before the preliminary oral examination.
It can be given on the same day as the preliminary oral examination. It must
be given publicly, announced one week in advance, and open to all in the program.
The Friday noon seminar often serves a place for pre-thesis seminars. The pre-thesis
seminar is intended to inform others of your research interests and to elicit
constructive suggestions and advice that may help you carry out the research
for the Ph.D. thesis. Your advisory committee must be present at the pre-thesis
seminar. It is your responsibility to find a time satisfactory to your advisory
committee. At the conclusion of the public seminar, you should meet with members
of your advisory committee, either together or separately, to get additional
input. You need to submit a pre-thesis seminar form to the DGS after you successfully
completed the seminar (obtain the form from the EEB Graduate Program Secretary
or go to Appendix
7).
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5. Preliminary Oral Examination[2]
The preliminary oral examination must be taken no later than your fifth semester in residence (typically in the Fall semster of your third year), after the pre-thesis seminar and at least one week after the Graduate School received the Preliminary Written Examination Report form that informs the Graduate School that you passed the preliminary written examination. Schedule the preliminary oral examination with the Graduate School at least one week in advance of the exam. Scheduling the exam will generate the Preliminary Oral Examination Report Form, which will be sent to the chair of the examining committee.
The Graduate School requires that you submit the signed Preliminary Oral Examination Report Form within one working day of completion of the preliminary oral examination.
The purpose of the preliminary oral examination is to test your ability to synthesize and apply the knowledge represented by the coursework on your Ph.D. degree program, to reason out scientific problems, and to argue current hypotheses and opinions in your area of expertise. The exam includes material from your minor or supporting program. It may touch on your research proposal or may concentrate on the courses on your Ph.D. degree program and any work fundamental to those subjects related to your research. You are encouraged to discuss the format and conduct of the exam beforehand with your advisor and the other members of your examining committee, and you may find it helpful to stage mock examinations with other graduate students.
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6. Ph.D. Thesis Proposal
Submit the Thesis
Proposal Form (available online) after passing the preliminary
oral examination, but no later than one term following your passing the preliminary
oral examination. The Thesis Proposal Form consists of three forms, the Thesis/Project
Proposal Transmittal form, the Thesis/Project Proposal Title form, and the Thesis/Project
Proposal form.
Submit the Thesis Proposal Form to the DGS together with the names of your final oral examining committee. Your final examining committee may be the same as your preliminary oral committee, or you may substitute one or more members based on their ability to evaluate your research. The committee again must consist of at least three members of the EEB graduate faculty plus one member from outside that faculty, representing your minor or supporting program. The outside member must be from a budgetary unit other than EEB and must represent a graduate program other than EEB. Designate three members, your advisor and one other from the major and one from the minor or supporting program, as reviewers. The chair of the final oral committee will be a member other than your advisor.
Because research commonly opens new opportunities and meets unanticipated difficulties as it proceeds, you should not feel unduly restricted by the thesis proposal once it is approved, but it is your responsibility to keep the members of your committee informed of any changes in the direction or emphasis of your research and departures from your original plan as they occur.
Anytime after the Ph.D. Thesis Proposal has been approved by the Graduate School,
you can request a Graduation
Packet from the Graduate School (available online or in person at 316 Johnston
Hall).
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7. Preparation of Thesis
Your dissertation must pass three checkpoints. First, the advisor must be satisfied; second, the thesis reviewers on the examining committee must certify that it is ready for defense; finally, it must be approved by vote of the examining committee at the final oral examination.
Satisfying your advisor. Theses vary greatly in form, length, and content, and advisors have different ways of providing critiques and giving advice. Often, a thesis has several major parts and these mature in sequence. Students should expect to have to revise their early drafts, usually several times, in response to constructive criticisms from their advisor. Only the most experienced writers can expect their first drafts to be approved without considerable rearrangement and editing. For many graduate students, writing up their thesis proves to be an especially exciting and satisfying phase of research, when relationships finally become clear and compelling.
Students should actively seek rigorous criticism at this stage and not be dismayed by it. By providing thorough, thoughtful critiques advisors play an especially important role in assuring that a thesis matures. Students, many of whom will be advisors themselves some day, must learn how to edit and polish manuscripts. Consult with your advisor and committee in deciding on a style or styles for your thesis. Obtain instructions from the Graduate School about the preparation of the doctoral thesis and follow them.
Your advisor may encourage you to write your dissertation in the form of several papers, as chapters, ready for publication. Indeed, portions of your dissertation may already be published before the entire thesis is completed. If you follow this style, you should write an integrating introduction and a final overall discussion. A thesis generally has one central theme, and you are expected to show that all parts are related to this theme. If a portion of your thesis is being published with one or more authors besides yourself, describe in the introduction the parts both you and your co-authors had in that portion.
Students routinely underestimate the amount of time needed for reworking early thesis drafts. By setting for yourself deadline dates when each phase of thesis preparation is to be completed (e.g. data analysis, tables and figures, writing, literature review for each section) you can monitor your progress. Most students have an approximate final deadline date in mind when they begin work on the thesis, and later they may find that they must finish it by a certain date. It is the student's responsibility to prepare thesis drafts early enough to allow time for revisions that the advisor may consider essential.
Satisfying readers. A thesis should be presented to the reviewers and other members of your committee in a polished form, without major typographical errors, paginated, in final organizational format, and with at least semi-final figures. Do not expect reviewers to respond in less than two weeks. The Graduate School suggests that you give them two weeks advance notice of when to expect to receive the thesis, as well as two weeks to review it. It is not unusual for reviewers to require or suggest revision before they agree to certify that the thesis is ready for defense, and time should be budgeted to permit this. Reviewers may differ in their suggestions about the structure of the thesis and on specific points, in which case you should seek guidance from your advisor.
Committee members can be helpful at an earlier stage of writing, or even in the planning stage. Feel free to seek their advice; it may save you time later.
Defending the thesis. Additional suggestions for improvement of the thesis are often made during the final examination. These may require retyping, or redrawing figures, and other work before the thesis is ready to be delivered to the Graduate School, and even (rarely) major alterations.Ê Even if the defense is considered satisfactory by the committee, some committee members may refuse to sign the approval form until these changes are made. Here again, students should budget enough time to make these final changes.
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8. Public Presentation and Ph.D. Final Oral Examination
By the time you have completed your Ph.D. research, you will be a leading expert in the field of your research, and you are expected to share your knowledge and experience with the university community in a public presentation.
By the first working day of the intended month of graduation, submit an Application for Degree (included in the Graduation Packet) to the Registrar's Office. At least one week prior to the examination, schedule the final oral examination and submit the signed Reviewer's Report Form to the Graduate School (the Reviewer's Report form is included in the Graduate Packet), and schedule the presentation and the final oral examination that immediately follows it, at least one week in advance with the Graduate School. This will generate the Final Oral Examination Report Form, which will be sent to the chair of the examining committee. You must choose a time and place agreeable to the members of your final examining committee. Please give details of title, time and place to the EEB office at least one week in advance, so that your seminar may be adequately announced.
The signed Final Oral Examination Report Form is due at the Graduate School no later than one working day after the oral exam if no revisions are required. In the case of revisions, the chair of the committee will hold the form until all revisions are incorporated and approved by your advisor. Details on the procedure are included in the Final Oral Examination Report Form that will be sent to the chair of your committee prior to your defense.
A copy of your thesis abstract and your thesis, together with other material as outlined in the Graduation Packet must be submitted by the last working day of the intended month of graduation.
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9. Suggested Schedule for Ph.D. Students
The following schedule is presented as a general guideline for progress in
the EEB program. It is not an absolute schedule that you must follow precisely,
but deviations may be cause for concern about your progress. Ph.D. Students
who have not filed their official degree program by the end of their fourth
semester, or who have not passed the preliminary oral examination by the end
of their third year, or who have not completed their Ph.D. degree by the end
of their sixth year, will be considered to be making inadequate progress under
normal circumstances. (See also Appendix
5 for a list of milestones.)
YEAR 1
Before Fall term, meet with temporary advisor and DGS to plan courses for first term and to check prerequisites.
- Fall term:
- EEB Retreat
- Meet with temporary advisory committee (file form with DGS), finalize prerequisite courses, and plan other course work.
- Journal Club and Laboratory Tours
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Proposal Writing Seminar for eligible students
- Begin formulating preliminary research ideas and reading relevant primary literature.
- Spring term:
- Journal Club and Laboratory Tours
- Directed study or seminars or research problems
- Choose a degree advisor and advisory committee.
- Meet with advisory committee (file form with DGS).
- Summer: Begin research to test ideas and techniques.
YEAR 2
- Fall term:
- Finalize and meet with advisory committee (file form with DGS).
- Submit Ph.D. Degree Program Form.
- Journal Club jointly with 1st year students or help 1st year students with their Journal Club.
- Proposal Writing Seminar
- Spring term:
- Submit preliminary written examination (research proposal) to DGS (must be completed by end of second year).
- Prelim Writing Workshop
YEAR 3
- Fall term:
- Give pre-thesis seminar (file form with DGS).
- Take preliminary oral examination (must be passed by end of fifth semester).
- Spring term:
- Submit the Thesis Proposal Form.
- Complete all course work.
- Take maximum number of thesis credits.
YEAR 4
- Fall term:
- Take maximum number of thesis credits.
- Spring term:
- Take remaining number of thesis credits or (if you completed all 24 thesis credits, register using the one-credit FTE option or the GRAD 0999 no-tuition, zero-credit option).
YEAR 5
- Each term, register for the one-credit FTE option or the GRAD 0999 option.
- Complete thesis research and defend thesis and take final oral examination. The thesis committee should continue to meet at least once a year with you to review your research progress.
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10. Exceptions to the Suggested Schedule[3]
Students who enter with a Master's degree may proceed at an accelerated schedule. If appropriate, they are allowed to skip the first year and thus enter as a member of the 2nd year cohort. If they choose to do so, they need not take the first-year Journal Club and the Lab Tours, but, instead, attend the 2nd year Journal Club and the proposal writing class in the Fall semester and the prelim writing workshop in the Spring semester of their first year in the program. They should complete the research proposal and take the preliminary oral examination by the end of the second year.
Ph.D. students who delay their Ph.D. program to acquire a Plan A Master's should attend the Journal Club and Laboratory Tours, and complete the preliminary written and oral examinations on the Ph.D. schedule.
Exceptions to the suggested schedule are permitted, for instance, for students who are absent during the Spring semester of their second year. In such cases or if there are other reasons a delay in the schedule is expected, the student must notify the DGS.
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11. Graduation
Any time after the Thesis Proposal has been approved, you can pick up a graduation
packet from the Graduate School. If you wish to attend a commencement ceremony,
you must submit a Commencement
Attendance Approval form, signed by the DGS, well in advance.
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[1] For students entering the EEB Graduate Program before Fall 2002, (4) reads as follows: "The Ph.D. pre-thesis seminar is to be given before the end of your third Fall Semester in residence (effective 6 October 1999), while you are planning your research proposal. It should be given publicly to everyone, be well announced, and open to all in the program. It has the same function as the Master's pre-thesis seminar described in an earlier section. Follow the procedures given there. At the conclusion of the public seminar, you should meet with members of your advisory committee, either together or separately, to get additional input."
[2]For students entering the Ph.D. program before Fall 2002, the previous paragraph reads as follows: "The preliminary oral examination should ordinarily be taken in the spring of your third year, after your research proposal has been approved and the Graduate School has been notified that you have therefore passed the preliminary written examination."
[3] For students who entered before 1 July 2002, the following applies:
"Students who enter with a Master's degree are expected to proceed at an accelerated schedule. They should have completed the research proposal before the second summer of the graduate program and should aim to take the preliminary oral exam during the fall term of the third year. Ph.D. students who delay their Ph.D. program to acquire a Plan A Master's should complete the written and oral examinations on the same schedule. The Ph.D. thesis proposal may not be delayed more than one year."
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