Scheduling of the First Exam:

Once the core course GPA requirement has been met, the student must submit the First Exam Scheduling Form (tinyurl.com/BMEFirstExam) to schedule the First Exam. Students who enter the Ph.D. program with solely a bachelor’s degree should complete the First Exam before they are one week into their fifth semester in the program (i.e., by the time they have completed two years in the program). Students who enter the Ph.D. program with a master's degree are recommended to complete the First Exam before they are one week into their third semester in the program (i.e., by the time they have completed one year in the program). By this time students are expected to have completed 30 credits. Students who would like to schedule their First Exam beyond the stated time must provide a reasonable explanation for the delay when they submit the First Exam Scheduling Form, which still must be submitted within the time period stated above. Not being able to complete the core courses because of scheduling issues should not delay scheduling of the exam. If the First Exam is not passed before the student has completed 45 credits (36 course credits and 9 research credits), permission must be obtained from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs  to continue in the program.

Content of the First Exam:

The BME Ph.D. Qualifying Exam is an evaluation of the candidate’s potential for Ph.D.-level research. The Exam consists of a written part and an oral part, both of which should present an outline of how the candidate will approach the development of her/his dissertation. The dissertation project need not be defined in detail at this point. Preliminary research results may be presented, but are not required. The presentation may be an overview of the proposed field of dissertation research, identifying a key problem in the field that will become the focus of the dissertation. Or, it may focus on a particular problem, giving enough background literature review that the importance of the problem to the proposed field can be described. This First Exam differs from the Second Exam in that the emphasis is on how the candidate will approach the development of their dissertation; it is not a detailed proposal for dissertation research. The written part of the First Exam should be reasonably short (about 20 pages, double-spaced) and should include an introduction to the research topic and relevant references. It may include a review and critical survey of pertinent literature, a discussion of physiological and/or clinical relevance, theoretical aspects including mathematical models / computer simulations if relevant, or a discussion of experimental aspects including alternative experimental methods as appropriate. The literature survey is not expected to be exhaustive, but should cover key papers relative to the dissertation topic. It is required that the student prepare this document on his/her own without editorial assistance from the student’s research mentor, other faculty and students, or any other person. Consultation with the student’s research mentor, other faculty and students, or any other person is permitted, but not on the creation of prose that will appear in the document. Submission of the document is a statement by the student that the student on his/her own created the document, referencing all the sources (printed literature, websites, personnel communications) employed in the formation and preparation of the document. The document will be used by the Examining Committee as a test of the student’s ability to communicate clearly and logically in written English as well as a test of his/her capacity to do Ph.D.-level research. The oral part of the First Exam will involve a presentation of the written document before the Examining Committee and a discussion with the committee of both the document and its presentation. Typically, the student will make a formal presentation with a duration of 15-20 minutes. This presentation will be used by the Examining Committee to evaluate the student’s ability to communicate clearly and logically in spoken English as well as a test of his/her capacity to do Ph.D.-level research. Students are expected to demonstrate an understanding of their general research topic including the physiological and/or clinical relevance and the underlying theory, experimental and mathematical techniques, and pertinent literature related to the field. If a student is not familiar with any background topic it should be so indicated and accompanied by a plan to remove the deficiency.

Examining Committee:

The Qualifying Exam committee will consist of three or more members. One of the committee members must be the student's research mentor, and at least two of the members must be members of the BME Department. The student must propose the committee members on the First Exam Scheduling Form. After approval by the BME Ph.D. Advisor, the student is responsible for scheduling the Exam with the committee members within the time period described above. The First Exam written document must be submitted to the committee AT LEAST one week before the oral exam. The chairperson of the Examining Committee, who will not be the student’s mentor, is responsible for quality monitoring and for properly conducting the exam.

First Exam Results:

The student is informed of the exam result immediately after the exam; the chairperson of the Examining Committee will then give the result to the BME Ph.D. Advisor, who will inform the Graduate Dean; this is the only way the student’s record will be properly updated. If a student fails the exam, they may petition the Examining Committee to repeat the exam once. After the First Exam is passed, the student moves from Level 1 to Level 2 if 45 credits (including course and research credits) have been completed and they submit the appropriate level change form to the GSoE Office of Graduate Affairs (linked here).