Doctor of Philosophy with Specialization in Physiology, Cell, and Developmental Biology (Biological Sciences)

Thesis

• Registration in 900-level THES. Students must present their thesis research to the Department in the form of a public seminar either on the same day, or the day before, the thesis defence. In addition, students are strongly  encouraged to present annual progress reports to their supervisory committee.

Coursework and Seminar Component

Individual programs will be developed by agreement between the student and the supervisor/supervisory committee.

• Two 3-unit graded courses.
  • At least one 3-unit course must be in a graded seminar or discussion-oriented course.
• Students will register in BIOL 642  during each Fall/Winter term of their program. Students are required to present two seminars in the BIOL 642  seminar course. Normally this would be once in the second year and again in  subsequent years of their thesis work. Presentation in BIOL 642  is not to be used as the pre-thesis public seminar.
• Project courses or individual study courses may not be included in the minimum requirements, but may be taken for credit in addition to the minimal graded requirement on the recommendation of the supervisory committee with approval of the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies).
• Generally, coursework should be completed in the first year of the program.

Candidacy Exam

Students are required to complete a written and oral candidacy exam by the end of their third year.

Teaching

• Hold a 0.5 (6 hour per week) graduate teaching assistantship for one semester.

Ethics

• Complete 8 hours of approved ethics activities.
• Ethics hours are approved by the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies).

Professional Development

• Complete 8 hours of approved professional development (PD) activities.
• PD hours are approved by the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies) but cannot include any activity for which the student has previously received credit, cannot be required for the student’s thesis research, cannot be required training, and cannot reasonably be an expected part of the students graduate program.