Preliminary Exams

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[edit] Preliminary Exams

The GBCB program requires all PhD candidates to take what is commonly referred to as a preliminary exam (or prelims for short).

There are two parts for this process, an NIH style research proposal outlining the student's research goals, and an oral defense of that proposal. The GBCB Program Info document has this to say regarding these two parts:

"During the period of time between the end of the third year and end of the fourth year of study, each student must prepare a dissertation research plan and give an oral defense of that plan and the scientific foundations on which it is based. The dissertation research plan is expected to be a refinement of the initial research plan presented at the end of the second year. It is to be prepared in an NIH-style format and should provide a clearly defined description of the research the student plans to complete in fulfilling the research requirement of the Ph.D. The oral defense of the plan, which constitutes the preliminary examination, will include questions both directly related to the proposal as well as more general questions that examine the student’s knowledge of fundamental principles."[1]

[edit] Example GBCB Research Proposals

The following are examples of accepted research proposals in NIH style format.

[edit] Oral Examination Advice

The following is advice from GBCB students who have completed the oral defense of their research proposal:

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