Doctoral Prospectus & Admission to Candidacy

Prospectus

Until a student’s prospectus has been approved by the prospectus committee and the dean, dissertation work has no official status. Normally, a student will not submit a prospectus until the student has completed course requirements, satisfied the foreign language and research requirements, and passed the general examination.  

• A "long" version of the prospectus of approximately six pages containing detailed information should be prepared for the students thesis committee, prior to approval of the final version of the prospectus. This version should be emailed to all committee members, department chair and director of graduate students at least one week prior to the committee meeting to discuss approval or recommended revisions to the prospectus.

• The official prospectus to be turned into the BMS Graduate Office should be approximately three doubled-spaced typewritten pages. The department of pharmacology should also receive a copy for the student's file.

• Prospectus format: The cover sheet should state the student’s name, department, the title of the proposed dissertation, and the name of the chair and the other members of the committee. The introduction of the prospectus should contain a summary of earlier work on the problem. The body should include an orderly description of the plan for the investigation. The conclusion should clearly state the anticipated nature of the investigation results. Major sources of information should be indicated and a selective bibliography attached.

Admission to Candidacy

Admission into BMS in a Ph.D. program does not constitute official admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. To be admitted officially to candidacy for the Ph.D., a student must have completed course requirements, satisfied research requirements, passed general examinations, and submitted a prospectus of the dissertation approved by the student’s dissertation committee and the dean for biomedical sciences. The recommendation for admission to candidacy is made by the department and must bear the signatures of both the chair of the student’s dissertation committee and the chair of the department. The recommendation for admission to candidacy must be submitted to the BMS office no later than September 15 for those expecting to receive the degree in December, or December 15 for those expecting to receive the degree in May, or March 15 for those expecting to receive the degree at the end of the Summer Session.