A. STUDENT ORIENTATION (PRIOR TO INITIAL REGISTRATION)

PROFICIENCY (ENTRANCE) EXAMS
All entering students will be given proficiency exams (usually of the ACS type). Currently, these exams are in the following areas: Inorganic, Organic, and Physical. The results of the examinations will provide the Chemistry Department with information regarding the entering class as a group and the Graduate Studies Committee with information about the scientific backgrounds of individual members of the entering class.

B. STUDENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE (SAC) FOR Ph.D. STUDENT

1. CONSTITUTION
Selection of a research director by a new student usually begins during the first semester of study in the program. The student is required to talk with at least three faculty members about research before the formal selection process is completed. The process is completed when the student turns in a form (please fill in your name on-line before printing) to the Chemistry Student Services Office that has been signed by at least three faculty members. One of the faculty members must indicate a willingness to accept the student into his/her research program. This process may not be completed before October 15th for students starting in the fall semester or February 15th for students starting in the spring semester, and is normally completed by the end of the first semester in residence.

As soon as a student has selected a research director, a SAC committee should be established. This committee consists of the research director and two additional members of the faculty, one from the student’s Division and one from outside the Division. The faculty members selected should be those who are most likely to be able to provide the student with advice on questions arising about course work or research problems. Students are required to inform the Chemistry Student Services Office of the members of the SAC at the same time that they specify their research director.

The SAC has the responsibility of serving as a resource for the graduate student concerning any problems that arise during his/her course of study. A SAC meeting should be called any time advice is deemed necessary by either the student or research advisor. SAC members serve as members of the permanent committee. After the student has joined a research group, registration is the responsibility of the research director in consultation with the SAC if necessary.

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C. PERMANENT COMMITTEE

1. CONSTITUTION
The Permanent Committee for a Ph.D. student consists of his/her SAC plus two "examiners," selected by the research director. One of the two examiners must be from within the student's major area and one must be from outside the major area. The student's major area is defined by the set of cumulative examinations he/she elects to take. The Chairman of the Permanent Committee must be from the student's major area but cannot be the research director.

The Chairman of the Permanent Committee will be selected by the research director. Recommendations concerning the Permanent Committee should be forwarded to the Chemistry Student Services Office by the student after approval by the Research Director. The Permanent Committee will then be nominated by the Vice Chair for Graduate Studies and approved by the Dean of the Graduate School.

2. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PERMANENT COMMITTEE
The Permanent Committee conducts the Doctoral Oral Examination and the Final Oral Examination as prescribed by the Graduate School requirements.

D. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE Ph.D. DEGREE

1. COURSE PROGRAM
There are no formal Departmental course requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Course programs are arranged on an individual basis. However, prior to passing the Doctoral Oral Examination all students requiring research registration must register for the appropriate number of hours of Chem 9X1. Starting with the semester after students have completed their cumulative and oral exams, every doctoral student is required to register for three hours of doctoral dissertation, Chem 994, every semester until they successfully defend. This is most likely in the fourth or fifth semesters of study. For list of graduate courses please click here.

Please Note:
Biological graduate students must take all the biological chemistry module courses offered in their first two years.

2. RESIDENCE CREDIT
To obtain a doctoral degree, a student must earn four semesters of residence credit. At least two semesters of residence credit must be earned at this University by continuous registration, for not less than six semester hours in a regular semester, or for any number in summer session, although registration during summer session is not required for continuity. The other two required semesters of residence credit may be obtained by registration at this University and/or by transfer of credit. Residence credit in any term of summer school is computed the same as during the regular semester. Residence credit earned on work for a Master's degree is applicable as residence credit for a doctoral degree.

Residence Credit Computation
Nine (9) semester hours of credit is considered full-time and earns a full semester of residence credit.

Six to eight (6-8) semester hours of credit earns ½ semester of residence credit.

Three to five (3-5) semester hours of credit earns ¼ semester of residence credit.

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3. PRELIMINARY DOCTORAL ORAL EXAMINATION
(a) Pre-examination Requirements.
The Doctoral Oral Examination must be taken no earlier than the second semester and no later than the fourth semester of graduate study, prior to the end of the official exam period. No Division or SAC has the authority to postpone the first attempt at the oral examination past the end of the fourth semester of graduate study. The Graduate Studies Committee will consider special cases after receiving a petition from the student and his/her SAC. When the student is ready to take the Doctoral Oral Examination, and at least two weeks prior to the date it is to be given, he/she should:
(i) obtain permission to take the examination from the Chemistry Student Services Office
(ii) submit the Doctoral Oral Examination Form to the Chemistry Student Services Office

(b) The Format of the Doctoral Oral Examination.
The format of the oral examination is determined by the Chairman of the Permanent Committee and will vary from case to case; however, the examination period will not exceed two hours. The student should discuss the format and the content of the oral exam with the Chair of the Permanent Committee at least one month before the doctoral exam takes place. Usually the dissertation project will be presented and discussed. The oral examination will accomplish the following purposes, among others:

(i) determine the candidate's fitness to continue work toward the doctorate.
(ii) discover any weaknesses in the candidate's knowledge which need to be remedied by additional course work or other forms of instruction.

Students are expected to present a written statement of their research projects (prospectus) at least 7 days (more for some Divisions) prior to the date of the oral examination. Typically the report will be approximately 12-15 pages in length with relevant references and embedded figures. (For the Biological Division, the written proposal shall be no more than 12 pages double spaced 12 point font with 1 inch margins, not including title page and references. The written proposal must be given to the committee 2 weeks prior to the oral defense.) The report will be submitted to the Chair of the Permanent Committee after the student has received permission to take the oral examination. This report will satisfy the Graduate School's requirement for a prospectus.

(c) There are four possible outcomes for the oral examination.
(i) pass - without restrictions
(ii) pass - with special requirements, e.g. additional courses to take
(iii) pass - but without approval for the thesis project as presented. In this case another presentation of the thesis project may be required at a later time. (Approval of the thesis project is not viewed as part of the Doctoral Examination by the Graduate School.)
(iv) fail - this grade is appropriate for students who reveal inadequate general knowledge and/or who demonstrate that they are not prepared to undertake their thesis research project.

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4. DOCTORAL WRITTEN EXAMINATION
The Doctoral Written Examination takes the form of a series of written examinations, “cumulative exams” or “cumes,” given by the faculty in the student's particular major area. The content of the exams generally covers the current literature, courses and seminars. The purpose of the examinations is to assess the scientific maturity of the student at regular intervals. The number of written examinations required varies from Division to Division; the particular requirements of each Division are listed below. Failure to complete the written exam requirement in the prescribed time period typically will result in the student being dropped from the Ph.D. program; usually onto an MS track. Topics will be announced one month in advance.

Analytical Division (must pass 6)
A student in the Ph.D. program is expected to pass at least two exams in the first year and six exams after two years. Students that do not pass at least two exams by the end of their first year will be remitted to the Master's program. Upon satisfactorily completing the requirements for the Master's degree, such students may reapply to the Ph.D. program. As an incentive, passing five exams in the first year automatically satisfies the six-exam requirement. The content of each analytical exam typically involves a series of discussion questions covering a general area of analytical chemistry (e.g., chromatography, electrochemistry, mass spectrometry, surface science). An annual schedule of exam dates is announced early in the Fall semester.

Biological Division
Generally, exams will be held in early January and April/May. A student in the Ph.D. program must pass one hot topics exam, the general chemistry exam, and four advanced topics exam (six total) within two years. Passing five exams, including hot topics and general chemistry, in the first year also satisfies the requirement; two exams from other Divisions may count toward this total. In a hot topics exam, a student must demonstrate a strong understanding of an unannounced paper from the journals Science or Nature, published during the prior year. Students declare their intent to take an exam one week before the announced exam date. Prior to taking the exams, students are encouraged to prepare together; however, students may not communicate with each about the exams over the exam weekends.

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Inorganic Division
Beginning in Fall of 2002, and in substitution for traditional cumulative exams, all first and second year inorganic students register for Chem 754, Inorganic Seminar (2 credits), and receive a grade for this course. In the first year, the written exam will take the form of Seminar Reports authored by the student, which succinctly place the research presented by a pre-approved group of outside seminar speakers in a scholarly context, and present a critical commentary of the research. Four Seminar Reports with a grade of P or better are required, and a minimum of two reports must submitted during the first semester. Report requirements and grading guidelines will be distributed in the Fall of each year. In the second year, students will submit two mini-research proposals that are loosely based on the topic of an outside speaker’s seminar.

Students will obtain an outline of the proposal requirements at the beginning of the 3rd semester. The goal of this proposal requirement is to practice and receive feedback on the proposal writing techniques necessary to complete the formal 3rd year original research proposal requirement. Two cumulative exams outside of inorganic chemistry may be used in lieu of two of the Seminar Reports.

Note: Prior approval by the Analytical Division (1 week in advance) is necessary before attempting an analytical cume.

For students from other Divisions who wish to use inorganic seminar report/critique as their cume substitutes, two Seminar Reports with a P or H grade will be counted as one cume whereas each Mini-Research Proposal with a P or H grade will be counted as one cume. Please be advised that the inorganic faculty has very high expectation for Seminar Reports and mini-research proposals.

In the third year, each student is required to submit an acceptable, original research proposal (typically no more than 20 pages, double spaced). The oral defense of the proposal will consist of a 20 minute discussion where student will be asked to present a short overhead talk (10-15 min) on the proposed topic, followed by an informal question/answer session. The possible outcomes of the oral defense are: unqualified pass, redo written component addressing committee concerns, or redo of written and oral components with or without a new topic.

Organic Division (must pass 5 and 1 research proposal)
Nine (9) examinations are given yearly, September through June. Students are required to pass five exams during the first two years. Passing four exams the first year exempts the student from the fifth exam. Up to two exams from another Division may be credited toward this requirement. Cumes are graded on a high pass, pass, conditional pass, and fail scale. A conditional pass on a cume will only be counted towards the five passes if the student receives a high pass on another cume.

Note: Prior approval by the Analytical Division (1 week in advance) is necessary before attempting an analytical cume.

Entering students are encouraged to begin taking exams immediately, and after the first semester are expected to take each exam as it is given. Not taking the exams regularly until the requirement has been completed reflects poorly on a student's interest and motivation. To encourage a more focused and comprehensive learning experience, topics are announced one month in advance.

In addition, each student is required to submit an acceptable, original research proposal. Proposals are normally submitted during the third year and may not be submitted until after the cumulative examination requirement has been fulfilled. Proposals are accepted on September 1 and February 1 of each year and reviewed by faculty panels. A proposal deemed inadequate will be returned to the student for revision. Since the process may be lengthy, students should submit proposals at least a year before the expected completion of their other requirements.

Physical Division
Cumulative examinations are graded on a “high pass,” “low pass,” and “fail” system. They are given each year between September and May, and all students that have not completed their cume requirements are encouraged to take every one that is offered. Students must pass all four exams with no more than two “low pass” grades to satisfy the cume requirement. Students who have passed all cumes with “high pass” will be exempt from general questions during the oral exam. Although at least a “low pass” on two of the exams will satisfy the cume requirement, the expectation is that students who receive a “low pass” in their first year will retake that exam in their second year to receive a “high pass.” Only one exam on a given announced topic can be counted towards completion of the cume requirement.

Polymer and Materials Division
The written examination requirement for Ph.D. students in this Division will be in the form of cumulative examinations. In order to fulfill this requirement for the Ph.D. a student must pass a total of five cumulative exams within two full years of graduate studies with at least two cumulative exams within the Polymer and Materials Division and the rest from the other chemistry Divisions cumulative exam offerings.

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5. SEMINAR REQUIREMENT
Analytical Division
All first and second year Analytical students are required to register for Analytical Seminar, Chem 741. Second year students will present a 25-minute literature seminar focusing on the fundamentals of modern analytical methods. In particular, seminars should include thorough descriptions of the underlying theory and measurement principles of the method (or class of methods), and the relevant instrumentation. The topic of the literature seminar is to be approved by the student's research advisor and the faculty member in charge of the seminar. The topic is not to be related to the student's current or previous (e.g., undergraduate) research projects, or other research areas in the research group that the student is part of.

Discussion of carefully selected illustrative chemical applications is also appropriate, but should not be the main topic or consume the major part of the presentation. Students in the Ph.D. program will also present a research seminar, typically in the fall semester of their fourth year. The student will receive an evaluation for the Departmental files but no formal course registration is involved. Students registered for, but not presenting a seminar in a semester, will provide written critiques of student seminars during the semester. Students in their third or later year are expected to regularly attend seminar.

Biological Division
The Division offers a regular program of weekly seminars featuring local and national speakers. Students are expected to participate in the Seminar Program throughout their graduate careers. All first and second year biological chemistry students register for and attend the seminar in Biological Chemistry, Chem 731. Every biological chemistry student must present a seminar before the end of the spring semester of his or her third year. After the seminar the student will meet with their committee. It is the student's responsibility to notify their committee members. Students typically present an additional research seminar during their fourth year, and a seminar is a required part of the dissertation defense.

Inorganic Division
The Division offers a regular program of weekly seminars featuring both local and national speakers. Students are expected to continue to participate in the Seminar program throughout their graduate careers. All first and second year inorganic chemistry students register for and attend the seminar in Inorganic Chemistry. Students typically present two research seminars, one during their fourth year and one as their dissertation defense.

Organic Division
The Division views the seminar program as a vital part of graduate training and expects students to participate by attending the Organic seminars regularly and presenting two seminars during their tenure in the Department. The first seminar is normally given in the spring of the second year and is based on a topic from the current literature. The second is usually given in the fall of the fourth year and is based on the student's dissertation research. Each seminar is evaluated by those faculty members present, and the evaluation relayed to the speaker.

Physical Division
To help broaden their prospective of the field, students in Physical Chemistry should regularly attend the Physical Chemistry seminars. Students in Physical Chemistry register for Physical Chemistry Seminar, Chem 781, for the first four semesters. First year and second year students will also help with the mechanics of running the seminar program. Graduate students give a seminar in their third year. The faculty member in charge of the course will schedule these. The topic of the seminar can be based upon either a literature study or the student's own research. In either case, the appropriate background material should be included to give the audience the context needed to appreciate the work. Following the seminar, the physical chemistry faculty will provide feedback on the seminar presentation.

Polymer and Materials Division
All first and second year Polymers/Materials Division students must register for the Polymer and Materials seminar course, Chem 721. Students are expected to participate in the seminar program throughout their graduate careers.

Anytime after completion of the oral exam and after the student has completed significant research, a research seminar must be given. This seminar is to be scheduled by the student for presentation at a Polymer and Materials Chemistry Division seminar. An oral presentation (not a poster presentation) delivered by the student at a National or International Professional Society Meeting (ACS, APS, MRS, etc.) can be substituted for this seminar requirement upon written approval of the student's Ph.D. Advisor.

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6. ADMISSION TO CANDIDACY

7. APPLICATION FOR DEGREE
When a candidate nears the end of research and can anticipate final approval of the dissertation, the student should formally apply for a degree for the next commencement according to the deadline listed in the Registrar's Calendar. Forms available on-line at the Graduate School and in the Chemistry Student Services Office. If a student has already applied for candidacy and for the degree but has failed to meet the deadline for a specific commencement, he/she must make an application for the degree again, but not for candidacy.

8. DISSERTATION
Dissertations should be submitted to the Graduate School according to the schedule in the Registrar's Calendar for a specific commencement. The dissertation must be prepared as directed in the Thesis Guide.

9. DOCTORAL FINAL ORAL EXAMINATION
The final oral examination is administered by the student's Permanent Committee. The student should submit a copy of his/her thesis to the readers along with a copy to the other permanent committee members one week (three weeks for the Biological Division) before the defense. The examination involves a defense of the dissertation; students normally present a description of their dissertation research and discuss its scientific significance. At least two weeks prior to the date the exam is to be given, the student should submit the Doctoral Oral Examination Form to the Chemistry Student Services Office

10. OVERVIEW OF PhD DEGREE REQUIREMENTS BY DIVISION
All graduate students beyond their first year are reviewed annually, usually in July, to assess progress towards their degree. Assessments are based on division requirements. First year students are reviewed each semester during their probationary period to assess their continuation in the PhD program.

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