Supervisory Committee Meeting

First Thesis Supervisory Committee Meeting

Upon passing the Ph.D. preliminary exam, the student should begin to prepare for their first Thesis Supervisory Committee meeting. This must take place no later than 4-6 months after the prelim exam. The student should prepare a 10-15 page, double-spaced description of their thesis research (Times 12 point font), following the general format of a NIH grant proposal as outlined above for the prelim exam proposal. The Research Design and Methods section could include Preliminary Results, if appropriate, to describe what the student has already accomplished in the lab. The emphasis, however, should be on the larger scientific questions being addressed, the significance of the proposed research, and how it will impact the field. The student is encouraged to work together with their Ph.D. thesis advisor to produce this document. The thesis research proposal is to be distributed to the Supervisory Committee members one week before the meeting (note that the thesis advisor is a member of this committee). The goal of this first Ph.D. Thesis Supervisory Committee meeting is twofold: (1) to get feedback on the proposed thesis research, and (2) to discuss progress and plans for fulfilling Ph.D. degree requirements, such as TAing and course requirements. This is not an exam (that is over!), but rather the first opportunity for the committee to discuss student progress and help prepare the student advance to the Ph.D. degree.