Preliminary PhD Comprehensive Examination

The Preliminary Comprehensive Examination will consist of two parts: A) passing of the PB first-year core curriculum (PB I and PB II) with a grade of B- or better and B) successfully defending an original research proposal related to the student’s planned dissertation project.  

1. PB first-year core courses
   All first year students (MS and PhD) will enroll in PB I (currently BIOCHEM 690A) in the fall and PhD students will enroll in PB II (currently BIOCHEM 690A) in the spring.  PB I is a three-credit-hour course, in which students have lectures from various faculty members of PB. Each faculty presents material for one week of the course and each sets the students an exam question. The faculty member will lecture in depth on a topic in plant biology. In a semester, students will hear from many but not all PB faculty. In PB II, a two-credit-hour course, students will learn how to write a grant proposal. Based on an abstract from a funded proposal, students will write a proposal implicit in the abstract. This course also includes discussion on ethical conduct in scientific research. For PB I, the course coordinator establishes the lecturing roster and collects the grades. For PB II, the coordinator runs the class itself.  
   
   A student passing both PB I and PB II (with a grade of B- or better) will be considered to have passed part one of their comprehensive exam. A student failing PB I will be given a chance to retake the exam during spring semester, presumably in the form of a typical oral comprehensive exam, as arranged by the Graduate Program Director (GPD). A student failing PB II will be given a chance to retake the exam during the summer, presumably in the form of a proposal writing exercise, as arranged by the GPD.  Students that fail the second examinations will be dismissed from the Ph.D. program, and the matter will be presented to the Graduate Operations Committee to determine options available to the student.
2. Defense of original research proposal  
   1. General Comments
      By Feb of the second semester of the second year, the PhD student will convene their Dissertation Committee. Their mentor will serve in an advisory capacity to the rest of the committee (see below for more information about this committee). The Dissertation Committee will administer part two of the comprehensive exam. This exam will be a defense of an original research proposal relating to the student’s planned dissertation project. The student will write up a proposed set of experiments, including methods, potential outcomes, an introduction where the questions at stake are asked, a discussion where potential results are interpreted and potential impact on the field predicted, and a comprehensive bibliography. The student will give copies of the proposal to committee members no less than two weeks before the exam and during the exam will present the proposal orally and handle questions. In both written and oral portions, the student will be expected to demonstrate mastery of the relevant literature and concepts. The exam should take place before the end of spring semester.  
      The defense is designed to test the competence of the doctoral candidate in skills not evaluated by previous examinations. The skills to be tested include: - the ability to become expert in a limited area of the current research literature, -
      • to conceive an original research project,
      • to apply newly learned tools to the investigation,
      • to envision the possible results of planned experiments,
      • to set criteria by which the data and results will be assessed,
      • and to establish reasonable priorities among possible approaches to the problem. 
   2. Detailed Guidelines
      The cover page of the proposal should contain the title, the student's name, the date, and the statement: "A research proposal submitted to the Plant Biology Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Preliminary Comprehensive Examination."  
      
      The proposal should include
      • a review of the background and rationale of the problem with particular concern for recent developments in the field and
      • a simple, concise statement of the research problem or question that the student is proposing to investigate.
      • a lucid statement of one or more hypotheses the student has developed to investigate the problem and 
      • a moderately detailed statement of the rationale and methodology of the experiments to be carried out, an outline of the results anticipated, and a description of how the results will be interpreted.  
      The bibliography should provide complete citations (all authors, year, title, journal, volume, first and last page) for all cited references.  
      
      Each member of the Exam Committee will receive a copy of the proposal from the candidate, at least 14 calendar days prior to the date of the examination.  Members of the  Committee have up until 5 calendar days before the scheduled examination to move for rejection of the proposal as submitted.  To do so, the committee members will contact the student’s mentor who, in consultation with all committee members, will decide what steps are necessary in order to proceed with the examination. 
      
      The candidate will defend his/her research proposal before the Exam Committee.  In general, the candidate will be expected to open the examination with a formal presentation of approximately 30 minutes duration, outlining the salient points of the proposal.  During the defense, the student must show that the experimental approach proposed is scientifically valid and that the techniques to be employed will yield useful and interpretable information. The remainder of the examination will be devoted to the discussion of questions posed by individual committee members.  At the conclusion of the examination the student will leave the room.  The student should remain available to the committee as it deliberates and votes.  
      
      An evaluation of the candidate's performance will result in a "Pass", "Conditional Pass", or "Fail". Immediately following the examination, the Chair of the Exam Committee will communicate all comments and concerns to the candidate, and will also transmit, in writing, the results of the Examination and all recommendations of the Committee (“Pass”, “Conditional Pass”, or “Fail”) to the GPD.  
      
      A “Conditional Pass” will be accompanied by specific stipulations to the student for further work.  Students who are judged to have failed the examination will receive one additional opportunity to take the examination. The second examination must be passed within six months of the first examination.  Students who fail the second examination will be dismissed from the PhD program.
      
      Immediately following the examination, the Chair of the Exam Committee will communicate all comments and concerns to the candidate, and will also transmit, in writing, the results of the Examination and all recommendations of the Committee (“Pass”, “Conditional Pass”, or “Fail”) to the GPD.