PLEASE NOTE: This exam is for students choosing to submit a written proposal to fulfill requirements for their particular Ph.D. program. The exam is NOT A REQUIREMENT FOR THE COURSE ITSELF. If you are unsure as to whether your Ph.D. program requires a written proposal of this type, please check with your departmental Student Affairs Office.
IMPORTANT
Please be sure your name, the instructor(s) name(s), the course number, and the quarter (i.e. Fall 2006) are included on the title page of your proposal.
The proposal must be different from any current research that the student is performing, either during a lab rotation or towards a Ph.D. dissertation, and should not copy ongoing research from the laboratory in which the student works.
FORMAT: Limit your response to a maximum of three single-spaced typed pages (12 point type), not including title page, figures or the literature citations. The format should follow the outline of a typical research article or grant proposal, with sections entitled:
A. Abstract:
One very short paragraph about the problem being addressed and how you address it.
B. Background:
This section should state the background to the problem with appropriate citations, why the problem is important, and its implications to the field (suggested length up to 1 page but flexible). If you have a specific hypothesis, you can state it here as a prelude to specific aims.
C. Specific Aims:
Every research problem can be subdivided into specific aims that collectively address the problem as a whole. List these aims and elaborate in D.
D. Experimental Approach:
Subdivide this section according to the Specific Aims (no need for extraneous details like buffer concentrations or sources of materials unless they are highly specialized and might not be recognized by your average professor). Sometimes an added figure or two can help if your experiments are complicated and cannot be described succinctly. Incorporate the figure into the body of the text so that the reader can look at the figure and text simultaneously. Finally, use this section to describe expected results and future directions.
E. Literature Citations
ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING: Using the format above, and within the area(s) of the subject matter considered in the 298 seminar during the past quarter, consider a presently unanswered research problem that you believe to be worth investigating.
1. State the problem, explicitly but concisely, and discuss its significance in both a theoretical and practical sense.
2. Outline an experimental approach to the solution of the problem. Justify your experiments with appropriate literature citations.
3. Briefly discuss the long-term potential of this project. PLEASE REFER TO INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL BELOW
INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMISSION OF THE STUDENT SEMINAR PROPOSAL for the WRITTEN QUALIFYING EXAM
(Molecular Biology 298, Journal Club, or equivalent)
Students must submit their proposals to the MBIDP Graduate Office, 168 Boyer Hall, during the 10th week of the quarter (see schedule below). DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL DIRECTLY TO THE INSTRUCTOR(S). No proposals will be accepted after the deadline, except under truly extenuating circumstances presented by the student to the MBIDP Graduate Office.
Instructors are given two weeks to read, grade, and return proposals to the MBIDP Graduate Office. Proposals are graded pass, fail, or re-write. This grade is separate from the course grade. For proposals graded re-write, the student will be given a re-submission deadline by the MBIDP Graduate Office after consultation with the instructor.
The original, final graded proposals will be given to the appropriate departmental student affairs office for distribution to students. A copy will go into the student's graduate folder. ********************************************************************************
DEADLINES FOR PROPOSAL SUBMISSION 2007-2008 |
| Quarter |
Student Submit to
MBIDP Graduate Office by
|
Instructor Grade & Return to MBIDP Graduate Office by |
| Fall |
Thursday, December 6 |
Thursday, December 20 |
| Winter |
Thursday, March 13 |
Thursday, March 27 |
| Spring |
Thursday, June 5 |
Thursday, June 19 |
