Graduate Student
Handbook (Fall 2003)
A guide for graduate
students after their first year in the MBGB program
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Rm/MH |
Ext. |
Email |
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Arthur D.
Lander |
Chair |
Rm
5205 |
41721 |
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Thomas F Schilling |
Graduate Student Advisor |
Rm. 5210 |
42479 |
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Nancy
Johnson |
Department
Administrator |
Rm. 5205 |
44706 |
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Linda Pawloski |
Contracts
and Grants |
Rm. 5218 |
43489 |
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Terri
Buchanan |
Payroll and
Personnel |
Rm. 5215 |
44707 |
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Eleanor
Chan |
Financial
Analyst |
Rm. 5216 |
49869 |
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Li-Yu
Chen |
Financial
Analyst |
Rm. 5216 |
44710 |
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Mayu McKenzie |
Financial
Analyst |
Rm. 5205 |
45687 |
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Linda
Fernandez |
Graduate
Student |
Rm. 5207 |
46681 |
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Coordinator |
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Larrie Adanza |
Assistant to the Chair |
Rm. 5205 |
45347 |
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For matters
concerning enrollment, progress, deadlines etc. please contact Dr. Tom
Schilling or Ms. Linda Fernandez.
The
department office, Rm. 5205, has a Fax machine available for legitimate
business use only. For photocopying, you
will be provided with a personal number by your faculty sponsor. Copy machines are located on the 2nd,
4th, and 5th floors.
For copying services in the libraries, you will need a copy card.
The BioSci Computing Lab, located at MLH 200, is available to
you.
Parking/Escort
services are available 24/7, 365 days a year on campus, University Apartments
and
EMERGENCIES:
You have
access to fire, rescue and police at the 911 emergency number. The non-emergency number for campus police is
824-5223 (45223 from campus phones).
LABORATORY USE:
Your
research advisor’s laboratory is under his/her direction. You need
to receive formal training and certification in the use and disposal of toxic
and radioactive waste.
STIPENDS AND ENROLLMENT:
You must
enroll each quarter through TELE. You
are expected to enroll full time (minimum 12 units) each quarter. This
is YOUR responsibility each quarter. A
late fee of $25 is assessed if not paid by fee deadline, increasing to $50 if
you have not enrolled by the second week of the quarter.
The
consequences of late registration are:
a) You must pay the late fee as
described above.
b) On non-student status, you will have
federal deductions from your paycheck which will affects
your eligibility for housing.
c) You must use an add/drop card to
enroll in the courses.
For US
citizens who are non-residents of
For foreign
students, tuition is reduced
to the
Every
student receives a stipend from the Department on the same schedule, unless
they are on a training grant. The
schedule changes when you move from the Combined Program to a Department. This results in one month gap with no pay (the
Combined Program pays at the beginning of the month in advance; the Departments
pay at the end of the month in the arrears).
Graduate
students have health benefits and eligibility for student loans provided with
full-time enrollment.
FINANCIAL AID:
Traineeships: Beyond stipends from Departmental
sources, including Teaching Assistantships and research funds that support the
student’s laboratory, several Traineeships on a variety of NIH or other
Training Grants are available. The
directors of various Training Grants announce notice of openings to the faculty
members and student sponsors who make nominations of students.
Campus Dissertation
Fellowships: These are designed for students in
the last quarter of their degree work.
These fellowships are competitive and are announced once or twice each
year by the Graduate Advisor.
Travel: The school, Training Grants, and the
Graduate Division have modest funds for support of travel to meetings. These funds are used for students to present
their research.
Dissertation
Directors commonly have funds in their research grants to provide for travel to
meetings or other institutions for experimental work.
Other fellowships: A number of UC and national
fellowship programs provide support for graduate study. Students may take initiative in obtaining
these awards, and the Graduate Advisor will attempt to provide information
about them as they become available.
Required Courses:
NOTE: All courses must be passed
with a grade of B or better, or by an S (satisfactory). Students receiving a C or lower must rpeat the course before they can advance.
First
Year: Students must enroll in the
following courses for a minimum of 12 units each quarter.
Fall: Mol. Bio. 204,
Structure/Biosynthesis of Proteins
Winter: Mol.
Bio. 203, Structure/Biosynthesis of Nucleic Acid: and either
Dev. Cell 231B, Cell Biology or Dev. Cell 231D, Molecular, Cellular and
Developmental Neurobiology.
Spring: Dev.
Cell 210, Advanced Developmental Genetics, or Mol Bio. 206, Regulation of Gene
Expression; or Mol. Bio./Bio. Chem., 207, Advanced
Developmental Genetics.
In addition you will need to enroll in Dev & Cell 200 research, 203,
Laboratory and 201, Seminar.
For additional Core-Electives and course descriptions, refer to the
University Catalogue.
Second Year:
Each quarter you must enroll in a suitable number of units in the 200
and 203 series. In addition it is also
mandatory you enroll and attend the weekly Department Seminars Series, 290 and
Journal Club, 206, Advanced Topics in Cell Biology. As a Teaching Assistant this year you will
also need to enroll in 399, University Teaching.
Third Year and beyond:
Requirements are 12 units, which can be attained by the 200 and 203
series, 206, Journal Club and 290 Seminar Series.
OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTAL AND CELL
Ph.D. REQUIREMENTS
Year 2
Selection of your thesis advisor makes you a member of the
graduate program in Developmental and Cell Biology. In addition to finishing
the classes that are required in the MBGB program, and the TA assignments, you
will also be expected to participate in least one-journal club per quarter and
attend Departmental Seminars as a member of Developmental and Cell Biology.
During this second year you should, in conjunction with your advisor, identify
an interesting, tractable research problem, which will result in a thesis over
the following 2-3 year period. You should focus on developing the knowledge and
technical skills necessary to successfully complete the proposed project.
Year 3
Fall: Choosing an Advancement
Committee:
You will select a 5-member
advancement to candidacy committee before the end of fall quarter in the 3rd
year. First presentation to the committee will occur at the end of fall quarter
and requires the student to prepare a short 1-2 page outline regarding progress
to date and proposed thesis direction. The committee should provide input and
feedback that may influence the direction and focus of the advancement to
candidacy exam in the spring quarter of the 3rd year.
Spring: Advancement timing:
Advancement will generally occur at the end of the 3rd (Spring) quarter of the 3rd year. By this time the student
will have been in the lab just under 2 years and should have generated enough
preliminary data to allow evaluation of the thesis project chosen and the
likelihood of success.
Advancement format:
A written proposal in NIH format (approx 10 pages in total
length) should be prepared by the candidate and distributed to the committee at
least 1 week prior to advancement. The thesis advisor will prepare a written
summary of the meeting and the committee and student should sign it. These two
documents must be filed in the Department Office before the advancement
documents are sent to Graduate Studies. If a terminal masters is recommended
then the student will have 3 months in which to complete the research and to
write a Masters Thesis.
Year 4 and beyond
Fall and Spring Tune-ups
Each student is required to do 2 tune-ups/year
until receiving Ph.D.
Format of Tune-ups
A one page summary of the past 6 months progress will be
prepared by the student and presented to each committee member at the tune-up
meeting. The student's file containing the advancement proposal, 6 monthly
summaries, and 6 monthly comments of the committee will be brought to the
meeting. A written summary of the outcome of meeting and any comments by the
committee will be recorded on a prepared form. This will be signed by the
advisor, committee members and the student and will be retained by the
Department Office.
Final
Ph.D. time frame and research goal establishment
The 6-month tune-up at the end of the 4th year or beginning
of the 5th year will be a comprehensive overview of current progress to date.
At this meeting a series of experiments to be accomplished for the Ph.D. and a
tentative end date will be discussed.
Evidence of quality of
research by publication in peer reviewed journals
It is expected that a student receiving a Ph.D. will be able
to identify a significant body of work that they have been primarily
responsible for the formulation of the experiments, acquisition and
interpretation of the data, and writing of the manuscripts. Students who
entered the Dept. as 2nd year students in the fall of 1999 or
earlier must have at least one first author or joint first author paper that is
published or is submitted for publication in a peer reviewed journal before the
thesis defense can be scheduled. Students who enter the Dept. as 2nd
year students after the fall of 1999 must have at least one first author or
joint first author paper that is accepted for publication in a peer reviewed
journal before the thesis defense can be scheduled.
Teaching
Students will be required to fulfill their teaching
obligations through the MBGB program during their second year of graduate
school or as soon as possible. You will remain a second year and will not be able to advance until your
TA ship is complete.
- Thesis
advisor
- Coursework
for MBGB program
- TA
assignments
- One
journal club/quarter
-
Departmental seminars
-
Pre-advancement (fall quarter)
5-person
thesis committee
Submit
1-2 page outline summarizing progress and proposal
Meet
with committee
- Advancement
(spring quarter)
Submit
proposal in NIH format (approx 10 pages) at least a week in advance
meet with committee
- Fall and
spring tune-ups
Submit
one-page summary of progress to each committee member
meet with committee
- Special
tune-up (spring of year 4 or fall of year 5)
- Meet with
committee to discuss overall progress and proposed defense date
-One first author paper is required
to graduate
In the fall of your third year you must choose a committee to
oversee your advancement to candidacy. The committee is composed of a minimum
of 5 faculty members. The chairman of the committee is your thesis advisor. The
majority of members (at least 3/5 or 4/6 etc.) must be “internal” faculty
members, appointed in Developmental and Cell Biology. In addition, at least one
committee member must be "external", having a UC faculty appointment
not in Dev and Cell Biology, but in some other Department. This member can have an appointment in any
other Department or School at UCI, including biologically-related disciplines.
***The proposed
candidacy committee must be approved by your Principal Investigator and the
Graduate Advisor at least one week prior to your meeting with them in the Fall quarter 2003.
PREADVANCEMENT
All graduate students in Developmental and Cell Biology are
required to meet with their committee twice a year from the 3rd year on.
One of these meetings is scheduled for late fall and the other for late
spring. Your first meeting will take
place in the fall and is a “pre-advancement” requirement. It is your
responsibility to schedule this meeting and to submit a 1-2 page outline of
your progress and thesis proposal to each member of the committee. The goal of this meeting is to provide input
and feedback on your thesis proposal ideas from the faculty at an early date.
SCHEDULING COMMITTEE
MEETINGS OR “TUNE UPS”
You and your committee agree to a date and time for the
tune-up.
You contact the graduate coordinator to reserve a room.
Tune-up format:
This first meeting should be designed to acquaint the
committee with your research area, both the major questions your work addresses
and the preliminary studies you have done and hope to do in the next six
months. A suggested outline for the presentation is 25-40 min. with some
background information, data (gels, graphs etc. ) and
summary. The level of formality at this meeting is up to the
student and his or her
committee, but generally it should be relatively informal with an emphasis on
use of overheads and the chalk board.
Timing:
Fall tune-up: Scheduled by
The following guideline was
prepared to provide clarity on the purpose and format of the exam, and serve as
a description and guideline for your preparation for your advancement.
Goal:
The purpose of the exam is to determine if the student is
capable of Ph.D. quality research. This encompasses
two related aspects: 1) defining a tractable research problem; and 2)
demonstrating requisite knowledge, skills and experimental sophistication to
convince the committee that there is a high probability for the project to
succeed.
Timing:
The Advancement Exam must be taken
in the spring quarter of the 3rd year.
***All students will
be expected to have scheduled the exam by
Written Proposal
Format:
Prepare a written thesis proposal that follows conventional
format for a federal grant application or high quality journal within your
discipline. The manuscript should be
prepared with proper scientific nomenclature, as would be acceptable to a
journal or granting agency. The document
should be double-spaced and is expected to be approximately 10-15 pages. Please check with your advisor for details
on the style of the document.
In some form, the document will
include:
1. Introduction to the research project in which
the problem and objectives are clearly stated and placed in context. A bibliography should be included.
2. Preliminary
results obtained by
the student’s research efforts.
Appropriate discussion and methods should be included. Figures and tables should be included with
legends.
3. Proposed
research for the
thesis. The research proposal should
outline in the order of priority and time sequence the expected progress of
research. The proposal should address
the feasibility of various experiments and point out caveats that might be
encountered and how these could be circumvented.
***The document should
be distributed to the advancement committee at least one week prior to the oral
presentation.
Oral Presentation format:
The oral portion of the exam will involve the presentation of
background material, preliminary results and a summary of proposed
experiments. The presentation should be
30-40 minutes, although committee discussion will usually interrupt the
flow. During this time the committee
will evaluate whether or not you have the ability to formulate questions on
important biological questions. You may
be asked to discuss experimental design, required controls for an experiment,
and possible artifacts or caveats. You will be expected to place the
significance of the research project in a broad context. Although the exam
analyzes different aspects of your ability than the more knowledge-oriented
first year exam, you will be expected to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the
discipline in which you are working.
Thus, you should be prepared to elaborate on the background information
within that discipline if requested by the committee.
***The exam should be scheduled for a three hour time period, although
typically last about two hours. The graduate coordinator will help schedule the
room etc.
Possible outcomes and consequences:
There are four possible consequences of the exam:
1. you pass the exam and should expect to go into 1-3
more years of lab work to complete the Ph.D. thesis;
2. you do not pass, which may have several consequences
ranging from having to prepare a new advancement document OR providing
additional experimental results OR additional tutorial or course work to remedy
any deficiencies;
3. you may be transferred to a Masters degree program;
4) you may be terminated from the
graduate program.
Timetable for the 3rd
year:
By
Obtain
approval for committee choices 1 week prior to meeting
Submit
1-2 page outline of progress and thesis proposal ideas
By
By
Submit
10-15 page thesis proposal 1 week prior to meeting
By
4th year
students
All students who have passed their qualifying exam are
required to meet with their committee every year, preferably twice a year
(one of these meetings can be waved if the student and their advisor notify the
graduate advisor in writing as to why they need not meet). One of these
meetings is scheduled for late fall and the other for late spring. The ¾
schedule is given now so there will be no confusion as to the dates and what is
required. A form which each of you will take to the tune-up is to be signed by
your committee members and returned to the graduate office following the exam.
This is to provide input and feedback for the students from the faculty.
Fall Tune-up:
Scheduling:
You and your
committee agree to a date and time for tune-up
You contact
the graduate coordinator and book a room.
Format:
You will
present your ongoing research, problems, interpretations of data etc.
Completion:
The tune-up will not be considered complete until a form signed by your
advisor and committee members is returned to the graduate coordinator. This
form will have two categories
1. The above student is making
satisfactory progress toward their Ph.D. See comments:
2. The above student is not making
satisfactory progress toward their PhD. See comments:
Should you fall into the second category you will meet with
the graduate advisor and the thesis advisor to discuss the options.
Scheduled by
Completed by
This tune-up will have two components, in addition to the
normal discussion of progress during the past 6 months.
Suggested Format:
15 min. Summary of research accomplishments including things such
as: describe questions addressed highlight any papers prepared, submitted,
published describe techniques mastered, developed
30 min. Go
over in more detail the progress over the past 6 months data interpretations
problems encountered
15 min. Describe experiments to be finished for PhD and
timetable. Outline of experiments, noting whether you will
be a) cranking the handle on a well established protocol or b) still developing
experimental protocols. Timetable for completion of
particular projects including preparation and submission of manuscripts. Timetable for completion of
thesis and defense.
Remember that if you are thinking about defending your thesis
anytime soon you must have at least one first author or joint first author
paper that is accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal before the
thesis defense can be scheduled.
5th –7 th years
Students who have passed their qualifying exam are required
to meet with their committee every year, preferably twice a year (one of these
meetings can be waved if the student and their advisor notify the graduate
advisor in writing as to why they need not meet). One of these meetings is
scheduled for late fall and the other for late spring. A form which each of you
will take to the tune-up is to be signed by your committee members and returned
to the graduate office following the exam. This is to provide input and
feedback for the students from the faculty.
Scheduling:
You and your committee agree to a date and
time for tune-up
You contact the graduate coordinator and
reserve a room
Format:
You present your
ongoing research, problems, interpretations of data etc. Completion:
The tune-up will not be considered complete until a form
signed by your advisor and committee members is returned to the graduate
coordinator Coordinator. This form will have two categories
1. The above student is making
satisfactory progress toward their Ph.D. See comments:
2. The above student is not making
satisfactory progress toward their Ph.D. See comments:
Should you fall into the second category you will meet with
the graduate advisor and the thesis advisor to discuss the options.
Timing:
Fall
tune-up:
Scheduled
by
Completed
by
Spring
tune-up:
Scheduled
by
Completed
by