Doctor of Philosophy
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Requirements
To be admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree, a student must have successfully completed the iCME core courses and pass the qualifying examination (Level 1) as described below. Qualified applicants who have received a Master's degree from programs other than iCME's may be admitted to the iCME program, however they must take, and pass, the iCME Level 1 preliminary qualifying exam at the first opportunity following their admittance.
Students must complete 135 units for the Ph.D. This include 45 units for the Master's degree, 27 units of focused electives in an area planned with the student's graduate Ph.D. advisor, 12 units of which must be from iCME graduate core and specialized electives, 60 units of thesis research, and 3 units free electives. The program should be designed to develop a deep, focused background in the research area to be pursued in the dissertation. Approval of the program must be obtained from the Chair of the iCME Curriculum Committee.
Ph.D. Qualifying Examination Procedure
Level 1
The preliminary qualifying exam is a set of six one hour written examinations one on each of the six Core areas based on material in Core courses. Faculty of iCME organize the exam and schedule the exam date. It is typically held on the Friday following the end of the Spring term. If a pass in all subjects is not obtained a student is required to sit a similar exam that is held just prior to the start of the Fall term. A student is allowed only two attempts. These rules are currently under review. The practise has been to relax them a little with attention being given to the total score from all six exams. Also it has been the practise to excuse students re-sitting exams in a particular core subject if they did very well in it. Passage of the exam is necessary for admittance to candidacy.
M.S. student are eligible to sit the qualifying exam provided they have a GPA of 3.5 or better. The rules for them are a little different. They are not required to have completed them until the start of the Fall quarter of the third year. However, like the Ph.D. students, they are allowed only two attempts.
Level 2
Includes an oral examination on Ph.D. research proposal with supporting research and related material within a year after passing Level One. Ph.D. advisor and research program must be arranged by candidate well in advance of scheduling Level Two examination. The Oral examination will be administered by a four person iCME committee including the Ph.D. advisor. A written Ph.D. proposal is due in the hands of committee one month before the examination. Upon passing Level Two, the four person committee forms the basis for the thesis reading committee. Committee formation and the Level Two examination scheduling is the responsibility of the candidate. Failure to pass the exam may lead to termination of the candidacy or recommendation by the committee for the exam to be taken one additional time within six months of the first attempt.
Dissertation Defense
The final University oral examination is conducted by thesis reading committee. The examination consists of two parts. The first is open to the public and is scheduled as a seminar talk, usually for one of the regular meetings of an iCME seminar series. The second is conducted in private and covers subjects closely related to the dissertation topic.
Program Minor
Ph.D. students (i.e. those who have qualified for Ph.D. candidacy) in any University department can receive a minor in iCME by completing at least 20 total units in the program including 3 iCME core courses plus 3 iCME graduate electives at the 300 level or above. Up to 2 units of the 20 may be taken as iCME seminar units. The students receiving the minor must maintain an average GPA of 3.0 or above in the iCME courses. Minor programs must receive approval from the iCME Curriculum Chair prior to completing any of the iCME graduate electives. Minor programs should be developed in close discussion between the student and their Department Ph.D. Advisor.