From Candidacy to Completion

Please refer to the Handbook for complete details on the topic below.

Following their qualifying exam, students return to full-time dissertation research. There remain several important steps to complete before a student can become a candidate for the Ph.D. degree, and these must be accomplished by the end of the spring semester of the third year. Steps are outlines in brief here and full details are in the Handbook.

• The student will constitute a Dissertation Committee and hold their first Committee meeting before the end of the fall semester of the third year.
• The student will prepare a written dissertation prospectus. Typically, this is an update of the qualifying exam proposal including progress made or changes made based on initial work. The dissertation prospectus is present to the Dissertation Committee at the first meeting in the fall semester
• All course work must have been completed with at least two Honors grades
• Upon completion of the prospectus and all other requirements the Pharmacology faculty to advance the student to candidacy.

I. Dissertation Committee meetings are required every 6-9 months, at the discretion of the Committee, and must be held at least every 6 months for students in years 5 and above. The Committee can aid in interpreting the results, prioritizing experiments, and assessing whether the project is on track. Some key points for committee meeting are below and full details are in the Handbook.

• Students are responsible for scheduling these meetings. The advisor and all members of the Committee should be in attendance. Once a meeting is scheduled, the student must advise the Registrar of the date.
• The Registrar will ensure that meetings occur at the stipulated intervals, and will assist with finding a room, if required.
• One week before the scheduled meeting, the student should submit a brief, 1-2 page, written report to their Dissertation Committee – this should restate specific aims, describe research progress since the prior meeting, and outline the student’s future research plans.
• At the meeting:
  • The student will be asked to leave the room at the start so the Committee can get a report from the dissertation advisor.
  • The student will give a brief presentation (20-30 minutes), covering the data acquired since the last committee meeting and the plans for the next 6-9 months.
  • At the conclusion of the presentation and discussion, the student will again leave the room for the faculty to discuss and then complete the online Committee form. The student will be brought back in to go over feedback from the Committee.
  • At the end of the meeting the dissertation advisor will leave first so the student can privately discuss any concerns with the Committee.
• If the student hopes to defend within the next 6 months, and prior to scheduling the pre-defense, a committee meeting should be scheduled at this the student should bring an outline of the dissertation. This should include:
  • A list of chapters with a brief description of the information to be contained in each.
  • Publications and/or papers in preparation should be mentioned.

II. Dissertation Progress Report must be submitted annually.

III. Individual Development Plan must be completed following the first committee meeting and kept updated every 6 months. Students meet regularly with their dissertation advisor to discuss.

I. The Pre-Defense is scheduled when the student, advisor, and Dissertation Committee agree that the student is ready to write and present the dissertation. The pre-defense is an approximately 45 minute oral presentation to the faculty of the Pharmacology Graduate Program, with no requirement for a written report. The role of the pre-defense is for the Program faculty to view the doctoral work of the student with a “fresh pair of eyes” and give final approval for the student to start writing their dissertation. It is expected that this will occur no later than the middle of the sixth year. The student will outline the work that will constitute the Dissertation. If no first author publication has been obtained, a clear timeline for publication must be given.

II. Selection of the Outside Reader for the dissertation in consultation with the Dissertation Advisor. This must be a person from outside Yale and must be approved by the DGS.

III. Writing of the dissertation and publication of first author manuscript

IV. The Defense

• Must occur within six months of their pre-defense.
• It is the student’s responsibility to find and set a date that works for the Final Dissertation Committee and their advisor. All members of the Committee, including the outside reader, must attend the presentation and the following oral examination period. (the outside reader may attend virtually).
• In scheduling their dissertation defense, students should consider the GSAS deadlines for each degree dates – refer to the Handbook for details.
• At the dissertation defense the student will give a public 45-minute oral presentation of the data in the dissertation and the conclusions drawn from the data. This will be followed by a general question period, after which the audience will leave. In the following closed scientific discussion session, the Dissertation Committee and outside reader evaluate whether the student has achieved the standard to be granted a Ph.D. The Committee may request changes to the written dissertation at this time.

V. Dissertation Submission to the GSAS via the Dissertation Progress Reporting and Submission (DPRS) site.