Scheduling the Qualifying Examination
Students should work with their academic advisor & research mentor to determine when they are ready to proceed with their qualifying examination. The academic advisor should then complete the Qualifying Examination Preparation Form to notify the Executive Committee and propose appropriate faculty members to serve on the examination committee. This submission should include a status report on the student’s supplemental coursework (courses planned and completed with brief descriptions and names of instructors) and an abstract that describes/summarizes the written component of the examination. The abstract is based on the format for the Project Summary that is provided as part of an NIH grant application (see below). The Executive Committee will use this information to finalize the examination committee members. After the Qualifying Examination Committee is chosen, the chair of the committee will coordinate the scheduling of the examination with assistance from the Program Manager as needed. The written part of the examination must be distributed to the members of the Examination Committee a minimum of two weeks prior to the date for the oral part of the examination. The oral part of the examination should not exceed three hours.
Abstract (500 words or less): The abstract or Project Summary is meant to serve as a succinct and accurate description of the proposed work when separated from the application. State the application’s broad, long-term objectives and specific aims, making reference to the health relatedness of the project. Describe concisely the research design and methods for achieving the stated goals. This section should be informative to other persons working in the same or related fields and insofar as possible understandable to a scientifically or technically literate reader. Avoid describing past accomplishments and the use of the first person.