Stanford School of Medicine
Developmental Biology–

The Ph.D. Program

Repeating segmental pattern of body wall muscle in a Drosophila embryo

The Ph.D. thesis and oral examination are expected to be finished with five and one-half years from the date of entrance into the graduate program. The following process is designed to facilitate this expectation and to promote faculty participation.

The Dissertation Committee

The committee will consist of four faculty members. These will include the student's thesis advisor, another departmental faculty member who will serv as chair, and two other faculty members who can come from either inside or outside the department.

Dissertation Defense Committee

The dissertation defense committee consists of the dissertation committee plus an additional faculty member who will serve as chair. At least five members, four examiners and a chair, will make up the dissertation defense committee. The Chairperson may not be from the student's department or any department in which an examining member has an academic appointment. If an examiner has a joint appointment in two departments, the chair may not be from either department. The chair will be selected by the student subject to prior departmental approval and will join the committee for the final defense.

Dissertation

We can stain for different genes by using colored substrates

When the student, advisor, and Dissertation Committee agree that the student has completed work of sufficient novelty and quality to merit the Ph.D., the student will write a dissertation. When the dissertation is acceptable to the advisor, it will be presented to the Dissertation Defense Committee. The student will then defend this dissertation at the University oral examination.

University regulations specify the composition of the examination committee and the format of the dissertation defense. The department requires that the student present a formal seminar to the members of the department. The formal seminar is held immediately prior (on the same day) to the dissertation defense. The dissertation is expected to be an original contribution to scholarship, to exemplify the highest standards of the discipline, and to be of lasting value to the intellectual community.

Published papers may be included in dissertations; however, they must meet the University's format guidelines. Manuscripts and figures submitted for publication during the doctoral program should be retained for later reformatting and inclusion in the dissertation. Dissertations must be in English.

The Doctoral Dissertation Reading Committee consisting of three members total, two from the Academic Council, one being the principal dissertation adviser and two other readers one of which must be from the major department, will approve the dissertation.

Deadlines are strictly enforced.

Oral Examination

A University oral examination is a requirement of the Ph.D. program. The University oral examination will be administered by these guidelines:

  1. The chair must be an Academic Council member from a department not represented by members of the examining committee.
  2. At least four examiners are required, three of which must be on the Academic Council. A fourth member who is not on the Academic Council may be substituted if he or she contributes an area of expertise not readily available from the faculty and if approved upon petition to the Graduate Degree Support Section.
  3. The student's candidacy must be valid and registration is required in the quarter in which the oral examination is taken. The Doctoral Dissertation Reading Committee form must be on file in the Graduate Degree Support Section before oral examinations that are a dissertation proposal or defense.
  4. The student's department delivers to the chair a University Oral examination schedule , University Guidelines for Oral Examination Procedures, and an abstract for oral examinations that are a dissertation proposal or defense.
  5. The oral examination results are validated by the chair and reported to the department and the Graduate Degree Support Section within five days of the examination.
  6. University procedures are followed in communicating with students who do not pass the examination. Copies of this correspondence will continue to be sent to the Graduate Degree Support Section.

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