Scheduling the Qualifying Examination
The
chair of the student’s Academic Advisory Committee is responsible for informing
the Executive Committee that the student is ready to schedule the Qualifying
Examination. This notification 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 what will
be turned in as 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 R03
grant application (see below). The Executive Committee will use this
information to help decide which faculty members can serve on the Examination
Committee. After the Qualifying Examination Committee is chosen, the chair of
the committee will coordinate the scheduling of the examination. 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.