Comprehensive Exam

The comprehensive exam is normally taken at the end of the second year. It includes two written parts, a research proposal in an area not directly related to the student's intended area of research, and a brief dissertation proposal. These are submitted to the examining committee and the proposal in the unrelated area is defended in an oral examination. The primary reason for requesting the brief dissertation proposal is to assure that it is sufficiently distant from the proposal defended orally. Questioning during the oral phase is expected to have sufficient breadth that the exam is indeed comprehensive i.e. it is not limited to the subject matter of the proposal. In special circumstances, for example if a student requires substantial remedial course work, deferral of the examination may be requested. Deferral requires the approval of the Molecular Biophysics Steering Committee.