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| Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology Graduate Student Guidelines |
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Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology Graduate Student Guidelines The Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology offers graduate training in the neurosciences under the auspices of the School of Biological Sciences in conjunction with the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program (INP) or combined program in Molecular Biology, Genetics, and Biochemistry (MBGB). Having successfully completed the 1st year requirements of either the INP or MBGB program ¹ a student joins the Department program by selecting a member of the Anatomy and Neurobiology faculty as their thesis advisor. Students are expected to graduate within five and a half years of entering the program. For guidance, a typical timeline showing requirements and responsibilities is given below: Year 2 In addition to meeting any TA assignments made by the INP or MBGB program, students joining the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology are required to attend all Departmental Seminars and Journal Clubs. During the first year in the laboratory the student is expected, in conjunction with his/her thesis advisor, to identify an interesting and tractable research question that can be developed into a thesis and begin collecting preliminary data in support of the project. Beginning in the second year and each year thereafter, all students are required to present a brief report of their progress at the annual Graduate Day meeting organized by the Department. Choose an Advisement Committee Upon joining the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology each student is required to assemble an Advisement Committee charged with the responsibility of providing general oversight and guidance on the student's progress towards Candidacy. The Advisement Committee, chaired by the student's thesis advisor, consists of three faculty, the majority of whom have appointments in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology. The Committee meets at least once each year, with the first meeting to take place before the beginning of Winter Quarter. A brief report of the Committee meeting signed by the Committee members and the student should be placed on file in the Department office. Year 3 Students are expected to complete their Advancement to Candidacy by the end of the third year (i.e. two years in the laboratory). Advancement to Candidacy involves three steps: Choose a Candidacy Committee The Candidacy Committee ², consists of five faculty members. One member is the student's thesis advisor who also acts as Chair. The other members should be selected based on expertise in the proposed field of study but must include at least one individual from an outside Department. It should be remembered, when considering faculty that might serve in this capacity, that the Doctoral Committee normally consists of a subset of the Candidacy Committee. The student has the responsibility to approach each potential committee member directly and should discuss with him/her the research to be proposed and progress to date. Advancement to Candidacy Advancement to Candidacy consists of two phases. First, the candidate produces a written thesis proposal in NIH or similar format (10-20 pages in length), which should be prepared by the candidate and distributed at least one week prior to the advancement meeting. For the second phase, the candidate will meet with their Candidacy Committee, make an oral presentation of the thesis proposal and explore the strengths and possible weaknesses of the proposal with the Committee members. The candidate should be prepared to answer the Committee's questions, to provide background information pertinent to the proposed research, and defend the rationale for the proposed experiments. In addition to direct feedback from the Committee, the candidate will also receive a written summary of the meeting from the Committee Chair. A copy of this letter, signed by both the student and thesis advisor, should be placed in the student's file. Finally, with the concurrence of the candidate, the Doctoral Committee Chair, and Academic Unit Chair or designee, the Candidacy Committee nominates the Doctoral Committe. ³ Year 4 and beyond Each student is required to do two "tune-ups"/year (to update their Doctoral Committee and departmental faculty members on their progress toward completion of their degree) until they graduate from the program. The requirement of one tune-up will be fulfilled by presentation of a student's work at the annual Departmental Graduate Day meeting. The second tune-up will consist of a one-page report, to be added to the student's file, outlining progress on each specific aim of the thesis proposal over the last year and possible changes in direction of research. The student is required to meet with his/her Doctoral Committee each year before the beginning of Winter Quarter to discuss the report and evaluate progress towards graduation. The student will be provided with a written summary of the outcome of the meeting, prepared by the thesis advisor. A copy of this letter, signed by both the student and the advisor, will be added to the student's file. Graduation Normal time to graduation is five years (one year in the MBGB program, four years research). Students receiving a Ph.D. must be able to identify a significant body of work for which they have been primarily responsible for experimental design, collection and interpretation of data, and preparation of manuscripts. It is expected that graduates of the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology will publish at least one first author or joint first author article in a peer reviewed journal from their dissertation research. Time to Degree Policy In accordance with Graduate Council requirements, the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology has developed the following Time to Degree Policy:
For University-wide funding reasons, the normal time to Advancement to Candidacy (A) must be less than or equal to four years and the normal time to degree shall be no more than seven years. A student exceeding the maximal time to degree shall not receive non-instructional University resources (financial aid, TA-ships, housing etc.). Stronger sanctions (including blocking registration) may be imposed for students who exceed maximal time to degree. Students not making satisfactory progress according to the written departmental standards, or who do not meet the normal time to Advancement to Candidacy, shall be notified in writing and given one year to resume normal progress or file a petition to the Dean of Graduate Studies 4. Academic Standards The following is taken from the UCI Graduate Advisor's Handbook. Students are encouraged to review the complete Handbook available at http://www.rgs.uci.edu/grad/staff/grad_hdbk.pdf. Satisfactory progress Satisfactory progress is determined on the basis of both the student's recent academic record and overall performance. Criteria for determining satisfactory progress toward degree are outlined below. Student records should be reviewed with special attention to the following criteria:
A graduate student who has not demonstrated satisfactory progress is not eligible for any academic appointment/employment (see Section IV. Academic Appointments and Graduate Student Employment) and may not receive fellowship support or other award that is based upon academic merit. a. Criteria for Determining Unsatisfactory Progress
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