Bioengineering

Ph.D. Student Handbook

Advancing to Ph.D. Candidacy:  Submission and Defense of the Dissertation Proposal

To be eligible to defend your proposal and advance to candidacy, a student must have passed the Qualifications Evaluation and be in good academic standing. All Ph.D. students should defend their dissertation proposal by the end of the fall semester of their third year of graduate studies.

Step 1: Getting Started - Registration for Your Dissertation Proposal Defense

Access the Dissertation Registration web form here.

Before the third year, each student and advisor should identify a dissertation research topic, select potential committee members, and develop a timeline to defend their dissertation proposal by the end of the fall semester of their third year of study. All students must formally register for the Dissertation Proposal  (access registration form here) by the end of the fifth semester of graduate study. If the student took a leave of absence during his/her studies, or believes he/she may have other extenuating circumstances, contact the Graduate Group Chair so that a timeline to defend the proposal can be determined based on individual circumstances.

Step 2: Registration Review - Committee Approval and Appointment of Chair

The Graduate Group Chair will review the topic, committee members and timeline proposed on the registration form. After reviewing your registration and committee recommendations, you will receive an email confirmation and approval of your registration. Changes or additions to the committee require approval of the Graduate Group Chair.

Download the Guidelines for Selecting Your Committee.

Step 3: Write your proposal - and have your advisor read, edit and approve it.

The advisor must approve the dissertation proposal before it can be distributed to the committee. The dissertation proposal is based on the NIH application format, and should have the following sections: Cover page including title, student and advisor name and contact information, Table of Contents, Abstract (<1 page), Specific Aims (1 page) and Research Strategy (6-12 pages). There is a 13-page limit, single-spaced with minimum font size of 11, excluding the Cover Page, Table of Contents, Abstract and References. The Specific Aims section states the specific objectives of the research proposed (e.g., to test a stated hypothesis, create a novel design, solve a specific problem, challenge an existing paradigm or clinical practice, address a critical barrier to progress in the field, or develop new technology). The Research Strategy section includes subsections: Significance (e.g. importance of the problem and how project will improve scientific knowledge, technical capability), Innovation (e.g. methods, instrumentation, theories, etc.), and Approach (overall strategy, methods and analyses, as well as preliminary data, potential problems and alternative strategies). This format emphasizes scientific and technical merit of the proposed studies, with less emphasis on preliminary data.

Step 4: Schedule the Proposal Defense Date/Location

Concurrent with the final stages of writing, the student should schedule a date for the proposal defense allowing a minimum of two weeks for the proposal to be reviewed by the committee. The student should copy his/her advisor on all correspondence with committee members. To facilitate rapid convergence on convenient meeting time and dates, students should find 5-7 dates/times that work for the student and advisor, and use meeting planner websites (e.g. www.doodle.com or when2meet.com) to help schedule the meeting. If the student has continued difficulty scheduling due to an unresponsive committee member, he/she should inform the advisor for help. If the member is non-responsive for more than a week, do not hesitate to contact the Graduate Program Coordinator or Graduate Group Chair to expedite the scheduling of the oral exam.

When the student has finalized a date, he/she must inform the Graduate Program Coordinator. Meeting rooms can be reserved through the SEAS Room Reservation Request Form found on-line: https://www.seas.upenn.edu/about-seas/room-reservation/  The student should send an email to all committee members with confirmation of the date and meeting place. The student will send a reminder to all committee members of the time and location one week before the meeting. The Graduate Group Chair and Graduate Program Coordinator should be copied on the reminder, which can be distributed by e-mail.

If there is a need to change the meeting time of the presentation the student must confirm these changes with committee members and make sure that everyone is agreeable to the change. The student must also inform the Graduate Program Coordinator and the Graduate Group Chair of any changes that are made.

Step 5: The Dissertation Proposal Defense

The Oral Presentation period of the dissertation defense should last approximately 45 minutes and will be followed by a question-answer period of similar length. Adjustments may be made with regard to the length of the presentation and subsequent discussion based on committee discretion, but the student should tailor his/her presentation roughly to these guidelines. The conference room should be reserved for two and a half hours to also allow the committee time for evaluation and discussion. The committee chair will report the recommendations to the Graduate Group Chair  through the form below: Acceptance of Proposal Form

It is imperative that all committee members be present at the oral presentation. If a member of the committee is unable to attend, the student must obtain approval of the committee chair and Graduate Group Chair to go on with the proposal. In this case, the absent member will be required to send comments to the Committee Chair two days prior to the presentation. At the Committee Chair’s discretion, these comments or questions may be used to test the candidate’s knowledge of the subject area.

The dissertation advisor is an ex-officio member of the committee and should always be present at the examination and at all meetings of the committee. However, the advisor must allow the student to demonstrate his/her knowledge and command of the subject on his/her own and will be recognized by the committee chair only to clarify issues when requested by a committee member.

Step 6: Feedback from the Dissertation Proposal Defense

The student will be informed orally on the outcome of the dissertation proposal defense following the examination.  Confirmation of the outcome should be submitted by the Committee Chair through the Acceptance of Proposal Form.

The committee may request revisions to the proposal, accept it as is, or very rarely, suggest a retake or fail the student. The dissertation committee must accept the proposal before the student advances to Candidacy.

NOTE: Students who have not defended their dissertation proposal and advanced to candidcay by the end of the Fall semester of their 3rd year of graduate studies must petition to the Graduate Group Chair for an extension. The petition should explain why a proposal was not submitted and provide a schedule for submission. The University regulations state that the maximum time limit for a student to “Advance to Candidacy” is five years, after which time the student will be dropped from the rolls. Dissertation proposals must be defended and approved at least 12 months before the Doctoral Dissertation is submitted. The Graduate Group Chair will not accept a Doctoral Dissertation before this period has passed.