PhD Qualifying Exam

Function

The PhD qualifying exam is intended for doctoral candidates to provide their examination committee with evidence of sufficient knowledge, ability, and skill to officially proceed into the doctoral program. As candidates who pass this exam are formally qualified for the doctoral program, outstanding MASc students (who have been granted explicit permission by their primary research supervisor) may also take this exam to bypass the Master’s program and reclassify as a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering (BME). MASc students who bypass to the PhD program (through a successful exam outcome) are expected to continue their studies in BME under the same research supervisor(s). The exam committee will evaluate the candidate’s background preparation and capacity to undertake an original and conclusive scientific investigation that has the potential to develop into a PhD thesis (which ideally translates to approximately three first-authored articles). Specifically, the exam committee will:

• Evaluate the candidate’s ability to articulate a clear hypothesis or overall goal (e.g. create a novel design, solve a specific problem, develop a new technology, challenge a current paradigm/practice, and/or address a critical bottleneck in the field);
• Evaluate the candidate’s ability to plan and design experiments to test their hypotheses and/or to achieve the overall goal(s) stated;
• Evaluate the candidate’s ability to interpret experimental data and appreciate the limitations of approaches used;
• Evaluate the student’s knowledge of relevant literature and/or understanding of scientific concepts pertaining to the thesis topic;
• Take into account the student’s performance in graduate courses.

TIP: It is beneficial for students to rehearse the question and answer session(s) prior to an exam in a less formal but official setting (e.g. a supervisory committee meeting) to learn from the experience of being in front of a judging panel. Moreover, members of the student’s supervisory committee will participate in the qualifying exam. Although optional, students should hold a supervisory committee meeting 3–4 months before the qualifying exam in preparation for this milestone event.

Composition

The PhD qualifying exam committee comprises the supervisory committee with the addition of an internal-external examiner. The minimum number of members expected to reach quorum is outlined in the table below.

TIP: Consult the SGS Graduate Faculty Members list. Although not strictly required, it is recommended that the internal-external examiner be from a different department.

Outcomes

Although individual examiner votes are not recorded, the committee consensus by way of voting must be recorded on the qualifying exam form as a formal judgement of whether the student is qualified for the doctoral program in BME. Successful completion of the qualifying exam is required for doctoral students to continue in the PhD program.

Options

• Retaking the qualifying exam: After the first failure, students may be granted one more attempt at the PhD qualifying exam. The decision of whether a second attempt will be granted is at the discretion of the examination committee. If granted by the committee, the second qualifying exam should be held after approximately six months, but the second qualifying exam must be completed by the twelfth month from the original exam date. Failure to meet the deadline will equate to a failed outcome for this exam. This is a strict deadline – no exceptions.
  
  • At the reconvened examination, no new members shall be added except for necessary replacements. It is the obligation of the original examiners to attend the reconvened examination.
• Academic appeal: Students who have failed their second qualifying exam are not in good academic standing. Decisions of the examination committee are final; however, students may appeal the decision by first contact and discussing the incident with the Institute’s Associate Director, Graduate Programs to initiate the appeals process. In turn, the Associate Director will advise the student of next steps.

Procedure

Workflow overview

Note(s)

1. All examiners must possess active and unrestricted SGS graduate faculty membership.
2. If a committee member is unable to attend the exam due to unforeseen circumstances, then an appropriate substitution must be found to maintain quorum. An appropriate (i.e. eligible) substitute member may be appointed by the supervisor with agreement from the student.
3. Internal-external examiner: a faculty member internal to the university but external to (i.e. at arm’s length from) the student’s research thesis project. The internal-external examiner may be a faculty member of Biomedical Engineering or of other departments, centres, or institutes of the University of Toronto. The internal-external member must have graduate faculty membership and expertise relevant to the student’s research topic but must not have been involved in supervision of the thesis (i.e. not a member of the student’s supervisory committee).
4. Arm’s length: A condition for the individual(s) involved to be separated by interpersonal distance such that the participant cannot be a close friend, current or recent collaborator, former supervisor, advisor or colleague in the candidate’s lab, or have been involved in the development of any work on the candidate’s thesis that is being examined.
5. Students who transferred to the MASc program after failing the PhD qualifying exam do not have to retake the PhD qualifying exam.

Presentation

The presentation should include some preliminary data that support the hypothesis or suggest that the proposed project is feasible. The candidate will be assessed through an oral presentation, a written proposal, and the candidate’s performance in response to questions from the examination committee. The oral presentation should include slides (e.g. PowerPoint) and be 20 minutes (maximum) in length. Presentation contents should include:

• Thesis scientific background
• High-level overview of thesis objectives, hypotheses, methods, etc.
• Detailing of results, issues, timelines, etc.
• Summarize and contextualize future directions

Documentation

File management (including but not limited to printing, submitting, and retaining forms) is the student’s responsibility.

TIP: Ask your supervisor(s) about guidelines and best practices for writing your research proposal. Talk to your colleagues to obtain writing samples and leverage experience from your lab to bolster your chance of a successful outcome.

Timeline

Program requirement

The qualifying exam must be completed by the fourteenth month from the start date of the student’s graduate program. For example, if a student started their PhD in September 2019, then the qualifying exam must be conducted by November 2020. This is a strict deadline. In other words, no extensions or exceptions are possible (outside of extenuating circumstances such as a leave of absence) without the explicit written consent from the Institute’s Associate Director, Graduate Programs. Thus, it is recommended that the PhD qualifying exam be held by the twelfth month of the student’s registration to avoid late penalties (below).

• PhD students: Failure to meet the deadline will equate to a failed outcome for this exam. This is a strict deadline – no exceptions. See the outcomes section for more information.
• MASc students: Failure to meet the deadline will disqualify the student’s eligibility to reclassify to the PhD program. This is a strict deadline – no exceptions. The student must complete the MASc program before advancing to the PhD program at the Institute.

Suggested timeline

An activity timeline is provided (below) for reference. Students should use the reference timeline to discuss and plan the qualifying exam together with their research supervisor(s).

TIP: Start with the exam date in mind. Coordinate with your exam committee to first arrange the exam date, and then work backwards to determine the dates when each step should take place. Remember to account for weekends and relevant holidays. Send friendly email reminders to keep your examiners on schedule.

Agenda

The exam is normally conducted over two hours. However, questioning sessions may go on for multiple rounds, and the timing of adjournment is decided by the examination committee. Recommended exam instructions:

1. Identify the Chair. The Chair may be any member of the supervisory committee (except the primary or co-supervisor). The Chair should ensure that all members adhere to the agenda and maintain order, that the exam is conducted fairly such that all members are given an appropriate amount of time to question the student, and that the exam is adjourned in a timely manner.
2. The student is asked to leave the room, and the committee should discuss the following:
   
   1. Decide on the question and answer sequence
   2. Whether there are any issues that should be discussed with the student beforehand
3. The student is invited back into the room
4. Student presentation (20 min)
5. The Chair then invites each exam committee member, in turns of approximately equal duration, to ask questions of the student (questioning may go on for multiple rounds, until the committee is satisfied)
6. When there are no more questions, the student should be asked to leave the room for the committee to deliberate
7. Confidential deliberation and exam judgement (5–10 min)
8. The Chair records the judgement outcome on the exam form and readmits the student into the room
9. The Chair informs the student of the exam judgement and advises on next steps.

In the event of a negative judgement and/or an evaluation category marked as “marginal” or “unsatisfactory”

         10. The Chair and the student should work together to determine actions to be taken before the reconvened exam using the “Student Action Plan”, which is to be appended to the exam form (5–10 min)

         11. The Chair shall adjourn the meeting after the exam form (and Action Plan, if applicable) is/are deemed acceptable

Post-exam instructions:

1. Create and retain a scanned copy of the completed qualifying exam form
   
   1. The student must bring a copy of this form to the next meeting
      
      
2. Return the signed qualifying exam form to the BME Graduate Office (or email it as a .pdf attachment to grad.bme@utoronto.ca with an appropriate subject; e.g. “Last name, First name – PhD qualifying exam form YY/MM/DD”)

Contacts and additional resources

• SGS Departmental exam policy: https://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/policies-guidelines/departmental-examinations/
• SGS Academic appeals policy: https://sgs.calendar.utoronto.ca/general-regulations#10
• BME Supervisory committee meeting: https://uthrprod.service-now.com/engineering?id=kb_article&sys_id=0068eb9b1bd614108d6e4118cc4bcbda