Microbiology & Immunology Track PhD Student Training Process

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The MI PhD track is operated by the track Committee on Graduate Studies (COGS). COG's duties include the development and maintenance of curriculum, overseeing student admissions, monitoring student progress, assigning of Supervising Professors, mediating disputes between students and Supervising Professors, reviewing qualifications for membership on the track Graduate Faculty, and other pertinent policy considerations. COGS grants exceptions from this schedule only under unusual circumstances. The schedule assumes that a student enters the program in the Fall. If a student enters the program in the Spring, the details and timing of some of the courses and examinations are to be modified appropriately.

The timetable and necessary forms can be found on the Inside Microbiology & Immunology website (http://www.uthscsa.edu/micro/inside).

1. Course Work
      After finishing the IMGP common core course (10 semester credit hours, SCH), students who choose to enter the MI track are required to take several MI track-specific courses, including “Core Concepts in Microbiology & Immunology” (4 SCH), “Building Scientific Thinking Skills” (2 SCH) and “Ethics in Scientific Research” (0.5 SCH) and one advanced course (with at least 1 SCH) from any track. Please note that although the 4 SCH track core concept course will be taught in four modules for the convenience of students from other tracks, all students in the MI track are required to take all four modules and it will be graded as a single course.

2. Laboratory Rotations and Selection of Temporary Supervising Professor
      All students are required to complete at least three rotations before officially choosing a supervising professor. The three rotations should be completed by the end of April of the first academic year. In May, the students are to submit Cogs Form 101 to COGS requesting approval of their choice of a Temporary Supervising Professor. Before submitting this request, the student must confirm that the faculty member with whom the student wishes to work has a graduate faculty appointment in the MI track, and is both willing and able to provide a stipend for the student and to support the student's dissertation research. The approval of the Temporary Supervising Professor by COGS depends upon a number of factors including those described in Section II above.

3. Formation of Temporary Supervising Committee
      Once the supervising professors are determined, a student may enroll in MI Track Research to begin dissertation research under the supervision of his/her Temporary Supervising Professor. By the end of the summer semester of year 1, each student must form a Temporary Supervising Committee, which assists the student in developing a dissertation research project, meets as required to assess the student's research progress, and serves as the core of the student's Qualifying Examination Committee. The committee must consist of the Temporary Supervising Professor and two other members of the Microbiology & Immunology Track Graduate Faculty. Members are selected by the student and his/her supervising professor and must be approved by COGS. Changes in the composition of the Temporary Supervising Committee are allowed at any time but are subject to the approval of COGS. The Temporary Supervising Committee functions until the student's Dissertation Supervising Committee is formed (usually in the student's third year). Members of the Temporary Committee may become members of the Dissertation Committee.

4. Advancement to PhD Candidacy
     Only after passing the Qualifying Examination, can the students petition COGS for admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. The petition must be made to the Chair of COGS on the official Graduate School form (GSBS Form 32). The approval of COGS for admission to candidacy is based on three criteria:

1. Successful completion of the Qualifying Examination (evidenced by the signatures of the Examination Committee members on GSBS Form 32)
2. A positive evaluation of the student's potential for independent research (indicated by the signature of the Temporary Supervising Professor on GSBS Form 32)
3. Satisfactory performance in formal course work (including the elective advanced course). A student cannot advance to candidacy if he/she is on academic probation.

When all of these criteria are met, COGS recommends to the Dean of the Graduate School that the student be admitted to candidacy. This recommendation requires the signature of the Chair of COGS on GSBS Form 32.

5. Dissertation
     a. Establishing a Dissertation Supervising Committee:
     After entering into candidacy, a student, in consultation with his/her supervising professor, is to submit to the Chair of COGS a list of at least 5 individuals whom they recommend to serve as Dissertation Supervising Committee members for the student's dissertation research. The Dissertation Supervising Committee must be approved by COGS by the end of the first semester of the student's third year. After approval by COGS, the Dissertation Supervising Committee composition must be approved by the Graduate Faculty Council (GFC), along with the dissertation proposal, as described below.

The minimum membership of the Dissertation Supervising Committee must include: 1) The Supervising Professor (who serves as Chair); 2) Two members of the graduate faculty of the MI track; 3) One member of the graduate faculty who holds an appointment in another UTHSCSA Graduate School track. This individual may also be a member of the MI track; and 4) One individual from an institution outside of the Health Science Center who is an expert in the student's proposed field of research. Additional members may be added if necessary. It is expected that at least two members of the Dissertation Supervising Committee are to have appointments in the MI Track. The Dissertation Supervising Committee is responsible for certifying to COGS that the student is carrying out meritorious research of the caliber appropriate for a Ph.D. dissertation, and is also serves as an important resource of scientific expertise for the candidate.

     b. Approval of Dissertation Research Proposal:
     The purpose of preparing and getting approval for a dissertation proposal is to ensure that the student has a feasible research project that represents a likely significant contribution to his/her chosen field. The proposal is intended to serve as a framework for the dissertation project, not as a rigid, detailed agenda for the student's research efforts. Before the end of the second semester of the third year, each student must get approval for a Dissertation Research Proposal. The Dissertation Research Proposal is then circulated among the members of the student's COGS-approved Dissertation Supervising Committee (with the exception of the member from outside the University). The student is to meet with the Committee by the end of the fall semester of the third year to discuss his/her proposal at length and in detail. The student will modify the research proposal until it is acceptable to the Dissertation Supervising Committee. The proposal is then submitted for COGS approval to the Chair of COGS (preferably by email attachment or on a computer disk) along with a printed copy of GSBS Form 30 (with all signatures except that of the outside member).

     Once COGS has approved both the composition of the Dissertation Research Committee and the Dissertation Research Proposal, GSBS Form 30 and a copy of the proposal is to be submitted by the end of the spring semester of the third year to the Office of the Graduate Dean for final GFC approval.

     Once COGS and the Graduate Faculty Council approve a student's dissertation committee composition and dissertation proposal, certain amendments to either may require COGS/GFC approval. Re-approval would be needed if such changes involve the deletion or addition of a committee member, or a substantial revision to the candidate's dissertation research project. Re-approval is not necessary if alterations in the research plan do not substantially change the general context of the dissertation proposal.

     c. Writing dissertation:
     When the Dissertation Supervising Committee is satisfied that the research accomplished by the student is of sufficient quality and quantity to constitute a significant contribution to the field (i.e., the area of the student's studies), formal permission is granted to the student to write his/her dissertation.

      Normally, all Ph.D. students must be enrolled as full-time students (9 credit hours in the Fall and Spring semesters, and 6 credit hours in the summer session). During a student's last semester, while finishing and defending his/her dissertation, a student may register for three credit hours (as Final Hours). This may be done only once. If registration for additional semesters is required, the student is expected to once again register as a full-time student.

     The Supervising Professor should notify the Chair of COGS, in writing, that the student has been given permission to write the dissertation. The format of the dissertation must conform to the style and format guidelines of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. These guidelines are available from the Office of the Graduate School Dean and should be consulted prior to drafting the dissertation. Whether the student uses the traditional dissertation format, or the optional "chapter" format, must be discussed and agreed upon with his/her Dissertation Supervising Committee.

     When writing the dissertation, the student should submit drafts to the Supervising Professor until they are both satisfied that it is a well-written document containing all of the material (experiments) promised to the Supervising Committee. Once the Supervising Professor approves a final draft of the dissertation, complete copies are given to each member of the Dissertation Supervising Committee, including the external member. The members of the Dissertation Supervising Committee should be given a reasonable period of time, usually at least three weeks, in which to evaluate the dissertation. If the Dissertation Supervising Committee judges the dissertation to be suitable for defense, the student must submit a Request for Final Oral Examination (GSBS Form 40), with all of the appropriate signatures approving the dissertation and the examination date, to the Dean of the Graduate School. The appropriate number (inquire at Dean's office) of copies of this form, plus dissertation abstract and vita, must be received by the Dean at least two weeks before the dissertation defense date since the Dean publicizes the defense. If two or more members of the Supervising Committee feel that the dissertation is not suitable for defense, the student shall make the appropriate changes to until the committee is satisfied. COGS shall be the arbiter of any disputes that cannot be resolved between a student and a Supervising Committee.

     d. Final Oral Examination:
     A public announcement of the Final Oral Examination is distributed by the Dean of the Graduate School so that all interested persons may attend the public defense and question the candidate. After presenting his/her dissertation research in a departmental seminar, the candidate fields questions from members of the audience who are not on the Dissertation Supervising Committee. Next, the Dissertation Supervising Committee meets with the candidate in a closed-door session to administer an intensive and detailed oral examination of the dissertation and the dissertation research. The committee members then vote on the candidate's success or failure on the Final Oral Examination; the committee members record their votes by signing GSBS Form 43 (Report on the Final Oral Examination in the appropriate place. More than one vote for failure indicates failure of the examination. If the student fails the Final Oral Examination, the Supervising Committee should submit a recommendation regarding remedial action; in such a situation, COGS is to decide on the recommendation and any other action to be taken. If the student passes the Final Oral Examination, the outcome of the Dissertation Supervising Committee's deliberations are sent to COGS using GSBS Form 43, and if acceptable, the recommendation to grant the Ph.D. is forwarded to the Graduate Faculty Council.

     The Supervising Committee members must also indicate their approval of the final version of the dissertation by their signatures on the "Approval Page" of the dissertation. Should extensive revisions of the dissertation be requested by the Dissertation Supervising Committee, the Supervising Professor should withhold his/her signature on Form 43 until all of the necessary changes are made to the dissertation. Under these circumstances, each member of the Dissertation Supervising Committee should be given the option to review revisions in the dissertation prior to the certification of the final document by the Supervising Professor. Once requested revisions are made and the Approval Page is signed by members of the committee, the student submits the signed GSBS Form 43 to COGS. Even if the student passes the Final Oral Examination, the final version of the dissertation must be approved by the Supervising Committee before COGS will consider the recommendation by the Supervising Committee that the degree be awarded. The student also submits the dissertation "Approval Page" to the Office of the Graduate Dean for signature by the Dean. The Dean's signature and the approval of the dissertation by the GFC are required before the degree can be awarded.

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