Candidacy Exam
Genes and Development Ph.D. Candidacy Exam
Students in the Genes and Development Program who wish to advance to Ph.D. candidacy are first required to pass the Ph.D. candidacy exam. This exam consists of two components. The first is the writing of three one-page, off-topic, abstracts that could be developed into a full written proposal. The student’s advisory committee then selects one of these abstracts to serve as the subject for the main NIH style written research proposal the student prepares for the exam. The second component is the oral exam during which the student defends in depth their written research proposal before their examining committee.
The candidacy exam must be held within eight weeks of the student’s final advisory meeting where the selection of the research proposal topic is made. Most students take the exam during the first semester of their third year.
G&D Candidacy Exam Description (pdf - 3 pages)
Exam Resources
Faculty Critique Guidelines for G&D Oral Exam (pdf - 1 page)
Proposal Writing Resources on the G&D Intranet Site
http://inside.mdanderson.org/departments/genes-and-development-graduate-program/candidacy-exam.html
- Writing Effective Grant Proposals (from M. D. Anderson Scientific Publications)
- NIH Annotated RO1 Grant Application and Summary Statement
- Example of successful NIH grant from a G&D faculty member