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Appendix B: Qualification through Research Writing(s) and oral examination
With regard to this "Research Writing(s)" type of examination format, this appendix describes
administration of the exam, selection of examiners, expectations regarding work submitted by the
student, required oral examination, exam outcomes, and notification time frame.
Timeline
When to take the qualifying exam?
Students are advised to pursue this Qualifying examination style after the end of their first summer in
the program (to allow time for laboratory research) and before their PhD proposal examination. Please,
consult individual programs for program specific deadlines or recommendations.
When to schedule the qualifying exam?
The research writing(s) that a student submits for consideration by the qualifying examination committee
must be submitted together with the Qualifying Exam Request Form (see Appendix D or
http://www.slu.edu/parks/graduate/graduate-forms-and-resources.php) at least 30 days prior to the
requested oral examination date.
When will the grade be given?
Students will be notified in writing of the outcome of the PhD qualifying examination no later than two
weeks of the oral examination, and within two weeks of the submission of additional required work (if
required).
General Description
The intent of the "Research Writing(s)" examination format is to allow a doctoral student to qualify for
pursuit of doctoral studies through evaluation of their research writing(s), and evaluation of their
responses during a single oral exam conducted after review of the writing(s). To successfully qualify,
students must demonstrate PhD-level knowledge in three identified topical area(s). Each topical area(s)
selected by the student for consideration in this examination format must be related to the content of the
research writing(s) submitted by the student. A list of approved topics is provided by each program.
Students may request the addition of different disciplines to their oral exam related to their research area.
The Research Writing
The research writing(s) submitted by the student should represent significant potential for scholarly
research at the doctoral level.
Acceptable research writings
1.) One or more peer-reviewed journal articles that are related to the student's intended research focus.
Such articles may be published, in-press, accepted, submitted, or in-preparation. Students should be
cautioned, however, that a single article in-preparation, listing the student as a
secondary author
,
would likely not present a strong case for PhD program qualification; and conversely, that one or more
published journal articles, listing the student as primary author, are not a guarantee of qualification.
2.) A written pre-proposal report with one or more aims that are related to the student's research focus.
The written pre-proposal report should be very similar to a peer-reviewed article in preparation,
except that it may consist predominantly of preliminary data and detailed future work plans. The
report should include the following sections: Background and Introduction, Materials and Methods,
Preliminary Data and Data Analysis, Future Work, and Conclusions for one or more aims. To be
considered for the Qualifying examination, the report should adhere to strict guidelines for technical
writing and should give sufficient information to guide the examiners in determining what is the
scope and feasibility of the project.
NOTE: A project that is too narrow in scope (i.e. detailing research at the Master’s level – e.g. simple