Second Year

Coursework

By the end of the 2nd year, every MGM student should have a minimum of 24 graded credits. In addition to CTN, second-year students are required to register and enroll in:

UPGEN 778A-F and CMB710A-F: Genetic and Genomic Approaches to the Solution of Biological Problems/Cell and Molecular Biology Modules (fall semester, 3-6 modules)

BIOTRAIN 720: Writing Grant Proposals (full semester, fall of year 2)

MGM 790S: Monday Student Research Progress

MGM 793S: Research in MGM

Elective: Any elective you choose that is part of the biomedical graduate program offerings. The elective
offerings will differ from semester to semester and year to year.

Research

It is expected that all second-year PhD students will establish and pursue dissertation-related research in their selected laboratories. This research should be both novel and at least somewhat independent. If you have concerns about your chosen lab, first talk with your advisor. If you are unable to resolve the concerns, then see the DGS. The selection of a lab for one’s PhD research must be discussed with the potential PI/faculty advisor and approved by the Chair and/or Business Manager of the department to which the PI belongs.

Finances

For guidance regarding your financial package, including tax guidance, please see Policies and Forms. 

Preliminary Exam

Choosing the Committee

Second year students must select a preliminary exam/thesis committee. You will need to select four examiners plus your advisor, who is listed on the committee form but attends as an observer rather than as an examiner. At least three of the four examiners must hold a primary or secondary appointment in MGM and be members of the Graduate Faculty. The chair must be an MGM primary faculty member but cannot be your advisor. Your advisor will be present during your preliminary exam however they do not participate and should only observe. The DGS will assign your committee chair for the preliminary exam. The selection of the “minor area” member merely represents the faculty member whose research expertise overlaps the least with the prelim/thesis project area. Please note that the minor area faculty cannot also be the chair of the committee. Students may wish to include one committee member who is not part of the MGM program or of Duke. In such cases, a CV and other materials from the external faculty will need to be provided to the program coordinator in order to formally add them to the committee. However, additions of individuals who are not already Duke graduate faculty should be reserved for rare and extenuating circumstances. A student’s preliminary exam committee may be different than the thesis committee if the project warrants addition or exclusion of certain faculty members based on expertise or development of the project. Please note that any committee changes must be approved by the Graduate School and must be approved at least 30 days prior to the preliminary exam or dissertation defense. Committee change forms are submitted through the program coordinator.

Timing of Prelim

The preliminary exam should be taken between the start of the fourth semester (spring of the 2nd year) and no later than end of the fifth semester (fall of the 3rd year) in graduate school. The exam must be registered in the T3 system (the student should work with the program coordinator to ensure this). The exam must be taken between the first and last class days of the semester, and not between semesters. It is important then to have one’s committee selected by December of the 2nd year (third semester) and one’s prelim date scheduled for some time in the fourth or fifth semester. The preliminary exam consists of a specifically focused
written proposal and a general oral exam. Six weeks before the exam, the student should meet with the committee chair to review the proposal summary and Specific Aims, and the chair must approve them at least five weeks before the exam.

Purpose of Prelim

A key point for all to remember is that the preliminary exam is more about the student and less about the document. The prelim is an important measure of a student’s ability to think logically and to exhibit their knowledge gained from coursework and rotations in the 1st and 2nd years. The examination committee will determine if the student is adequately prepared to advance to PhD candidacy and to embark on novel research under the guidance of the advisor/mentor. Students should have generated preliminary data for their preliminary exam, however, in some cases preliminary data may be lacking. During the prelim, the student will be tested on the ability to think clearly and logically, to articulate knowledge of their thesis topic in a professional and coherent manner, and to present reasonable ways of approaching and investigating various scientific problems and concepts, both in a written and oral context.

Committee Approval Prior to Exam

The Graduate School requires that the Committee Approval form be submitted and approved at least one month before the scheduled preliminary exam. Please keep in mind that this process is not instantaneous, so it is important to email your committee composition to the program coordinator at least two months before the preliminary exam. The DGS must be notified if a student is unable to meet the deadline. The DGS will approve the electronic form and submit it to the Graduate School. Preliminary exams ideally occur in person, but if needed, can be conducted virtually. This must be indicated in the T3 milestone entry.

The Graduate School has declared that there will be no exceptions to this rule, and preliminary examinations held in violation of this policy will be declared invalid and need to be repeated.

Written Document

The proposal is typically drafted during the grant writing course in the third semester of graduate school and revised up until it is due to the committee two weeks prior to the exam. The proposal should be written while simultaneously being productive in the lab. Part of the learning process is determining how to balance writing while also studying at the bench. This often requires working on the document in the evenings and on weekends. Suspending thesis studies for several weeks to months in order to write one’s prelim document is not permitted.

The written proposal focused on the topic of the student's thesis research should be handed out to the thesis committee two weeks before the oral exam date. Committee members often serve on up to 25 different prelim and thesis committees, so remember to submit the document to T3 on time at least 2 weeks before the exam date. Failure to upload the required documents to T3 on time can lead to rescheduling of the preliminary exam at the committee’s discretion.

Content of Proposal

The written proposal should be in the format of an NRSA-like NIH grant (6 pages long, single spaced, excluding Literature Cited). As is typical in a research grant proposal, the major content areas could include Specific Aims (1 page), Significance, Innovation, Preliminary data, Approach, Timeline (collectively 6 pages not including the specific aims page), and Literature Cited. The purpose of utilizing this format is to give students an opportunity to organize their thoughts in a manner that will have practical ramifications for them throughout their career; specifically, the students will gain experience in the logical, written presentation of their studies. Thus, writing style, i.e. the clear and orderly presentation of material as well as adherence to acceptable standards of written English, is a key component of the proposal. All MGM students are required to take BIOTRAIN 720 (Grant Writing) to gain experience in writing an NIH-style proposal. The written proposal will be the student’s own work within the framework of the existing broader project in the PI’s lab, but it will no doubt reflect discussion and planning between the student and their thesis advisor. The student should send
drafts of their written proposal to their PI for feedback prior to disseminating the document to the rest of the committee.

Oral Defense

The oral portion of the preliminary exam will consist of a presentation (minimum of 30 minutes) by the student, general questions, usually arising from but not limited to the material on the written proposal, and in-depth discussion with the student on the research proposal. The DGS will identify a chair for this oral exam from the student’s preliminary exam committee who must be a primary MGM faculty member.

Chair of the Committee

The thesis advisor will be present as an observer but cannot serve as chair or ask leading questions during the oral exam. The thesis advisor will participate in the deliberations regarding the committee's evaluation and recommendations and will also participate in the vote in T3 to determine the decision.

What to Expect at the Exam

Students should schedule at least 2.5 hours for the exam; the oral portion typically takes about 2 hours. The format of the oral portion is at the discretion of the chair of the committee. A typical format starts with the student leaving the room for 5-10 minutes while the committee discusses their written document. Following this, there will be a presentation by the student of the proposed research, perhaps including visual aids. The committee will then ask questions both related to the proposed studies and questions of which you should be knowledgeable as a scholar in your chosen field of study. The preliminary exam is an important measure of a student’s ability to think logically and to exhibit knowledge gained from coursework and rotations in the 1st and 2nd years. Its ultimate purpose is to define the limits of understanding of the student, so do not panic if you do not know the answers to some of the questions. While sometimes perceived as stressful, these exams are intended to be constructive, in that areas of strength are highlighted, and areas of weakness are identified so that they can be remedied. The examination committee will determine if the student is adequately prepared to advance to PhD candidacy and to embark on novel research under the guidance of the advisor/mentor. The student should expect to leave the room at both the beginning and end of the exam. If the committee determines the student is not prepared to advance to PhD candidacy they will fail the preliminary exam. If a student fails the preliminary exam, the committee will have the option of granting a retake if they feel the student can become prepared to advance to PhD candidacy. A re-examination requires advance approval from the DGS and the Dean of the Graduate School and should occur at least three months, but not more than five months, after the first exam, and no later than the end of the sixth semester of graduate school.

What to Expect After the Exam

After the exam, each committee member will evaluate the student in the T3 system with respect to several important concepts and skills. The student will be able to view the average scores from the committee and identify areas of both strengths and weaknesses. A committee member’s average score must be above 3 to yield a pass vote from that member, and four of the five committee members must vote to pass in order for the student to pass.

Changes to the Document

Should the thesis committee decide that modifications of the written proposal are required, the student should seek editing assistance from the thesis advisor, thesis committee members, and/or other appropriate personnel (e.g., more experienced students, post-doctoral fellows, etc.).

At the end of the prelim, the committee will complete the official assessment/progress form in T3 to offer feedback on the student’s written and oral abilities and aims and scope of the proposed research. Similarly, at subsequent committee meetings, the committee will also provide feedback via T3. The student and advisor should meet privately to discuss the comments from the committee and determine an action plan for the coming year. Within one week after the meeting, this evaluation form should be submitted.

Graduate School Fellowships and Awards

The graduate school offers many fellowships and awards to continuing graduate students. 
Funding opportunities and application directions.
**Pay careful attention to the application requirements**

1. Some of these awards require a letter or approval by the DGS. Thus, all students who would like to
   apply to a particular award must request that they be nominated or have a letter of support no less than 1 week prior to the deadline for the particular fellowship.
2. In some cases, the program is limited to the number of individuals that we can nominate for a
   particular award. In those instances, the priority will be given to the student who has requested to be nominated first, as long as that student meets the eligibility criteria.
   Feel free to contact the program DGS or coordinator with any questions about the fellowships.

Summer

Be sure to register for full continuation (CTN) over the summer if in the MGM Track.