Candidacy Exam
The Department shall administer a Candidacy Examination to all Ph.D. candidates consisting of a written research prospectus and an oral presentation. The examination shall be administered in October – normally the student’s fifth quarter in residence.
The Examining Committee
The Candidacy Examining Committees shall be constituted as follows:
- Each candidate’s examining committee shall consist of three faculty members.
- The research sponsor shall not be a member of the examining committee and shall not be present at the examination.
It is the responsibility of the student to submit a project title and short abstract before examining committee assignments are made.
Once the individual Examination Committees have been established and the examination scheduled, any and all changes shall be made and directed by the Chair of the student’s Examining Committee.
The Examination
The research prospectus should represent a scholarly effort and should be no more than 10 pages (inclusive of figures and schemes but not references). It is suggested for the text that the first 1–2 pages should focus on the background and significance of the chemical problem you are seeking to solve, that the next 3–5 pages should focus on your approach and your results to date, and that the remaining 3–5 pages should be focused on future efforts and proposed directions for your project. A student’s written materials shall be presented to the Examining Committee at least one week prior to the scheduled examination.
The research prospectus presentation will focus on the student's research, the relevant chemical literature, progress to date, plans for future work, and the relationship of the research to other chemical problems. The committee will use your presentation as a starting point for questioning about the project, your progress, your general chemistry knowledge, and whatever else this leads to. You should expect the discussion to be wide-ranging. Students being examined (a) shall have ten (10) minutes at the beginning of the examination without interruptions, and (b) shall personally make arrangements for any required projection equipment needed for their presentation.
Grading of the Candidacy Exams
The evaluations (individual and collective) by the members of the examining committee of your performance will not be available to you until after they are presented to the Faculty of the Department of Chemistry when it meets to decide on admission to Ph.D. candidacy at the November Faculty Meeting. You are reminded that admission into Ph.D. candidacy depends only in part on the results of the oral examination. Actual performance in research, in courses, as a teaching assistant, etc. is taken into account as well.
Recommendations to Candidacy
The faculty shall review the results of the Candidacy Examination at the November faculty meeting and, after consideration of the student’s overall academic record, shall vote on whether or not to recommend that the student be admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree.
The Faculty assigns to each student one of three results on the basis of the recommendation of the candidacy committee:
- Pass - Qualifying exam requirement for advancement to candidacy fulfilled.
- Conditional Pass - Advancement to candidacy is dependent on satisfactory completion of specified requirements, such as submission of a written paper or a second oral examination.
- Repeat - A 2nd oral examination will be required, after the completion of specified preparations.
- Fail - Potentially requiring new thesis advisors or dismissal from the Program.
Conditions for passing may include revisions of the written proposal, subject papers, additional coursework, or any other academic activity. A third attempt of the oral examination is not permitted.
Summary of Candidacy Timeline
June – based on performance in courses, basic exams, teaching and joining a research group, students are officially informed that the faculty have qualified them to prepare for the Ph.D. Candidacy Examination
July 1 – deadline for students to submit a title and two-sentence abstract of proposed research project to mmoore@uchicago.edu
August 1 – deadline for faculty to assign student candidacy committees
October – candidacy exams will be held
November – students will be informed of their candidacy exam result via official letter
Students will be officially informed of their committee and exam date in early September and are STRONGLY encouraged to meet personally with the chairman of their candidacy committee. Any questions that a student has regarding the candidacy exam should be addressed to the chairman of their committee and their research advisor. If any issues arise, the students are encouraged to speak to the Chairman of the Department or the Executive Officer.