General Ph.D. Core Requirements

General Ph.D. Core Course Requirments

Graduate  Assistantships

Doctoral students are typically paid stipends as 50% FTE Research Assistants (RAs). The current minimum funding level is $30,008 annually. These appointments allow the institution to waive the difference between resident and non-resident tuition for non-resident students. However, students who have exceeded 130 SCH of enrollment will be assessed tuition at the non-resident rate without exception. Teaching is a core competency of graduate education. Therefore, after successful completion of the Oral Qualifying Examination milestone, doctoral students are required to serve as Teaching Assistants (TAs) once each year as co-curricular activities and will be assigned by the Dean’s office as needed. These assignments are not optional, and students will not receive additional funding. Once the student has accrued 130 SCH, they are exempt from the TA requirement.

Students are strongly discouraged from holding outside employment. Should such employment interfere with student responsibilities, the institution reserves the right to terminate the student’s stipend.

Time Limitations

All work to be credited toward the doctoral degree beyond the master’s degree must be completed within a period of ten (10) years from the date doctoral credit is first earned. No course credit beyond the M.S. degree that is more than ten (10) years old at the time the doctoral program is completed will be counted toward the doctorate.

Students anticipating that they will exceed the time limit should apply for an extension before their ninth year of study. 

Use of Transfer Credit

Depending on the student’s previous preparation and degree plan, graduate work completed elsewhere may be transferred toward a Ph.D. degree. Only those courses with a grade of B or higher will be transferred. Courses to be transferred must be taken within five (5) years of the transfer.

Extension and correspondence credit earned at other institutions will not be counted toward a graduate degree at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth (HSC). The School does not award credit for portfolio-based experiential learning or non-credit courses.

It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that official transcripts of courses completed elsewhere are furnished to the office of the Dean. The student must provide the catalog description and/or syllabus from the semester the course was taken before transfer credit will be approved. Such courses, although listed on the degree plan, will not be counted toward the degree until official transcripts showing graduate credit have been received and the credit has been approved by the Dean. All transfer courses are subject to the time limitation described above. Exceptions are handled on a case-by-case basis.

The majority of the semester credit hours required for any degree must be completed in coursework registered through HSC.

Major Professor

Graduate training entails both formal education in a specific discipline and an apprenticeship in which the graduate student trains under the supervision of one or more investigators who are qualified to fulfill the responsibilities of a mentor (Major Professor). A positive mentoring relationship between the student and the Major Professor is a vital component of the student’s preparation to become not only an independent and successful research scientist but also an effective mentor to future graduate students.

Individuals who pursue a biomedical sciences graduate degree are expected to take responsibility for their own scientific and professional development. Faculty who advise students are expected to fulfill the responsibilities of a mentor, including the provision of scientific training, guidance, and instruction in the responsible conduct of research and research ethics, and financial support. The Major Professor also performs a critical function as a scientific role model for the graduate student.

Prior to completing the first semester of study, the student must identify a Major Professor and file the “Major Professor Designation/Compact Between Biomedical Graduate Students and Their Research Advisors” form with the Office of Student and Academic Services. This form and the complete “AAMC Compact Between Biomedical Graduate Students and Their Research Advisors” document are available on the School’s Forms and Guidelines website.

Advisory Committee

Each student must select an advisory committee. The major professor and/or the graduate advisor assist the student in selecting members to serve on the advisory committee. The committee guides the student in selecting coursework appropriate for the degree program, defines research goals, monitors research progress, approves the research proposal, and provides scientific and career guidance. The advisory committee in its entirety administers the final examination for the degree (defense).

The major professor serves as chair of the advisory committee. Advisory committees for Ph.D. students must include at least three additional UNTHSC graduate faculty members. To adequately guide students in scholarly activity and career opportunities, it is recommended that advisory committees be multidisciplinary and composed of committee members with as much diversity as possible. SBS recognizes and promotes diversity of all types, including race, ethnicity, and gender. It is recommended that at least one of the advisory committee members be from a different department/school or primary discipline than the major professor. In addition, it is recommended that one advisory committee member be appointed from outside of HSC to add external perspective and scientific expertise. Non-HSC individuals must be approved as professional affiliate graduate faculty members. The Dean must approve requests for more than one professional affiliate graduate faculty member per committee. Furthermore, all doctoral students will be assigned a university member (see details below) on the advisory committee to ensure that the policies and procedures of SBS and HSC are upheld.

Each student is required to meet with their advisory committee at least once per academic year. Students that don’t meet this requirement will placed on registration hold.

Degree Plan

Before completing the second semester of study, a degree plan listing all courses should be prepared by the student, approved by the student’s advisory committee, Graduate Advisor, and Dean or Dean’s designee.

Doctoral degree requirements listed in the graduate catalog currently in force at the time the student’s degree plan is approved by the Dean are those that must be completed by the student.

University Member

When the advisory committee is formed, the Dean will appoint a University Member.

The primary responsibility of the University Member on both M.S. and Ph.D. committees is to ensure that the policies, procedures, and standards of HSC and the School have been upheld. The University Member must be present in any formal hearing (see below for a list of such events). The University Member’s signature on appropriate forms indicates that the integrity of the review process has been preserved. It is the responsibility of the University Member to report to the Dean any inappropriate due process.

The University Member is a voting member of the committee and must be present at all formal hearings that require a vote which includes the annual research progress summary, oral qualifying examination, dissertation proposal presentation and defense, and the final dissertation seminar and defense.

Advancement to Candidacy

Doctoral students must complete the following two-part process to be advanced to candidacy. First, a discipline-based qualifying examination, designed and administered by the discipline’s graduate faculty, must be successfully completed. Second, the student must submit a research proposal (see below). The student is advanced to candidacy and must enroll in Doctoral Dissertation (BMSC 6395) in the semester immediately following approval of the research proposal. Disciplines may establish more stringent guidelines or establish earlier deadlines for completing the advancement to candidacy process.

Research Proposal

All doctoral students must submit a dissertation research proposal and should do so no later than the end of the second year of study. The research proposal is an outline of the dissertation project. It must include a summary of the proposed project, the hypothesis to be investigated, significance of the project, research design, and methodology to be used, and a review of the salient literature that supports or opposes the hypothesis and potential limitations. To take advantage of the advisory committee’s expertise and advice and to clearly define the project and the committee’s expectations, it is imperative that the student meets with their advisory committee before preparing the research proposal. The research proposal is a prerequisite for Dissertation (BMSC 6395).

A Ph.D. research proposal must represent original research generated by the student and must be written by the student. The student may seek guidance from the advisory committee members, including the Major Professor, during the writing process. Procedures for the research proposal are as follows:

1)   Hold an advisory committee meeting to discuss the proposal preparation and appropriate date. At this meeting, the student should identify a funding agency format that the committee approves and follow the requirements for that agency. At the completion of the proposal defense, students are encouraged to submit their proposal for funding on the recommendation of the advisory committee.

2)   Prepare a “Notice of Research Proposal Seminar and Defense” form, including securing a room reservation and securing signatures of committee members establishing a date and time for the seminar and defense. This form is to be submitted to the Office of Student and Academic Services no less than thirty (30) days prior to the event date to allow sufficient publicity.

3)   A final draft of the research proposal must be provided to the advisory committee members after the approval of the Major Professor, no later than fourteen (14) days prior to the proposal defense.

4)   The student will conduct a public seminar presentation of the research proposal. Following the seminar, the committee will convene privately to discuss the student’s seminar performance and the procedures for the defense examination. Following the defense examination, the committee will meet without the student to discuss their evaluation and prepare a written summary. The committee will then discuss the evaluation summary with the student.

5)   Two attempts are allowed to satisfy the requirement to file an approved research proposal. If required, the second attempt should be completed the following semester to allow sufficient time to address deficiencies.

The “Research Proposal Guidelines,” “Notice of Research Proposal Seminar and Defense,” and “Research Proposal” forms are available on the School’s Forms and Guidelines website.

Publication Requirement

Prior to the dissertation defense, the doctoral candidate must have at least one manuscript accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. This manuscript must be derived from the original dissertation research data and the candidate must be the leading author.

In rare cases, two students may be co-first authors on a publication. Both students may use the publication to meet this requirement providing that the paper is a data-driven, peer-reviewed publication from a journal that recognizes the students as co-first authors. Both students must notify the Office of Student and Academic Services of their intent to submit a co-first author publication to fulfill the publication requirement for graduation prior to submission of the manuscript to a journal.

The candidate must submit documentation of the manuscript’s status with the journal along with the “Intent to Defend” form that is due thirty (30) days prior to the dissertation defense. Requests for exception to this requirement must be submitted to the Dean for approval.

Dissertation Requirement

A dissertation is required of all doctoral candidates. Up to 30 SCH are allowed for the dissertation. The student is required to enroll for dissertation credit in the semester following, advancement to candidacy, and must maintain continuous enrollment in Doctoral Dissertation (BMSC 6395) until the dissertation has been completed and submitted to the Dean. Grades of Satisfactory (S) or Unsatisfactory (U) will be recorded at the end of each semester until the dissertation is filed with the Office of Student and Academic Services and approved by the Dean. A letter grade is recorded for the final semester of enrollment in Doctoral Dissertation, and the dissertation credit hours for this semester are included in the GPA calculation. A minimum of two semester credit hours of dissertation enrollment is required during each long semester and one summer session to maintain continuous enrollment.

Doctoral Program Requirements

Each student is responsible for the completion of the doctoral program according to the procedures below. Each item must be completed in the sequence and time period indicated.

1. A Major Professor should be selected before the end of the first semester of study. The student must file the “Major Professor Designation/Compact Between Biomedical Graduate Students and Their Major Professors” form with the Office of Student and Academic Services. The student must meet with the Major Professor for guidance in forming an advisory committee and degree plan.
2. The Major Professor and the doctoral student should select at least three advisory committee members from the graduate faculty. The student has the responsibility for obtaining the agreement of the professors (using the “Designation of Doctoral Advisory Committee” form) and will file this in SBS before the completion of the second semester of study. Enrollment will be restricted to prevent registration beyond the second semester without the designation of an advisory committee. Upon receipt of the “Designation of Advisory Committee” form, a University Member will be appointed to serve on the student’s committee.
3. The advisory committee should meet and evaluate all credentials of the student pertinent to the development of the degree plan. An approved degree plan will then be submitted to the  Office of Student and Academic Services. The committee should meet with the student as needed to discuss progress but must meet at least once per academic year. The advisory committee has sole responsibility for quality control of the student’s program and dissertation. Enrollment will be restricted to registration beyond the second semester without an approved degree plan.
4. A qualifying examination intended to establish the student’s candidacy for the Ph.D. degree will be administered by the designated discipline committee upon fulfillment of the course requirements. The qualifying examination is not an open forum; only the student and the examination committee may be present. Results of the qualifying examinations will be sent to the SBS in writing. Disciplines may have additional qualifying examination requirements, which are indicated in their graduate program descriptions. Notations are added to the student’s transcript to denote “Qualifying Examination Passed” or “Qualifying Examination Failed.” A student that fails the qualifying examination twice may be allowed to complete the requirements for the M.S. Program.
5. A research proposal must be approved by the committee and filed with the Office of Student and Academic Services prior to the semester in which the student first enrolls in Dissertation (BMSC 6395). See the previous section in this catalog for detailed procedures.
6. A student who has registered for Dissertation (BMSC 6395) must maintain continuous enrollment in the course each semester until the dissertation has been accepted by the SBS. Failure to maintain continuous enrollment will either invalidate any previous dissertation credits or result in the student being dropped from the degree program unless granted an official leave of absence by the Dean for medical or other exceptional reasons.
7. Upon completing the research and after consultation with the Major Professor, the student should submit a “Declaration of Intent to Graduate” form. This form is filed during registration for the final semester. An “Intent to Defend” form must be filed with the Office of Student and Academic Services at least thirty (30) days prior to the dissertation defense. Both forms are available on the Graduation website.
8. Upon completing the research and after consultation with the Major Professor, the student should submit a rough draft of the dissertation to the advisory committee members at least one month before the receipt of the final draft. The final draft should be distributed to committee members at least two weeks prior to the defense. Committee members should return corrected drafts to the student as soon as possible. Working through committee members at all times, the student and Major Professor will resolve comments arising from the rough draft and incorporate them into a final draft.
9. During the semester of graduation, the student will present a formal seminar on the research. This seminar should be scheduled immediately prior to the final defense and is open to the public.
10. The final defense will be held immediately following the dissertation seminar. The defense is closed to all parties except the advisory committee and University Member. The committee will determine if a student fails, passes, or passes with distinction. The signature of the Major Professor indicates that the document is in its final form and approved for submission, although an embargo may be placed on publication.
11. The dissertation must be prepared for digital submission according to the instructions in the “Guidelines for Filing Theses, Internship Practicum Reports, and Dissertations” form available on the School’s Graduation website.