Graduate School Bulletin

Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree and M.S. in Oral Biology and Pathology

In addition to the minimum degree requirements of the Graduate School:

A. All students must complete all or part of the Oral Biology and Pathology Oral Systems course.

B. M.S. students in the thesis option are required to take 30 credits composed of a combination of coursework (at least two graduate courses selected from offerings within and outside the Department are required) and independent research leading to a thesis. M.S. students in the Non-thesis/Capstone option are required to take 30 credits composed of a combination of coursework (at least four graduate courses selected from offerings within and outside the Department are required), and a capstone project that may have a research component.

C. Ph.D. students are generally required to complete four to six course offerings at the graduate level and advance to candidacy by preparing a detailed written proposal in the format of a National Institutes of Health research grant application. A public seminar is presented by the student to members of his or her advisory committee, the department, and the University community at large, in which the student defends the proposal. This is followed by a further defense by the student before his or her advisory committee. A determination for advancement to candidacy is then made based on the defense of both the oral presentation and written proposal and forwarded to the Graduate School for official approval.

D. An original research thesis/dissertation is required for completion of the M.S. (thesis option) and Ph.D. degrees, respectively. For the Ph.D., a public defense followed by an examination of the student’s dissertation by the Dissertation Committee is required. For the M.S. degree, after a public presentation, the student defends the thesis to the student’s thesis committee. If the thesis/dissertation is recommended for approval, the determination is submitted to the Graduate School for final decisions to award the degree.