Second Year

*A one semester, 3-credit Microbiology elective is required to complete the doctoral degree.  This course can be taken anytime in the second or third year.

Third Year

 *A one semester, 3-credit Microbiology elective is required to complete the doctoral degree.  This course can be taken anytime in the second or third year.

*Advancement to Candidacy requires: completion of 4 core courses with B or higher, overall GPA of 3.0 or higher, and successful completion of the Qualifying Exam.  Please see below for more details. Candidacy information and application can be found here.

**The MIC Graduate Program requires that all students must be appointed as a Teaching Assistant for at least one semester by no later than their fourth year. Students will be required to complete this before graduation, but not before admission to Candidacy.

Fourth Year - Graduation

 *The MIC Graduate Program requires that all students must be appointed as a Teaching Assistant for at least one semester by no later than their fourth year. Students will be required to complete this before graduation, but not before admission to Candidacy

Courses

Students must complete a set of core courses as required by the MIC program, plus one additional graduate-level electives. Students must register for a minimum of nine credit hours each fall and spring semester and a minimum of 3 credits in the summer semester. These credits may include formal graded courses and/or research hours. In order to maintain satisfactory academic progress, students must maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher.

Questions about course selection may be directed to the MIC Program Graduate Advisor, Dr. Despoina Mavridou

Please see the Graduate Program Handbook for additional details about courses and registration.

Required Safety Training

The University of Texas requires safety training for laboratory employees, which includes all Cell and Molecular Biology graduate students. CMB students are required to be in compliance with these safety classes prior to beginning their first lab rotation. The required safety courses offered by the Environmental Health and Safety Office (EHS) are:

• OH 101 Hazard Communication
• OH 102 Hazard Communication (Site-Specific)
• OH 201 Laboratory Safety
• OH 202 Hazardous Waste Management
• FF 205 Fire Extinguisher Use

These trainings are offered online in a self-paced asynchronous format. Students may register for and complete the above courses online via UT Learn.

The Fire Prevention Services Office sponsors the Fire Extinguisher Use course, with more information at fireprevention.utexas.edu/fire-safety/portable-fire-extinguisher-training.

Animal Use Training, and Radiological Health are available on-campus classes and are typically offered at the start of every fall semester.

In addition, all academic graduate student employees must complete the following University-wide trainings:

• Title IX Basics
• Sexual Misconduct Prevention
• Information Security Awareness
• Compliance & Ethics Program at UT Austin

Microbiology Core Courses

Currently ,the Fall standard core courses are:

• BIO 395J Genes, Genomes, and Gene Expression
• MOL 290C Introduction to Biostatistics & Computational Analysis
• MOL 190C Responsible Conduct of Research

The Spring standard core course is:

• BIO 395M Advanced Microbiology

In addition, students are required to take one of the following courses in the spring of their first-year:

• BCH 394P Bioinformatics
• BCH 394 Structure and Function of Proteins and Nucleic Acids
• BIO 395F Genetics
• BIO 395H Cell Biology
• BIO 395G Graduate Biochemistry

Substitutions to this list of courses may be possible, however, students must provide a rationale and obtain approval in writing from the Graduate Advisor prior to registration.

If a student earns less than a B (3.0) in any of the core courses, they will need to retake the course. If it is necessary to repeat a core course, it must be taken at the very next opportunity that the course is offered. The core courses may not be taken more than twice. Note that the Graduate School requires a cumulative GPA of 3.0 to remain in good standing. Failure to pass a core course that is being re-taken for the second time and/or failure to maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher will result in dismissal from the program.

Microbiology Elective Courses

One additional Microbiology specific elective course is required and may be taken in the second or third year but no later than the fourth year of study. Students typically take one of the three approved elective courses, which are Advanced Virology, Molecular Immunology, and Advanced Immunology. Students may petition to have a different course to count towards their elective requirement but must do so in consultation with their PI and Graduate Advisor.

Additional Courses

BIO 391 Grant Writing and Presentation Skills

In preparation for the Qualifying Exam, second-year students are required to take BIO 391 Grant Writing & Presentation Skills. BIO391 is a writing-intensive course for second-year graduate student in the fall semester that involves writing of an NIH-style grant proposal on their own research, presentation of the proposal to the class, and practice in identifying specific aims in research areas outside their primary area. The class is taken by students in the Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Cell and Molecular Biology Programs.

Qualifying Exam

In order to proceed with the Qualifying Exam, graduate students must:

• Have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0
• Have completed all core courses with a grade of B or above
• Be assigned to a permanent laboratory
• International students must be ITA certified as eligible for employment “with student contact”

Please review the Graduate Program Handbook for complete information about the Qualifying Exam.

Purpose

The Qualifying Exam, often called the “Qual” or “Prelim”, is a major milestone in the Ph.D. program. The purpose of the Qualifying Examination is to evaluate a graduate student’s aptitude to perform original and independent research, and to write a doctoral dissertation. The examination provides a means for a faculty committee to assess the student’s mastery of concepts and methodological approaches by evaluating the student’s (1) general knowledge and fundamental understanding of Microbiology, (2) ability to design, articulate, explain and defend the proposed aims and research approach of their dissertation research, and (3) to critically evaluate and develop a set of experimentally testable hypotheses for a selected topic in Microbiology and related disciplines that is not their research specialty. The ultimate goal of the Qualifying Examination is to ensure that the student has achieved a sufficiently high level of knowledge and skills necessary for successful completion of a Ph.D. dissertation.

Timeline and Procedure

The Qualifying Exam is normally taken in the spring semester of a student’s second year. If the student is completing any core courses in the spring semester of their second year, they may not conduct the Qualifying Exam until the subsequent summer term, after they have met all course requirements. Students who are not prepared to take the Qualifying Exam by the end of their second year must write an explanatory letter of appeal to the GSC Chair and Graduate Advisor and will be assigned a probationary status until further notice.

An informational meeting about the Qualifying Exam will be held in the fall semester of each year. At this meeting, second-year students will review the timetable and guidelines in effect for the Qualifying Exam, as well as the expectations and exam process, as outlined in the Graduate Program Handbook.

Exam Format

The Qualifying Exam consists of written and oral components. Both written components are submitted prior to the Qualifying Exam and form a large basis of the oral exam.

Written Proposal

The Written Proposal should be modeled on and follow the format of a NIH F31 predoctoral fellowship application. As a guide, the general format of the Written Proposal is listed below, but students should download the F31 application guide to obtain additional information about the contents and formatting of these applications. The proposal will consist of the following sections:

The written proposal must include the following:

• Cover Page
• Abstract
• Specific Aims
• Background and Significance
• Experimental Design and Methods
• Literature Cited
• Appendix
• Biographical Sketch

Oral Exam

To conduct the exam, the student will make an oral presentation and defense before a committee of faculty on the assigned date. Students should prepare a 15-minute presentation, with a maximum of 15 slides. During and after each presentation, the examiners will question the student in order to assess the student’s depth of knowledge in the topic areas and understanding of the experimental approaches. The committee will ask general questions as well as questions pertaining to the specific topic areas. Students may be asked to draw or explain concepts using the whiteboard. One purpose of the exam is to probe a student’s breadth and depth of knowledge, so the committee may spend more time on areas where it is not clear whether the student has extensive knowledge, and correspondingly less time on areas where the student demonstrates expertise.

Exam Outcomes

Following the exam, the committee will discuss the student's performance and their decision with the student, as well as any recommendations or conditions made. The examination committee will record the outcome and its evaluation on the Qualifying Examination Results form, provided by the Graduate Program Coordinator.

1. Pass;
2. Conditional Pass (with conditions specified by the exam committee);
3. Re-examination of one or more parts of the Qualifying Exam at a later date;
4. Termination of work toward the Ph.D.

Candidacy

Once a student successfully passes the Qualifying Exam, they must apply for and be admitted to candidacy with the university.

Students are expected to be admitted to candidacy by the end of the second year, after completing course requirements and the Qualifying Exam. There may be a small number of students who are not able to complete their Qualifying Exam with the rest of their cohort. If this situation applies students may delay reaching candidacy until the third year with the approval of the Graduate Advisor. Students must reach candidacy by the end of the third year (sixth long semester). Failure to meet this benchmark will result in loss of good standing in the program. Any exceptions require approval of the Graduate Advisor, and must be communicated to the Graduate Program Administrator and Graduate Coordinator.

Requirements for Admission to Candidacy:

• Complete the 4 core courses with a grade of B or above.
• Maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher
• Successful completion of the Qualifying Exam
• Submission and final approval of a Candidacy Application.

Dissertation Committee

Before submitting a Candidacy Application, students will need to form their official dissertation committee. The committee will have three primary responsibilities:

• General supervision of your research
• To monitor your degree progress
• To certify that an acceptable dissertation is submitted when you complete your degree

Students should consult with their PI and Graduate Advisor to form a suitable permanent Dissertation Committee. Students should explicitly confirm with proposed committee members that they agree to serve on the Dissertation Committee before submitting the Candidacy Application. Any changes in committee membership must be made prior to application for candidacy.

Please review the Graduate Program Handbook for complete information about dissertation committees and admission to Candidacy.

Annual Meetings

Once a student has been admitted to candidacy, they are required to meet annually with their Dissertation Committee to review their progress. The first annual meeting with the Dissertation Committee should be held within the next long semester (typically by the end of the fall semester) following admission to candidacy. Subsequent annual meetings should be held in the fall semester of each academic year; however, committee meetings may also take place in the spring semesters, at the discretion of the committee.

Students are responsible for coordinating a meeting date and time with faculty. Once a date for the committee meeting has been agreed upon students must email the Graduate Program Staff the date the meeting has been scheduled for. Students who have not conducted or scheduled their meeting by March 31st each year will have a registration bar placed on their account. They will not be able to register for Summer or Fall classes until they have scheduled their committee meeting and conveyed this to the Graduate Program Staff.

Following the annual meeting, the Acting Committee Chair will complete an evaluation form, with input from all the committee members, including the PI. This form will be endorsed by the committee and must be returned to the Graduate Program Staff. The signed form and written recommendations will be included in the student’s record.

If a student has not completed the dissertation within three years of admission to candidacy, the results of the annual review will be presented with recommendations to the Microbiology GSC Executive Committee. The Executive Committee will then decide what actions may be required to address your progress.

Although the supervising professor (PI) provides day-to-day guidance, all members of the committee are expected to be available for consultation and students should feel free to ask for advice from them or any faculty member.

Please review the Graduate Program Handbook for complete information about Annual Committee Meetings.

Teaching

Teaching Requirement

The MIC Graduate Program requires that all students must be appointed as a Teaching Assistant (TA) for at least one semester by no later than their fourth year. Students will be required to complete this before graduation, but not before admission to candidacy. This is to allow increased flexibility in scheduling without compromising the standard timetable for advancement to candidacy.

ITA English-Language Certification for International Students

UT Austin conducts English-Language Certification for TAs whose first language is not English. The Microbiology Graduate Program requires this certification of all international students, regardless of whether they serve as teaching assistants. All international students admitted to the Microbiology graduate program are anticipated to unconditionally pass the Oral English Proficiency Assessment and be “certified with student contact.” Students must be certified to be employed “with student contact” before being admitted to candidacy. Under certain circumstances, international students may be exempt from the requirement to complete the ITA English-Language Certification exam.

Additional information can be found at via Texas Global. ILSGP will sponsor the registration cost for ITA English-Language Certification. Students should consult the Graduate Coordinator prior to registration for the exam.