Following completion of the program requirements students will take the qualifying exam, which allows the student to be admitted into PhD candidacy. The Microbiology & Immunology Graduate Program strives to have all students entered into candidacy
by the end of their second year.
The qualifying exam consists of writing and orally defending an NIH-style research proposal of which the student is the sole producer. MI Qualifying Exam Guidelines
Link to NIH Guidelines
The proposal can be written on any subject.
Each student will be contacted and given a list of his/her qualifying exam committee members (one from each discipline), as well as the date of the oral defense. The program strives to complete all oral defenses within the month of April.