Last updated: 6/18/07

NOTE: You must Schedule the General online at least three weeks before the exam date.

General Examination

The format of the exam described in the following pages is to be followed by all examination committees. This document is available on the MCB website, and should be printed out and provided to all exam committee members by the student, along with the actual exam proposal.
Download: General Exam Format [43K PDF*] >>

The basic features of the general exam format are as follows:

1. The exam will consist only of presentation and subsequent questions and answers for the primary research project. A secondary proposal is not required.
   
2. The basic format of the written proposal consists of a 300 word, non-technical abstract, and a 6000 word proposal. The body of the proposal is broken into three separate 2000 word sections: background and significance, possible approaches and strategies, and summary of planned experiments.
   
3. Preliminary data generated by the student is not a requirement for taking the general exam, nor for evaluation of a student's performance. The exam is intended and designed to rigorously test and evaluate a student's broad command of concepts, background, ideas and hypotheses surrounding his/her research field, as well as his or her command and defense of possible experimental strategies to address central questions in that field. The ability to clearly articulate well-crafted hypotheses, and/or to describe how a 'discovery' based project would lead to the development of novel research directions and goals, is a key component of the exam.
   
4. The oral exam is broken into two halves. The first is entirely focused on background and significance, and general command of core knowledge and concepts surrounding the research project. The second half proceeds into experimental goals and strategies, and defense of experimental plans. Further questioning on general concepts and backgrounds are still allowable throughout the exam.

To do:

• Download: MCB General Exam Check List [PDF*].
• Go to: Schedule the General Exam.

*Software capable of displaying a PDF is required for viewing or printing this document. Adobe Reader is available free of charge from the Adobe website at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html