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Last Updated:
10 Aug 2007
 

GRADUATE PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

Ph.D. Program Completion

Once the mentor, student, and thesis committee agree that the student has completed his/her thesis work, the student may begin to prepare for the thesis defense.  In preparation for and completion of the defense, the following steps must be taken:

• All graduate students are required to have at least two (2) first-authored, peer-reviewed manuscripts submitted and accepted for publication prior to the thesis defense. As the discretion of a student's thesis committee, however, submission and acceptance of one (1) first-authored, peer-reviewed manuscript at the time of defense may be acceptable. NOTE: This revised manuscript requirement will apply to those students who will defend in 2006 and subsequent years.

   

• The student must ‘apply for the degree’.  This entails completing the necessary paperwork (see Dr. Lisa Schwiebert, MCLM 966, 4-3970), which requires signatures from the student’s mentor and the Graduate Program Director.
   

• After the student has applied for the degree, he/she will receive the following items from the UAB Graduate School: thesis formatting instructions, on-line signature forms completed by the student 2 weeks prior to defense, microfiche form, and graduate student survey.  For any questions regarding formatting, the student should contact Ms. Jan Baird at the Graduate School (HUC 511,  934-0656.   The  Graduate  School  will contact  the student for the completed signature forms; the student should bring these forms to the Graduate Program Director’s office for safekeeping until the defense.  The student should complete the microfiche form and survey at his/her convenience.  You can find the latest formatting guide from The Graduate School online at http://www.uab.edu/graduate/theses_dissertation/t&dguide.pdf.
   

• Once the thesis is complete, copies of the thesis must be distributed to each thesis committee member as well as to Dr. Benos, the Graduate Program Director and the Program Manager. All copies must be distributed AT LEAST TWO WEEKS PRIOR TO THE ORAL DEFENSE.
   

• Notification of the defense is done via a flyer  to faculty, secondary faculty, and staff.  Patricia Matthews  will need the title of the thesis, the date and time agreed upon by mentor and thesis committee, and the location of the defense.
   

• It is the responsibility of the student to reserve a site for the defense and a location to meet with the committee after the defense.  To schedule the THT conference room, the student must contact Leslie Franklin (5-7087).
   

• Contact Patricia Matthews to schedule the private defense meeting in the 7^th, 8^th, or 9^th floor MCLM conference room.
   

• Upon successful defense of the thesis, the student must turn in a final, corrected draft (corrections made according to suggestions of the student's committee) to the UAB Graduate School within 10 business days following the oral defense.  Failure to meet this deadline may result in a delay in graduation.
   

• Since the Graduate School may require formatting changes to the thesis after the final draft has been submitted, it is strongly suggested that the student remain at UAB at least two additional weeks after submission to complete these changes.  See Note 2, below.
   

• Before the student leaves the Cellular and Molecular Physiology Graduate Program, the student must leave a forwarding address with the Graduate Program office.

NOTES: 

1. Should a student fail to complete all requirements by the specified deadline (see: Graduate School Deadlines), student must reapply for graduation.
    

2. If a student successfully defends his/her dissertation (private and public) and the student's committee has signed off, the Program's financial stipend responsibility to that student ends at the end of the day of the last defense. 
    

3. If. after the defenses and the committee sign-off, the student fails to turn in all required materials to the Graduate School by the deadline, the student must reapply for graduation and must, if necessary, register for the next semester (3 credit hours for part-time student status; 9 credit hours for full-time status).  However, the Program and the Department will not reinstate the stipend for the student.  Contact Patricia Matthews for more information.