Oral Comprehensive Exam Guide

All Chemistry PhD students are expected to complete their oral comprehensive examination by the end of their 3rd year.

Before you can take the oral examination, you must have first:

  1. Complete the courses on your Individual Curriculum Plan
  2. Present a divisional seminar on your research activities that was evaluated by all members of your Research Advisory Committee.

* If you are in the analytical division, please use the instructions on the Analytical Oral Comprehensive Exam page. *

Discuss with your advisor sometime prior to the semester in which you complete your coursework to plan out when you will present at your divisional seminar.  Once you have a rough idea, you should reach out to the appropriate person in your division to schedule your seminar date.

You should begin working with your research advisor to formulate your original research proposal.

Your exam committee should be comprised of at least 4 members, one of whom must be from outside of the department, with a majority of the members on the committee being from the Chemistry department.  The outside member is called the Graduate Studies Representative (GSR) and their main role on the committee will be as a neutral third-party who ensures the department is conducting exams in accordance with University policy.  To ensure neutrality, this member cannot be a former collaborator with the other committee members or the student.  You should ask your research advisor for suggestions on the out-of-department member for your exam.

Most students opt to comprise their committee as follows:  their RAC (advisor & 2 other Chemistry faculty) + 1 out-of-dept member. 

If you have any questions about the guidelines for your committee composition, please refer to the Oral Exam Committee Composition policy page.

Once your topic is approved by all members of your Research Advisory Committee (no later than 5 weeks prior to the exam), you should immediately reach out to me to begin scheduling.  When you reach out to me, please include the following information:

  • A list of your committee members, including one member from outside the department
  • Confirmation that the “outside” committee member is not a current collaborator with your advisor
  • A couple of possible dates or a week range for when you would like to take the exam

I will then develop a scheduling poll and start working with the faculty to lock down a specific date, time, and location.

Relevant Links

Here are some important timeline/dates to keep in mind while planning your oral comprehensive exam:

  • You should choose your topic in conjunction with your Research Advisory Committee and have it approved 5 weeks prior to the anticipated date of the oral examination.
  • Your exam must be scheduled with the graduate school no later than 2 weeks before the examination.
  • A copy of your written proposal must be distributed to the Oral Examination Committee a minimum of 1 week prior to the date of the oral examination.