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Dear PhD BIOS Students, You may be at the point where you have finished your core and concentration coursework, and are ready to take the PhD Qualifying exam next term. It is one of the steps for advancement to candidacy, along with course completion and proposal approval. You do not have to have your proposal approved to take the _written_ Qualifying Exam. There is also an _oral component_ to the exam that is given by your dissertation committee and is usually done at the same time as the proposal defense. It can be two separate meetings for the proposal defense and oral exam, but most students find it advantageous to have all of their committee members in one place at the same time and schedule both in one meeting. A reminder that the written exam format for PhD Biosciences students has changed somewhat from the past few terms. Faculty voted at the September SSB Faculty meeting to return to the original exam format where it is administered by the student's committee. Please see the attached guidelines for the exam. *You will need to have your dissertation committee formed and approved by the COS Dean in order to take the PhD Qualifying exam.* Please contact me if you have any questions about committee makeup. regards, Diane St. Germain -- Diane St. Germain Coordinator, Graduate Academic Programs Biology, Biosciences, Bioinformatics George Mason University MS 5B3, 10900 University Blvd. Manassas, VA 20110 Phone (703) 993-4263, Fax (703) 993-8976