Additional Requirements
- Participation in Seminars
- The Qualifying Examination
- Advancement to Candidacy and Normative Time
- Reduced Nonresident Tuition
- Annual Review
- Teaching Experience
Participation in Seminars
Enroll in Seminars
You are encouraged to enroll in seminars in your field of specialization and present topics. Effective participation in seminars is a useful introduction to your field of specialization and may give you valuable direction for advanced study, particularly if you have not begun research activities.
Seminars with Guest Speakers
Integrative Biology offers weekly seminars with guest speakers. These include speakers from other institutions or departments, job candidates for faculty openings, and advanced graduate students or postdoctoral researchers.
Seminars are preceded by a departmental tea. This is a chance for you to meet the guest speaker and get together with other graduate students. They are held on most Thursdays and several Mondays throughout the academic year. You are bly encouraged to register for one or more seminars each semester.
The Qualifying Examination
Demonstrated Competence in Research Area
The objective of the Qualifying Examination is to demonstrate your general competence in your broad research area, and your ability to synthesize the factual information and training in techniques absorbed through course work and seminar research. You are expected to know appropriate facts, but mere recitation of these is insufficient.
The committee must be assured that you have a firm grasp of the basic concepts and current problems in your area of competence, and that you can use facts to deal with these questions at an advanced level. In the examination you are required to answer questions in at least three areas which you and your committee have decided upon for examination.
Plan Your Curriculum
Take your Qualifying Examination into consideration when planning your curriculum for the first three semesters. Enroll in classes or reading courses taught by members of your Qualifying Examination Committee and meet with them often prior to the exam.
Opening Statement
The opening statement made by the student should be limited to a brief statement of their academic interests and goals. Slides and overheads should not be used.
The Department believes that the Qualifying Examination should measure students' breadth of knowledge soon after the beginning of their graduate studies. It is not intended to be a detailed examination of their dissertation research program.
Schedule in Advance
Because it is often difficult to find a time when the four members of your committee will be available for a three hour period, begin scheduling your QE well ahead of time. Please submit the "Proposal for Qualifying Exam" [PDF] to the Graduate Student Affairs Office at least four weeks before your QE date. Graduate Division grants final approval for all QEs.
Advancement to Candidacy and Normative Time
Petition for Advancement to Candidacy
Soon after your Qualifying Examination, petition the Graduate Division for Advancement to Candidacy. The petition is available at http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/policies/forms.shtml. There is a $90 fee (as of Fall 2011) for Advancement.
Normative Time
Normative Time is defined as the time it takes, normally, to finish a Ph.D. in a particular program. For Integrative Biology the time is ten (10) semesters.
Reduced Non-resident Tuition
Graduate doctoral students who have been advanced to candidacy will be granted a 100% reduction in non-resident tuition. The reduced rate is subject to the understanding that the student may receive the reduced non-resident tuition rate for a maximum of three years, whether registered or not.
Any student who continues to be enrolled or who re-enrolls after the three year period will be charged the full nonresident tuition rate that is in effect at the time.
Departmental Review of Graduate Students
Annual Review
The Graduate Division requires that departments conduct an annual review of graduate student progress. The Head Graduate Advisor and the Graduate Advisors Committee are responsible for the review process which will take place in the Fall semester. Each student's progress is assessed and appropriate recommendations are made.
Requirements
- a written report that includes a synopsis of the past year's progress
- a thesis outline
- goals for the coming year
- a current CV (Curriculum Vitae)
- meet with your Supervisory or Dissertation Committee and obtain the members' signatures on the report
This is an excellent opportunity to meet with your committee members and get their feedback on your work.
First year students are required to submit a CV which should be updated in subsequent years.
Teaching Experience
Training our students to be college or university professors with a high regard for excellence in teaching as well as research is a primary goal of the department's program. Most students probably teach more than two semesters as it is the most available means of support offered by the department.
Appointments
Teaching appointments are 50% five month appointments, and are assigned semester by semester. Occasionally a 25% appointment is offered or can be arranged.
If you have a fellowship you are generally allowed to teach 50% in one term or 25% in each term. Please check the rules and restrictions of your specific fellowship as they may differ.
Requirements
- enroll in IB 303, the Teaching Colloquium
- participate in the Teaching & Orientation Conference
- complete the online ethics course, either prior to or concurrently with the first course you teach
IB Info
Thank you for your interest!
Integrative Biology
UC Berkeley
1005 Valley Life Sciences
Berkeley CA
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