Doctoral: Timeline

A student should plan on at least 5 years to satisfy all requirements of the degree. Normative time to advancement to candidacy is 7 quarters. Normative time to complete the Ph.D., measured from the time a student begins graduate study in the Pharmacology and Toxicology Graduate Group, is 5.5 to 6 years.

Graduate Council has approved specific policies regarding maximum time to degree that state: Students will have 4 calendar years after the date they pass their qualifying examination to submit their dissertation. At this time, if a student has not submitted his/her dissertation to Graduate Studies, this student will receive a notice from Graduate Studies that s/he is placed on probation, and has 1 year from that date to submit the dissertation. If not submitted within 1 year, the student will no longer be allowed to enroll the following quarter and will be disqualified.

International students are entitled to reduced fees for a period of 3 years from the date of their qualifying examination and it is in the student's and program's best interest to stay within this time period.

Typical Timeline and Sequence of Events

Year One Fall Winter Spring
  PTX 201 (5 units) PTX 202 (4 units) PTX 203 (4 units)
  PTX 290 "Meet the Faculty"        (1 unit) PTX 290 "Lab Rotation Presentations)" (1 unit) PTX 290 "Lab Rotation Presentations)" (1 unit)
  Remediate any prerequisite deficiencies Advanced/breadth requirement elective courses  (3 - 5 units) PTX 290 Seminar (1 unit)
 

Laboratory research rotations    (3 - 6 units)

Laboratory research rotations (3 - 6 units) Advanced/breadth requirement elective courses  (3 - 5 units)
    Select major professor; join laboratory (notify PTX GG admin staff of selection) STA 100 - Biostatistics (4 units)
      Begin dissertation research
      June: Take written prequalifying examination
      June: Annual assessment of coursework and research by major professor and graduate advisor
       
Year Two Fall (Written Prequalifying Examination completed) Winter Spring
  Advanced/breadth requirement elective courses (3 - 5 units) Advanced/breadth requirement elective courses (3 - 5 units) PTX 290 "QE Preparation"       (1 unit)
  Bioethics Seminar: PTX 290C (1 unit) or ECH 289E-001 (1 unit)

If not yet completed:

Bioethics Seminar: PTX 290C (1 unit) or ECH 289E-001 (1 unit)

If not yet completed:

Bioethics Seminar: PTX 290C (1 unit) or ECH 289E-001 (1 unit)

  Dissertation research Select QE committee members Prepare research proposal for QE, select QE date
    Dissertation research Dissertation research
      June: Annual assessment of coursework and research by major professor and graduate advisor
       
Year Two - Three Summer Fall Winter/Spring
  Prepare and take oral QE Continue dissertation research
  Advancement to candidacy  
  Finalize dissertation committee Meet with dissertation committee
  File advancement to candidacy form June: Annual assessment of coursework and research by major professor and graduate advisor
       
Year Three - Five Summer Fall Winter/Spring
  Continue dissertation research
  Meet with dissertation committee at least annually (more often towards the end)
  June: Annual assessment of research by major professor, graduate advisor and thesis committee members
  Develop plan and timetable for completion of degree requirements
  Submit dissertation
  Exit seminar on dissertation research. File dissertation with graduate studies
       
Year Five and Beyond Summer Fall Winter/Spring
  Continue dissertation research
  Meet with dissertation committee
  June: Annual assessment of research by major professor, graduate advisor and thesis committee members
  Develop plan and timetable for completion of degree requirements
  Submit dissertation
  Exit seminar on dissertation research. File dissertation with graduate studies

Summary

17 units of core coursework, at least 13 units of electives (advanced pharm/tox and breadth), at least 6 units of seminars, and at least 6 units of lab rotations are required for a total of 42 units.

There are currently three required core pharmacology and toxicology courses that must be completed without substitution. In addition, all students are required to complete a series of approved elective courses from advanced pharmacology and toxicology, breadth course work relevant to the students' research, a statistics course, six seminar series and a number of laboratory rotations. All of the required and potential elective courses will be listed annually on the program web site, as course offerings may change from year to year. Full-time students must enroll for 12 units per quarter including research, academic and seminar units. Courses that fulfill any of the program course requirements may not be taken S/U (pass/no pass) unless the course is normally graded S/U. Once course requirements are completed, students can take additional classes as needed, although the 12 units per quarter are generally fulfilled with a research class (299) and perhaps seminars. Per UC regulations students cannot enroll in more than 12 units of graduate level courses (200) or more than 16 units of combined undergraduate and graduate level (100, 200, 300) courses per quarter.

All course requirements must be fulfilled by the end of the quarter in which the oral qualifying examination is taken.

Students must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or better to be eligible for appointment in a graduate student academic title. A minimum 3.0 GPA is required to be eligible for a living allowance/stipend fellowship, an in-state fee fellowship, or a non-resident tuition award. If the GPA falls below 3.0, the student is placed on academic probation. After two consecutive terms on academic probation, a student is subject to disqualification by the Dean of Graduate Studies. A student earning a grade of C+ or lower in a required course will receive an "Unsatisfactory" progress evaluation and must retake the course and earn a grade of B- or better. If the student does not earn a grade of B- or better the second time, s/he will receive an "Unsatisfactory" evaluation. Two "Unsatisfactory" evaluations are grounds for disqualification from the Pharmacology and Toxicology Graduate Group program.