Qualifying Examination

Every student must pass qualification (both written examination and non-thesis proposal examination) within the second year of their enrollment.

Upon the successful completion of the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination, the student will be the “Ph.D. candidate.”

I、Written examination

1.Requirements

(1) Courses taken: Seminar1-2 (2 credits), Clinical Research Design Field (2 credits) or Translational Medicine Filed (2 credits).

(2) Students must already have their thesis advisors.

2. Exam subject

Students must have selected one among three subjects (Cell Biology, Advanced Molecular Biology, and Clinical Research Design).

3. Timing

(1) Application Deadline: May 31、Nov.30.

(2) Examination Date: the Second Saturday of July or Jan.

(3) Applicants may apply for re-examination if they fail the first try.

(4) Students who fail the 2^nd try (re-examination) will be asked to withdraw from the program.

4. Pass criteria: >=70/100.

II、Non-thesis proposal exam

1. The purpose of the Non-Thesis Proposal Oral Examination is to assess a student’s logic, judgement, and analytical ability toward a particular project rather than testing the details in techniques and experiments.

2. Please follow the MOST Grant Proposal format.

3. Timing(1):Students need to apply the examination by Oct.31 or March.31.(2) Both written and oral qualifications must be passed by the end of the 2nd year.

4. The subject of the oral qualification must NOT be similar or close to the thesis project of the applicants

5. Members of the Examination Committee will be selected by the Non-thesis proposal Committee.

6.The procedure for Non-thesis proposal exam is as follows for reference.

(1) before the end of Oct.31 or March.31.

*The exam title must NOT be similar or close to your Essay (or thesis)topic.

* What you must provide in the application form:

1)Selected exam title

2)Provide the topic you want to report based on the non-thesis proposal exam title you selected.

3)Your doctoral thesis topic

(2) during One week

*The Examination Committee will evaluate the exam title you selected.

*If the exam title is accepted, students can start writing a report and pptx.

*However if the exam title is not accepted, you have to re-select the exam title.

(3) during One month(We will provide an deadline)

*Report must follow the MOST Grant Proposal format.

*Please email your written report and pptx report to us within the deadline.

* MOST Grant Proposal format URL https://reurl.cc/dX8rW2

(4) during One week

Written report and pptx be reviewed by The Examination Committee.

1) First review criteria

* “Pass”-we will make an appointment for the examination committee to conduct the oral examination.

* “Conditional Pass- Pass after correction”: Please revise it according to the opinions of the committee members, and email them to office within the agreed time limit. The committee members will conduct a second review.

2) Second review criteria

“Pass”- we will make an appointment for the examination committee to conduct the oral examination.

“Fail”- please re-select the exam title.

(5) during One week

*Office will make an appointment for the examination committee to conduct the oral examination.

*The office will announce the date, time, and location of the oral test, and email the above information to you.

(6) during Two weeks

*Oral examination.

*“Pass”-If the student’s performance on oral presentation does not meet the Examination Committee’s expectation but the Committee thinks a significant level has been achieved, the Examination Committee can award a “Conditional Pass”, which then requires students to do another presentation again or revised their written reports within a given time.

*If the student fails the exam, the Exam Committee has the authority to decide whether the student should (a) write a new proposal for the same topic or (b) select a new topic and proceed with oral exam again. The reevaluation must be completed within 3-6 months after the date of decision. The office will provide a scoring sheet.

Format and Content of the Proposal.

Non-thesis proposal exam application form URL https://forms.gle/3JCE7uN8a8HVEou66

1. You will receive the PDF file of the application form in your e-mail after filling out the form.

2. Please forward the PDF file to your advisor for electronic signature or print the PDF file out for your advisor to sign.After signing, scan and email to em73643@email.ncku.edu.tw, the application is completed.

3. We do not accept any paper copies.