Advancement to Candidacy (ATC)

Obtain and Begin Work with a Faculty Advisor

Every Ph.D. Student should obtain a faculty advisor. Students and faculty should consider not only their mathematical interests, but also their working styles and personalities to ensure a productive working relationship. The Graduate Vice Chair is a great resource to consult on methods to approach and get to know faculty that you may want to work with. 

Students and faculty are encouraged to discuss mentor / mentee expectations, and may use the following TLC Mentor Mentee Agreement as a guide or template for items that can be discussed. 

Prepare for the Oral Qualifying Examination (QE)

The QE is an oral exam in the form of a presentation that should present your dissertation research problem. It should define the background of the problem, knowledge required, and your research plan for solving the problem. Deciding on a research problem will be done in collaboration with your faculty advisor, and it will be the main content of the Oral Qualifying Exam (QE). Students should discuss the QE with their advisor to define expectations and prepare. 

Establish the QE Committee by submitting the QE Committee Nomination Form.

The QE requires a QE Committee to attend and assess the presentation. Committees must consist of four faculty, one of which must be a tenured member outside of the Mathematics Department. The Graduate Vice Chair and the Faculty Advisor are valuable resources to consult with on committee composition. 

Committee members that are not tenured, even those who were previously tenured and are now retired, require approval by petition in the form of a letter from the Department Chair to the Graduate Division. The member's CV is also required to support this petition. Please email mathgradadvising@ucsc.edu if you believe this may be applicable to you. 

IMPORTANT: The QE Committee MUST be approved before the exam can take place. The exam date on the QE Committee Nomination Form can be left blank if it is not decided before the deadline to nominate the committee. It is far more important to get the committee approved on time, and it can be approved without an exam date. 

Schedule your QE and book a room for the exam with the graduate advisor.

Email mathgradadvising@ucsc.edu indicating that you'd like to book a room for your exam. The graduate advisor can assist you in booking the Colloquium Room or the Graduate Library. The graduate advisor also needs to know the date of your exam so they can follow up with your exam committee for the report on qualifying exam after the exam takes place. 

Define your Dissertation Reading Committee (DRC) 

The dissertation reading committee is the group of tenured faculty that will read, review, and approve your dissertation. Complete the Dissertation Reading Committee nomination form found on the Graduate Division Website and submit it to the Graduate Advisor. This document is required in your application to Advance to Candidacy, so the graduate advisor must receive it before the deadine to submit the application to ATC. 

After a Passed Exam, apply to Advance to Candidacy

Once the QE has been taken, the Exam Committee will complete the Report on Qualifying Exam (pdf) and send it to the graduate advisor. The Report will indicate whether the exam was Failed, Passed, or Passed with Honors. A student can request a copy of the report from the Graduate Advisor. 

The Graduate Advisor will submit the following to the graduate division for approval.

1. 1. Dissertation Reading Committee Nomination Form

   2. Report on Qualifying Exam

   3. Report on Language Requirements (completed by graduate advisor, language report is waived)  

Once your application has been processed, you will receive a confirmation from the Division of Graduate studies confirming your advancement, and you will have candidate status the following quarter.

After a Failed Exam, establish a plan and try again. 

If the Report on Qualifying Exam indicates a failed attempt, the student can retake the exam one more time. The student, graduate advisor, and their faculty advisor should collaborate to complete an Academic Support Plan to assist them in their success.

University policy prohibits students from taking the QE more than twice. After two attempts, a student that has not passed can either transfer to the Masters Program, or will be disqualified from the program if they already possess a Masters in Mathematics from UC Santa Cruz.