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Satisfactory Progress

The First Two Years

First-Year Advisors

Courses and Grades

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The Conduct of Science

• Medical Sciences 300, The Conduct of Science, is a discussion forum on ethics and the proper conduct of science. It is designed to provide discussion among new and continuing students and faculty on matters of responsible scientific practice and eth­ics. All students in the BSDM program must register to take this course when it is offered either in their first or second year.

Introduction to Research

• This once weekly, hour-long course will meet from September through May, and will be required for all first-year BSDM students. These weekly meetings will in­clude discussions of the many practical and philosophical/ethical issues related to biomedical research, and will provide a useful forum for stimulating interactions between PhD students and other Doctoral candidates and dental students interested in basic research. Participation in this course will ensure that students get to meet several members of the BSDM and other graduate training program faculties.

Radiation Safety Course

Advising

Teaching

• Each student is encouraged to serve as a teaching fellow (unpaid) for one term. Stu­dents may undertake additional teaching or tutoring responsibilities, but only with permission of their dissertation research advisor, if they have one, and permission of the director of Biological Sciences in Dental Medicine. Students may meet the teaching expectation through extensive participation in an outreach program for stu­dents in inner-city Boston schools.

Preliminary Qualifying Examination

• Each student is required to pass a preliminary qualifying examination administered by BSDM. Each student should follow the BSDM program’s preliminary qualify­ing examination procedures. This examination is usually given in the second year. The examination consists of a written proposal that is defended orally. Any student who has not attained a clear pass after a second examination will be asked to with­draw from the BSDM program. A student is not allowed to register for the fourth year if she or he has not passed the preliminary qualifying examination.

Dissertation

Selecting a Dissertation Advisor

• Selection of a dissertation advisor is a two-step process: Before a student may of­ficially begin dissertation work in a laboratory, he or she fills out a Dissertation Advisor Declaration Form (available from the BSDM program office) and obtains approval from the director of the Biological Sciences in Dental Medicine Program. 

Dissertation Advisory Committees (DAC)

• An important policy of Biological Sciences in Dental Medicine is that each grad­uate student establish a Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC) to provide timely and considered advising. The DAC helps set logical goals for the completion of the dissertation and monitors progress toward completion of degree requirements.

• This method of dissertation advising works well—but only if the DAC meets and reports on a regular basis. We have set forth specific and stringent guidelines to en­sure that every student obtains maximal benefit from this system.

• The student’s DAC should be formed in consultation with the student and the stu­dent’s dissertation advisor. The committee should have three members not including the advisor. The dissertation advisor may be an ex officio member. The student bears primary responsibility for setting up the DAC and ensuring that it meets in timely fashion. The students should meet with his or her committee as soon as possible af­ter the preliminary examination but in all cases, by the end of graduate year three, and each twelve months thereafter. Beginning with the fourth graduate year, stu­dents will be allowed to register for the upcoming year(s) only if their DAC has met and filed a formal report within the past twelve months.

• The DAC will meet as a group and report annually. Beginning no later than the fifth year, the DAC will ask if the research project is heading toward a plausible dissertation. The DAC may decide to meet more than one time a year for students in their fifth year and above, or in special circumstances.

• The chair of the DAC is responsible for preparation of the report, which should be signed by all committee members immediately upon conclusion of the meeting. The chair will submit the report to the program coordinator, who distributes copies to the student, to members of the DAC, and to the student’s dissertation advisor and program advisor. Immediate submission of the DAC report is important, not only so potential problems can be remedied quickly but so the student’s registration status is not jeopardized.

Preparation for the Dissertation Defense

• The FAS Registrar specifies deadlines by which the dissertation must be submitted and the dissertation examination passed to receive the PhD diploma in November, March, or May of each academic year. A dissertation information packet is available in the BSDM office specifying the steps to be taken when the student is ready to ap­ply for the PhD degree and the various forms that need to be submitted. The infor­mation packet will be thoroughly reviewed with the student by the program coordinator. The first step is completion of two forms: the “application for degree” form and the “program approval” form. See the Academic Calendar in Chapter I for application for degree deadline. Contact the director of graduate studies for program approval form deadline.

• Students must have a DAC report on file in the BSDM office stating that the student may begin writing the dissertation prior to processing dissertation de­fense paperwork.

• The dissertation must show original treatment of a fitting subject, contain a schol­arly review of the pertinent literature, give evidence of independent research, and be clearly, logically, and carefully written. Students are expected to give a public sem­inar on their dissertation research.

Attributions to Dissertation

• The PhD dissertation is expected to contain a substantial amount of independent research work of publishable quality. In addition to chapters of research, each dis­sertation must contain introduction and conclusion chapters that present the themes of the dissertation and summarize the accomplishments. In some cases the student has done all of the work in the dissertation; more often portions of the dissertation result from collaborative research. In all dissertations containing collaborative re­sults, the dissertation should indicate concisely who contributed the work.

• It is permissible for more than one student to include work from the same collabo­ration or publication as long as the required attributions are clear, justified, and complete.

• Individual chapters can be reprints of published articles as long as there are com­prehensive introduction and conclusion chapters written by the student (see BSDM Academic Guidelines for more details).

Examiners

• The student and the student’s dissertation advisor must select at least four examin­ing committee members: an examination chair, usually the chair of the DAC, and three examiners. If an alternate examiner is required, then the alternate must receive a copy of the dissertation and be available on the date of the defense.

• The director of Biological Sciences in Dental Medicine will approve the members from a list submitted by the candidate and his or her advisor (“Proposed Dissertation Examiners” form). All proposed examiners must be a rank of assistant professor or higher, full time. At least one member of the examination committee and the chair of the examination must be faculty from Biological Sciences in Dental Medicine and/or the Division of Medical Sciences; the dissertation advisor is not eligible to be an examiner or the chair, but usually attends the examination ex officio. To broad­en the examination and enhance its significance, one member of the Examination Committee must be from outside Harvard University. Candidates are required to have one, but not more than one, member of the DAC become a member of the Examination Committee. The Examination Committee chair, who in most cases is the chair of the DAC, does not function as a voting examiner but may participate in the questioning of the candidate. (See BSDM Academic Guidelines for more details.)

BSDM Vacation Policy