Biological Sciences in Public Health
Satisfactory Progress
Until attainment of the PhD degree, satisfactory progress is required for Biological Sciences in Public Health (BPH) students to continue enrollment in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Biological Sciences in Public Health determines progress by considering the following: performance in courses; satisfactory performance on the preliminary qualifying examination; demonstration of adequate research ability and/or level of improvement; acceptable ethical conduct; and participation in other scholarly activities of the student’s program.The First Two Years
First-Year Advisors
• Comprised of one faculty member from each constituent department, the BPH Curriculum Committee is responsible for advising first-year students. With the assistance of faculty advisors, graduate students select courses and laboratory rotations that best suit their needs. Advisors will provide academic and nonacademic guidance until a dissertation advisor is selected, typically at the end of year one. Thereafter, most direction given to students will be from the dissertation advisor and from the Dissertation Advisory Committee.Courses and Grades
• In general, the BPH program expects that students will receive B or better grades in core and required classes to reflect their command of these topics. If students do not receive a B or better, they may be required to take additional courses to make up this deficiency. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) states that the minimum standard for satisfactory work in the Graduate School is a B average in each academic year. A grade of C or Incomplete is offset by a grade of A, and a D by two A’s. Pluses and minuses are ignored for this calculation.• Students must take one approved 5-credit course in at least 4 of the 7 Core areas (Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Genetics, Physiology, Toxicology/Cancer Cell Biology, Immunology/Infectious Diseases). In addition, students must take at least two approved courses in which critical reading and discussion of research papers are a major focus. It is recommended that students particularly seek out advanced courses that include a proposal writing exercise to prepare for the preliminary Qualifying Examination. Each student designs an individualized, flexible curriculum plan with advice from his or her advisor.
• The particular courses a student is required to take may vary based upon his or her academic background. In addition to the Core curriculum, some students are required to take additional courses to ensure a broad background in basic science and/or to correct any deficiencies in their grades.
Waiver of Course Requirements
• For some students who have successfully completed graduate-level coursework, BPH course requirements may be waived if graduate-level competence is demonstrated to the Curriculum Committee before the end of the first quarter of year one. A “Curriculum Committee Waiver Form” may be requested from the BPH Program office. A signed copy will be kept in the student’s file as documentation of the Committee’s authorization to grant an exemption to a student from further coursework in these areas.Rotations
• BPH students are required to do official laboratory rotations before selecting a dissertation advisor who is a member of the BPH faculty. Laboratory rotations permit students to gain familiarity with several different laboratories, not only to learn concepts and techniques, but also to help select a laboratory in which they will complete their dissertation research. Students perform three ten-week laboratory rotations in three different laboratories and receive a total of ten credits for three rotations. An optional fourth rotation may be carried out in the summer prior to choosing a dissertation laboratory. By the beginning of their second year, all students are expected to have chosen a dissertation laboratory.• The chair of the Rotations Committee meets with first-year students in the fall to identify the laboratories in which students hope to rotate over the course of the year. Potential scheduling conflicts are identified early so a plan may be developed such that all students are able to rotate in those laboratories of greatest interest to them. Before beginning any rotation, the laboratory head and the student must reach an agreement about what the project will involve and the length of the rotation. In addition, the laboratory head and student considering appropriate funding should explore whether or not this is a potential dissertation laboratory. To receive credit, a Rotation Registration Form must be completed, signed by the student, laboratory head, the Rotation Committee chair, and BPH program director prior to beginning the rotation. This form is then submitted to the BPH Program office.
• At the culmination of each laboratory rotation, students write a short report (less than ten double-spaced pages) on each rotation project. Reports are written in a standard scientific manuscript format. In addition, a specific day is chosen at the end of each rotation when all students are required to make a fifteen-minute oral presentation, plus five minutes for questions and answers, regarding their work to an audience of peers, colleagues, and interested faculty. Approximately one week prior to these oral presentations, four copies of the report are submitted to the BPH Program office for distribution to faculty responsible for evaluating student performance. Individual departments may choose to conduct additional separate presentations. The head of the rotation laboratory and one other faculty member on the BPH Rotation Committee (referred to as a “Second Reader”) is assigned to each rotation paper and at least one of them must attend the oral presentation. Both of these faculty members return written comments concerning the quality of the rotation report to the BPH Program office within three weeks after the completion of the rotation. Faculty readers are strongly encouraged to communicate their comments directly to the student as well. Students meet also with the program director to discuss their laboratory rotation performance.
Fourth Rotation in Applied Public Health
• Prior to the beginning of their second year in the program all students are expected to have chosen a dissertation laboratory. Typically, at the completion of three rotations, most students make this selection. However, an optional fourth rotation is possible following the first year of study for any student wishing to further define his or her direction in the field of public health. Students wishing to take a fourth ten-week rotation have two options. Students may opt for an additional bench-oriented rotation at the school before committing themselves to a dissertation laboratory. Those students pursuing fourth rotations elsewhere are expected to have chosen a dissertation advisor before permission will be granted to pursue an applied, public health-oriented internship outside the laboratory environment, followingthe same structure as a ten-week rotation. This internship may be pursued in another academic department, in an organization in the public health sector, in clinical medicine, or in industry. This internship is meant to allow students to define their interests in public health from a vantage point outside the laboratory, and then to incorporate that perspective into their future studies, research, and career plans. Students may pursue aspects of a public health problem related to their laboratory research, or issues important to their general field of study, including biostatistics and epidemiology. Students may gain experience in areas of public health other than bench research. Contact with practitioners will enable them to explore the possibilities of combining work in a second discipline with biomedical research.
• Students interested in a fourth rotation in applied public health are responsible for initiating their personal quest by first talking with faculty members in the field who will work with them in identifying a specific internship appropriate to their interests. A faculty member should be identified who would work with the student and potential internship host in developing a short proposal outlining: 1) complete name, mailing address, phone number of internship supervisor; 2) comprehensive dates of the internship/travel dates; 3) what the internship will entail; 4) what the student will do; 5) what questions the student will address; 6) what the student hopes to gain from the experience; 7) whether or not it is a paid internship.* The proposal is then submitted for approval to the chair of the fourth rotation in Applied Public Health Committee and to the program director.
*Any student planning an internship should inform the BPH program administrator as soon as possible. If wages are being paid by the internship, an adjustment must be made in stipend authorization such that students receive the appropriate level of support for the period of the fourth rotation.
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 BPH program must register to take this course when it is offered either in their first or second year.
Radiation Safety Course
• All incoming BPH graduate students are required to take the Harvard University Radiation Safety Course (scheduled during orientation) before beginning any type of lab work at Harvard. Students who have already completed the Harvard course will not be required to repeat it. All students entering a dissertation lab not located at the Harvard School of Public Health must report to the Radiation Safety office at that institution for additional information on training. In addition, BPH students who intend to do rotations or dissertation work at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) must take the MGH radiation course.
Credit for Work Done Elsewhere
• The program may excuse a student from some of the program course requirements in consideration of courses taken elsewhere. Only courses taken after the bachelor’s degree may be given official GSAS credit toward the PhD degree. Courses for official GSAS credit cannot appear on the student’s undergraduate transcript. The maximum allowable credit for courses taken elsewhere is eight half-courses awarded at the discretion of the BPH Curriculum Committee.Selecting a Dissertation Advisor
• Typically after completion of three rotations, and not later than the beginning of the second year, BPH students are required to select a dissertation advisor who is a member of the BPH faculty. To formalize the academic and financial responsibilities of the dissertation advisor, a Dissertation Declaration Form must be signed and submitted to the BPH Program office.Preliminary Qualifying Examinations (PQE)
• At the end of the second year, and not later than the beginning of the fall term of the third year, students take a Preliminary Qualifying Examination (PQE). The purpose of the PQE is to assess the student’s preparation and ability to embark on original scientific investigation. The primary goal of the PQE is to evaluate the student’s ability to identify and articulate a clear hypothesis of his or her choosing based upon familiarity with relevant literature, to propose critical experiments designed to prove or to disprove the hypothesis, and to interpret experimental outcomes in a manner that indicates awareness of the limitations of the methods used. The challenge is to define a written hypothesis which, on the basis of experimentation, may be accepted or rejected.• Second-year BPH students preparing to take their PQE Examination must first complete the BPH Preliminary Qualifying Examination Course Form, listing coursework taken that fulfills program requirements, and submit it to the chair of the Curriculum Committee for approval before proceeding in the PQE process. It is expected that students will have the majority of their required coursework completed (or are in the process of completing) prior to undertaking the PQE. Then, students are expected to choose, in consultation with their faculty mentor and the chair of the BPH PQE Steering Committee, a topic for their examination by April 15, and to complete the examination by June 15. First, students meet individually with the chair of the BPH PQE Steering Committee for approval of a proposed PQE examination topic. Prior to this meeting, students submit to the chair at least two different outlines of potential examination topics, one to two pages each. Both of these topics must be different from the anticipated dissertation research, which is described in a
brief one- to two-page outline given to the chair at the same time as the proposed examination topics. The proposals should also differ from other areas of research ongoing in the dissertation lab. Once the specific examination topic is approved, a PQE Examination Committee is chosen, consisting of a PQE chair and two additional examiners. Normally, the PQE chair is from the same department as the student and chosen from the PQE Steering Committee composed of two members from each department. Of the two additional examiners, one must be a faculty member of the BPH PQE Steering Committee and the other can be an external (non-BPH) faculty member. An Independent Monitor, one of two BPH faculty members, will be assigned to each PQE to ensure standardized proceedings. The dissertation advisor may not be an examining member of the PQE, but may be present at the examination as a non-participating observer.
• The PQE chair will serve not only as an examiner, but will also oversee the administering of the examination and arbitrate problems. The chair will also see that the PQE Report Form is completed and on file in the BPH Program office. Students should turn in their proposal to the committee within six weeks after the final topic is chosen.
• Ten calendar days prior to the scheduled examination, the student shall submit a ten-page proposal (single-spaced, excluding references) following the form of a National Institute of Health (NIH) postdoctoral fellowship application on the topic chosen to:
• For the PQE examination, students should be prepared to defend and explain the hypothesis, methods, and anticipated results. The student should be ready to respond to questions based on knowledge obtained through the required courses, seminars, and reading from the area of research from which the topic was chosen. The format is a fifteen-minute student presentation summarizing the proposal, followed by examiners’ questions. The oral examination will last about two hours and is expected to cover areas that are both directly and tangentially related to the proposal topic. Outcomes are Pass, Pass with Qualifications, or Fail.
• When a student passes the examination, no further work on the PQE is required. A student who receives a pass with qualifications will be required to successfully fulfill all conditions specified by the Examination Committee. A student who fails the PQE will be permitted to retake the examination once. If the re-examination is still not passed, the student will be asked to leave the BPH Program.
• Following the examination, the PQE Report Form is completed by the chair of the examination, signed by each examiner, and kept on file in the BPH Program office. Upon request, copies of this report are available to members of the Examination Committee, the dissertation advisor, and the student.
Advising
• Advising of students is multi-layered, distributed among advisors, committees, program heads, program coordinators, BPH, and GSAS. The BPH program provides all students with a set of academic guidelines that describes advising. In general, first and second-year students are monitored by the BPH Curriculum Committee. After a student selects a dissertation laboratory, a Dissertation Advisory Committee is formed. In parallel with the dissertation advisor, it monitors the student’s progress, offers assistance, and determines when the student can write and defend the dissertation.
Teaching
• While the program does not have a teaching requirement, the BPH program encourages interested students to gain meaningful teaching experience as part of their graduate training. Students may undertake additional teaching or tutoring responsibilities, but only with permission of their dissertation research advisor, if they have one, and permission of their program head.
Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC)
• The purpose of the Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC) is to help set research goals and to monitor progress toward the completion of degree requirements. Ordinarily, the DAC is composed of three faculty members, in addition to the dissertation advisor, who may serve in an ex officio capacity. At least one member must be outside the student’s department and at least one member must be part of the BPH faculty. Selection of the DAC should be made by the student in consultation with his or her dissertation advisor and the membership of DAC communicated to the BPH Program office. Ordinarily, the DAC chair will be a member of the BPH program. Students bear primary responsibility for setting up the DAC and ensuring that it meets every six months to assess student progress. Students must distribute a written progress report to the DAC at least seven working days prior to each meeting and also provide a copy to the BPH Program office. At the beginning of each DAC meeting the student shall meet privately with the committee, with the dissertation advisor out of the room, and vice versa for the dissertation advisor, with the student out of the room. A formal report must be filed with the BPH Program office after each meeting documenting progress to date and recommendations for further work.
• The BPH program is required to give the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences an accounting of student progress via Satisfactory Progress Reports, a key component of which is regular DAC meetings for students in G-3 and above. Unsatisfactory progress will be reported for any student who fails to have DAC meetings at six-month intervals. However, this may be changed to satisfactory progress at the submission of a DAC Report to the BPH Program office. In addition, students are strongly encouraged to monitor their course/grade records to ensure that they are complete and accurate.
Dissertation Proposal
• Students submit a written dissertation proposal to the DAC within six months of successfully completing the PQE. The DAC and student will meet to discuss the proposal, and committee members will provide the student with feedback, guidance, and suggestions to help define the dissertation project in terms of scope, direction, and general quality. A copy of the dissertation proposal should be attached to the DAC Report and submitted to the BPH Program office.
• Prior to the beginning of the sixth term, all students are expected to have completed their PQE and to have had a DAC meeting. Unless these conditions are met, students may have their student status changed from satisfactory progress to grace. Once these conditions have been satisfied, their status may be restored to satisfactory progress.
Dissertation Preparation and Defense
• The DAC, in consultation with the dissertation advisor, determines when it is time for the student to stop laboratory work and begin writing the dissertation.
Composition of the Dissertation Examination Committee
• The student and his or her dissertation advisor select four examination committee members: three examiners and an examination committee chair. All four members must be faculty with a rank of assistant professor or higher.
BPH Vacation Policy
• Graduate study in Biological Sciences in Public Health is considered a full-time endeavor. Students are entitled to official student holidays and vacation days observed by the University or the institutions at which their dissertation laboratories are located. Graduate study is a year-round activity that continues between terms and throughout the summer months. Students planning to be away at other times may do so only with the approval of their program head, designated program advisor, or their dissertation advisor if they are in a dissertation research laboratory.
• For more extensive information about requirements for Biological Sciences in Public Health, students should consult the BPH Program office.
Composition of the Dissertation Examination Committee
• The student and his or her dissertation advisor select a dissertation examination (defense) committee comprised of four faculty at the rank of assistant professor or higher. In addition to an examination committee chair, three examiners must be chosen who meet the following profile*:
*In addition, emeritus faculty may not serve on the examination committee. In general, collaborators on the dissertation research projects should not serve on the defense committee.
• The Examination Committee chair, who moderates the defense, must be a BPH faculty member and is normally the chair of the student’s DAC. One (and only one) member from the DAC may serve on the Examination Committee.
• At least two weeks before the examination, copies of the dissertation must be presented to the BPH Program office for inspection, then delivered to the examiners by the student. BPH requires that the dissertation be submitted in loose-leaf form (unbound) so that any suggestions for revisions by the readers may be made easily. A summary of the dissertation must be delivered to the BPH Program office three weeks before the scheduled examination. The summary is to be typed and doublespaced. A pamphlet entitled The Form of the PhD Dissertation, describing the requirements of the University in writing a dissertation, is available. This pamphlet is included in the Dissertation Information Packet that all students are required to pick up when they are preparing for their dissertation seminar and defense. Any questions not specifically addressed in the pamphlet may be directed to the Archives office at Widener Library.
• Examiners are expected to verify their acceptance or rejection of the dissertation via contact with the chairperson of the Dissertation Examination Committee and the BPH Program office at least seventy-two hours prior to the scheduled examination. If the dissertation is rejected, a meeting of the examiners and the student is to be convened immediately. The dissertation examination will not be held unless all examiners agree to proceed.
• The candidate is expected to give a one-hour seminar as part of the examination (on the same day as the examination), and preferably prior to the defense of the dissertation. No guidelines exist regarding the procedure to be followed during the examination. It is customary for the examination to open with a five- to ten-minute summary of the student’s work. Each reader is then asked to examine the candidate (approximately twenty minutes per reader). Then questions are permitted from anyone in attendance, at the discretion of the chairperson. The examination is open to faculty and anyone given permission from the chairperson of the examination. It has been the practice of the program to exclude graduate students other than the candidate from the dissertation examination.