The qualifying exam is administered by the student’s PhD supervisory committee. The qualifying exam consists of two parts that satisfy the Graduate School requirement for a “written” and an “oral” component of the qualifying exam:
| (1) Written Qualifier: | (2) Proposal Defense: |
|---|---|
| A written examination covering the candidate’s chosen area of specialization. | An oral examination involving a defense of the candidate’s written thesis proposal. |
The Written Qualifier is the written component of the qualifying examination covering the candidate’s general area of specialization in sufficient depth to demonstrate their preparation for conducting PhD level research. The Proposal Defense is the oral component of the qualifying exam involving an oral defense of the candidate’s written dissertation proposal. At the supervisory committee’s option, it may also include follow-up questions relating to the Written Qualifier (written component) of the exam. Details regarding the Written Qualifier and Proposal Defense are provided below. Contingencies for changes to the supervisory committee are discussed at the end.
Consistent with the requirements of the Graduate School, both written and oral components of the qualifying examination must be completed at least one semester prior to defense of the dissertation.
| Written Qualifier (Written Exam) | |
| Timeline | Description |
| No later than the end of the 3rd week of the 4th semester | Student should email the Coordinator to begin the process (Supervisory Committee MUST be finalized first) |
| 2 weeks before the exam | 2-page research summary due |
| Student: Max 7 days after exam is given | Exam completion |
| Faculty: Max 7 days student completion | Exam grading |
| Faculty: Max 7 days after grading | Supervisory Committee grading discussion |
| Proposal Defense (Oral Exam) | |
| Timeline | Description |
| Early in the 5th semester (no later than one month prior to the semesters’ end) | Student provides a dissertation proposal to Supervisory Committee |
| 2 weeks before the scheduled proposal (oral exam) | Supervisory Committee reviews proposal |
| 1 week before the oral exam | Student provides a proposal summary to the Coordinator |
| 1 week after the oral exam | Student uploads final summary |
1. Written Qualifier (“written component” of qualifying exam)
The student’s supervisory committee will contribute questions for the written exam and will provide a written evaluation of this portion of the exam, including an indication of whether the student will be allowed to proceed to the oral portion of the qualifying examination.
The student will provide the committee with a two-page research summary providing a high-level overview of their research (e.g., motivation, general related work, general goals, general progress), two weeks prior to when the Written Qualifying Exam is scheduled to begin.
The committee will provide written questions to the committee chair within two weeks, which will then be provided to the student on the scheduled date. Each Robotics Center member (core or affiliated) must provide at least one question. Committee members external to the Robotics Center may also contribute a question, but it is optional. The exam will consist of at least four questions, but preferably no more than five questions.
Question Format
The format of each question can be chosen by the committee members. Possibilities include (but are not limited to):
- “Take home” question, to be researched and answered by the student
- A “closed book sit down” examination, to be written during a fixed period without use of background materials;
- An “open book sit down” examination, similar to (2), but permitting use of reference materials.
In all cases, the examination will be written.
Exam Administration and Grading
The written exam must be completed by the student in no more than seven days from the initial question assignment to the submission of answers. Grading must be completed within seven days after the student delivers their answers. Each committee member contributing a question will grade that question and provide a specific, written evaluation of the quality and correctness of the answer. Allowable grades on individual questions are:
P – Pass
F – Fail
A grade of P signifies the answer is above the minimal acceptable performance expected from a PhD student.
An F grade indicates that an answer is not up to the standards we expect from our PhD students.
The committee shall discuss individual committee member grades within 7 days of final grading. A student automatically passes the written qualifying exam if they pass all questions. A student automatically fails the exam if they fail the majority of the questions. In all other cases, the committee votes on pass/fail, and the Director of Robotics Studies may cast a necessary tie-breaking vote.
The grading decision shall be discussed with the student per their supervisory committee chair.
Repeating the Written Exam
A student who fails their first attempt may retake the written exam once in the Fall or Spring semester following their first attempt. However, the supervisory committee can, at their discretion, include fewer questions on repeated exams.
Candidates must work with the Robotics Coordinator to schedule exams and complete milestone paperwork.
Written Exam Procedures:
Following are the procedures for the Written Qualifier (written component), which is recommended to be conducted during the fourth semester of their PhD studies:
- The student should organize their PhD Supervisory Committee.
- The student should inform the Robotics Graduate Coordinator via email that they would like to start the Qualifying Exam process by the 3rd week of the semester. The student should provide the two-page research summary in the request.
- The Robotics Coordinator will email the committee the student’s research summary and request that the committee select the 4 to 5 questions appropriate for a PhD Qualifying Exam within two weeks.
- The chair of the Supervisory Committee may organize a meeting in person or via Zoom with the committee member to select the exam questions. It is acceptable that questions may be submitted by email to the committee chair for review.
- In the case of the typical “take home” exam (i.e., question format 1), the chair of the Supervisory Committee forwards the exam questions to the student and sets a 1-week deadline. The student is expected to email the entire committee their Qualifying Exam answers to the questions by the 1-week deadline. Requests for an extension are not allowed, except in very rare emergency circumstances. If any proctored examinations (e.g., question formats 2 or 3 above) are selected by the committee, then the student, committee, and graduate coordinator will work together to schedule this.
- Once the student submits the exam, please allow up to 2 weeks for the committee to evaluate the Qualifying Exam. The Supervisory Committee Chair notifies the student of the recommendation of the committee, to pass, fail or retry. Students may be allowed one chance to revise their original submission. The committee may choose at their discretion to meet with the student to discuss their written exam solutions to determine if they pass the written exam. In the case of minor concerns, the committee may delay discussion of the written exam solutions to the dissertation proposal defense (oral component).
- The Supervisory Committee chair notifies the Graduate Coordinator when the Written Exam grading is completed. The committee submits the approval paperwork which is to be processed in the Graduate Records system immediately.
It is the student’s responsibility to follow up with the committee and the PhD Supervisor to ensure that the steps described above are followed according to the required timeline before the last day of the semester.
2. Proposal Defense (“oral component” of qualifying exam)
The “oral component” of the exam should be completed the Fall or Spring semester after the student passes the “written component” of the exam (normally the 5th semester) and at least one semester before the final dissertation defense.
The “oral component” of the qualifying exam consists of a public presentation of the student’s dissertation proposal, allowing time for the public to provide questions and the candidate to provide answers (Q&A). There is also a private portion of the exam where the candidate meets with the Supervisory Committee without the public present for more in-depth Q&A and discussions, as well as follow-up on written exam questions. Finally, the Supervisory Committee excuses the candidate momentarily to allow private committee deliberations, whereupon the candidate is readmitted to the meeting and informed of the committee’s decision. The committee may accept the oral defense of the dissertation proposal as is written, request the student make minor revisions, or the student may fail the oral defense of the dissertation proposal.
Repeating the Oral Exam
A student who fails their first attempt may retake the oral exam once in the Fall or Spring semester following their first attempt.
Dissertation Proposal Defense Procedures
Following are the procedures for the Proposal Defense (oral component):
- The student writes their dissertation proposal in collaboration with their advisor.
- The student provides their dissertation proposal to the Supervisory Committee at least a month before the last day of the semester. Students are encouraged to submit this proposal as early in the semester as possible to facilitate maximum flexibility in scheduling the oral proposal defense, as finding a time to accommodate the entire committee is often challenging.
- The Supervisory Committee will review the dissertation proposal within two weeks and the committee chair will notify the student and Robotics Coordinator if they may proceed with the oral defense of the proposal.
- Once the Supervisory Committee ok’s proceeding with the oral exam, the student will work with the committee to schedule the exam and will notify the Robotics Coordinator of the date and location.
- The student will provide a summary of the dissertation proposal to the Robotics Coordinator at least a week in advance of the oral exam, which the coordinator will then circulate publicly.
- The oral exam will be conducted as indicated above. The student should bring appropriate paperwork to the exam for the committee to sign regarding their decision. Paperwork can be provided by the Robotics Coordinator.
- In the case that the student passes the oral defense as is or with minor revisions, the student should provide an updated summary of the dissertation proposal to the Robotics Coordinator within a week of the Oral Defense. The updated summary should indicate any minor revisions and should be signed by the committee and submitted to the Robotics Coordinator.
- A committee meeting is required if there are major changes in the proposal scope. This should culminate in an updated summary indicating changes and should be signed by the committee and submitted to the Robotics Coordinator.
It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that the steps described above are followed according to the required timeline before the last day of the semester.