PhD Qualifying Examinations

Department Guidelines for Qualifying Examination (QE)

The PhD Qualifying Examination (QE) is compulsory for all postgraduate students who aim to complete their research-based graduate study under the PhD candidature that will lead to the award of the degree in Doctor of Philosophy degree upon completion of all requirements.

Purpose and Philosophy

The aims of the Graduate Study Program in Pharmacy (by research) are to train students to develop the following characteristics:

  • To acquire expert knowledge and technical competency in a specialized area of research;
  • To be able to critically analyze research problems, propose hypothesis/research question and suggest approaches to conduct the necessary investigation;
  • To be able to apply scientific methodologies for conducting properly designed experiments and generating relevant data, critically analyze research findings, provide an objective summary of results and a proposal for future investigations;
  • To be able to write and present their research findings in a concise, coherent and objective manner;
  • To be able to instruct and mentor junior students;
  • To acquire a mindset for workplace safety;
  • To exercise integrity and honesty in all research endeavors; and
  • To demonstrate the ability to think and conduct investigations across discipline boundaries.

 

Format

The PhD Qualifying Examination consists of 2 parts: QE I and QE II.

QE I 

  • To assess graduate student’s ability to write a research proposal;
  • To allow for deeper discussions and thus a better assessment of graduate student’s understanding of their research field;
  • To assess graduate student’s critical thinking skills such as the ability to critique the literature, identify research gaps, formulate research hypotheses in their Ph.D. studies and identify research methodologies/techniques used in the proposed research.
  • QE I consists of 2 parts namely (1) a written research proposal and (2) an oral defense of the research proposal.

 

Format of written research proposal

  • Entire report should be 10-15 pages in length, excluding tables, figures and schemes.
  • Report should be presented with 1.5-line spacing, Times New Roman, font size 12.
  • Report should be printed on both sides of A4 paper.
  • Components of report:
  1. Literature review
    Succinctly summarize the background leading to the development of the current research project. Critically evaluate existing knowledge.
  2. Specific aims
    List the broad, long-term objectives and the goal(s) of the specific research proposed (to test a stated hypothesis, create a novel design, solve a specific problem, challenge an existing paradigm, address a critical barrier to progress in the field and/or develop new technology).
  3. Significance of project
    Identify gaps in existing knowledge that the project is intended to address. State concisely the importance of the research by relating the specific aims to the broad long term objectives. If the aims of the application are achieved, state how scientific knowledge will be advanced. Describe the impact to the field.
  4. References
    References should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals enclosed in parentheses, in the order in which they are cited in the text, e.g. (1), (2,3), (4-6), etc. Each reference must include the name of all authors, article title, book or journal title, volume number, page numbers and year of publication. Supervisors will advise on the format for references. Citation of references should be consistent. References are not included in the page count.
  5. Additional notes
    The sections on results and future studies are not required for QE I. The entire report should not be more than 10 pages in length, excluding references. The report should be presented with 1.5- line spacing, Times New Roman, font size 12. The report should be printed on both sides of A4 paper. The softcopy and hardcopy report should be submitted to the examiners at least 3 weeks before QE I.

 

Oral Defense Format:

  • Each student will be examined by a panel of three examiners for one hour.
  • The student will deliver a closed-door oral presentation (30 minutes) in seminar style on his/her research proposal, following which he/she will be examined by three examiners for an additional 30 minutes.
  • Questions related to the proposal including core knowledge of the research field will be raised.
  • Supervisor should be not present during the exam.
  • The examination will be video recorded.

 

Pass/Fail

  • Pass: The student will move on to implement his/her research and prepare for QE II.
  • Fail: If the student fails QE I, the supervisor will make a recommendation that the student either complete his/her MSc thesis for examination or be given the option of taking QE I for the second time in the following semester.

 

QE I Examiners

  1. The three examiners must be internal examiners.
  2. The main supervisor will nominate one examiner and the other two examiners will be nominated by the postgraduate committee members.
  3. Consent of the examiners must be obtained before nomination.
  4. The examiners chosen should be based on their ability to assess the research proposal and the student’s fundamental knowledge related to the research proposal.
  5. The following exclusion criteria apply when selecting suitable examiners for QE I.
    • Examiners must not be related (by family) to the candidate or the supervisor(s).
    • Examiners must not be the candidate’s research collaborator / co-author or have financial involvement in the research project.
    • Examiners should not be co-authors with the supervisor(s) in the past 3 years.
    • The nominated examiner should not have been trained within the last 6 years (equivalent to two postdoctoral fellowships of 3 years each) by the same supervisor as the candidate’s supervisor or co-supervisor.
    • The nominated examiner should not be previous research student (either MSc or Ph.D.) of the candidate’s supervisor or co-supervisor in the past 6 years (equivalent to two postdoctoral fellowships of 3 years each).
    • The nominated examiner should not be Ph.D. or Postdoctoral supervisor of the candidate’s supervisor or co-supervisor in the past 6 years (equivalent to two postdoctoral fellowships of 3 years each).
  6. Additional important considerations for selecting examiner for QE I are listed below.
    • No more than one colleague from the educator track should serve in the QE І panel of examiners.
    • The other two examiners in the QE I examination must be tenure track faculty members with the proper interdisciplinary expertise in the research topic proposed by the student.

 

  1. Fulfilling seminar requirements is a pre-requisite to sit for the QE I examination.
  2. The examination will be video recorded.
  3. If the student fails QE I examination, he/she will be allowed to re-take the examination only one more time.
  4. Students are encouraged to sit for their QE I examination in their first semester, but must do so no later than the second semester in the program. Students must pass their QE I by the end of their third semester to be eligible to sit for QE II at the end of their fourth semester.

 

QE II

  • To evaluate the student’s ability to implement the research proposal presented;
  • To evaluate the student’s ability to design sound experiments with appropriate controls, collect data reproducibly using well validated methods, interpret raw data to establish trends, perform appropriate statistical analysis to ensure robustness of results, discover important trends for asking new questions or drawing conclusions, discuss experimental findings critically and explaining future work to be performed for a successful completion of the Ph.D. thesis.
  • QE II consists of 2 parts namely (1) a written research proposal and (2) an oral defense of the research proposal.

 

Students in the PhD Programme must pass QE II by the end of their fourth semester to be eligible for advancing to Ph.D candidature.

  • Graduate students can only apply to sit for QE II in their 3rd or 4th semester. He/she must also satisfy all of the following conditions to be eligible to sit for QE II:
    • Completed PR5198
    • Completed at least two additional Level 5000 modules
    • Maintain overall CAP at 3.5 or above
    • Passed English language proficiency requirement (where applicable)
    • Passed QE I
    • Fulfilled seminar requirements
    • Endorsement from supervisor and co-supervisor for taking the examination

 

QE II Examiners

  1. The three examiners involved in QE I can be nominated as the examiners of QE II for the same student.
  2. The examiners chosen should be based on their ability to assess the research proposal and the student’s fundamental knowledge related to the research proposal.
  3. The following exclusion criteria apply when selecting suitable examiners for QE II.
    • Examiners must not be related (by family) to the candidate or the supervisor(s).
    • Examiners must not be the candidate’s research collaborator / co-author or have financial involvement in the research project.
    • Examiners should not be co-authors with the supervisor(s) in the past 3 years.
    • The nominated examiner should not have been trained within the last 6 years (equivalent to two postdoctoral fellowships of 3 years each) by the same supervisor as the candidate’s supervisor or co-supervisor.
    • The nominated examiner should not be previous research student (either MSc or Ph.D.) of the candidate’s supervisor or co-supervisor in the past 6 years (equivalent to two postdoctoral fellowships of 3 years each).
    • The nominated examiner should not be Ph.D. or Postdoctoral supervisor of the candidate’s supervisor or co-supervisor in the past 6 years (equivalent to two postdoctoral fellowships of 3 years each).
  4. Additional important considerations for selecting examiner for QE II are listed below.
    • Consent of the examiners proposed by the student’s supervisor must be obtained before nomination.
    • The list of proposed examiners should be approved by the Postgraduate Committee (PGC).
    • External examiners examining the report containing patentable/confidential materials will need to read and agree to the Terms & Conditions on the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) before the report is sent to him/her (this also applies to examiners from NUH and NUHS). Main Supervisor is required to arrange for the execution of the NDA for External Examiners.
    • For proposed experts outside of NUS to qualify as examiners, he/she must hold group leader position or above (preferably at least Tenure Track Assistant Professorship or equivalent).
    • For proposed examiners from outside NUS, supervisor should provide a copy of CV to domain representatives of Graduate Committee upon request to assist domain representation or chair of department Graduate Committee in their evaluation.
    • No more than one colleague from the educator track should serve in the QE IІ panel of examiners.
    • A minimum of one examiner in the QE II examination must be a tenure track faculty member with the proper interdisciplinary expertise in the research topic proposed by the student. The other examiner can be a faculty member in Educator Track or established scientist in industry who possesses the interdisciplinary expertise in the research topic proposed by the student.

 

 

Format of the written research proposal

  • Entire report should be 25-30 pages in length, excluding tables, figures and schemes.
  • Report should be presented with 1.5-line spacing, Times New Roman, font size 12.
  • Report should be printed on both sides of A4 paper.
  • Components of report:
  1. A recap of literature review
    Succinctly summarize the background leading to the development of the current research project. Critically evaluate existing knowledge.
  2. A recap of specific aims
    List the broad, long-term objectives and the goal(s) of the specific research proposed (to test a stated hypothesis, create a novel design, solve a specific problem, challenge an existing paradigm, address a critical barrier to progress in the field and/or develop new technology).
  3. A recap of significance of project
    Identify gaps in existing knowledge that the project is intended to address. State concisely the importance of the research by relating the specific aims to the broad long term objectives. If the aims of the application are achieved, state how scientific knowledge will be advanced. Describe the impact to the field.
  4. A focus on preliminary studies and results
    Describe the experiments that had already been carried out to the date prior to submission of the written report. Provide concise experimental details. Describe how the data was collected, analyzed and interpreted. Critically discuss your results in the light of the objectives of your proposal. 11
  5. A focus on future work
    Relate how the proposed work to be undertaken in immediate future to continue and expand the existing work done. Describe its role in fulfilling the (original) research objectives. Provide a tentative sequence for the proposed work. Briefly describe the methodology to be employed. Provide a timeline for the project. If a change is required in the light of the preliminary results, describe the nature and extent of change and how it impacts your original objectives. Restate your objectives if necessary. Provide a rationale and a tentative sequence for the proposed work. Briefly describe the methodology to be employed. Provide a timeline for the project.
  6. Acknowledgements
    Candidate must acknowledge contributions from undergraduate students (FYP, UROPS), and other contributors to his submitted report.
  7. References
    References should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals enclosed in parentheses, in the order in which they are cited in the text, e.g. (1), (2,3), (4-6), etc. Each reference must include the name of all authors, article title, book or journal title, volume number, page numbers and year of publication. Supervisors will advise on the format for references. Citation of references should be consistent. References are not included in the page count.
  8. Additional notes
    The sections on results and future studies are the key assessments for QE II. The entire report should be 25-30 pages in length, excluding tables, figures, schemes and references. The report should be presented with 1.5- line spacing, Times New Roman, font size 12. The report should be printed on both sides of A4 paper. The softcopy and hardcopy report should be submitted to the examiners at least 3 weeks before QE II.

 

Oral Defense Format:

  • Each student will be examined by a panel of three examiners.
  • The student will be requested to deliver an open-door oral presentation (45 minutes) in seminar style on his/her research, following which he/she will be examined by three examiners via a closed-door format for an additional 45 minutes.
  • Supervisors should not be present during the QE II closed-door examination.
  • Each student taking the oral examination will be assessed individually for their abilities in presenting the research results, handling and answering questions in a logical and rational manner.
  • The examiners will assess the candidate’s ability to ability to implement the proposed research project based on QE I, i.e. to implement the experiments competently, develop and present the results coherently, critique the findings in meaningful ways to enhance the knowledge and understanding of the research field.
  • The examination will be video recorded.

 

Pass/Fail

  • Pass: The student will move on to complete his/her Ph.D. candidature and prepare for the final Ph.D. thesis submission and oral defense.
  • Fail: If the student fails QE II, the supervisor will make a recommendation that the student complete his/her MSc thesis for examination. The student does not have an option of re-taking QE II for the second time.

 

Passing QE is a pre-requisite for advancement to PhD candidature

  1. At the point of admission into the Pharmacy graduate study program, the student will be designated as being on the MSc or PhD track.
  2. Students who pass the QE will be known as PhD candidate.
  3. Students who are not eligible to sit for QE or do not wish to take the QE or fail to pass the QE I or QE II by the end of third and fourth semester, respectively, will be designated as MSc students and will complete the program under the guidelines for M.Sc. degree (by research).
  4. A student is allowed to undertake up to TWO attempts on QE I and only ONE attempt on QE II.
  5. Registration for QE I and QE II can be made twice a year.

 

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Early Sep for Semester 1 registration and nomination of examiners.

  • For QE I and QE II registration, all relevant sections in the application form must be completed by the student and supervisor.
  • Three examiners are nominated during registration.
  • Submit Application form (softcopy) to Wan’e Lim from the Department of Pharmacy.
  • Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) course should be completed as stipulated by the University for both QE I and QE II. Attach a copy of the RCR completion certificate and report to the application form.

Early Nov for submitting the report.

For QE I and QE II: submit 3 ring bound hardcopies and one softcopy in PDF format to the Pharmacy General Office.

EXAMINATION DATES

By End Nov — Early Dec 2021 for QE I and QE II examination.

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