O. The Preliminary Exam

The “Prelim” Exam is taken 1.5-2 years after entering the graduate program and coincides with successful completion of the Pharmaceutical Sciences Major Course Requirements. It is important to view this exam not so much as a hurdle but more as an important educational exercise.

View slides about the Prelim Exam (PDF) from a presentation given by the DGS to current second-year-students.

 I. Goals of the exam:

• To assess student knowledge in both general background of their field of study and more specific knowledge related to the thesis research
• To determine if the student can independently identify an important and novel scientific problem and provide feasible research strategies to address the selected problem
• To assess the student’s ability to recognize possible pitfalls in the long range planning of a research proposal and present methods of adaptation to circumvent such pitfalls
• To determine if the student can develop a logical attack on a specific problem (i.e., which experiment comes first, second, etc.) and to reasonably gauge both the scope and anticipated timeline for a proposed research project
• To determine if the student can defend the proposal and think on their feet

^ Back to Top

II. Topic of the Research Proposal:

• The topic of the research proposal can be based on the student’s thesis research or an independent proposal, based on the discretion of the thesis advisor.
• If the student is writing a proposal that is not based on their thesis research, the advisor should ensure that the proposal topic is within their general field of research.  This will ensure a useful assessment by the committee during the exam.

^ Back to Top

III. Requirements

Prior to the exam:

• Complete the Pharmaceutical Sciences Course Requirements. Also ensure that you will have 32 total credits by the end of the semester in which the exam will be taken.
• Schedule the Preliminary Exam with members of your Thesis Committee.
• Ask one of the Pharmaceutical Sciences faculty members (who is not your thesis advisor) on your committee to act as the “chair” for your preliminary exam. This person will be responsible for making sure that the question and answer portion stays on topic and on time, and will also take the lead in filling out the written comments in your paperwork.
• There are two (2) forms that the Thesis Committee needs to fill out and/or sign—the warrant from the Graduate School, and one that is Pharmaceutical Sciences Program-specific. Students should submit warrant requests at https://forms.gle/FNaXWmAHw3UeuxHQ7 at least four weeks in advance of the prelim date. The GPM will notify the student when the warrant is available.
• Begin working on the proposal (see Section IV) and your research progress summary. The research progress summary should be no more than 3 pages (including figures). If needed, references cited may be included on a 4^th page. Similar to the proposal, the research progress summary should be 11 point or larger font, and margins should be half inch or larger.

At the exam:

• The student provides an overview of coursework and grades, and the committee verifies that all program requirements have been met.
• The student can get feedback on their IDP and career development plans.
• The student presents a brief oral presentation describing their thesis research progress, followed by an oral presentation describing their research proposal.
• During the presentation, the student responds to questions by the Thesis Committee.  The questions can be based on anything directly or tangentially related to the material presented.
• The Thesis Advisor, as a voting member of the Thesis Committee, will be present for the exam but should only participate as an observer during the oral exam (i.e., the Thesis Advisor should not field questions or coach the student in any way during the examination).
• The Thesis Advisor is permitted to ask questions of the student during the examination.
• As with other committee meetings, students must be provided time to meet with their committee without their advisor(s) present. It is recommended that this occurs after the presentation and questions/answer period, but before the student is asked to leave room for the committee discussion time.
• The student will leave the room to allow the committee (including the advisor(s)) to have a discussion and make a decision – Pass; Request Written Revisions; Request Written Revisions and a repeat of the Oral Defense; or Fail. The committee will then invite the student back into the room to provide their decision along with oral and written feedback. The committee will also sign the Pharmaceutical Sciences Preliminary Exam Form and if the decision is pass, the Committee will also sign the Graduate School’s Warrant electronically.

Following the exam (PASS):

• The student will gather electronic signatures on the Grad School Warrant. Students can find information about how to do this on the student instruction sheet. Students can also provide their committee this PDF document that contains instructions on how to sign.
• The advisor will ensure the Pharmaceutical Sciences Preliminary Exam Form is filled out, signed, and returned to the student.
• The student will upload to their Box folder the Pharmaceutical Sciences Preliminary Exam Form and a copy of their research proposal.

Following the exam (if WRITTEN REVISIONS are needed):

• The advisor will ensure the Pharmaceutical Sciences Preliminary Exam Form is filled out, signed, and returned to the student.
• The student will notify the GPM of the committee’s decision of requiring written revisions and also upload the Pharmaceutical Sciences Preliminary Exam Form and the original research proposal to their Box folder.
• Once the student has completed revisions, the revised proposal will be provided to the committee for approval. Once revisions have been approved, the student will obtain signatures on a new Pharmaceutical Sciences Preliminary Exam Form indicating “written revisions accepted by committee” in the “Feedback / Comments from the Thesis Committee” box on page 2.
• The student will upload to their Box folder the new Pharmaceutical Sciences Preliminary Exam Form and a copy of their revised research proposal. It is recommended to include “revised” in the proposal file name.
• The student will gather electronic signatures on the Grad School Warrant. Students can find information about how to do this on the student instruction sheet. Students can also provide their committee this document that contains instructions on how to sign.

Following the exam (if WRITTEN REVISIONS and a REPEAT of the ORAL DEFENSE are needed):

• The advisor will ensure the Pharmaceutical Sciences Preliminary Exam Form is filled out, and signed, and returned to the student.
• The student will upload to their Box folder the Pharmaceutical Sciences Preliminary Exam Form, their original proposal, and notify that GPM that the committee is requiring revisions and a repeat of the oral defense.
• The student will schedule a new defense with their committee and revise the research proposal according to committee feedback.
• Once the student has successfully repeated their defense and the committee has approved the revisions, the advisor will ensure a new Pharmaceutical Sciences Preliminary Exam Form is filled out, signed, and returned to the student.
• The student will upload to their Box folder the new Pharmaceutical Sciences Preliminary Exam Form and a copy of their revised research proposal. It is recommended to include “revised” in the proposal file name.
• The student will gather electronic signatures on the Grad School Warrant. Students can find information about how to do this on the student instruction sheet. Students can also provide their committee the this document that contain instructions on how to sign.

Following the exam (FAIL):

• Discuss the recommendations with the Advisor and the Thesis Committee.
• The advisor will ensure the Pharmaceutical Sciences Preliminary Exam Form is filled out, signed, and returned to the student.
• The student will notify that GPM of the committee’s decision and will upload to their Box folder the Pharmaceutical Sciences Preliminary Exam Form and their proposal.
• If the Prelim Exam is not successfully completed, a student cannot continue in the Pharmaceutical Sciences PhD Program.

^ Back to Top

IV. The Preliminary Exam Research Proposal—Content; Format; Writing Specifics

Proposal Content:

• A student must consult with their Thesis Advisor when writing the proposal. It is recommended that the Thesis Advisor provide feedback in a manner that helps the student learn while respecting the fact that the proposal should reflect the student’s own scientific thought process.
• Prepare the proposal in a format similar to a NIH F31 predoctoral grant application. See https://grants.nih.gov/grants/how-to-apply-application-guide/format-and-write/page-limits.htm for more information.
• Format and page limit requirements are described below.  Prelims should minimally include these five parts:
  1. Title
  2. Project Summary/Abstract (30 lines of text)
  3. Project Narrative (3 sentences in “lay person’s” terms)
  4. Specific Aims (1 page)
  5. Research Strategy (6 pages) (single-spaced, half-inch or larger margins)
• Eleven (11) point or larger font should be used throughout the proposal.  Adherence to this format and page limit will be considered in the final evaluation.  These five components will meet the goal of evaluating graduate student’s critical thinking and will provide applicants with committee peer review if they choose to submit a F31 fellowship.  Pharmaceutical Sciences graduate students who are planning on submitting an F31 may also want to consider optional submission of two additional components, in order to receive critical feedback on these from their thesis committee (students planning on F31s are also encouraged to consult the DGS who frequently sits on F31 review panels):
  6. NIH Biosketch for Trainee
  7. Applicant’s Background and Goals for Fellowship Training
• If your proposed research involves human subjects or animals, you must inform yourself of the appropriate campus compliance committee and anticipated approvals required for the proposed research. For information about these committees, with instructions on obtaining approvals and completing the required training, see https://research.wisc.edu/compliance-policy/human-research-protection-program/ for the UW-Madison Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) and https://www.rarc.wisc.edu/ regarding the Research Animal Resources Center (RARC).

^ Back to Top

SOME NOTES REGARDING PARTICULAR SECTIONS OF THE WRITTEN “PRELIM”

Specific Aims:

• State the broad, long-term objectives.
• Describe concisely and realistically what the specific research is intended to accomplish and any hypotheses to be tested.

Research Strategy:

• Briefly sketch the required background from which to evaluate the proposal’s significance and novelty.
• Critically evaluate existing knowledge.
• Specifically identify the gaps in knowledge that the project is intended to fill.
• State concisely the importance of the research described in this application by relating the specific aims to the broad long-term objectives.  Outline the experimental design and the procedures intended to accomplish the specific aims of the project.
• Detail the means by which the data will be collected, analyzed and interpreted.
• Describe any new methodology and its advantage over existing methodologies.
• Discuss the potential difficulties and limitations of the proposed procedures and alternative approaches to achieve the aims.
• Provide a tentative sequence or timetable for the investigation.
• Point out any procedures, situations, or materials that may be hazardous to personnel and precautions to be exercised.

Literature Cited:

• Each citation must include the title, names of all authors, book or journal, volume number, page numbers, and year of publication (use a consistent format).
• Make every attempt to be judicious in compiling a relevant and current list of literature citations; it need not be exhaustive.
• This does not count as part of the 6-page Research Strategy page limitation.
• Figures that are critical to the proposal should be included within the 6-page limit.
• The student will have the opportunity to present other figures at the oral preliminary exam.

^ Back to Top