Advancing to Candidacy at a Glance
There are three steps entailed in advancing to candidacy; once your application has been approved by Graduate Studies, you are considered to be at the "ABD" (all but dissertation) stage and are prepared to continue conducting independent research for the rest of your time in the PhD.
Dissertation Committee Selection
Dissertation committees consist of at least three faculty members; four are permissible, but generally not encouraged due to increased difficulty of scheduling.
The major professor (PI) is always the chair of the committee; co-chairs are fine. One non-member of BMCDB is allowed; students who are enrolled in a Designated Emphasis (DE) need to have at least one committee member affiliated with that DE.
A by-students, for-students guide to understanding dissertation committees can be found here.
Checking Your Degree Completion
BMCDB's degree requirements are, put most succinctly: First-year core coursework, six units of electives graded A-F, two years of attendance at a seminar, the scientific ethics course (either RCR online or GGG 296), and one quarter of TAing (T32 recipients are exempt).
Click here to access a degree checklist written by the Graduate Program Coordinator.
Submitting the Actual Form
The candidacy application is done as a smart-form in GradSphere. It's a comparatively simple process - inputting an individual's email address should prompt the rest of their information to auto-fill in the form.
The Graduate Program Coordinator is automatically notified when you begin the candidacy application. The major professor (PI), academic advisor, DE chair (if applicable), and Graduate Program Coordinator are required to sign off on the form before it is sent to Graduate Studies for final approval.