Table of Contents

(1) Research Area and Advisor Selection

Explore Research Groups

You must participate in at least 3 research groups before submitting your top 3 preferences. A “rotation” can vary greatly depending on the research area and is defined by the DCB as one of the following:

• Attending a minimum of 3 group meetings

• Completing a multi-week lab rotation, including collaboration on a project

Advisor-Student Group Selection Agreements

The following represents an agreement between student and advisor which both individuals are expected to honor. In this context, the responsibilities of both Student and Advisor are outlined in the Advisor-Student Group Selection Agreements.

Advisor Selection Process

After completing your rotations, submit the Advisor Preference Form to the Graduate Staff Advisor. A faculty committee will review your selections and approve your matriculation into a research group. The committee will strive to honor each student’s first choice, but this may not always be possible. Before matriculation, a PI funding check will be conducted.

(2) Graduate Coursework

Doctoral students are expected to take all available DCB graduate courses in their area of interest, as well as courses outside their area and approved courses in other departments, for breadth. It is expected that a student in the Ph.D. program will pursue a program of study providing:

1. Depth of knowledge in a technical specialty area

2. Breadth of knowledge in two or more technical areas distinct from, but supportive of, the technical specialty area.

The breadth of knowledge should involve concepts different from those of the specialty area. It may be necessary, or desirable, for some students to complete 100-series (undergraduate) courses, both for added breadth and as preparation for more advanced courses.

Most students take all courses (18 units) in the first year, typically two 3-unit courses per quarter. When undergraduate or remedial background courses are stipulated, some required courses may be delayed until the second year. The 18 units of core academic coursework must be completed before the Advancement to Candidacy Oral Examination; additional or supplemental courses may be completed after the Oral Exam.

Students choose courses, in consultation with their Area Advisor, before the start of Fall quarter from the following area established recommended courses:

• Biochemistry: CHEM 226, 234, 241-256, 259, 261-262, 281, 284, and select BMSE courses

• Inorganic: CHEM 264, 268A-B, 270-279, 284, and other select CHEM courses

• Materials: CHEM 240, 265, 274, 282A-B-C, 284, 285, and select MATRL and CHEM courses

  • MATRL 281 may be taken as a substitution for CHEM 290, but does not apply towards the 18 required units

• Organic: CHEM 224, 226-233, 239, 240, 258, 263, 284, 286, and other select CHEM courses

  • Students are expected to regularly participate in CHEM 223, though it does not apply toward the 18 required units

• Physical: CHEM 217-222, 225, 264, 284, and other select CHEM courses

(3) Teaching Requirement

Exposure to teaching is valued as an essential skill to be gained in graduate school. Refer to this section for additional details on Teaching Assistant positions. Satisfactory evaluation of your teaching performance is required to remain in good standing as a graduate student.

(4) Annual Thesis Committee Meetings

Establishing the Doctoral Committee

The Advancement to Candidacy and Thesis/Dissertation Committee members should be selected by the end of the student’s first year. The student, with guidance from the Research Advisor, is responsible for proposing committee members and requesting their service. PhD committees require at least three UC ladder faculty members, including two from the home department (one serving as Chair) and one independent of the thesis project. The Research Advisor (or co-advisors) may join the committee, but their membership does not count toward the required number. The Research Advisor will chair the final defense and thesis/dissertation committee. When appropriate, a member from another department may be included. Committee members must agree to serve and disclose any conflicts of interest with the student.

Questions about the suitability of committee member selections should be directed to the Faculty Graduate Advisor. Additional details and explanations can be found on the Graduate Division’s website.

Once the committee is approved at the department level, the Staff Graduate Program Advisor will initiate the proposal in GradPoint Academics for final approval by the Department Chair and the Graduate Division.

First Year Chair’s Meeting

In the first year, all new students must meet with the Department Chair individually at the end of winter quarter. The student’s primary advisor should provide a written statement for the Chair at least one week in advance of the meeting. This will be collected by the Staff Graduate Advisor. The student will also complete a first year meeting questionnaire to be discussed during the meeting and provide their updated resume/CV.

Meeting Scheduling

At least one hour should be allocated for annual meetings (Candidacy and Defense require two hours).

Scheduling Resources

Meeting Checklist
Department Room Reservations
Doodle Polls
When to Meet

Annual meetings will continue to be required in any additional years that the student remains enrolled at UCSB. The student or PI can call an additional or earlier meeting at any time to address issues that may arise.

Meeting Structure

• Committee should remain the same unless there is a need to change members. Changes to the committee require the approval of the Faculty Graduate Advisor.

• At least 3 of the 4 faculty committee members (including the PI) must be present. The PI will be excused at the mid-point of the meeting and discussion will continue amongst the student and remaining committee members.

• The student must submit a written progress report (approximately 2 pages in length) and current CV to the committee for review at least one week in advance.

• Be prepared to present your work, discuss potential issues, and receive feedback from the committee.

• Signature form, including comments from the Primary Research Advisor, progress report, CV, and faculty comments must be submitted to the Staff Graduate Program Advisor for the requirement to be fulfilled.

(5) Original Research Proposal

The topic must be original research that showcases your creativity and may be inspired by your research rotations or thesis lab. The topic and title require approval from your Primary Research Advisor. Submit your complete proposal to the Area Advisor or a designated reviewer well in advance of the final submission deadline, as revisions may be required.

Proposal Format

• Eligible students should prepare their proposal in accordance with NSF Graduate Fellowship guidelines and format. Submission of the application to NSF is required by the Fall Quarter deadline of Year 2.

• Students ineligible for the NSF fellowship should identify an alternative fellowship for which they qualify, subject to approval by the Area Advisor or Graduate Faculty Advisor, and prepare a proposal according to the application standards of that program. Submission should be made by the fellowship deadline and as close to the program requirement deadline (Fall of Year 2) as possible.

• When no suitable substitute program is available (as confirmed by the Area Advisor), follow the NSF format and submit your proposal for review to the Area Advisor by the Fall Quarter deadline.

(6) Seminar Requirement

A letter grade of B or better must be achieved in CHEM 290, which requires delivery of a seminar related to your group’s research.

This requirement must be completed before taking the Advancement to Candidacy Oral Exam.

(7) Advancement to Candidacy Exam

The Candidacy Examination is comprised of written and oral components based primarily on the student's dissertation research field and is administered by the student's Candidacy Committee, formally established with the approval of the Department Chair and Graduate Division. If the exam is failed, the student will have one opportunity to repeat.

The purpose of the exam is to test whether the student is adequately prepared to carry out an original dissertation research project. The student's performance will be evaluated on the basis of demonstrated understanding of the research field, general knowledge of the discipline, and on research work completed by the time of the exam. Before taking the advancement to candidacy exam, all Ph.D. course requirements must be completed. This includes 18 units of graduate-level courses selected in consultation with the faculty advisor and CHEM 290, all completed with a letter grade of B or better.

Written Research Summary

Two weeks prior to the candidacy exam, students should provide a 3-page research summary, written using the following guidelines, to the staff graduate advisor:

• Up to 3 pages total, including 10-15 references and 2-4 figures

• Standard 8.5" x 11" page size

• 1" margins on all sides

• No less than single-spacing (approximately 6 lines per inch)

• 11 point or higher font, except text that is part of an image

• Do not use line spacing options such as “exactly 11 pts” that are less than single spaced

• Times New Roman font for all text, Cambria Math font for equations, and Symbol font for non-alphanumeric characters

• PDF or Word Document file format only

The staff graduate advisor will share the written research summary with the students committee.

Oral Examination

At least two weeks notice is required. Once a day and time has been agreed upon by all members of the committee you must schedule a room for your candidacy exam and notify the Staff Graduate Program Advisor of the following: 

• Date, Time, and Location of your exam

• Confirm Committee Members (indicate exam chair)

Changes in the membership of a students committee must be initiated through GradPoint by the student (via GradPoint Students) or the Staff Graduate Advisor (in GradPoint Academics).

The Staff Graduate Advisor will provide the applicable paperwork to the Candidacy Committee Chair the day before the exam.

The Candidacy Committee reports the results of the examination via Form II, which the Staff Graduate Program Advisor will send through DocuSign, on the day of the exam. When the oral examination is passed, the student must pay the $50 advancement to candidacy fee charged to their BARC account. The student is advanced to candidacy effective the first quarter following the exam in which the student is registered (students completing the exam in the fall will be advanced for winter, students taking the exam in the winter will be advanced for spring, etc.).

(8) Dissertation

The dissertation is written on a subject chosen by the candidate that is related to an area of study in the DCB. It must be of such nature as to enable the student to demonstrate their ability to carry out independent investigation and study. In a public presentation, the candidate will defend the dissertation before the Dissertation Committee approves it.

After approval, the dissertation must be typed according to the rules set forth in the Guide to Formatting & Filing Theses & Dissertations. Graduate Council has established guidelines for the formatting of dissertations in order to ensure uniformity for manuscripts that are archived in the UCSB Library, as well as to ensure the widest possible dissemination of graduate student research. Students should consult the Guide to Formatting & Filing as well as Graduate Division’s website for detailed instructions on filing the dissertation with Graduate Division.

Dissertation Committee

The Dissertation Committee (Thesis Committee) is a formal committee of the Graduate Division that usually consists of the advancement to candidacy exam committee with the Research Advisor as chair. The committee must be comprised of at least 3 ladder faculty in the department. A change in committee composition can be made at any time, if necessary, but students should contact the Staff Graduate Program Advisor so that the appropriate paperwork can be submitted to Graduate Division. Students should provide committee members with a completed dissertation, for review and comments, well before filing their degree.

Departmental Dissertation Submission

The department requires a digital copy of your dissertation with an original signature (or copy), which should be dropped off in the Staff Graduate Program Advisor’s office (either digital or hard copies of the signature page are acceptable). Additional copies for yourself, your lab, and/or your advisor may be ordered directly from the UC Bindery here.

(9) Final Oral Examination

For the Defense of the Dissertation, the candidate must defend his or her work before the Dissertation Committee and give a one-hour public seminar presentation. The public presentation is considered part of the Examination. The Committee will meet with the student after the Examination to discuss any areas that need revision or additional work.
The dissertation must have preliminary approval of all members of the Ph.D. Committee before the final oral presentation is scheduled. The student must advertise the defense. At least two weeks in advance of the defense date, the student should email the Staff Graduate Program Advisor to request an announcement be forwarded to all members of the Department and to verify that all forms are in order. The student must provide the following information: Date, Time, and Location of the defense, any changes to the dissertation committee, the title of the dissertation, and an abstract of the dissertation. The student is responsible for ensuring that the Dissertation Committee Chair retrieves the applicable paperwork from the Staff Advisor’s office before the defense and returns it immediately following the defense.
After the final defense, the Dissertation Committee Chair reports the results of the defense to the Staff Graduate Program Advisor via a Form III, which is then forwarded to the Graduate Division. The student should also submit the Departmental Exit Survey to the Staff Graduate Program Advisor, complete employment separation paperwork with the Payroll and Personnel Analyst, and return all department keys, and consult the Graduate Division for additional final steps.