Introduction

ll Ph.D. programs of the George Washington University are administered by the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS). Precandidacy to the doctoral program consists of completion of Part I of the General Examination and all necessary course work, and the preparation of a prospectus (The Topic) for a doctoral dissertation. Ph.D. Candidacy consists of filing an approved dissertation plan, completion of the dissertation, and the successful defense during the Final Examination.

art I of the General Examination is the written comprehensive examination. For the doctoral programs in Biostatistics and in Epidemiology, these examinations are generally given after the first complete year of full time enrollment in the program. The courses used as the basis for this examination are presented in the Quick Reference Guide for each degree program. This written examination is usually taken before a student has completed all of the necessary course work for the degree.

pon completion of Part I, students are then eligible for completion of Part II of the General Examination: an oral examination based on the candidate's proposed doctoral dissertation topic. Part II can be taken at any time; however, it is usually not taken until after a student has completed the required course work and begun to formulate a dissertation topic. After the doctoral candidate has completed the required course work, and passed both Part I and Part II of the General Examination, the graduate Program Director will recommend to the Associate Dean for Graduate Affairs of the CCAS that the candidate be promoted to Ph.D. Candidacy: the doctoral dissertation.

he purpose of this document is to describe Part II of the General Examination and the program requirements for successful completion of Ph.D. Candidacy. Students are also referred to the Graduate Student Handbook of the CCAS, which is updated annually.

The Graduate Program

The Graduate Program in Biostatistics and Epidemiology is jointly administered by the Department of Statistics of the CCAS and by the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics of the School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS). The program is administered by a Program Management Committee comprised of the respective department chairs, the respective Program Directors for Biostatistics and for Epidemiology, and other faculty members serving in the Program Committees for Biostatistics and for Epidemiology. The Program Directors, or other faculty advisors designated by them, serve as Graduate Advisors of all students in the respective graduate programs.

The Dissertation Director

Preparation for Part II of the General Examination begins with the selection by the doctoral student of a Dissertation Director who will chair the student's doctoral committee. The Dissertation Director advises the student during the process of identifying a doctoral dissertation research topic and later throughout the various stages of the doctoral dissertation research.

The Dissertation Director may be any full- or part-time faculty who is a member of the Graduate Program Committee with a primary appointment in either the Department of Statistics of the CCAS, the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics of the SPHHS, or its research affiliate, the Biostatistics Center. Doctoral candidates in biostatistics will usually select their Dissertation Director from among the full-time faculty of the Department of Statistics or the Biostatistics Center; those in epidemiology from among the full-time faculty of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics of the SPHHS.

If the Dissertation Director selected by the doctoral candidate is not a full-time faculty member of the CCAS or SPHHS, the doctoral candidate must also select a full-time faculty member from that candidate's program to serve as co-Director. If the Dissertation Director (full- or part-time) is not a member of the Graduate Program Committee, the Program Management Committee will appoint the Dissertation Director as a member of the Graduate Program Committee for this purpose.

Although the student will usually select the Dissertation Director, the appointment of this Director, and co-Director if necessary, is made by the Program Management Committee. At that time, the tentative members of the Dissertation Research Committee (the doctoral committee) may also be designated by the Program Management Committee.

The Dissertation Research Committee

The Dissertation Research Committee will be composed of three faculty members consisting of the Dissertation Director (and co-Director if applicable) and two Readers with expertise in the proposed area of research. The members of the Dissertation Research Committee will be selected by the corresponding Program Director in coordination with the Dissertation Director (and co-Director when applicable), and must be approved by the Program Management Committee.

For doctoral students in biostatistics, the Dissertation Research Committee will usually be comprised of two faculty members from the Department of Statistics or the Biostatistics Center and one faculty member from the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. For doctoral students in epidemiology, the Dissertation Research Committee will usually be comprised of two faculty members from the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and one faculty member from the Department of Statistics.

The Topic

With the advice and approval of the Dissertation Director (and the co-Director if applicable), the doctoral candidate in biostatistics or epidemiology is required to identify an area of research appropriate to the student's concentration.

Doctoral candidates in biostatistics will be required to identify an area of research which involves a methodological contribution to biostatistics. This could be the development of a novel statistical method with applications to the design, conduct or analysis of medical studies. It could also be the modification of an existing statistical method for application in a new setting, or the application of statistical theory to the development or improvement of statistical methods. The biostatistics dissertation is not necessarily expected to represent an advancement of statistical theory.

Doctoral candidates in epidemiology are expected to contribute to an advance in the understanding of the distribution or etiology of human diseases. To address the dissertation objectives, the student may design a new epidemiological study, collect the data and analyze it. Alternately, if appropriate, the student may identify an existing epidemiological data set and conduct original analyses to address new questions. For example, a doctoral dissertation in epidemiology may examine risk factors associated with a specfic disease in human populations.

The Prospectus

After the doctoral candidate has developed the topic of the dissertation, a written research proposal (the prospectus) will be submitted to the Dissertation Research Committee and the corresponding Program Director.

The written research proposal should clearly identify the area of research and the expected novel contributions of the candidate to the field of interest. The proposal should include a literature review. Prior to submitting the written research proposal to the members of the Dissertation Research Committee, it must be approved by the Dissertation Director (and co-Director when applicable).

Part II of the General Examination

The doctoral candidate will then complete Part II of the General Examination: the oral examination based on the written research proposal. The members of the Dissertation Research Committee and the corresponding Program Director will examine the doctoral candidate with respect to whether the topic is worthy of pursuit, whether the student has identified a viable plan to complete the research, and whether the student is adequately prepared to execute the research.

The examination will be closed to the public, but may be attended by other members of the Graduate Program Committee. The student will present a review of the proposed topic and the general approach to be employed, followed by questions and comments from the committee.

After the oral examination, the doctoral candidate is expected to incorporate into the research proposal all revisions suggested by the members of the Dissertation Research Committee. A revised research proposal must be submitted to the Dissertation Research Committee within 2 weeks from the oral examination. The candidate is required to justify the exclusion of any revision suggested by the Dissertation Research Committee in the revised research proposal.

A student's approved research proposal will be documented in a Dissertation Topic Form that will be signed by the Dissertation Research Committee and will be kept in the Program Director's files. This form will be forwarded to CCAS upon completion of all degree requirements.

The Dissertation

In general, material from the doctoral dissertation in epidemiology or in biostatistics should be worthy of publication in a peer reviewed journal in epidemiology or in biostatistics, respectively. The student is expected to adequately defend the research conclusions and the methods by which those conclusions were reached.

The doctoral candidate will be required to complete the research on the topic approved by the Dissertation Research Committee. Any revision to the proposed topic must be petitioned in writing to the members of the Dissertation Research Committee and the corresponding Program Director. If there are substantial changes in the research topic, then the Dissertation Research Committee may require that the student retake Part II of the General Examination. Approved revisions to a proposed topic will be appropriately documented and kept in the Program Director's files. The final approved dissertation topic will be forwarded to CCAS upon completion of all degree requirements.

The doctoral candidate is expected to complete Ph.D. Candidacy within five years from the completion of Part II of the General Examination, and within eight years from entry into the Graduate Program. The doctoral candidate is expected to enroll in Dissertation Research courses while in Candidacy until completion of the total of 72 credit hours required by the program.

If the doctoral candidate has not completed the Ph.D. Candidacy within the allotted time period, an extension must be filed with the corresponding Program Director and the Associate Dean for Graduate Affairs of the CCAS. The doctoral candidate may be required to register for 6 credits of Reading and Research if the extension is approved.

The Defense

Upon completion of the research, the student will prepare a written draft of the dissertation following the format and style specified in the CCAS handbook Information Concerning Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations. After approval by the Dissertation Director (and co-Director when applicable), the dissertation will be submitted to the two readers of the Dissertation Research Committee for thorough reading. The readers' review of the dissertation will be forwarded to the student, who in turn will make the necessary revisions suggested by the readers.

After the dissertation has been revised, if necessary, to the satisfaction of the readers, the Dissertation Director and the two readers will fill and sign a Dissertation Research Committe Sign-off Form to be kept internally in the Program Director's files. Signing the form signifies the committee's concurrence that the dissertation is in a form that is adequate for a doctoral research and is ready to be defended. The Program Director and the Dissertation Director will then form the Final Oral Examination Committee, to be comprised of:

1. The Dissertation Research Committee;
2. Two other faculty members of the Graduate Program Committee; and
3. An outside examiner with expertise in the field of research.

A dissertation defense date will then be set that is mutually agreeable to all members of the Examination Committee. The membership of the Examination committee will be documented and will be forwarded to the CCAS upon the student's completion of all degree requirements.

Upon completion of the dissertation and prior to the oral defense, the Graduate Program requires doctoral candidates to make an informal oral presentation (seminar) summarizing the most important results from their doctoral research.

Finally, the Oral Examination (the defense) will be conducted and will be chaired by a senior member of Graduate Program Committee who will have no vote on the final outcome. The defense will be open to the faculty members of the Graduate Program Committee and the students of the Department of Statistics and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Details of the oral defense as well as the composition of the Final Oral Examination Committee may also be found the CCAS handbook Information Concerning Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations.

Conflicts of Interest

Members of the Graduate Progam Committee who have a significant extra-curricular relationship with a student (e.g. a spouse) are enjoined from participating in the evaluation of a student's performance as an examiner, dissertation committee member, advisor or co-advisor. In such instances, the faculty member should declare that such a relationship exists so that he/she may be recused.