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Advancing to Candidacy: Qualifying and Dissertation Proposal

Deadlines
Qualifying Paper/Exam
Dissertation Committee
Dissertation Proposal

The doctoral program involves two stages. The first stage, a minimum of three academic quarters of residence (but typically 3-4 years), is spent in fulfilling general requirements, consisting of formal coursework, teaching, beginning research, and examinations. 

The student must have completed at least three continuous academic quarters in residence at UC San Diego before the dissertation committee may be appointed.

Each student is required to complete the requirements for advancement to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree by September 1st before the start of the 4th year. Interdisciplinary Program students are expected to complete these requirements by the end of spring quarter of their fourth year. A student must have completed 6 quarters of academic residency, of which 3 quarters must be between advancement and the final examination/defense.

Students not completing the qualifying requirements by the appropriate time will be placed on departmental probation. Any student who fails to qualify by the end of the spring quarter of the fourth year of residence will automatically have a hold placed on their account by the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA). Additionally, per GEPA rules, students are not permitted to receive financial support from the university or the department beyond their eighth year.

Deadlines

The Advancement to Candidacy process is intended to certify the readiness of the student to conduct thesis research. The emphasis of the requirements is on the student's knowledge of the field and the ability to do research in that area. The Qualification/Advancement process consists of four parts. Part I is proposing the Qualifying Paper or Exam; Part II is defending the Qualifying Paper or Exam. Part III is the Appointment of the Doctoral Committee. Part IV is the writing and oral defense of the dissertation proposal.

Department Advancement Deadlines

  • Qualifying Exam and Paper Proposal - Oct. 1, 2nd year 
  • Qualifying Defense - April 30, 2nd year 
  • Appointment of Dissertation Committee - early spring quarter of 3rd year (recommended)
  • Dissertation Proposal Meeting - September 1st before the start of the 4th year 

Key Advancement Information

  • Grads not meeting any departmental deadline, without an approved extension, are considered on probation (e.g., lose TA priority, lose eligibility for Anderson Travel and Research Funds, flagged for discussion at end of the year faculty meeting, etc.)
  • Grads not advanced by GEPA deadline will have a hold placed on their account and may not enroll in courses or receive departmental support.
  • Students enroll in Psychology 299 for independent study units after Advancement (as opposed to PSYC 296 taken before advancing).
  • Once advanced, students must be enrolled for three quarters (with full fees), or on a leave of absence for three quarters, or a combination of enrollment and leave for three quarters before they can complete their dissertation and file for a Ph.D. Exceptions to this must be petitioned with GEPA (see the Graduate Coordinator for more information). 
  • Students do not have to be registered or on a leave the quarter they file for a Ph.D. if they were registered or on a leave the quarter before. They will be required to pay a filing fee of approximately $188.

Qualifying

Each student, in collaboration with their faculty advisor, can decide if he/she would prefer to write a qualifying paper or take a qualifying exam. In both cases, the formation of the qualifying committee is the same. However, the format of the proposal and defense will differ.

Formation and Make-up of the Qualifying Committee

The student is responsible for forming the Qualifying Committee, a departmental committee consisting of two or more faculty members from the Department of Psychology (one of whom is the student's advisor). The committee should be formed at least one month prior to the Qualifying Proposal. The student is also responsible for arranging the meeting time & place (email reservations-psyc@ucsd.edu to reserve a room) and submitting an advance copy of the proposal to committee members via email minimally two weeks in advance of the scheduled meeting. 

Qualifying Paper

The qualifying paper written by the student should be modeled after those published in Psychological Bulletin or Psychological Review. Ideally, the paper will consist of a detailed review and theoretical synthesis of a coherent body of research. The paper should demonstrate independent and original thinking on the part of the student and should either take a theoretical stance or recommend experiments designed to resolve theoretical ambiguities (i.e., the paper should not merely review published research). The paper does not have a prescribed length, although low-end and high-end limits of 30 and 50 pages, respectively, are reasonable.

Qualifying Paper Proposal

Once the committee is formed, the student should prepare a brief (e.g., 3 page) proposal defining the area of research and the theoretical issues that will be addressed in the paper. A proposal meeting is then arranged (before Oct. 1 of the second year), and committee members may at that time recommend changes to the scope of the paper and define their expectations. The paper proposal and an email attachment of the proposal should be made available to committee members at least two weeks prior to the proposal. Once the meeting is complete and the committee accepts the proposal, the student needs to have all committee members sign the Qualifying Paper Proposal form and then send it to the Grad Coordinator.

Qualifying Paper Defense

After the completion of the Qualifying Paper, the student must give a presentation, explaining the ideas and data presented in the Qualifying Paper to his or her committee. The committee will be given an opportunity to ask questions and discuss the paper at this presentation before granting a satisfactory passing grade on the Qualifying Paper. A final draft of the paper and an email attachment of the paper should be made available to committee members at least two weeks prior to the defense. Once the meeting is complete and the committee accepts the final paper, the student needs have all committee members sign the Qualifying Final Paper Approval form and then send it to the Grad Coordinator.

Qualifying Exam

The qualifying exam is based on a reading list of 100 papers that span two areas within the department (Social, Cognitive, Developmental, and Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience) as well as readings essential to a student's specialized research. The exam will consist of a written portion to be completed over 48 hours and an oral defense following the submission of the exam.

Qualifying Exam Proposal

Once the committee is formed, the student should work with his/her committee to determine the two breadth areas (from Social, Cognitive, Developmental, and Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience) they will choose. The breadth area reading lists have been determined by each area and contain 30 papers primarily focused on foundational issues of the area. The student and his/her committee should also determine the 40 papers specific to the student's ambitions and research interests. Once the set of readings has been determined and accepted by the committee, the student needs to have the all members sign the Qualifying Exam Proposal form and then send it to the Grad Coordinator.

Qualifying Exam and Defense

The committee will be responsible for composing a list of 8 questions, 5 of which the student must answer. The exam will consist of a take-home essay component in which the student has 48 hours to address each of the five selected questions. Note that while the exam will have to be completed by the end of April, the student can select a 48-hour time window before this final deadline (with this flexibility designed to accommodate illness, travel, etc). This written portion would then be followed as soon as possible by an oral examination in which the student must defend their answers and also address any additional questions posed by the committee that fall within the scope of the approved reading list. Following the passing of the oral exam, the student needs to have all members of the committee sign the Qualifying Final Exam Approval form and then send it to the Grad Coordinator.

Dissertation Committee

Part III: Appointment of Dissertation Committee

Part III involves the Dissertation Committee. This official Graduate Division dissertation committee (aka doctoral committee) helps conduct the qualifying examination, supervises the preparation of and evaluates the acceptability of the dissertation, and administers the final examination.

The student nominates the doctoral committee (with department chair approval) when he or she has completed the Qual Paper or Exam proposal/defense and is prepared to propose the dissertation. The Chair of the dissertation committee typically is the student’s advisor.

The committee should be appointed no later than one month prior to the dissertation proposal meeting. This is accomplished by meeting with the Graduate Coordinator and/or sending them the necessary information to submit your proposed doctoral committee to Graduate Division. Grads are strongly encouraged to check in well in advance of this meeting to ensure that the members meet all of Graduate Division's Doctoral Committee Composition requirements. Your faculty advisor is a very helpful source of information and assistance when considering who to include in your committee.

Note: This committee is different from qualification committee, but the same faculty members may serve on both committees.

A dissertation committee consists of four or more UCSD officers of instruction. The committee must consist of at least two members from the Department of Psychology (one of whom is the student's advisor) and at least one outside member from a different department. One of these committee members must be tenured or emeritus.

Any proposed members from other UC campuses, other universities, or industry require an approved exception from GEPA. An exception request should be submitted to the Graduate Coordinator two months prior to the dissertation proposal meeting and requires a written endorsement letter from your adviser/proposed committee chair.

GEPA Committee Requirements:

  • Minimum of 4 members with UC San Diego faculty appointments
  • At least 1 member must have a primary appointment in a different department than the chair's primary department
  • At least 2 members must be from the student's home department or program
  • At least 1 member must be tenured or emeritus
  • Proposed members from other UC campuses, other universities, or industry are exceptions and must be requested in writing

Additional members beyond these 4 can be added to the committee.

The committee is personally reviewed and formally appointed by the Dean of GEPA. The student should make initial contact with prospective committee members before submitting the committee for GEPA approval.

Graduate Division has a useful Doctoral Committee Membership Table for determining which academic titles qualify to be on a doctoral committee with or without exception.

Reconstitution of the Doctoral Committee

Occasionally, committee members are no longer available or no longer meet the needs of the committee and the student will need to reconstitute. All requests must be submitted to the Graduate Division to be approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies. If you wish to complete a reconstitution, please meet with the Graduate Coordinator.

Dissertation Proposal

Part IV of the Qualification is the dissertation proposal

This follows Parts I, II, & III of the Advancement process and will be an oral proposal including outside examiners. The dissertation proposal should contain a description of the field and the problem. There should be a description of the intended experiments. It is intended that students will pursue most of their dissertation research after the proposal, not before. Some pilot experimentation may be performed prior to the Qualification; indeed, the dissertation advisor may require that such pilot work be completed. There is a limit of 20 pages (typed, double-spaced) for the dissertation proposal (exclusive of references). The scheduled date, time, & place of the proposal is the responsibility of the student. An email attachment of the proposal should be made available to committee members at least two weeks prior to the examination.

All members of a committee need not absolutely be present at the proposal and defense. It is possible to conduct the dissertation proposal with only three or four members present, if the absent member(s) have made arrangements separately to examine the student's proposal. The committee chair and outside department committee member must be present for dissertation proposal.

Before the proposal meeting, contact the Graduate Coordinator with the meeting date. On the proposal meeting date, the Graduate Coordinator will submit the Advance to Candidacy DocuSign. This is a form the Graduate Coordinator must initiate, not the student.