Candidacy exam

Overview

According to University rules, every student who wishes to pursue a doctorate must take a candidacy examination administered by the Graduate Faculty in the graduate major program. The candidacy examination may be given after at least 18 credits have been earned in graduate courses beyond the baccalaureate. The examination must be taken within three semesters (summer sessions do not count) of entry into the doctoral program. The student must be registered as a full- or part-time degree student for the semester in which the candidacy examination is taken.

Goals

The candidacy examination is given to evaluate the student's written and oral competence in English, general level of knowledge of ecology, and intellectual capability for the study of ecology at the doctoral level; and to identify weaknesses in the student's preparation. The examination also evaluates the student's abilities in problem solving, including experimental design and interpretation of experimental results. Subject areas to be covered include, but are not restricted to, the contents of basic textbooks in biology, ecology, and statistics.

Candidacy Committee

The Program Chair appoints a four-member Candidacy Committee to administer the examination. The Candidacy Committee will develop written questions covering the general content specified above. An examinee's adviser shall not participate in the administration of the oral examination or the marking of written examinations. However, before a final decision is made regarding candidacy, the adviser will have an opportunity to give input to the Committee.

Schedule

Candidacy examinations will be scheduled twice each year, once in the fall semester and once in the spring semester. A student wishing to take the exam in a given semester should contact the Chair of the Candidacy Examination Committee in writing within the first three weeks of that semester. He or she will then indicate what further information is needed, and the date of the written and oral examinations.

Format

The PhD Candidacy Examination in Ecology consists of two parts: a 4-hour written examination, followed by a one hour oral examination. The written examination will consist of questions in autecology, population biology, communities and ecosystems, evolution, synthetic and applied ecology, and experimental design and statistics. The student chooses one question to answer in each of the six sections. The written portion of the examination will be graded by the Candidacy Committee. Each student will then be given the oral portion of the examination. This examination will be scheduled usually within 1 week of the written examination. The student's responses on the written portion of the examination may serve as the basis for initial questioning.Both written and oral components of the Candidacy Examination will be used to assess English competence. Competence will be demonstrated by proper use of vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure, and by constructing answers in an understandable and organized manner. In addition, written answers will be examined for appropriate spelling and punctuation.

Preparation for the candidacy examination

The student is responsible for preparing for the candidacy examination. Because of the uncertainties of courses offered by various departments within the University, the Ecology Program does not officially recommend any course specifically for the purpose of preparation for the exam. It is the student's responsibility to fulfill the requirements of the University with respect to the Candidacy Examination whether or not the student was admitted with deficiencies. The Ecology Program strongly suggests that the student prepare for the examination by attending Ecology Program seminars, widely and regularly reading the primary literature, participating in informal discussion groups, and enrolling in courses offered by the various departments that are best calculated by the student and the advisor to remedy existing weaknesses. As a guide, a prepared student will be intimately familiar with the concepts and principles in textbooks such as Ecology (Begon, Harper and Townsend) and Ecology (Krebs). Familiarity with the compilation Foundations of Ecology (Real and Brown) would also be valuable.