Graduate Programs

General Information of Program of Study

• A minimum of 60 post-baccalaureate credits are required for graduation.
  • Students who already have an applicable Master’s degree may be able to apply up to 30 credits toward the 60 credits for the PhD.
• A minimum of 25 credits of coursework as defined below in the Core Curriculum and Elective Coursework is required, which should be chosen in consultation with your research advisor and Doctoral/Masters committee.
• A minimum of 18 dissertation credits (MB 690) are required.
• Two-thirds of the minimum 60 credits must be at the 5XX-level or above. (A maximum of 9 4XX-level credits are allowed. 3XX-level and lower cannot be applied to the program).
• Credit in seminar (500), individual problem (570) and internship (576) courses may not exceed 1/3 of credits required. A maximum of 6 credits for MB570 may be applied toward the program.
• Course work more than 10 years old at time of graduation cannot be applied toward the program.
• Transfer credits – see policy at Transferring Credits

Course work taken more than 6 years prior to admission into the graduate program may not be applied to the program.

• For further details refer to: http://www.montana.edu/gradschool/policy/degreq_doctoral.html

Core curriculum

All Ph.D. students who are not directly admitted into one of MBI-affiliated lab are required to conduct three laboratory rotations during their first year in the MBI graduate program. Students will be expected to balance coursework and lab work during their rotations. Students may petition the MBI Graduate Committee to be exempt from one rotation if they find a suitable lab and the PI is able to accommodate the student. Any deviation from these credit requirements require approval by the graduate student’s mentor and graduate committee, departmental graduate curriculum committee, Department Head, and if appropriate, the Dean of the Graduate School.

Students who are directly admitted will not take rotations, and these credits must be replaced by appropriate academic classes, as determine by the Doctoral Committee.

All Ph.D. students are required to take one General course of their choice and Ethics. Options listed in the table below constitute the core curriculum of the MBI graduate program:

 Electives Coursework (subject to change)

In addition to core courses, all Ph.D. students are required to take at least four courses in any of the seven areas of the topic specific curriculum. Students are highly encouraged to take a diversified set of courses with an emphasis of offerings from the Department. See the table below for the core groups and course opportunities to fulfill the requirements. There may be other courses offered by MSU which may be considered to fulfill degree requirements (subject to approval by your committee and department).

Teaching Assistantships

All Ph.D. students will complete UP TO TWO teaching assistantships, based on need and availability. This typically will be done in the student’s second year in the program. Teaching assistantships completed outside of Department of Microbiology and Immunology will not count towards this requirement unless approved ahead of time by the Department Head.

A Teaching Assistant (TA) workload is considered to be 19 hours per week. This consists of actual class time as well as time spent in preparation and grading.

Students who are acting as a TA for the first time in the Microbiology Department also must register for BIOM 497 – Educational Methods: Microbiology (2 cr.). This course is meant to give new teachers assistance in developing effective teaching techniques, training laboratory materials preparation, classroom management, and grading.

Doctoral Committee

All Ph.D. students are required to form their doctoral committee, and file their Program of Study, no later than the end of their first summer semester. The Doctoral Committee is expected to meet annually, at a minimum, typically after the student’s Research in Progress (RIP) presentation. Moreover, the student must meet with the Department Head annually.

Seminar Series and Journal Club

• Departmental Research Seminar Series
• All students are required to attend the Departmental Seminar (MB 594) each semester regardless if they are registered in the course. There are limits to the number of MB594 credits allowed in a Graduate Program (3 for Ph.D.). Departmental administrators will register you for these credits.
• Student Research-in-Progress (RIP) Series
• All students are required to attend the Student RIP Series, and present starting in their second year.
• Journal Clubs
• All students are required to attend one of the MB 592 Journal Club sessions each semester.
• Prior to each semester, the instructors and topics of the Journal Club sections will be announced. The topics will vary but will be focused on either environmental or biomedical research topics or synchronize with the Departmental Research Seminar Series schedule.

Ph.D. Qualifying Exam

The qualifying exam allows the student’s dissertation committee to assess the development of the dissertation research plan and evaluate the student’s capabilities for the comprehensive exam. This exam will consist of two parts: 1) A written proposal on your future dissertation research, 2) A presentation of the preliminary work and dissertation plan to the student’s committee. Students will be expected to complete the qualifying exam by the end of the 4^th semester in the program.

1) Students will write-up their dissertation proposal, in the form of an appropriate Pre-doctoral Fellowship application as determined by the student and faculty advisor and disseminate it to their dissertation committee a minimum of one week before the scheduled presentation. Your written dissertation proposal will conform to one of the application guidelines of a national funding agency, with the intent that suitable proposals will be submitted. Suggested application guidelines can be found from NIH, USDA, DOD, NSF, among others.

Agency            Program                      Website

NIH                  F31                  http://grants.nih.gov/training/F_files_nrsa.htm

USDA              NNF grants      http://nifa.usda.gov/

DOD                NDSEG           http://ndseg.asee.org

NSF                 various             http://www.nsf.gov/funding/education.jsp?fund_type=2

The student’s dissertation committee will agree upon a format based on the topic and applicability of research. It is expected that the student will develop and write the majority of the dissertation proposal, with input and guidance from their faculty advisor.

2) The student will then present an oral PowerPoint-style presentation of the proposal to the dissertation committee. This presentation should summarize the stated goals of the dissertation proposal and provide context for the research plans, expected outcomes and alternative strategies. During the presentation, the committee will evaluate and challenge the student’s capacity to present their research plan, their comprehension of relevant background material, and the rigor of their hypotheses. The dissertation committee will then decide whether:

1. A) The student has passed the qualifying exam.
2. B) The student must revise their written dissertation proposal and can continue toward the Comprehensive Exam.
3. C) The student must significantly revise and present again their dissertation proposal and/or needs further classwork prior to taking the Comprehensive exam. The student has a single chance to re-take the exam in a timeframe decided by the committee.

Failure to pass the qualifying exam after the second attempt may be grounds for dismissal from the program. Upon successful completion of the Qualifying Exam, the dissertation committee and the student will generate a timeline for the completion of the Comprehensive Exam.

Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam

All Ph.D. students must successfully complete a comprehensive examination no later than the 5^th semester (excluding summers) after enrollment in the Ph.D. program. The Department of Microbiology & Immunology utilizes a comprehensive examination involving written and oral components to assess breadth of knowledge in their Ph.D. training. The exam design evaluates a student's ability to generate and organize scientific concepts, present those concepts in a written and oral format, and support and defend the proposal from critical analysis.

The comprehensive exam will consist of 2 components: 1) An off-topic (different from dissertation projects) written research proposal, and 2) a presentation and oral defense of off-topic proposal and general knowledge by the dissertation committee.

For the off-topic research proposal, the student will develop three potential topics and present them to the committee with the dissertation research proposal. These topics will be written up as a one-two paragraph proposal that briefly summarizes the important background information, question(s) to be asked and an overall strategy that will be taken in putting together the proposed work. These topics will be written up and electronically delivered to the dissertation committee. The dissertation committee will have one week to review and discuss the three topics and decide if some or all of the topics are acceptable. The decision can be made via email or any party can choose to convene a meeting to discuss the topics. Once decided, the student will have 3 weeks to thoroughly and independently research and design a research proposal to address the problem(s). The proposal will be a six-page research proposal with an additional Project Summary or Specific Aims page, as determined by advisor. The student cannot seek advice or input on the off-topic proposal from their advisor, members of the dissertation committee or other departmental faculty. Students are allowed to seek insight and feedback from other graduate students and post-doctoral research fellows.

The student will provide the dissertation committee with the written off-topic proposal 1 week in advance of the examination date. The student will deliver a short presentation of the proposed research to the committee, at which point the oral examination begins. Questions can be relevant to the proposed research as well as general knowledge pertinent to the student’s background and proposed dissertation research areas. When evaluating the performance of the student, the dissertation committee can choose to:

1. A) Pass the student on both written and oral aspects.
2. B) Request written revisions to the off-topic proposal or that a new oral presentation be provided. In the event of re-write or re-take of oral questioning, the committee decides format and timing to address the student’s needs.
3. C) The student has summarily failed both the written and oral examination. In this case, the committee will provide feedback as to what will be required of the student prior to retaking the exam. The student has a single chance to re-take the exam within a 6-month time frame and as decided by the committee. A second failure will result in dismissal from the academic program.

Publications

All Ph.D. students must have one manuscript accepted and at least one manuscript submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals before the dissertation defense. The Ph.D. student must be first author on at least one of the two manuscripts.

Dissertation & Defense

The student is required to present a public, oral defense of their dissertation research, followed by a critical examination by their dissertation committee.

Please refer to the Graduate School for all timelines, requirements and paperwork.

The primary role of the advisor and dissertation committee is to guide the student throughout their dissertation research. It is required that the student's dissertation committee meet at least once each year following a formal presentation of the student's research to discuss the student's progress.

The dissertation must be prepared and submitted electronically in the format described in the latest version of the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Initiative. Previously published electronic theses and dissertations may be viewed at the View ETDs link.

The dissertation draft must be approved by the advisor before it is submitted to the Committee. The student must defend the dissertation orally no sooner than two weeks after submission of the dissertation to the Committee. The oral defense consists of a public seminar followed by a detailed examination of the student and their dissertation by the dissertation committee.

Notification of the oral defense must be to The Graduate School and the Department at least two weeks prior to the defense, so that proper posting can be made well in advance.

Final approval of the dissertation rests with The Graduate School. That office will evaluate the dissertation for formatting, grammar and content.

A dissertation approved by the Doctoral Committee, Department Head, and the Dean of The Graduate School is required. This must be submitted as an electronic dissertation not later than 14 days before the end of the semester.

• A hardbound copy of the dissertation must be provided to the Department for inclusion in the Cotner-Morris library.