11. Student Candidacy Examination

11.1. Overview and Purpose

The Candidacy Examination is a single examination consisting of two portions, written and oral, administered by the student’s Candidacy Examination Committee under the auspices of the NGSP Committee in conjunction with the Graduate School The purpose of the Candidacy Examination is to determine whether the student has a sound knowledge of the structure and function of nervous systems, an advanced understanding of the key concepts in neuroscience, and an ability to think logically and critically about problems in neuroscience. To this end, the student will be evaluated on two criteria: 1) comprehension of neuroscience and related areas of study, and 2) ability to think critically and to articulate their ideas logically and clearly, both orally and in writing. Candidacy signifies that a student is prepared to undertake work on their dissertation.

11.2. When the Candidacy Exam Should be Taken

The Candidacy Examination may not be taken until the student has successfully completed all the courses in the core course sequence. Students are also strongly encouraged to complete the one quarter teaching requirement in their second year prior to taking their candidacy examination. It is expected that all students will complete the candidacy exam by the end of the ninth quarter of study (i.e. the first quarter of their third year). If more time is required, permission of the NGSP Committee must be obtained. The student must be in good standing during the quarter in which the Candidacy Examination is administered.  (Refer to the Candidacy Exam Flowchart in Section 18.1) 

11.3. Committee Selection, Scheduling, and Deadlines

Responsibility for conducting the Candidacy Examination rests with the student’s Candidacy Examination Committee. The members of this committee will be selected by the student and his/her advisor sometime during the student’s second year of study, usually in Spring quarter. This Candidacy Examination Committee will consist of the student’s advisor and three other graduate faculty members. A Graduate Faculty Representative may be assigned at the request of the student and advisor for an initial candidacy examination and must be assigned for a second candidacy examination (see Section 11.8). All members of the committee must have category P status in at least one graduate program. The student’s advisor must be a member of the NGSP. Two of the graduate faculty members must be members of the NGSP and the third may be a member of NGSP or a related graduate program.

The composition of the Candidacy Examination Committee must be approved by the NGSP Committee before the student can start the written portion of the examination. The members of the committee must all be neuroscientists and they should represent diverse areas of neuroscience to ensure that the examination covers a breadth of topics in general neuroscience. For this reason, the Candidacy Committee in this Program is distinct from the Dissertation Committee and will generally have a different composition. When the student submits the list of proposed Candidacy Committee members for approval, they should include a brief statement explaining to the NGSP Committee how the composition of the Candidacy Committee addresses the breadth and diversity requirement.

The student’s advisor may elect to serve as chairperson of the committee or they may select one of the other committee members to serve as chairperson. Once the oral portion of the Candidacy Examination has been scheduled, the student must submit the Notification of Candidacy Examination form to the Graduate School. This must be done not fewer than two weeks prior to the date of the examination. The Candidacy Examination must take place during announced University business hours, Monday through Friday.

11.4. Graduate School Representative

If requested by the student and the advisor on an initial candidacy exam, a Graduate Faculty representative will be appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School upon receipt of the Notification of Candidacy Examination Form. If the candidacy exam is being taken for the second time, a Graduate Faculty Representative is required and will be assigned in the same manner. The Graduate School representative will be a Category P graduate faculty member who is not a member of the NGSP. The Graduate School representative is a voting member of the Candidacy Examination Committee. The Graduate School Representative will also submit a report to the Graduate School judging the quality of the examination and the student’s performance. If the outcome of the examination is subsequently challenged, the Graduate School representative also reports to the Graduate Council on the fairness of the conduct of the examination and its conformity to the rules of the NGSP and Graduate School.

11.5. Written Portion of the Exam

Students will prepare a complete grant proposal in RO1 NIH format (including face page, budget, biographical sketch, other support, and facilities). This grant may be related to her/his area of research, or part of her/his proposed dissertation project. It may not be part of a proposal submitted by her/his mentor. Prior to writing the proposal, the student will prepare an abstract of the proposal and submit it to her/his Candidacy Examination Committee. The committee will have two (2) weeks to either approve or disapprove.

If the committee disapproves of the abstract, the student will have two (2) weeks to submit a new abstract. This ensures that the committee and student agree on the content of the proposal before the writing phase begins.

Once the abstract is approved, the student will have 1-3 months to write the full proposal and submit it to the committee for review. Although not mandatory, the student may set up appointments to meet individually or as a group with members of the committee during this time. Once the written proposal is submitted, the committee will have two weeks to approve or disapprove. If they disapprove, the student will have two weeks to revise the proposal. The student will be given only one chance to revise the proposal. If the Candidacy Examination Committee approves the grant proposal, then the oral portion of the exam can be scheduled.

11.6. Oral Portion of the Exam

After approval of the grant proposal, students will defend their proposal in an oral examination before the full Candidacy Examination Committee (including a Graduate School Representative if applicable). This examination should be scheduled two to four (2-4) weeks after approval of the grant proposal. Immediately prior to the examination the Candidacy Examination Committee will meet without the student present to discuss the format of the oral exam. These discussions should include planning for questions of a general neuroscience nature to ensure that general neuroscience topics are not overlooked.

Attendance at the oral examination is limited to the student and members of the Candidacy Examination Committee, all of whom must be present during the entire duration of the oral examination. During the examination, all members of the committee will ask questions related to the grant proposal as well as questions of a general neuroscience nature that may include, but are not limited to, any material covered in the core courses of the curriculum. Questioning of the student should occupy the entire period of the examination. All committee members are expected to participate fully in the questioning during the course of the examination and in the discussion of and decision on the result of the Candidacy Examination. Graduate school rules do not permit a research seminar of any proposal or other prepared materials during the oral examination. At the discretion of the committee, the student may be asked to give a brief overview of the proposal before the start of the oral examination, but this should not exceed 15 minutes in length.

Postponement: The oral portion of the Candidacy Examination is expected to be held as scheduled. Circumstances however may force postponement. Before taking this action, the advisor must consult the student and members of the Candidacy Examination Committee and must then notify the NGSP Committee of the new date, time, and location of the examination. Once formal questioning has begun, the examination must proceed to a voting conclusion.

11.7. Candidacy Examination Report

Once the Dean of the Graduate School has approved the Candidacy Examination Committee and (if applicable) a Graduate School Representative has been appointed, the Candidacy Examination Report form is sent to the advisor. If a Graduate School Representative is appointed, a typed copy of the student’s written portion of the Candidacy Examination must be presented to the Graduate School Representative, together with a statement of the Program’s examination format, policies, and procedures, no less than one week before the oral portion.

11.8. Candidacy Examination Results

At the conclusion of the oral portion of the examination, the student will be excused and the full Candidacy Examination Committee will decide the outcome of the exam (including both written and oral portions). After discussion, the satisfactory/unsatisfactory decision is made by vote. All members of the Candidacy Examination Committee, including the advisor and (if applicable) the Graduate School Representative, must be present for the entire oral examination and must have evaluated the written portion of the examination, and all must vote.

• Satisfactory: The student is considered to have completed the Candidacy Examination successfully only when the decision of the Candidacy Examination Committee is unanimously affirmative. Successful completion of the Candidacy Examination admits a student as a candidate for the doctoral degree. A doctoral candidate has five (5) years to complete the doctoral program following passage of the Candidacy Examination. If a student fails to meet this time limit, he/she will be required to reschedule the Candidacy Examination. Successful completion of the second examination will permit the student to complete the doctoral program within a two (2) year period. If a student fails to complete the program during this two (2) year period, he/she will be dismissed from the NGSP.


• Unsatisfactory: If there are one or more negative votes, the student’s performance will be judged unsatisfactory. In such cases, the Candidacy Examination Committee must decide if the student will be permitted to take a second examination. This decision must be reported on the Candidacy Examination Report. The nature of the second Candidacy Examination is determined by the Candidacy Examination Committee, but it must include a written and an oral portion. If a second examination is held, the Candidacy Examination Committee must be the same as the original one, unless a substitution is approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. The second examination must be completed by the end of the quarter following the one in which the first examination was taken. A student who fails the Candidacy Examination twice is not allowed an additional examination. After two unsatisfactory attempts at the Candidacy Examination a student is no longer in good standing and is automatically dismissed from the Graduate School and is not eligible to use the Transfer of Graduate Program procedure to enroll in another doctoral program at The Ohio State University.

Members of the Candidacy Examination Committee indicate their concurrence with the decision by signing the Candidacy Examination Report in the appropriate places (e.g. Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory). The Candidacy Examination Report is then submitted by the advisor to the Graduate School with a copy to the Program Administrator. The advisor should provide feedback to the student regarding their performance in the examination.

11.9. Review

On written appeal by the student or a member of the Candidacy Examination Committee, the Dean of the Graduate School will ask the Graduate Council to review the Candidacy Examination to ensure it was conducted fairly and without prejudice to the student and according to the rules of the NGSP and the Graduate School. The Council has established review procedures, which are available in the Graduate School.

11.10. Candidacy

If the student is in good standing at the end of the quarter in which the Candidacy Examination is completed, satisfactory completion of that examination admits the student to Candidacy for the doctoral degree. Admission to candidacy signifies that the student is judged to be properly prepared to undertake work on the dissertation.