Following three rotations in the Fall, Winter, Spring of the first year, Program Faculty and Program Students should enter into the doctoral thesis advisor/advisee relationship. Following approval from the Program Steering Committee, this represents — as in all UCSD Graduate Programs — a commitment by both the Faculty/Advisor and the Student/Advisee.
Student Commitment
The student will work on a research project approved by the advisor. The student will regularly meet with the advisor and provide written/ oral presentation updates on progress.
The student will maintain “good academic standing,” which involves maintaining a minimum of 12 units; a GPA of 3.0 or above; scheduling and passing the Qualifying Exam with the assigned committee members by the end of Spring quarter of the second year; scheduling and passing the Candidacy Exam with a chosen thesis committee, which includes a co-advisor in a complementary field.
Advisor Commitment
The advisor will guide the thesis work of the student. The advisor will regularly meet with the student to provide guidance, and provide feedback to the Program and thesis committee via annual evaluation sheets and annual thesis committee meetings.
In the Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Graduate Program, the advisor is responsible for funding the student for the duration of the student's thesis work so long as the student remains in good academic standing. Student funding consists of the stipend set by the program, and tuition and fees. If the student is awarded Training Grant fellowships, or other internal and external fellowship awards, any remaining differential in the costs remains the responsibility of the advisor.