Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
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Requirements for the PhD Degree
Course Requirements
All first-year students are required to complete OEB399.
All courses must either be taught by OEB faculty members or be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies if offered by another department. The grade minimum for graded courses is B-. OEB students are required to maintain a minimum annual grade point average of 3.00 (B average). The grade point average is weighted by course credits, meaning grades in higher-credit courses have a great effect on the GPA than in lower-credit courses. For example, a grade received in a two-credit course proportionally impacts the grade point average compared to a four-credit course.
Students are required to have completed four graded, four-credit courses by the end of their second year and a total of six graded, four-credit courses by the end of their third year. Up to two of the six required course requirements may be fulfilled by teaching unique courses. For instance, a student who takes four graded courses and teaches two unique courses during their first three years would satisfy this requirement. A course may count once when taken as a student and once (but not more than once) when taught as a Teaching Fellow.
The OEB graduate committee may prescribe specific courses for some students. Although no student can be expected to have deep knowledge of all areas of modern biology, all OEB graduate students are expected to have some familiarity with biological processes at
- suborganismic levels (molecular and cellular biology);
- organismic levels (structure and function); and
- supraorganismic levels (evolution and ecology).
Students are also expected to have competence in
- basic mathematics and statistics.
Soon after their arrival at Harvard University, incoming students will meet with their advisor and members of the OEB graduate committee to review the student’s previous coursework, identify any gaps in foundational knowledge, and develop a plan of study. If gaps are identified in any of the areas (1)–(4), this plan of study will include prescribed courses to be completed by the end of the student’s second year with a grade of B- or better. All prescribed courses count toward the requirement of six graded, four-credit courses.
Pedagogical Requirements
Teaching in the first year is not allowed per Harvard Griffin GSAS policy.
The department requires at least three teaching fellow assignments for completion of the degree. Students must teach at least two different courses over at least two different terms. As part of your dissertation proposal for the qualifying examination, students should develop a teaching plan that balances factors such as the timing of the courses of interest and periods of intensive field or laboratory work.
Satisfactory Progress Requirements
All students in the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences must be making satisfactory progress to be eligible for any type of financial aid. The following provisions define satisfactory progress for graduate students in OEB.
- During the first two years of graduate study, any student who is permitted to register is considered to be making satisfactory progress. OEB students are required to enroll and participate in OEB 399 in their first year.
- By the end of the second year, students must have completed four letter-graded courses (including all prescribed courses) and taken the qualifying examination. Students can petition the Director of Graduate Studies to defer their qualifying examination until their third year. Petitions must be submitted in writing to the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), endorsed by the student’s advisor, during the second year. Approval of a deferral, if granted by the DGS, does not change the requirement that a student who has not passed the qualifying examination by the end of their third year will be expected to withdraw. OEB students must maintain a minimum annual grade point average of 3.00 (B). GPA is weighted by course credits, so grades in higher-credit courses have a proportionally greater impact than grades in lower-credit courses. For example, a grade received in a two-credit course proportionally impacts the grade point average compared to a four-credit course.
- By the end of the third year, students must have passed the qualifying examination and completed six letter-graded courses.
- After passing the qualifying examination, students must hold a yearly dissertation advisory committee meeting and be judged to be making satisfactory progress.
- Students in their fourth year must participate in the G4 symposium in the spring.
- A student who is judged not to be making satisfactory progress may, with departmental endorsement, be placed on grace status for up to one year. The grace status policy can be found in the Academics and Enrollment section of the Handbook for Students. Students on grace status remain eligible for financial aid during this period but cannot hold teaching appointments. At the end of the grace period, the student must have remedied the deficiency and satisfied
- As noted above, the timeline for degree requirements may be interrupted by a single year of department-approved leave. In cases where student is pursuing a professional degree, the approved leave period can be extended beyond one.
Qualifying Examination
The qualifying examination is an oral examination designed to assess whether the student has a well-designed research plan for the dissertation and to examine the student’s knowledge in broad areas of organismic and evolutionary biology. Students are expected to take the qualifying examination by the second year of graduate study, although exceptions may be granted by petition to the DGS. In all cases, students must pass the examination before the end of the third year of graduate study.
The qualifying examination committee consists of the student’s advisor and at least three additional members. At least three committee members, including the chair, must be members of the OEB faculty. In consultation with the advisor, students should select a committee chair from among the OEB faculty members on the committee, excluding the advisor. Students should invite the selected faculty member to serve as chair at the time they are invited to join the committee. Students must obtain DGS approval for both the qualifying examination committee and the chair designation before submitting notice of the examination to the senior academic programs administrator.
Students are responsible for contacting their committee to arrange an examination date and time. Three hours must be allotted for the meeting. Students should be aware that many faculty members may not be available when classes are not in session. They are also advised to remind faculty of the time and place of the meeting several days before the examination. Students must notify the senior academic programs administrator and the assistant director of graduate programs of the qualifying examination location and time at least two weeks before the exam.
During the exam, students will be tested on three broad topics pertinent to, but not restricted to, the specific topic of the proposed or ongoing dissertation studies. Topics should overlap slightly and should be broad in scope. Students must obtain approval from the DGS for the three exam topics. After DGS approval, the student prepares a course syllabus outline for each topic. At least two of these courses should be modeled on a one-term lecture course meeting two to three times a week and addressing a broad area of biological knowledge. One course can be an advanced-level seminar on a more specialized topic.
These syllabi will serve as guides for the qualifying examination committee members to begin asking questions. However, committee members are not limited to asking questions directly relevant to the syllabi. Students are encouraged to meet with committee members before the examination to discuss questions that might be asked and to receive advice and recommendations on specific material that may be worth reviewing. There are no set guidelines on syllabus format; syllabi should be modeled after those commonly distributed at the beginning of OEB courses. Students should consult with their advisor on the format.
The student is also expected to prepare a written dissertation research proposal for the qualifying examination committee. Students should consult with their advisor about the format. In the examination, the student will present a brief oral presentation on the proposal, designed to last approximately 15 to 20 minutes, not counting questions (recalling that committee members will have read the proposal in advance, so it is neither necessary nor desirable to review everything in it).
The syllabi and dissertation proposal must be electronically distributed to the qualifying examination committee members, the senior academic programs administrator, and the assistant director of graduate programs at least two weeks before the examination. Failure to do so will result in the postponement of the examination.
The qualifying examination committee chair will preside over the examination. At the outset, the student will be asked to leave the room so that the committee can discuss progress to date and ensure that any required course prescriptions have been fulfilled. The advisor will then be asked to leave the room so that the student may meet with the other committee members. After the advisor’s return, the student will then make their oral presentation, after which committee members will ask questions. Typically, committee members take turns, each asking multiple questions, with several rounds of questioning. At the end of the examination, students will again be asked to leave the room.
After the exam, students who pass the qualifying examination will be promptly notified and approved for the continuation of dissertation studies and advancement to doctoral candidacy. At least one term should ordinarily elapse between the qualifying examination and when the dissertation examination can be held. The qualifying examination committee may pass the student but prescribe additional coursework or other academic work (such as writing a review paper on a particular topic). Completion of this prescribed work is required before the next dissertation advisory committee meeting for the student to be judged at that time as making satisfactory progress.
If the qualifying examination reveals serious deficiencies, the committee may decide either
- that the student be reexamined at a later date (but no later than the end of the G3 year), or
- that the student not be admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree.
In the latter case, the committee will recommend termination of candidacy no later than the end of the current academic year. The recommendation to terminate must be reviewed and approved by the OEB graduate committee. The student, together with the advisor, may appeal the decision by submitting to the OEB graduate committee a written request for reconsideration. Under such circumstances, the case will be further reviewed by the OEB graduate committee and the department before a final decision is rendered.
Dissertation Advisory Committee Meetings
Students have opportunities to review their dissertation project, its progress, and future potential with their Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC) in annual DAC meetings. The first DAC meeting should be held no later than one year after the qualifying examination and at one-year (or shorter) intervals thereafter. The student should present a brief account of any results obtained and plans for additional research.
Two weeks before the DAC, the student must provide a report that summarizes their project, progress, and future aims to the committee, the senior program administrator, and the assistant director of graduate programs.The DAC should indicate to the student whether it anticipates that the dissertation will be acceptable. It should also suggest improvements where needed. The DAC meeting is not intended to be an oral "examination,” but the DAC must approve the student’s progress and plans. If the DAC does not approve, then the student will be considered not to be making satisfactory progress, and a plan must be prepared to return to good standing within six months. Failure to do so may lead the DAC to recommend dismissal from the graduate program. Students who are more than six months overdue for a DAC meeting will automatically be considered not to be making satisfactory progress.
The DAC will consist of the student’s advisor and at least two other members. At least three members of the DAC must be OEB faculty. Additional members affiliated with other departments or institutions may be added after consultation with the advisor. Students should choose their DAC chair (any OEB faculty committee member except their advisor) in consultation with their advisor when they are assembling their DAC. The overall composition of the DAC must be approved by the DGS. The members of the DAC will, in most cases, also constitute the dissertation examination committee. In some situations, scheduling a meeting that all DAC members can attend may not be possible. With permission of the advisor and the DGS, one DAC member may be absent from the meeting, as long as arrangements are made for the student to meet separately with that DAC member.
Dissertation Presentation and Examination
All graduate students in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology come under the jurisdiction of the OEB graduate committee. The DGS is authorized to approve all examination committees appointed for doctoral candidates.
1. Application for the PhD Degree
Information on the degree application is available on the Harvard Griffin GSAS website. Students can find updated degree applications on the Harvard Griffin GSAS Degree Calendar and Academic Calendar pages. All applications must be approved by the DGS. Students should be aware that many committee members are not available for dissertation defenses when courses are not in session.
2. Dissertation Presentation
The student must present the dissertation in a seminar open to the community and to which the members of the dissertation examination committee are invited. This presentation must take place prior to the dissertation examination. The senior academic programs administrator or the assistant director of graduate programs will circulate the notice of the public presentation to the OEB community two weeks prior to the date. A copy of the posted notice will be included in the student’s record.
3. Dissertation Abstract
Each PhD candidate will prepare an abstract of the dissertation—ordinarily limited to one page, single-spaced—and submit it to the senior academic programs administrator and the assistant director of graduate programs two weeks prior to the dissertation examination. Copies of the abstract will be distributed to the OEB community.
4. Dissertation Examination
The dissertation is written under the supervision of the student's research advisor and should conform to the standards outlined in dissertation policies found in the Academics and Enrollment section of the Handbook for Students.
The Dissertation Examination Committee will consist of the student’s advisor and at least two other members. At least three members of the committee must be members of the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. Additional members affiliated with other departments or institutions may be added by the advisor. As with the DAC, the committee chair must be an OEB faculty member who is not the student's advisor. The overall composition of the committee must be approved by the DGS.
The senior academic programs administrator, the assistant director of graduate programs, and the DGS must be notified of the time and location of the dissertation examination at least four weeks in advance. The candidate must electronically distribute their dissertation to their dissertation examination committee, the student academic programs administrator, and the assistant director of graduate programs in final form at least 10 business days prior to the defense date. Failure to electronically distribute the finalized dissertation to the dissertation examination committee and the senior academic programs administrator 10 business days prior to the exam will automatically lead to postponement of the dissertation defense.
The student should observe the final deadlines for holding the dissertation examination indicated in the Academic Calendar posted on the Harvard Griffin GSAS website. It is strongly recommended that the dissertation examination be held at least one month prior to the dissertation electronic submission deadline to allow time for revisions; students should not expect committee members to approve a dissertation solely because of an impending deadline.
After examination, the dissertation examination committee will decide whether the candidate will pass, fail, or pass on the condition that specified changes be made to the dissertation (because students are often required to complete additional work before the dissertation is approved, we recommend that students defend two to four weeks before degree filing or other deadlines). The dissertation examination committee may delegate to its chair the responsibility for ensuring that such changes are made in a satisfactory manner before the award of the degree is recommended to the department by the graduate committee. The student's advisor should certify this in writing to the DGS.
If possible, students should schedule their last DAC meeting one to three months before their dissertation defense. At this time, they should review the dissertation thoroughly, allowing committee members to identify issues that should be rectified prior to the presentation of the dissertation. Holding such a DAC meeting is the best way to ensure that problems are identified prior to the defense, thus minimizing the likelihood that the committee will require substantial additional work that may delay awarding of the degree.
In rare cases, it may be possible to hold the dissertation exam with one committee member absent. In such cases, arrangements must be made for that committee member to confer with the advisor prior to approval of the dissertation being. Approval for this arrangement must come from the DGS and will only be granted under unusual circumstances.
5. Filing the Dissertation
Students should consult the dissertation submission guidelines found in the Academics and Enrollment section of the Handbook for Students. Each candidate must be registered in Harvard Griffin GSAS, with the required registration fee(s) paid, at the time the dissertation is filed, as summarized in the graduation policy found in the Academics and Enrollment section of the Handbook for Students. It is the student's responsibility to submit the dissertation electronically via ProQuest ETD in accordance with the deadline for intended graduation date.
Requirements for the AM Degree
The Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology does not admit students whose sole purpose is to study for the Master of Arts (AM) degree.
OEB graduate students may also apply to be awarded the AM degree. The requirements for students within the department are:
- Four graded four-credit courses by the end of their second year. In addition, students must either have completed a total of six graded four-credit courses by the end of their third year, or have completed four graded four-credit courses and served as a Teaching Fellow in two additional courses by the end of their third year. All courses must be taught by OEB faculty members or be courses in other departments approved by the DGS. The grade minimum for graded courses is B-. Students must maintain a grade point average of at least 3.00 (B) each academic year; the grade point average is weighted for each course based on the number of course credits. For example, a grade received in a two-credit course proportionally impacts the grade point average compared to a four-credit course. A student can count a course once as a student and once (but not more than once) as a teaching fellow. All prescribed courses count toward the requirement for six graded four-credit courses.
- A written report based on original research conducted under the guidance of a faculty member in the department (the student’s dissertation proposal will often satisfy this requirement). The student’s advisor and the DGS must send their written approval of the report to the senior academic programs administrator or the assistant director of graduate programs.