Graduation

Requirements

  • All coursework must be complete.
  • You must pass your Qualifying Exam
  • You must have Advanced to Candidacy at least three full quarters prior to graduation.
  • You must complete the Graduation Application in the Student Portal (which you can access the first day of the quarter you intend to graduate). The link is on the Summary page in the Student Portal in an orange box that says Apply to Graduate.
  • Your dissertation committee must approve and sign-off on your dissertation. Each dissertation committee meeting is required to be documented and summaries submitted to the BMS program office.
  • You cannot graduate during a quarter you are not registered for. If you wish to graduate during the summer, you must apply for either Summer Session 1 or Summer Session 2: https://registrar.ucsf.edu/registration/summersessioninfo
  • Dissertation committee meeting report. Once your committee has signed off on your graduation at your final dissertation committee meeting, please have the chair of your committee complete and return a dissertation committee meeting report.
  • Completion of the PhD: Making a substantive original contribution to the body of knowledge in your research field is the chief requirement for completion of the PhD. It is expected that this contribution will result in one or more publications, conference abstracts and/or other research products. Requirements are the same regardless of the student’s intended career path after graduation. The thesis committee determines when these standards have been met, and must approve and sign the student’s dissertation. Students deliver an exit seminar to the campus community upon completion of their PhD.
  • *NEW* Publication requirement for graduating students: A first or co-first author manuscript that has either been submitted for publication or has been deposited in a manuscript archive such as BioRxiv. In rare cases, exceptions can be granted by the program co-directors.

As you start preparing for graduation, please contact Meredith to schedule a time to discuss. She will walk you through all of the requirements and answer any questions you may have.

Additionally, please note that you can contact the UCSF Graduate Division if you have any questions.

[email protected]
Tel: 476-3311 
Fax: 514-0844
Campus Box 1227
550 16th Street, Room 1300 (Mission Hall)
San Francisco, CA 94143

Dissertation Submission 
In order to officially graduate, you must submit your dissertation electronically to the UCSF Graduate Division. Original signatures from your committee members are required on the title page. This submission is handled electronically. Read the Graduate Division Dissertation Guide for complete instructions and information. Links to information about UMI publication and the required Graduate Division surveys are located on the Graduate Division website. Anything not covered here with regard to formatting (order of figures, inclusion of papers, etc.) can be worked out with your committee as BMS has no formal guidelines, and the BMS dissertation library may be helpful to you in this regard as well. Do check the above link, as there are surveys to complete, instructions about submitting an abstract along with your dissertation, etc. 

When you submit to ProQuest, they will ask you if you want to bind your dissertation with them.  The company we used to use went out of business, so feel free to use the service ProQuest provides. Three copies is the usual number of dissertations ordered; one for you, one for your PI, and one for the BMS program.  Your PI should reimburse you for the costs.  Purchasing the bound dissertations is your call, as is how many you want to get.

Want to check out other students' dissertations for reference? 
BMS keeps a library of dissertations in our Parnassus office. You are welcome to review them in the office, or check one out for a short period to take with you. The electronic copy of manuscripts are now also deposited in the UCSF Library and eScholarship and become official and permanent records available for use by other scholars and the public.

Commencement
The Ceremony usually takes place late May / early June. The date changes each year. Students that have graduated or plan to graduate in the current academic year (including the following summer) are eligible to walk in commencement. The Graduate Division will send invitations to students. If you have any questions about commencement, please contact the BMS program coordinator. More details of the event are usually published on the Graduate Division website late January, early February (google ‘ucsf commencement 201_).

Announcements and opportunities to sign up are sent out during the winter quarter. Both you and your PI will have an opportunity to order regalia for the hooding ceremony if you wish to participate.

Deadlines
Registrar Deadlines

Dissertation Seminar
All students must give an exit seminar. Once you identify a date, let us know and we will book an auditorium or seminar room for you. We will also send out flyers and announcements, so please send us the title of your talk and a brief abstract at least two weeks in advance. 

The date of the talk is somewhat flexible; remember that it is not the dissertation seminar that determines your graduation, as in most cases we do not observe a strict dissertation defense. Rather, it is the determination by your dissertation committee that you have completed your project, and the successful submission of your dissertation to the Graduate Division that determines graduation. Therefore, the date of the seminar can be arranged for a time that is convenient for you, your committee members and any family or friends who may wish to attend. Nevertheless, we do not advise scheduling the dissertation more than a month ahead of time or more than a month after the fact.

Surveys
The Graduate Division requires you to complete two online surveys. Links to the surveys are available on the Graduate Division website. Scroll to the bottom of the page and look for the PhD surveys. 

Job & Careers Resources
UCSF Office of Career & Professional Development 
Careers in Science
Postdoc Jobs Online - useful for postdoctoral fellows and senior graduate students 
AfterCollege PhD and Postdoc Job Listings