PhD comprehensive exam

Comprehensive exam overview

The PhD comprehensive exam tests the knowledge of the PhD candidate on topics related to the student's field of research and is used to judge whether the student has a mature, broad, and substantial understanding of the discipline as a whole, as evidenced by an oral examination.

In Pharmacy, the comprehensive exams must begin in term four. What this means is that the examining committee appointment should be submitted with a plan for scheduling the comprehensive exam, to ensure that the examination is passed (including any resulting conditions) by the end of term seven as per PhD degree requirements.

PhD students must meet the University-level minimum requirements for the PhD Comprehensive Exam, as noted the Graduate Studies Academic Calendar, "Minimum requirements for the PhD degree" and in the PhD in Pharmacy Degree Requirements. Students who transfer from MSc to PhD should note that the term count continues and the expectation to complete this milestone before the end of term 7 is the same. Failure to complete the exam per regulations may require the student to withdraw from the program.

Comprehensive examination committee

In the PhD student's fourth term, the PhD Comprehensive Examination Committee Appointment Form should be submitted for approval. 

The comprehensive examination committee is comprised of a minimum of three expert members, normally drawn from the thesis advisory committee, and an impartial chair from the School of Pharmacy who is normally the graduate officer or their delegate*.

Examining Committees appointments are subject to minimum requirements for the PhD degree and must be approved in advance.  Supervisors should complete and submit the PhD comprehensive exam committee appointment to the department grad coordinator for approval in term 4, or as soon as the student transfers to PhD from MSc, and no later than 16 weeks ahead of the intended examination date.  

If a thesis advisory committee member cannot be present (e.g., is on sabbatical leave), an alternate may be selected if necessary to comply with the regulations.

Faculty who are not members of the student’s thesis advisory committee may, at the recommendation of the thesis advisory committee, be invited to the comprehensive examination. If they are invited they are granted full voting privileges.

*The Associate Director Graduate Studies and Research, the Director, or a member of the Graduate Studies and Research Committee who has approved doctoral dissertation status.

Scheduling and preparing for the PhD comprehensive exam

Once the PhD Comprehensive Examining Committee has been appointed and approved, and at least 12 weeks prior to the proposed comprehensive examination, the student should complete and submit the Pharmacy Comprehensive Examination Request form. 

Students should avoiding scheduling their examination on a blackout date.

Blackout dates

Pharmacy has blackout dates on which thesis proposals and PhD comprehensive exams will not be held unless special arrangements have been made and confirmed in advance by the Pharmacy Graduate Office.  Blackout dates exist to allow maximum participation in the Pharmacy program and to minimize scheduling conflicts for meeting chairs and examining committee members and include spring and fall convocation, Pharmacy Research Day, pharmacy council meetings (am only) and all university closures, as outlined below: 

University closures and convocation See: Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs Important dates
Pharmacy Graduate Studies Seminars See: Pharmacy Events for schedule
2022 Pharmacy Council meeting  January 27, May 26, September 22
Pharmacy Research Day 2023 April 30, 2024

Blackout dates are also noted on the Pharmacy graduate studies Outlook calendar, gradpharm@uwaterloo.ca. 

Upon receipt of the exam meeting request, the graduate coordinator will schedule a chair for the examination. After a chair is appoitned, the gradaute coordiantor will send a meeting invitation to the student and the examination committee members to confirm the exam date and time and provide further instruction on important deadlines.

Specifically, at least 10 weeks prior to the comprehensive examination, the supervisor, in consultation with the other examiners (the examination committee) must provide to the graduate administrator a proposal that includes:

  • the subject matter of the examination
  • a list of references that corresponds to the subject(s). The reference list must include full citations. Where references are not readily available to the student, the supervisor may provide them to the graduate administrator via e-mail attachment.

The proposed arrangements are subject to approval by the graduate officer.

Eight weeks prior to the comprehensive exam, the student will receive written notice from the administrative coordinator stating the date of examination, composition of the examination committee, exam topics and reading list.

Four weeks prior to the exam, the supervisor will collate and submit the examination committee’s list of exam questions and answers to the administrative coordinator for graduate studies.

Each examining committee is required to submit:

  • ten questions, each requiring about 10 – 20 minutes to answer fully in oral forma, with at least two questions being from each examiner
  • an outline of each of the expected answers. This will ensure that the questions are of the right length but will also help non-experts to assess the students’ answer.

Failure of the supervisor to submit examination questions and answers four weeks before the exam may result in the cancellation of the exam.

Comprehensive exam procedure - what to expect

On the day of and one hour before the exam, the examination questions will be delivered to the student in the examination room. The student is given this time to prepare answers for the questions provided. During this hour, the student may refer to readings from their assigned list as well as any study notes they have created, to aid in their preparation for the oral examination. Please note that internet use is not permitted.

The oral examination is two hours, and is attended by the examining committee. 

During the exam, the impartial chair selects the questions which each expert member will ask. 

Eight questions will be addressed within the two-hour limit, with at least one being from each expert member. The student may use the whiteboard or flip chart to help them articulate their responses, as needed. Similarly, in the case of an online exam format, the student may share their screen to show relevant material (i.e., table, figure, drawing) from their readings, study notes, or notes prepared in the preceding hour to help articulate their responses.

Upon conclusion of the oral examination, the student is dismissed; the examining committee remains in the examination room to discuss the student’s performance and assess the responses to each of the questions.

After delibration, the student is invited back into the room to hear the results of the exam as determined by the committee.  The examination report is signed and a copy forwarded to the student for their record. If appilcable, the student should follow up on any conditions set by the committee.  The supervisor is repsonsible for confirming fulfillment of all conditions.  All conditions must be fulfilled before the end of term 7. 

Comprehensive exam assessment

The committee will make a recommendation to the graduate officer on the PhD Comprehensive Examination Report (completed by the chair, on behalf of the committee).

A vote will be taken for a pass/fail on every question (majority rules); the student must attain a 60% pass (i.e. the student must pass at least five of the eight questions asked) for a global recommendation of option 1 or 2 (see below). 

Possible recommendations of the committee:

  1. Passed unconditionally. The student has passed the exam and nothing further is required. The administrative coordinator will process the milestone completion form, and the PhD comprehensive exam milestone will be recorded on the student's transcript.

  2. Passed conditionally. The candidate is permitted to continue in their program on the condition that they also complete a supplementary program of study, as specified by the committee. The student may be required to take an additional course, or courses, or meet some other special conditions such as a special assignment. The Supervisor is responsible for seeing that the conditions are fulfilled within the specified time. Students who fail to meet the conditions set by the committee will be required to withdraw. 

  3. Decision deferred. The examination is adjourned to a later date, to be set by the committee. Adjournment is called if the candidate is weak in certain areas and the Committee feels that further studies followed by re-examination would be beneficial.  Normally only one adjournment will be permitted.  In the case of a deferred decision, the re-examination must normally be repeated within four months.  

  4. Failed. The candidate is required to withdraw from the program.