Time to Completion Meeting

The Department of Molecular Genetics has put in place policies and procedures designed to reduce the time to completion of our Ph.D. program. Specifically, it is expected that, except in unusual circumstances, a Ph.D. should be defended no more than 5.5 to 6.0 years after commencing graduate studies in the Department. The “time-to-completion” (TTC) committee meeting is designed to assist in ensuring timely completion of the Ph.D. After 3.5 to 4.0 years in the graduate program, every Ph.D. student must have a TTC Committee Meeting. The TTC meeting is conducted in the same manner as other committee meetings (including the four-page progress report as described above) with the following additional measures:

1.  In both the written progress report and at the TTC meeting, the student must present

• a projected thesis outline and

• a plan outlining exactly which experiments need to be completed along with a realistic estimate of how long this is expected to take. This time may not exceed two years (i.e., except for writing and defending the thesis, all other aspects should be completed within 5.0 to 5.5 years).

2.  The committee reviews the plan and either approves or it gives modifications.

3.  Another committee meeting is scheduled for one year later or earlier if the proposed experiment are completed. If experiments are not complete at this committee meeting, a plan for completing the remaining experiments is presented for approval. 

4.  A terminal committee meeting is held once experiments are complete, in which the student is given permission to write the thesis. This should be no more than 2 years after the TTC meeting. 

Extensions to the SGS time limit of seven years for the total duration of a Ph.D. will be given only for rare extenuating circumstances. Students must apply for such an extension at least three months prior to the seven-year deadline