Transfer to Master degree (MPhil or MSBS)

Students who leave the PhD program may be eligible for transfer to the Masters of Philosophy (MPhil) or the Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences (MSBS) degree programs.

Transfer to MPhil

Students leaving the PhD program may be eligible to earn an MPhil. To be eligible for this exit pathway, students should have fulfilled the following criteria.

• be in good academic standing with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher

• have successfully submitted and defended the PhD Thesis Proposal, and:

• completed the “Request for Transfer from PhD to Master of Philosophy” and have received all the required approvals.

If a student has met all of these requirement, he/she/they will be awarded an MPhil degree.

It is important to note that the student’s transcript will reflect a withdrawal from the PhD Program and matriculation to the MPhil Program.

Transfer to MSBS

Students leaving the PhD program may be eligible to earn an MSBS. To be eligible for this exit pathway, students should have fulfilled the following criteria:

• be in good academic standing with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher

• complete the coursework and credits necessary to fulfill all requirements of the MSBS degree

• demonstrate mastery of the literature in their field commensurate with a Master's-level student

• produce a substantial research portfolio consisting of independently conducted experiments, yielding results, analysis, and conclusions equivalent to a Master's-level thesis

If these criteria are fulfilled prior to the PhD thesis proposal, the student is not required to take and pass the thesis proposal exam

In order to initiate the PhD to MSBS transfer pathway, the student’s PhD Advisory Committee must consent to this plan. Consent from the dissertation advisor is not a requirement but should be obtained when strained relations between the research mentor and student is not a reason for the transfer.

The student must complete Page 1 of the form “Request for Transfer from PhD to Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences” (Page 2 will be completed after the MSBS Thesis is deposited as part of the program checkout process). It is important to note that the student’s transcript will reflect a withdrawal from the PhD Program and matriculation to the MSBS Program.

The research mentor and student, in conjunction with PhD Advisory Committee, will agree on a length of time, not to exceed 60 days, that the student will remain in the lab to finish up experiments and write the MSBS Thesis. During this time the student will continue to receive a stipend. The research mentor must commit to covering the student’s stipend, presumably via the same mechanism that had been supporting him/her prior to the transfer, for the duration of this period.

The student will write and defend an MSBS thesis within the time frame defined in the previous paragraph. The exam committee will consist of the existing PhD advisory committee plus one of the student’s MTA Co-directors (if he/she/they is not already a member of the committee), with the specific Co-Director to be chosen by the student. The student must deposit the thesis within one week of completing the thesis defense

The effective date of withdrawal from the PhD Program and Matriculation to the MSBS program will be the date of the defense, as defined in the above paragraphs. This will allow the student to: 1) receive a stipend; 2) remain in student housing; and 3) receive health insurance.

Once the MSBS Thesis is deposited, the student should complete Page 2 of the form “Request for Transfer from PhD to Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences”. Deposition of the thesis also initiates the process of terminating the student’s stipend, health insurance coverage and housing. These terminations will proceed as per Graduate School and Real Estate Office policies, which are detailed in other sections of this handbook.