Academic Requirements for a Ph.D. Degree in Biology

Curriculum and course registration

M.Sc. students must register for Graduate courses at the beginning of each semester. Before the beginning of each new semester, you shall receive a registration information letter. You should submit your Course Registration Form signed by your supervisor to the Faculty’s Graduate Studies Coordinator.

1. Current Topics in Biology 1.5 (138083) and 2.5 (138084) A+B

The Current Topics in Biology 1-2 courses consist of a weekly lecture given every Monday at 13:00 at the Faculty seminar throughout the entire term. The weekly lectures cover interesting new studies in biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, immunology, cell biology, genetics, genomics, bioinformatics etc. Each course is worth 0.5 credits. Ph.D. students must take these courses during the first 2 years of their studies.

At the end of each course, you must submit an opinion paper on one of the studies discussed during the course to the course teacher. The score for these courses is binary: pass/fail.

2. Research Ethics

Every research student at the Technion must take the online course Research Ethics (218000) as a prerequisite for submitting a research proposal or summary. All the course contents, assignments, group discussions and exam are given remotely. The score for this course is pass/fail. To pass the course, you must submit all your assignments according to the instructions on the course website and successfully pass the exam. For more details, please visit the following link: https://graduate.technion.ac.il/en/studies/research/research-ethics/

3. Scientific Writing in English and Advanced English

Language courses at the Technion are under the responsibility of the Department of Humanities and Arts. Contact details: Phone: 04-8293507

Website: https://humanities.technion.ac.il/?lang=en

For the Scientific Writing in English requirements, please visit:

https://graduate.technion.ac.il/en/studies/languages/scientific-writing-in-english/

Students who did not take Advanced English must pass it successfully.

Advanced English requirements: https://graduate.technion.ac.il/en/studies/languages

Your research proposal summary shall form the basis of your candidacy examination, and must be submitted within 11 months from the beginning of your studies. For details regarding research proposal summary submission, please see:

https://graduate.technion.ac.il/en/studies/phd

The summary must be submitted along with the Ph.D. Research Proposal Form:

https://graduate.technion.ac.il/wp-content/uploads/research-topic-English_PhD.doc

Prerequisites for submitting a research proposal summary:

A pass score in the Research Ethics exam, and submission of the candidacy examination examining committee members list. The latter is under the responsibility of the supervisor. The committee must include at least 5 members, including one representative of the study unit Graduate Studies Committee.

Instructions for writing a research proposal

A research proposal must be typed in font Arial size 11, with 1.5 line spacing, be no longer than 25 pages (excluding bibliography), and be structured as follows:

• Title page: Shall include the study name, student name, supervisor name and submission date. The title page must be signed by the supervisor.
• Abstract: A summary of the research proposal – up to 1 page.
• Introduction: Up to 5 pages.
• Study purposes: An overview of the research purposes. 3-5 pages.
• Preliminary results
• Study plan
• PhD Timeline that includes your research timetable aims for each year/month.
• Bibliography

1. The purpose of the follow-up committee is to interview you about the progression of your research in relation to what you had described in the study plan presented at the time of the candidacy examination.
2. At the time of the candidacy examination, your supervisor shall appoint the follow-up committee (see link to Form below), which shall include at least 2 academic staff members, preferably from the faculty of Biology, whose specialization is related to the subject of your doctorate.
3. The follow-up committee shall meet you in person at least twice during your studies: once every year (for Ph.D. who are not receiving a scholarship, the schedules will be more flexible and determined by the student’s supervisor and the members of the committee).
4. After your candidacy examination is approved by the Graduate School, the Graduate Studies Coordinator shall send you an email with a reminder of the date of the first follow-up committee meeting, with cc to your supervisor and the members of the follow-up committee.
5. It is your responsibility to schedule the follow-up committee meeting and inform the Graduate Studies Coordinator. If you wish to change the date of the follow-up committee meeting, you shall have to submit a written request with an explanation to the Deputy Dean of Graduate Studies.
6. About one week before the scheduled committee meeting, you must submit a short report of your progress (up to 3 pages) to the committee members, with cc to the Graduate Studies Coordinator, at the following format:
   1. A short introduction that includes the study’s question and purpose, as well as a summary of the findings mentioned in your pre-doctorate.
   2. A progress report that includes a summary of any new findings.
   3. The planned next steps.
   4. If you have co-written any papers that have been published or accepted for publication, you may want to attach them.
7. At the end of the first committee meeting, the committee members shall complete a summary report (link to Form below) of the progress of your research. The report shall be submitted to the Graduate Studies Coordinator, who will forward it to your supervisor. The report shall include a tentative date for the second meeting of the committee (in six months / one year / a year and a half / as they shall choose).
8. If the committee is dissatisfied with the progress the student has made in their research, it shall inform the Deputy Dean of Graduate Studies. In specific cases, the follow-up committee may recommend termination of the studies.
9. The members of the follow-up committee can and should be your go-to people, who may give you help and advice on various academic issues, including anything that may come up in the course of your studies.

Follow-up Committee Members Form – for Supervisors

Follow-up Committee Report Form

Every student must submit a thesis. For detailed instructions regarding the submission of your thesis, please visit the Graduate School’s website: https://graduate.technion.ac.il/en/home/

According to the Technion Graduate School regulations, M.Sc. students must give a seminar lecture about their research at an advanced stage of the research, in their final year of study, and no later than 2 weeks before the submission of their thesis. Times allocated for seminar lectures during each semester:

• Winter Term – Wednesdays at 13:00
• Spring Term – Tuesdays at 13:00

To schedule your seminar lecture (it is recommended to do it one semester in advance), please contact Graduate Studies Coordinator Keren Vidal (Kerenv@technion.ac.il)

About one month before the scheduled date, please submit: Your study title in English, a summary of your lecture (up to one paragraph) in English and your photo. The lecture will be posted on the Technion Google Calendar, in the Faculty mailing list, and on the Faculty notice boards.