Master of Science Degree in Biomedical Science
The Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Biomedical Science is offered in the five basic science departments.
Residence (time enrolled as a full-time student): Both full-time and part-time options are available.
- Full-Time: One academic year, two semesters, or four summer terms represents the minimum requirement for full-time students.
- Part-Time: Students who wish to pursue the M.S. degree on a part-time basis must submit a written request, signed by the Department Head and the Department Graduate Program Director, to the Graduate School Dean for approval. This request must be submitted each semester in which the student wishes to enroll and must state the number of credit hours in which he/she will enroll.
Semester Hours: The minimum requirement is 30 semester hours of graduate work, at least 17 of which must be taken in courses that require a letter grade for evaluation, and not more than two credit hours of seminar credit. At least six research hours must be completed. Departmental requirements may exceed these minimum requirements.
Transfer of Credit: Candidates for the Master of Science degree may receive up to five hours of transfer credit from another graduate level accredited institution at the discretion of the Department involved, providing the students have completed courses which are comparable to LSUHSC-S School of Graduate Studies’ courses, and satisfy the subject matter requirements. No transfer credit is permitted for course work receiving a grade below B. Written notification clearly listing the courses to be transferred must be sent to the Associate Dean, who will notify the Registrar. Credits may also be transferred to the M.S. program from the PhD program for students who desire to switch from the PhD program at LSUHSC-S to the M.S. program. There is no limit on the number of transfer credits from the PhD program at LSUHSC-S to the M.S. program at LSUHSC-S.
Candidacy: A student becomes a candidate when s/he has completed 12 semester hours of work with a B average and has received Departmental approval.
Thesis Instructions: When the thesis research is complete, the candidate will be required to write and to successfully defend the thesis in an oral exam. Detailed INSTRUCTIONS for writing and formatting the thesis are available on Moodle. The final dates for submitting the thesis, completing the thesis defense, and submitting the approved thesis to the Graduate School can be found on the Academic Calendar.
Thesis Defense and Degree requirements: The student must be enrolled in the School of Graduate Studies in the semester in which the oral defense is scheduled and maintained at least a 3.0 GPA . Application for the oral thesis defense must be made at least two weeks prior to the defense date. The completed request form, along with an abstract of the thesis must be received by the Graduate School office two weeks prior to the thesis defense date. In addition, copies of the thesis must also be circulated to the examining committee and a public announcement of the thesis defense must be made two weeks prior to the defense. Final approval of the thesis rests with a committee of no less than three graduate faculty members, one of whom must be from a Department other than the Student’s Department, nominated by the Chair of the Department, and appointed by the Associate Dean. The Associate Dean may serve as a member or may appoint members to the Committee. After the oral defense, the Committee votes, in the absence of the student, whether to pass the examinee. There may be no more than one negative vote. The Major Professor must be present on site for the thesis defense. Voting is made when the student is not in the room. The student passes the exam if there is no more than one negative vote. The submission of the signed Final Dissertation Report and final copies of the accepted thesis to the Graduate School Office constitutes fulfillment of the degree requirements. Deadlines for completion of these requirements are in the academic calendar.
The Doctor of Philosophy Degree
The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree is the highest degree offered by universities. It is conferred only for work of distinction in which the student displays original scholarship.
Residence (time enrolled as a full-time student): Three years (9 semesters) of residence in the program are required, although in most programs more time is needed. Exceptions may be made by petition to the Graduate Dean and the Graduate Advisory Council. One year (three consecutive semesters/term) must be taken in residence at LSUHSC-S following completion of the preliminary examination.
Course Requirements: Specific course requirements are dependent upon individual Departmental policy. However, in general, a minimum of 32 credit hours is required and at least 20 of those hours must be taken in courses that require a letter grade for evaluation. Some of the credit may be earned in one or more minor fields. No more than fifteen credits may be counted for research and dissertation and no more than four credits for seminar, even though both may be carried throughout the program. Departmental requirements may exceed these minimum requirements.
Transfer of Credit: Candidates for the PhD degree may receive up to fifteen hours of graduate level transfer credit from another accredited institution at the discretion of the Department (with approval of the Department Head) involved, providing the students have completed courses that are comparable to LSUHSC-S School of Graduate Studies’ courses, and satisfy the subject matter requirements. Written notification clearly listing the courses to be transferred must be sent to the Associate Dean, who will notify the Registrar. Credits earned in the M.S. program at LSUHSC-S (up to fifteen hours) may be transferred to the PhD program at LSUHSC-S. No transfer credit is permitted for course work receiving a grade below B, and transfer of credit does not reduce the residency requirement.
Qualifying Process: Each Department will be responsible for the qualifying process and will develop appropriate policies that will be on file in the Associate Dean’s Office. Departmental qualifying processes are described in detail in the Departmental policies.
Preliminary Examination: The applicant becomes eligible for the Preliminary Examination at a time chosen by the Department but not less than one academic year (three consecutive semesters) before graduation. The student and his/her major professor, with the approval of the Department Head and the Associate Dean, will recommend a research committee and petition the Associate Dean to appoint the committee and allow the student to schedule the examination. The student must complete and submit the Request for Preliminary Exam form to the Office of Graduate Studies two weeks prior to the scheduled exam.
The research committee will ordinarily consist of the student’s major professor and at least four other Graduate Faculty members representing major and minor disciplines. At least one member must be from another Department and one member may be from outside the Health Sciences Center. Substitution or addition of committee members may be made by the Associate Dean after consultation with the major professor and Department Head, but continuity of membership is sought to provide consistent guidance of the student through the program.
The preliminary examination is the most thorough in the doctorate program. It will require the candidate to demonstrate competence in a broad segment of the major and minor fields. Although the examination may be oral, written or both, a written section is strongly recommended. A completed Report of Preliminary Exam form, including all committee signatures, must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies for approval by the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies. If there is no more than one negative ballot out of a minimum of five, the student becomes an official candidate for the PhD degree.
Grant proposal: Each PhD student is required to write a grant application in National Institutes of Health format. This proposal generally contains the elements of the dissertation project. The student may also be required to provide an oral defense of the application to his/her research advisory committee. Successful defense of the application may serve as completion of the preliminary examination and advance the student to PhD candidacy.
Dissertation: The dissertation must be an original and significant contribution to the field, suitable for publication in a refereed journal of international repute. Detailed instructions for writing and formatting the dissertation are available on Moodle. For the planned graduation date, the student should check the school calendar for the final date for submission of the dissertation to the School of Graduate Studies.
Dissertation Defense: The student must be enrolled in the School of Graduate Studies in the semester in which the defense is scheduled. The defense can be scheduled if the student has completed all the course requirements, and passed the qualifying and preliminary exams. The examining committee consists of:
- At least five graduate faculty members, one of whom must be from a Department other than the Student’s Department, nominated by the Major Professor, Head of the Department and approved by the Associate Dean.
- At least four graduate faculty members, one of whom must be from a Department other than the Student’s Department, and one prominent scientific expert in the student’s research area from another research institution. This expert is selected by the mentor and approved by the Department Head and Associate Dean.
The Associate Dean may serve as a member or may appoint members to the Committee. Traditionally, this examination is a test of the student’s intimate knowledge of the area of the field of the dissertation research. However, at the discretion of the Committee or the Dean, the examination may include questions from the major or minor fields in general. The Major Professor must be present on site for the dissertation defense. Voting is made when the student is not in the room. The student passes the exam if there is no more than one negative vote. The student also must present a seminar, either immediately before the oral defense or after the defense. The submission of the signed Final Dissertation Report and final copies of the accepted dissertation to the Graduate School Office constitutes fulfillment of the degree requirements. Deadlines for completion of these requirements are in the academic calendar.
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