Required of all students:
Other Courses: Determined by requirements of chosen minor,
research committee and/or advisory committee.
Minor:
12 credit hours in any one of the advanced basic science courses (anatomy,
biochemistry, biomedical engineering, chemistry, materials science
engineering, mechanical engineering, microbiology and immunology, pathology,
pharmacology, physics, physiology, life science) or their equivalents, as
approved by the student's advisory committee and the chair of the minor
department. Credit hours for the required courses may not count towards the
minor courses.
Teaching Experience:
All students will participate in the undergraduate Dental curriculum by
tutoring in a problem-based learning (PBL) small group for a total of 2 PBL
blocks after successful completion of the IUSD tutor training program.
Students who are non-native speakers of English are to demonstrate oral
English competency (determined by the IUPUI English as a Second Language
[ESL] Program) before they can participate in the PBL sessions.
Other Programs: Completion of the PFF program and required
participation in the Student Research Presentation Program (SRPP) every
other week for one hour.
Research Credits: 46 minimum (Oral Biology), 38 minimum (Preventive
Dentistry), 39 minimum (Dental Materials)
Research in Oral Biology:
Laboratory Rotations - DENT-R 957 Introduction to Research in Oral Biology course; at least three separate rotations (2-4 months each) conducting
a small project in the laboratories of members of the Indiana University
graduate faculty, which will be graded. Students in all tracks will enroll
in this course. It is expected that the student will choose a dissertation
advisor (mentor) from among these members of the faculty (3 cr.)
Laboratory Research - DENT-R 958 Research: Oral Biology (1-12 cr.
hrs/semester); DENT-G 930 Research: Preventive Dentistry (1-12 cr. hrs/semester);
or DENT-G 921 Research: Dental Materials (1-12 cr. hrs/semester) - credit for
research directly related to the writing and defense of a Ph.D. dissertation
DENT-G 901 Dissertation Research - (once 90 total credits have been accumulated
in the appropriate areas, students may enroll in this course for a maximum
of 6 semesters until the dissertation is complete). Students must be
enrolled for at least one credit hour each semester.
Student Advisory Committee:
The student chooses the advisory committee, usually by the end of the first
Spring semester following enrollment into the program. The initial committee
shall be composed of three members of the Dental School faculty, two of whom
must be members of the
IU Graduate School Faculty
with endorsement to directly doctoral dissertations (faculty
with endorsement are indicated by an asterisk in column H).
Generally, one member is also the student's intended dissertation
mentor. This committee shall be responsible for monitoring the
student's progress, and for advising the student with regard to all matters
associated with the graduate program.
Prior to the student's qualifying exam (generally by the second summer
following enrollment) two additional advisory committee members will be
added, either from the student's minor field, and/or from the general area in
which the student has decided to conduct his/her dissertation
research. This committee of five will serve as the qualifying exam
committee, with a member other than the dissertation mentor as chair.
Qualifying Exam (for admission to candidacy):
The qualifying exam will consist of two parts: 1) writing a research
proposal and orally defending it; and 2) a written exam.
Research Proposal:
The student chooses, usually by the end of the second Spring semester
following enrollment, with the help from and approval of the Advisory
Committee Chair, a topic for a grant proposal to be written and defended as
part of the qualifying exam. The topic may be in the area of the student's
intended dissertation research, but cannot be written by anyone other than
the student or prepared as a requirement of another course.
Student should begin with an outline for a proposal that is approved by
the Committee Chair. After approval, the student writes a proposal in the
style of an NIH R01 grant proposal including the following sections:
Summary, Specific Aims, Background and Significance, Research Design and
Methods, Literature Cited and Budget, but with the length reduced to a
maximum of 15 single-spaced, 12-point font pages for the following sections:
Summary, Specific Aims, Background and Significance, and Experimental
Design. There are no page limits for the Literature Cited and Budget
sections. The proposal, once written to the satisfaction of the student, is
submitted to the Committee Chair, who distributes copies to the rest of the
Committee. The Committee may decide that the proposal is defensible, or it
may require revisions prior to a defense. Upon final approval, a time is set
for defense of the proposal by the student in the presence of the Committee.
The defense of the proposal consists of a 10 to 15 minute presentation of
the proposed work by the student, followed by a 1-3 hour oral examination
consisting of questions arising from the proposal, the student's
presentation or answers to initial questions. Satisfactory defense of the
proposal will be followed, at a date and time (within 60 days after the
proposal defense) convenient to the members of the committee and student, by
a written exam. Students who do not satisfactorily complete the defense of
the proposal may be allowed to retake the proposal defense with the
permission of the advisory committee.
Written Exam:
Each member of the Advisory Committee will submit a comprehensive question
or a series of questions in his/her area(s) of expertise to the Chair of the Committee. The Chair
will then collate the questions from all five committee members, and the
exam package will be handed to the student on the morning of the exam. The
student will be provided a room in which to complete the examination
(without notes or any other study aids). It is expected that the exam will
be completed within 8 hours. The entire exam is returned to the Chair, who
distributes the answers to individual committee members for correction
within a week. Students who do not satisfactorily complete the written exam
may be allowed to retake the exam once with the permission of the advisory
committee. In addition, students who fail both components of the qualifying
exam are normally allowed to retake the exam once. The qualifying exam must
be completed at least eight months before the degree is awarded.
Admission to Candidacy:
The Student Advisory Committee submits a Nomination to Candidacy form to the
Graduate School after the student has completed all required didactic
courses and passed the qualifying exam.
Research Committee:
Members of the Advisory Committee may continue to serve as members of
his/her Research Committee. However, the latter committee is chaired by the
student's research advisor, who must be a full member of the
IU Graduate
School Faculty with endorsement to direct doctoral dissertations
(faculty with endorsement are indicated by an asterisk in column H),
and will consist of two other members of the IU Graduate School faculty in
the School of Dentistry, a member of the IU Graduate School faculty outside
of the School of Dentistry (generally a member of the minor department), and
an expert in the student's field of research outside of Indiana
University. This outside member will be a member of the IU
Graduate School faculty or must meet the requirements of
membership. At least half of the members of the research committee must be
members of the IU Graduate School faculty with endorsement; others must
be members.
The research committee is responsible for supervision of the student's
research, reading and providing scientific and editorial comments on the
dissertation, and conducting the final examination (defense of
dissertation). The research committee, except for the outside member, shall
meet formally with the student at least twice annually, to assess progress
and make appropriate suggestions. During one of these assessments, most
likely during the 3rd or 4th year, the student will
present an open school-wide 45-50 minute presentation at least 6 months
prior to finishing the dissertation. The defense of the dissertation will
consist of an open University-wide 45-50 minute presentation followed by a
1-3 hour oral examination by only the research committee consisting of
questions from the dissertation.
Enrollment and Financial Support:
Enrollment will be limited in regard to the number of appropriate faculty
available to serve as research mentors. In general, an average of 1
student/IU Graduate faculty member is the maximum. Currently, we have
14 Ph.D. students enrolled in the Ph.D. in Dental Science Program and 19
IU Graduate faculty with full member status in IUSD. Acceptance criteria will
be as above and applicants will be ranked using GPA, GRE scores, previous
research experience and possibly interviews when the applicant number
exceeds that acceptable. Financial support is primarily the responsibility
of the student. However, several fellowships may be available.
Composition of IUSD Graduate Faculty:
- Current IU Graduate Faculty members with research programs suitable
for Dissertation research:
Joseph Bidwell, Jie Chen, Margherita Fontana,
Dominique Galli, Rachelle Galvin, Lawrence Garetto, Carlos Gonzalez,
Richard Gregory, James Hartsfield, Thomas Katona, Michael Kowolik,
Angeles Martinez-Mier, Gerardo Maupome, Keith Moore, Byron Olson, W.
Eugene Roberts, Jeffrey Platt, Mythily Srinivasan, George Stookey, Lech Switalski,
Burak Taskonak, Jack Windsor, Andrea Zandona, Dominick Zero
- Potential IU Graduate Faculty members, with research programs
currently suitable for Dissertation research:
Masatoshi Ando, Gabriel
Chu, Hafsteinn Eggertsson, Richard Jackson, Fengyu Song, Dong Xie
- Future cross-appointees from Anatomy, Biochemistry, Engineering, Medical and
Molecular Genetics,
Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, Pathology and Laboratory
Medicine, Physiology and other basic science departments.