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Ph.D. in Biology

For information on the applications, please visit the Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences website.

For application criteria: https://fbe.metu.edu.tr/en/biology.

Be sure to contact the instructor you want to work with before applying.

Ph.D. in Biology

The objectives of the graduate program are mainly to train the students to carry out basic and applied research in areas covering molecular genetics, ecological and evolutionary genetics, biochemistry, microbiology, cancer biology, plant sciences, molecular biophysics, biomaterials, molecular pharmacology and toxicology, biotechnology, neurophysiology, and ecology.

Course List

Compulsory Courses
Course Code Course Name METU Credit Contact (h/w) Lab (h/w) ECTS
BIOL558 Bioethics and Research Methods 0 0 0 10.0
BIOL600 Ph.D. Thesis 0 0 0 130.0
BIOL601 Seminar in Biology 0 0 2 10.0
h/w: hours per week
7 elective course(s) approved by the Department of Biological Sciences. Total minimum credit: 21

Rules and Regulations

The Qualification Exam includes a written project proposal followed by an oral defense, which is graded as the written and oral examinations, respectively. The exam is designed to assess the Ph.D. candidate's ability to come up with an independent hypothesis-derived research question. The Qualification Exam is conducted in English in its entirety. The exam is held twice a year, in May and November.

Timeline

[Image of academic timeline flowchart]

  • March/Sept: Students submit the names of potential jury members (5 from ODTÜ, 4 from outside), title, and abstract to the committee (esyildiz@metu.edu.tr).
  • March/Sept: Committee evaluates abstract, decides on jury, informs student (within 2 days).
  • April/October: 4 weeks later, student submits project proposal. Proposal sent to jury (3 from ODTÜ, 2 from outside).
  • May/November: Jury members submit evaluations (grade out of 100).
  • May/November: Committee informs student. Pass grade: 70/100. Oral exam held in last week of May/Nov.

Qualifying Exam (QE) Project Proposal Topic

The QE involves the preparation and assessment of an original research project proposal by the student that is independent of the Ph.D. topic. The student should submit one short descriptive title and an abstract (maximum 400 words) along with his/her current or expected PhD thesis topic.

Both student and advisor must write a signed declaration that the proposed topic has no overlap with the PhD research topic or ongoing lab grants.

Evaluation

The evaluation includes critical assessment of the written project proposal and oral exam.

Written Project Proposal Evaluation (Total 100 points)
  • Background and Literature Review - 25 points
  • Scientific and Technological Excellence - 20 points
  • Methodology - 30 points
  • Work-Time Schedule - 5 points
  • Risk Management - 10 points
  • Overall quality - 10 points

Minimum passing grade is 70/100.

Oral Examination

The oral examination evaluates theoretical background and analytical skills. The jury independently grades the exam. If mean grade is < 70/100, the student fails. If a student fails only the oral exam, they may submit the same proposal for the next round.

Project Proposal Rules

Max 10 pages (Arial, 11pt, 1.5 spacing). Excludes timeline and references. Duration: 3 years.

Scientifically oriented executive summary (Max 400 words). Includes: Introduction, Aim/Originality, Methodology, Expected Contributions. Up to 10 keywords.

Current state of art, ongoing developments, personal previous work, future research needs (Max 3 pages).

Methodological/conceptual contributions, project quality (sound concept, objectives), innovative potential (Max 1 page).

Approach and research design, work packages, data collection tools, analysis methods (Max 4 pages).

Risks affecting success negatively and Plan-B descriptions (Max 1 page).

Qualification Committee Members

  • Prof. Sreeparna Banerjee
  • Prof. Çağdaş Devrim Son
  • Prof. Meryem Beklioğlu
  • Assoc. Prof. Tülin Yanık
  • Assist. Prof. Didem Ambarlı

Formation of Ph.D. Thesis Defense Examination Committee

The following rules for the formation of thesis defense committees were accepted by the University Graduate Committee.

Ph.D. Examination Committee Composition
  1. Thesis defense examination committees consist of 5 members. The members include the thesis supervisor and two “thesis advisory committee” members, one of whom must be from another university. For the remaining two, one of the members must be from another university.
  2. The co-supervisors could attend the thesis advisory committee meetings, and defense examinations as observers only but cannot participate in decision-making.

All the members must hold academic positions (at least instructor position with Ph.D. degree).

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