Students advance to candidacy for the Doctoral degree upon successfully demonstrating a high level of scholarship in full-time study at the Ph.D. level, and upon completing all preparatory work and demonstrating readiness to proceed to the dissertation phase. You must complete and submit a Ph.D. Form I: Report of the Ph.D. Candidacy Committee to the Graduate Dean BEFORE the opening of the quarter in which the degree is expected. Relevant deadlines are posted on the OGS website and in the quarterly Schedule of Classes.
For more information regarding the Doctoral degree and related policies and procedures please see your faculty graduate advisor. UCI's Graduate Advisor's Handbook provides current implementation guidelines that faculty may use.
Candidacy Committee Membership
There may be confusion about the requirements for committee membership. Unfortunately, sometimes a student completes the Advancement exam, only to find that s/he needs to retake the exam because the Candidacy Committee was not appropriate. So, please be sure that your committee meets the requirements well before your examination date. The Candidacy Committee is comprised of five faculty who are voting members of the University of California Academic Senate (see Senate and non-Senate Academic Titles). A majority of the committee must be affiliated with your program. One (at most) non-voting member of the Academic Senate will be considered by the Graduate Dean for general membership on the committee on an exception-only basis. Finally, one member of the committee, the "Outside Member," must be a voting member of the Irvine Division of the Academic Senate, and may not hold a primary or joint appointment in your department or academic unit. The outside member's role is to serve as an unbiased and independent judge of both the quality and fairness of the advancement exam.
Conflict of Interest
You, the departmental faculty graduate advisor, and the department chair must complete the Conflict of Interest statement, which is included in the Ph.D. Form I packet. More information about conflict of interest in graduate education is available on the OGS website.
International Doctoral Students
International doctoral students who have advanced to candidacy may be eligible for a 75% reduction of the University's annual non-resident tuition. See Tuition Reduction Program for details.
