We acknowledge that the UBC Vancouver campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam).
Note: The exam was updated in 2022. Below information reflects the updated exam timing, format, content, etc.
The purpose of the PhD Comprehensive Exam is to provide PhD students an opportunity to demonstrate the integration of knowledge and successful application of learning from the core curriculum in the PhD program. Students are asked to demonstrate the ability to apply learning in the key areas of proposal development and the ability to critique published research studies, skills that are essential to progress in the program, and to succeed in a research career.
The exam is typically held once each year in late May and/or early June each year. Most students take the exam at the end of their second year of coursework. The exam will be scheduled over a two-week period, with Week 1 focusing on two written submissions, and Week 2 focusing on an oral examination. The Week 1 written submissions include a research proposal developed in response to a simulated ‘Call for Proposals’ and a written critique of a published research article. The Week 2 Oral Examination will be up to one hour, with approximately 30 minutes allocated to review and defence of each of the two written components.
The new format involves four separate components, intended to examine both written and oral competencies related to each of proposal development and the ability to appraise and critique published academic research. Each of these components will be assessed and weighted equally.
The exam is marked as follows: