FAQ

Yes, all full-time PhD students in the BCCB program receive an academic year stipend of ~24 K and they receive a full tuition scholarship. Most BCCB PhD students are further supported over the summer months with an additional stipend of 4K.

If you entered with a Bachelor's degree, you must register for 12 credits for each of your first two semesters to be considered full-time. Earning 24 credits satisfies the residency requirement. You then register for only nine credits a semester to be considered full-time. After you reach ABD (all but dissertation) status and are admitted to Ph.D. candidacy, you are considered full-time if you register for only one credit of dissertation research (BCHM 699) each semester.

If you entered with a Master's degree or have earned a Master's degree at Binghamton and are continuing for a Ph.D. degree, you will register for only nine credits a semester to be considered full-time. After you reach ABD status, you are considered full-time if you register for only one credit of dissertation research (BCHM 699) each semester.

The BCCB director will assist you with registration and course selection until a research advisor is selected.

BCHM 597 is used when you take a course to satisfy a placement requirement. It is also sometimes used for an Independent Study course to fill a schedule of 9 or 12 credits before you reach a Course Complete (CC) status. As defined by the graduate school at Binghamton University, to qualify for "CC" status, a graduate student must have completed all coursework required for the degree by the first day of classes of the semester in which the student is to be designated as "CC." Coursework can be considered complete only when a grade has been assigned for each course; coursework is not complete when the grade recorded is "Incomplete." For our graduate program this means that (i) the student has no outstanding placement deficiencies and (ii) all six major 4 credit special topic courses, CHEM 592, CHEM 591 (two semesters) are completed before the first day of classes of the semester in which the student is to be designated as "CC."

You can register for one credit of BCHM 698 (Pre-Dissertation Research) once you met the residency requirement and you also reached CC status, but have not yet reached the ABD status. Once you reached ABD status, you register for one credit of BCHM 699. Until that time you should register for BCHM 698.

In order to qualify for one credit of BCHM 698 registration and yet be certified as full time for loan or visa purposes, the graduate school requires also following additional criteria to be met: The student's supervisor and program director must certify that the student is making a full-time investment in work toward their degree. Domestic PhD students must be within one academic year of ABD status. International PhD students must have reached CC-status.

Ph.D. students may not register for BCHM 699 until they have been admitted to candidacy and have thus reached an ABD status. For our graduate program reaching ABD status means that (i) the student is already with a course complete (CC) status and then the student also (ii) passed in the following order the comprehensive literature review (CLR), the preliminary oral examination (OE), and submitted a dissertation prospectus approved by his/her committee. Finally, the ABD status needs to be approved by the Graduate School before the add/drop deadline of the semester in which the student is to be designated as "ABD."

BCHM 698 (Pre-Dissertation Research) and 699 (Dissertation Research) do not count toward the residency requirement of 24 credits, so graduate students should not register for them until the residency requirement is fulfilled. (The same applies to BCHM 598 and 599 in a Master's program.)

Yes. More specifically, 100 % attendance is mandatory for all non-ABD students, and 50 % attendance is expected from all ABD ones.

Yes

CLR exam is completed at the end of the first academic year or in the first semester of the second year. Your research advisor may assist you in selecting the topic for your CLR, however, they may not participate in the writing or preparation for your CLR exam.

Preliminary Oral exam: After passing the CLR exam, the preliminary oral examination must be completed before the beginning of the fifth semester.

Within one (1) month of successful completion of the oral exam, or before the start of the next semester, whichever comes first.