Qualifying Exam Prep Class for Pharmacology

Graduate / Professional

The goal of this class is to teach students to conceive, write, and defend a grant proposal. The timing of this half-term course is aligned with the pharmacology qualifying exam in the spring term, for which a written research proposal is required. This course takes students through the steps of proposal writing, guiding them in defining a problem of their own and training them in the mechanics of writing. Additional support is given as needed to students with more limited writing experience. By taking the “guesswork” out of the writing process, students can focus on the development of their research proposal without the added anxiety associated with an unfamiliar process. Students learn about the structure and components of fellowship and grant proposals. They engage in “mock study sections”, providing written critiques and participating in discussion of sample proposals assigned by the instructors. Students give oral presentations of their specific aims followed by classroom discussion. At the end of the course, students will have made substantial progress toward completing the written portion of their qualifying exam and gained a set of competencies central to this program. Open to pharmacology graduate students only. WF 9am-10:30am