Doctor of Philosophy

1. Complete the BMP Core and Depth Curriculum (31 or more units).

2. Meet the university residency requirements for a PhD degree consisting of a minimum of 135 Stanford units, with a maximum of 45 of these units being external transfer credits. 

3. Achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or greater to maintain good academic standing. 

4. All courses taken for the program must be completed with a letter grade and must be passed with a grade of B- or better.

5. Qualifying examination. PhD students will be expected to take and pass an oral qualifying examination during their second year in the program. Students will assemble a qualifying examination committee of eligible faculty per university rules. Following the general structure used in other SoM programs, the examination will consist of a written and oral portion. The written portion will be a 5-page NIH-style proposal of the thesis research, to be distributed to the qualifying examination committee at least one week before the oral examination. The student will present the proposal in a short talk at the oral examination. Qualifying examination committee members will then question the candidate on the proposed research and the underlying science. The examination will cover the proposal and foundational medical physics, imaging, and clinical diagnostics knowledge. The examination committee will then grade the student’s performance as either pass or fail. Students failing the examination will be allowed to retake it once. Students who fail the qualifying examination twice will be offered the option to exit the program with a Master’s degree, having completed the extent of coursework required by Stanford University for this degree.  

6. After applying for Terminal Graduate Registration (TGR) status and completing 135 units, the PhD candidate should register each quarter for RAD 802 TGR PhD Dissertation so that their research effort may be counted toward the degree. 

To be admitted to candidacy for the PhD degree, a student will be in good academic standing and have successfully completed the core course requirements, at least 20 units of coursework in an area of specialization, and passed the qualifying examination. The student must fulfill these requirements and apply for admission to candidacy for the PhD by the beginning of the third year. 

The University Oral Examination is taken after the student has substantially completed their research. See the Dissertation section for more details.

After completing most of their thesis work and when deemed appropriate by the student and the thesis advisor, typically several months before the expected end of the student’s research, the student will coordinate a thesis defense. The defense committee will typically consist of the thesis committee, a defense chair from outside the program as per university rules, and one other faculty member. The defense will consist of an oral presentation of the thesis work, followed by questions about the thesis or other areas of research and scholarship deemed relevant to the research. Students must present a PhD dissertation that results from independent investigation and contributes to knowledge in biomedical physics. The process for the preparation of a dissertation will include:

• The selection of a primary dissertation advisor and at least two additional faculty members to serve on the dissertation committee

• The presentation of a prospectus outlining the proposed research to the committee (generally as part of the qualifying examination)

• The receipt of written approval from the dissertation committee chair

• The passing of the university oral examination, taken after the student has substantially completed their research

• The submission of a final draft of the work signed by all members of the dissertation committee