All Ph.D. students must take and successfully complete the Research Aptitude Examination (RAE) in the first year of the Ph.D. program. The RAE is held twice a year, once in June and once in July. The timeline for the examination period is announced by the BIOE Graduate Office before the end of the spring semester.

The exam consists of a written proposal and oral presentation on a selected research problem statement. Students are responsible for identifying their research proposal topic and generating their research problem statement. The topic and problem statement must be related to one of the research areas or projects from the student’s fall rotations (or assigned lab for direct admit students), such that the research conducted during the rotation prepares the student for the proposed project or project extension. It is expected that during the rotation the student will have learned the key problems and experimental methods/options in the related field. Additionally, students are expected to use their newly-acquired knowledge, preliminary investigations from their rotation, and/or literature reports to support the proposed work as they prepare the RAE written proposal and oral presentation.

Students will email their topic and problem statement to the BIOE Graduate Office (bioe-grad@umd.edu) by the advertised deadline, which is several weeks in advance of the written proposal submission date. Submitted topics and problem statements will be shared with the appropriate PI to confirm the topic is consistent with research conducted during that student’s rotation. 

Students should adhere to all deadlines, including the deadline for being permitted to speak to any fellow students, faculty, or anyone else regarding the exam. 

Students must then prepare a written proposal and an oral presentation in response to their problem statement. The written proposal must be submitted electronically to bioe-grad@umd.edu and assigned committee members. The oral presentation is delivered to a committee of three faculty members, one of whom is designed the committee chair. The written copy must include the University Honor Pledge typed and signed on the title page under your name: “I pledge on my honor that I have neither given nor received any unauthorized assistance on this examination.” All work must be your own – the University Honor Pledge will be strictly enforced and any instances of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Students can refer to the university’s Code of Academic Integrity for definitions of academic dishonesty. All research proposals will be sent to the PI of the relevant rotation to screen for potential plagiarism. If a proposal is found to be plagiarized, the student will automatically fail the RAE and will be reported to the university’s Office of Student Conduct for academic dishonesty. Questions should be directed to bioe-grad@umd.edu or in person to the Graduate Director.

Part I: Written Proposal

The objective of the written proposal is to communicate how a specific research problem may be investigated.  The proposal should be prepared using 11-point Arial font, 1-inch margins, and 1.0 line spacing. The final document should consist of the following:

Title Page (1 page maximum): Include your name, title of your proposal, and signed honor pledge.

Abstract (1 page maximum): Briefly describe the problem of interest, its significance, and the proposed investigation.

Specific Aims and Research Strategy (3 pages maximum):  Based on an analysis of the relevant literature in the field, provide the rationale for your project, emphasizing:

1. the question(s) or challenge(s) you are addressing

2. the limitations of the current knowledge and/or best solutions

3. the innovative and impactful nature of your proposed approach 

Explicitly list the specific objectives or aims of your project, e.g., to test one or more hypotheses, create novel models or methodologies, or develop new technology. Then, describe your experimental plan for how these aims/objectives will be achieved. Where possible, use preliminary data collected by you (preferred) or from others in your laboratory group to justify your plan of action.

Methodology (1 page maximum): Detailed description of the critical methodology for your proposed research.

Cited References (no page limit): List literature sources cited in a format that allows for easy accessibility by the committee (e.g. authors, year published, title, journal, and article URL).

Part II: Oral Presentation

The objective of the oral presentation is to succinctly communicate the key points of the written proposal. Typically, this would require an introduction that presents the field of research and then a discussion of the experimental plan. The presentation should not exceed 30 minutes; therefore, it is recommended that the presentation not exceed 25 slides. Both during and after the presentation, the committee may ask questions about the proposal, as well as relevant background topics.

Each student will be notified by email of the place and time of the oral presentation. The presentations should be delivered using Microsoft PowerPoint or other equivalent presentation software. 

Evaluation

After questioning has been completed, the student leaves the room, and the committee discusses the student's performance. Each individual committee member will submit an evaluation on the written proposal (manuscript) and oral presentation with regard to the following scale and categories.  A minimum total score of 12 out of 24 possible points is considered a passing score.

0=unacceptable; 1= marginally acceptable; 2= acceptable; 3= above average; 4= outstanding

Evaluation categories (manuscript and presentation scored separately):

• • Understanding of fundamentals

  • Understanding of the current literature (state of the art in the field) and how their proposal relates to the literature and the current state of the art

  • Logic and feasibility of approach

Those scores will then be combined across all categories, resulting in a total committee member score (out of 24 points). Finally, the committee chair will collect and calculate the average of the three total committee members’ scores. At the chair’s discretion, the committee members may choose to discuss and reevaluate individual scores. Final averaged scores of 12/24 or higher will result in passed attempt. Final averaged scores below 12/24 will result in a failed attempt. 

If the student fails the first attempt at the exam, they can take the exam a second time at the next available offering of the RAE. It is highly recommended that the student modifies the proposal according to the recommendations of the committee. If the  student fails a second attempt, they must exit the Ph.D. program and have the option of completing the Master of Science program.

RAE Committee

There will be one committee formed by six BIOE TTK faculty members. Each student will be examined by 3 members of the committee. Volunteers for this committee will be solicited every December and chosen on a first come first served basis. Advisors cannot be in the RAE for their advisees. 

The courses BIOE606: Bioengineering Graduate Studies will be used to monitor the progress of first year graduate students and to orient them on the RAE.