Preliminary Qualifying Exam (PQE)

The Goal


The primary goal of the Preliminary Qualifying Examination (PQE) in BBS is to ensure that you are able to assemble an effective research proposal, and then discuss the details of this project with a team of faculty that you select.  Research proposal development is a skillset essential for the vast majority of research careers that our students pursue after degree completion.  Developing your PQE proposal will challenge you to put into practice many of the concepts, skills and approaches that drive your field of research forward.

BBS PQE examiners are asked to assess whether you have achieved an appropriately high standard of scientific scholarship and experimental design skills for successful completion of your independent Ph.D. thesis research and career development.  In addition to evaluating your foundation of knowledge on the disciplines relevant for your proposal research across a spectrum of topics in genetics, molecular biology, cell biology and biochemistry, the PQE will help you hone your ability to:

  • Develop hypothesis- or technology-driven research plans likely to advance your chosen field
  • Prepare a detailed and compelling research plan to test these hypotheses or technologies, including describing the overall strategy, specific methodology and rigorous analyses to be used to accomplish the aims as well as discussing potential problems, and alternative strategies and contingencies
  • Generate creative and forward-thinking aim(s) that will advance a given field
  • Orally explain and defend these ideas and the particular design of your research plan
  • Critically analyze and interpret data, including the application of relevant statistical tests

For questions regarding the PQE, please contact Danny Gonzalez at daniel_gonzalez@hms.harvard.edu.