MCB students form a Doctoral Supervisory Committee after joining a permanent lab. Students are encouraged to select members from different participating institutions to promote productive scientific interactions across the program.
Students must submit their Supervisory Committee to the MCB office (Maia Low) by the following dates:
- MCB students: Last day of Winter Quarter of Year 2
- MSTP students: Last day of Winter Quarter of Year 1
- MSTP students are highly encouraged to include on MSTP Co-Director on their Supervisory Committee (as long as they are not serving as a GSR)
The Supervisory Committee must have a minimum of five members as follows:
- One Chair
- The student’s faculty advisor who is endorsed by the Graduate School.
- One Graduate School Representative (GSR)
- The GSR represents the Graduate School and attests to the validity of the General Exam and Final Exam.
- The GSR must be endorsed by the Graduate School and cannot be affiliated with the same UW department or Fred Hutch Division as the Chair.
- Three other committee members
- At least one must be outside of the Chair’s department or division.
- At least two must be MCB faculty.
- The majority of the committee must be endorsed by the Graduate School.
Once you have selected your Supervisory Committee, please submit the following to Maia Low. Maia will submit the Committee to the Graduate School via MyGrad.
- Chair Name, Primary Department or Division, email address
- GSR Name, Primary Department or Division, email address
- Three (or more) Committee Member Names, Primary Department or Division, email addresses
Faculty must receive an endorsement from the Graduate School to chair a doctoral supervisory committee and to serve as a GSR.
UW faculty receive endorsement through their department. UW faculty often have appointments in several departments or units.
Fred Hutch, BRI, PNRI and CIDR faculty who do not have an UW appointment must apply for endorsement through a UW department. This can take some time, so these students often must appoint a nominal Chair until the faculty advisor has received a UW Grad School Endorsement.
Use The Graduate Faculty Locator to find out if faculty members are endorsed and in which departments or units.
A majority of committee members must be endorsed by the Graduate School. At minimum, then, 3 members (including the Chair and the GSR) must be endorsed.
Fred Hutch students whose faculty advisor is not yet endorsed must make sure to have at least 3 endorsed committee members to form a majority. Sometimes, students will form a committee of seven faculty to meet the endorsement majority requirement.
Students select a GSR, who is a voting member of the committee. The GSR represents the Graduate School and oversees the examination process. The GSR should also not have collaborative ties or shared grants with the Chair.
Current and recent MCB Co-Directors of MCB cannot serve as GSRs for MCB students. This includes:
~ Celeste Berg
~ Julian Simon
~ Nina Salama
~ Richard Gardner
These current directors of the MSTP program cannot serve as GSRs for MSTP students:
~ Heather Cheng
~ Marshall Horwitz
~ Mary-Claire King
~ Stephen Tapscott
UW-based GSRs cannot have a primary, joint or affiliate appointment in the same UW department as the Chair.
Fred Hutch-based GSRs cannot have a primary appointment in the same Fred Hutch Division as the Chair. In addition, Fred Hutch-based GSRs cannot have a primary affiliate appointment in the same UW department as the Chair.
Students may change GSRs but the GSR must always be endorsed.