The School Graduate Programme

The School of Medicine Graduate Programme is a research oriented programme aimed at training competent biomedical scientists and clinician-scientists who will spearhead and drive the medical biotechnology efforts in the industry.

Students are engaged in supervised research with staff members from any of the departments for their period of candidature, at the end of which, they submit a thesis that is examined by a Board of Examiners. The students will enroll for the MSc or PhD programme at admission and fulfill requirements to graduate either with a generic MSc or PhD degree. There is no specialization of the degrees awarded.

In addition to the research component, students are required to take and pass coursework, which comprises of two core modules and two elective modules. The two core modules are MDG5108 (Biostatistics for Basic Research) and MDG5771 (Graduate Research Seminar). Students may choose their two elective modules from those offered by the School, Department of Biological Sciences or Research Institutes affiliated with the National University of Singapore. The two highly recommended elective modules are MDG5214 (Research Skills) and MDG5102 (Techniques in Biomedical Research). Upon satisfactory completion of the 4 modules prescribed, all PhD candidates have to take two additional elective modules which can be chosen from those offered by the School, Department of Biological Sciences or Research Institutes affiliated with the National University of Singapore.

All PhD and MSc students who wish to upgrade to PhD, will be required to pass a Qualifying Examination. Students may apply for the Qualifying Examination upon satisfactory completion of the coursework required and criteria specified for the upgrading. The candidate will be required to make an oral presentation in front of the Qualifying Examination Panel comprising of 3 members, with one member from the School Graduate Programme Committee and 2 other invited members. Candidates with good coursework grades and data published or publishable in a reputable journal will be allowed to upgrade or registered for PhD.

Each PhD student will have a Thesis Advisory Committee comprising the Supervisor and 2 members nominated by the Head of Department. The Thesis Advisory Committee is responsible for monitoring the progress of the students and making recommendations on the suitability of candidates for submission of their theses.

Residence Requirement

All candidates must fulfill a minimum period of residence in Singapore. The minimum residence requirement for MSc and PhD degrees is 6 months and 18 months respectively. In addition, all candidates must be resident during the semester in which they submit their thesis for examination.

Candidature Period

The maximum period of candidature for MSc and PhD degrees is three and five years respectively.