Annual BME/BIOI PhD Evaluation

As part of the mandatory PhD evaluation process for AY24-25, please review the revised instructions below. Either the student progress update form or the annual thesis committee meeting is required for all BME and BIOI PhD students depending on your year in the PhD program.

BME and BIOI PhD students who have completed LESS THAN 24 MONTHS in the program as of August 15, 2024:

All PhD students who have completed less than 24 months as of August 15, 2024 within the Department of Biomedical Engineering (encompassing both BME and BIOI programs) are mandated to fill out the form at https://go.uic.edu/bmephdprogress no later than March 15, 2025. This entails uploading your most recent resume/CV to the form. (Note: A copy of the form can be viewed at https://uofi.box.com/v/progress-update allowing you to prepare your answers before initiating the online submission process.) Failure to adhere to this requirement may result in a registration hold.

BME and BIOI PhD students who have completed 24 OR MORE MONTHS in the program as of August 15, 2024:

A. Conditions

All PhD students in their 3rd year or beyond in the Department of Biomedical Engineering must organize and attend annual committee meetings.

A minimum of the advisor (chair) plus two selected committee members must be present in the live meeting/session. Should two additional committee members (making a total of five) be identified for the final committee (though not required), they may either attend the meeting or be provided the inputs detailed below to garner feedback. Ensure the committee composition adheres to the rules for forming a preliminary exam committee, detailed [here](https://bme.uic.edu/graduate/phd-programs/preliminary-exams/), to avoid unnecessary reformation in the future.

All following inputs and outputs must be completed by July 15, 2025.

Exceptions apply for a preliminary exam or final thesis defense scheduled by the above deadline. To apply for an exception, submit the form, found [here](https://go.uic.edu/BME-eval-exception), after scheduling your preliminary exam or final thesis defense with the selected committee.

B. Inputs

Students must provide a 2-3 page write-up containing background/significance, aims, innovation, and approach (both experimental and/or computational). It should detail progress on each aim and steps planned for the next 12 months until the subsequent committee meeting. Include figures if desired, and keep references outside the page limit. Ensure this writeup is provided to the committee at least 7 days prior to the live meeting.

A 30-minute presentation, covering background/significance, aims, innovation, and approach (both experimental and/or computational), plus next steps planned for the following 12 months, should be prepared.

Allow a maximum of 30 minutes for Q&A and discussion post-presentation, totaling a meeting time of one hour.

Meetings may be conducted via Zoom if necessary and can be recorded for committee members who are unable to attend. Nonetheless, the advisor plus two committee members must be present live.

The faculty advisor (committee chair) should complete the form available [here] https://go.uic.edu/BME-advisor-eval and distribute a completed copy to committee members at least 7 days prior to the annual committee meeting. While not obligatory, the faculty advisor may choose to provide a copy to the PhD student or keep it confidential. One form per PhD student should be filled out.

C. Output

Within 14 days of the annual live committee meeting, the faculty advisor (committee chair), in close collaboration with the PhD committee members, should complete the form found [here] https://go.uic.edu/BME-committee-eval and provide copies to both the PhD student and committee members. Ensure one form is filled out for each PhD student.