Doctor of Philosophy | Biological Sciences

There are two intakes each year - August or January. Applicants are advised to upload their applications 4 months before their desired intake.  Intake in August or January is subject to the school's selection and recommendation. The University reserves the right to admit applicants in other semesters. 

Applicants from Local Universities

Applicants from autonomous universities in Singapore must have a relevant Bachelor’s degree with at least Honours (Distinction) or better. Graduate Record Examination (GRE), Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE), Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and International English Language Testing System (IELTS) need not be provided.

Applicants from Overseas Universities (based on Bachelor's degree)

Applicants from overseas universities must have a relevant Bachelor’s degree with at least 2nd Upper Honours or better, or the equivalent.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores need not be provided.

TOEFL/IELTS scores are required if the Bachelor's degree was not conducted in English. These may be waived if the applicant can provide documentary proof that English was used as the medium of instruction during tertiary studies.

As the selection process is competitive, meeting all prior requirements does not guarantee selection. All applicants will be holistically evaluated based on the submitted research proposal, research and work experience, and other relevant experiences.  

Applications for admission must be submitted online. For more information, please click on Research Programmes Admissions Guide. 

For higher degrees by research, candidates may be admitted as full-time or part-time students. The minimum and maximum periods of candidature for both full-time and part-time are as follows: find out more.

Courses 

Courses Offered in Semester 1  

Courses Offered in Semester 2

Both HWG703 Graduate English Course and HWG702 Teaching Assistant Programme are compulsory for all full-time Ph.D. students. HWG703 may be exempted if you meet the exemption criteria. Students must pass both HWG702 and HWG703 before Ph.D. Confirmation / Qualifying Examination (QE) in order to receive the Research Scholarship Stipend increment. Students who are exempted for HWG703 are required to take and pass HWG702.

ERIC and Safety Training Requirements

Epigeum Research Integrity Course (ERIC)

ERWA01 and ERWA02

• All Postgraduate research students must complete the Research Integrity Course in their first semester in NTU (course code ERWA01), and the course results (P/F) will appear in their transcripts.
• Students who fail this course will be re-enrolled in the next semester.
• Thereafter, students are required to renew their certification before the end of Year 3 by completing Epigeum Research Integrity Re-certification Course (course code ERWA02) on NTULearn. 

More information can be found Training on Research Integrity | Research | NTU Singapore

Safety Training Requirements

All new students are required to complete the relevant safety training courses applicable to their research activities within the first month of commencement of candidature in SBS. Students should consult their supervisor and/or their laboratory safety representative to confirm which safety courses is applicable to them.

Student can access the courses via NTUlearn.

Upon completion of the required courses, students should forward a copy of their training records/transcript to their laboratory safety representative.

Please note that these safety training courses must be renewed every three (3) years via NTULearn (Refresher Training) in accordance with the University's safety requirements.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Students should consult their supervisor and/or their laboratory safety representative regarding any additional licences or certifications required for handling specific equipment, materials, or research activities within the laboratory, such as involving ultrasonic devices, laser devices (eg. Confocal microscope, flow cytometers), radioactive materials/devices etc.

Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC)

1. Every new PhD student is required to form a Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) within 8 to 9 months of enrolment into the graduate programme.

2. The committee should comprise at least 3 members: the main supervisor (who will serve as the Chair of the committee) and two other members, one of whom must be an external member who is not from within NTU.

Chair of TAC: Supervisor

Member 1: Preferably a faculty member from SBS or within NTU

Member 2: An external examiner who is not from within NTU (E.g. from another university)

3. The TAC members must have a PhD or equivalent doctoral research degree. NTU faculty who are Full Professor, Associate Professor or Assistant Professor qualify for appointment as a TAC member.
   
   Senior Lecturers and Lecturers who had not been approved to be Main Supervisors of PhD students can also be appointed as TAC members.

4. The objective of the TAC is to provide guidance and support to the graduate student throughout their course of study.

5. The TAC should meet the student at the 9th, 30th and 42nd month from the date of admission to review the student’s progress and provide guidance and advice.

6. The committee will assess whether the student has done sufficient research and has obtained adequate data for writing of the final dissertation. In cases of academic disputes between the student and supervisor (e.g. readiness to proceed with dissertation writing), the TAC will review the student’s progress and recommend the appropriate course of action.

7. The TAC may also recommend the termination of PhD candidature if the student’s progress is deemed minimal or unsatisfactory.

See the recommended timeline for TAC meetings below. 

 

Ph.D. Candidature Confirmation (QE)

1. The PhD Qualifying Examination (QE) is an important and integral part of the overall assessment of every PhD candidate. 
   
   
2. Every PhD student has to pass the QE which is arranged and conducted by the respective Schools typically at around 18th month, but not exceeding 24th month from the commencement of the student’s PhD candidature. The timing of the Qualifying Examination may be initiated by the supervisor or by the School. Note: The student needs to achieve a cGPA of 3.5 and above before he/she can proceed to sit for the QE. 
   
   
3. Under the guidance of the student’s supervisor, he/she should submit a succinct QE report to members of the QE panel at least one month before the date of the QE presentation. The QE panel can direct the student to amend the report to the satisfaction of the supervisor/co-supervisor. 
   
   
4. Members of the QE panel for PhD students should be holding a PhD qualification or its equivalent doctoral research degrees. Nominations of QE Panel are to be approved by the School Associate Chair (Graduate Studies).
   
   
5. The Qualifying Examination panel should consist of at least 3 independent members who are appointed by the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies). The Chairman, whose role is that of the representative of the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies), should be a senior faculty staff who is an Associate Professor or above. The other internal members of the QE panel can be tenured or tenure-track faculty staff. NTU’s lecturers and senior lecturers cannot serve as members of the QE panel. 
   
   
6. The other two independent members of QE panel may be members of the Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) provided there is no conflict of interest and that these TAC members do not have joint publications with the PhD candidate. The supervisor and co-supervisor cannot be members of the QE panel. In the case of IPP funded students, the Industry TAC member may participate in the QE without being a voting member. 
   
   
7. The role of the QE panel is to establish that the student has a realistic programme of study and research (with intermediate objectives) on a topic that offers sufficient scope for research training and which is likely to prove an intellectually rewarding investigation that can be expected to produce sufficient results for submission of an acceptable thesis in the time designated for the degree. 
   
   
8. It is not a requirement for the PhD student to publish any journal paper prior to the Qualifying Examination.