Master's Plan II

Master’s Degree en route to PhD

Current Neuroscience PhD students are eligible to obtain their Master's degree en route to their PhD. 

To officially obtain the Master’s Plan II degree en route to the PhD, students will need to complete all Neuroscience core courses, a minimum of 36 units, and have a minimum 3.0 GPA. Students will also need to complete and pass the Qualifying Exam. The forms for the Plan II MS can be found on Gradsphere. Once ready, students will complete the following forms/steps:

  1. Dual degree objective (Petition to Change/add Majors or Degree Objective) form . A student would select YES, to continue with their current PhD objective and select  “Multiple degree objectives”. The signature of a faculty graduate advisor for “present” and “new” is required.  Completed Petition to Change/add Majors or Degree Objective forms should be returned to the Graduate Coordinator, Linette Scibelli, who will submit the form via Gradsphere. 
  2. Once Grad Studies has approved the Petition to Change/add Majors or Degree Objective form above, students will then need to complete the “Advancement To Candidacy Application”, found in Gradsphere. Students will list all their first year and second year course work. (Select GNES MS Plan II from the drop down list under Degree Pathway and pay the $55 candidacy fee.)  
  3. Once Grad Studies has approved a student's Master’s Candidacy, to officially file and obtain the Masters degree, students will complete the MS Plan II Report, under Degree Completion in Gradsphere. The Qualifying Exam serves as the Comprehensive Exam. 

If you have any questions regarding the process, please contact Linette Scibelli.

Mastering out

Master’s Candidacy & Final Requirements

By advancing to candidacy, master's degree students officially submit their program of study to Graduate Studies, identify their faculty mentor(s), and state which master’s plan they will pursue. 

Master’s students are eligible to advance to candidacy when they have:
  • Passed at least half of the coursework required according to the program degree requirements.   Developed a program of study including all coursework taken and remaining for the degree.  These courses will be listed on the Candidacy Application, and passing/pending grades will be verified by Graduate Studies.  
  • Earned a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
  • The Graduate Coordinator or Graduate Advisor should advise students not to include courses on the candidacy that are not degree requirements.
  • Registered full-time or part-time in the current quarter, or the upcoming quarter if advancing in summer or between quarters.  
  • Master’s students may be registered part-time throughout their course of study with approval from their program and OUR.   
  • Plan II - The graduate program will assist students with selecting an approved committee.  Plan II committees are not reviewed for eligibility by Graduate Studies.  

Master's Candidacy Plans

Master's Plan I and II regulations are located in Academic Senate DDR 520(c).  

  • Master's Plan II (Exam/Capstone Project)
    • •  Plan II programs must included a minimum of 36 units, but programs may specify requirements in addition to those listed here.
      •  At least 18 units must be graduate courses in the major field.
         - Not more than 9 units of research (299 or equivalent) may be used to satisfy the 18-unit requirement. 
      The final requirements may include a comprehensive exam, a project, or a capstone course.
         - These are evaluated by a committee approved by the student's graduate program.  
         - The committee chair submits the results of the final requirement to Graduate Studies using the Master's Plan II Report.

Master's Final Requirements

  • Master's Thesis
    • A master's thesis is an original scholarly work, about a specific subject in the field, written under the guidance of the major professor.  The thesis synthesizes the student's learning, research, and development in the graduate program.  An eligible thesis committee reads and evaluates the thesis, and if approved, the student submits the thesis electronically to Graduate Studies.  Information about the filing process is available on Filing Your Thesis or Dissertation.  
  • Master's Comprehensive Exam or Capstone Project
    • After a Plan II student has advanced to candidacy, they are eligible to take the comprehensive exam or complete the capstone project. The format, content, and timing are determined by the student's graduate program, and the program is responsible for evaluating and reporting the results to Graduate Studies.  

      The Policy on UC Davis Master's Degree Capstone Requirement includes four standards for master's capstones:
      1. Capstone projects should be synthetic, tying together two or more areas of specific content that would typically be the subject of a class or a sequence of classes
      2. Capstone projects can be individual or group-based exercises. If a project is group-based, the individual student’s achievements and contributions should be assessed through robust means.
      3. The report should be evaluated by at least two reviewers; and at least one of them should have no direct vested interest in the success of the student
      4. To ensure the consistent quality and scope of capstone projects, there should be a single coordinator or adviser who judges the appropriateness of planned projects and their timelines, following guidelines established by the program faculty.