Graduate Studies for Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree

1. General Information

Students are required to develop a working hypothesis and research tools. They are also required to engage in academic writing and produce a thesis and articles with scientific contribution deserving to be published in first-rate publications.

Students are also required to attend courses.

2. Admission of students to doctoral studies

PhD candidates are required to have a GPA of at least 86 in the graduate program and the master’s thesis. To be admitted for doctoral studies, students must register, have a personal interview with the faculty committee, and select an advisor. Current research areas can be seen here. THIS SHOULD BE YOUR FIRST STEP.

For more information about enrollment and the graduate school, see here (these pages are in Hebrew).

3. Course of study

Research

  1. At the end of the first academic year, students submit a proposal for the doctoral dissertation that includes preliminary results obtained during the year, which support work hypotheses stated in the research proposal. Students participate in an oral discussion of their proposal and of the relevant research areas before a two-member monitoring committee, appointed by the faculty committee for research students. After approval by the monitoring committee, the proposal is submitted for approval of the university committee for research students.
  2. The monitoring committee oversees student progress over the period of the doctoral studies. Once a year, students must submit a report approved by the advisor. The monitoring committee summons students in order to determine their rate of progress.
  3. Upon completion of their research, students submit a summary report to the monitoring committee. After approval by the committee, the students can begin writing their doctoral dissertation.

Courses

Students are required to take 8 credits per year.

Courses are spread over four academic years.

Elective courses for doctoral students are selected with the guidance of advisors in the students’ areas of specialization in their research work, from the list of post-graduate courses.

Four seminar papers must be submitted, each worth 0.5 credit (for the total of 2 credits out of 8).

The courses include two mandatory courses for biomedical students:

Course No. 81-900 – "New horizons in molecular and cellular biology" – 1 credit.

Course No. 81-901– "Research methods and principles of the use of scientific equipment and technology" – 3 credits.

Students are also required to attend the “faculty colloquium" (lectures on research), course No. 81-898.

Health sciences students must take other relevant courses in consultation with their advisors to fulfil the credit requirement.

Students working with laboratory animals are required to take a course, "Using animals in experiments," before starting their work in the laboratory: course No. 81-899.

In addition, students who have not previously studied at Bar-Ilan University must take basic courses totaling 4 credits.

Scholarship

Students will receive a living stipend, exemption from tuition, and a housing grant for living in the Galilee.