The first-year oral exam schedule is posted here: 2026 First-Year Oral Exam Schedule

Please review this section of the Chemistry Graduate Program Handbook for first-year oral exam policies and procedures.

BASIC EXAM REQUIREMENTS

• The format of the exam will include a short presentation by the student of no more than 10 minutes, followed by approximately 50 min. of questions by the committee. 

• The student can have five slides or figures to use during their presentation

  • Title slides are not required and should not be included
  • The five slides are intended to include data, tables, or figures that could not be easily reproduced on the board and should not include text or formulas that the student should be expected to know
  • The slides may include animations (timed or sequential appearance of graphics), but there should be no overlap animated graphics

• The student should only use the chalkboard or whiteboard during the committee's questioning period

  • The presentation and paper will serve as the starting point for the committee's questions
    • Students are expected to discuss the content of the paper and respond to questions about broader concepts underlying the research described in the paper and work in teh references therein, especially as it relates to the content of first-year coursework

PAPER SELECTION REQUIREMENTS

• Please do not submit a paper to your committee without first having it approved by your advisor.

• Please have one or two additional papers selected in case the committee denies your first-choice article.

• Papers must be uploaded here: First Year Oral Exam Paper Upload Link

  • Papers must be uploaded four weeks prior to the first day of the division's oral exams
    • Paper submission deadlines are included on the 2026 First-Year Oral Exam Schedule
  • Papers must be approved or denied by oral exam committees no later than three weeks before the first day of the division's oral exams
  • Students should choose an article that covers substantial scientific issues and that is not overly difficult
    • An article that is, for example, a brief communication of measurements will give the examination committee little inspiration for exam questions
      • In this case, the line of questioning will be less predictable, which will put the student at a disadvantage
         

Additional paper requirements by division are as follows:

Analytical

• Must be a full-length research article (no communications, letters, or review articles)
• Acceptable publication date range: 2020-2026

Biological

The paper must be a research article (i.e. cannot be a review article)

It is recommended that students not pick a paper published by a member of their research group. The paper should have been published within the last 5 years. 

Chemical Education

• must be published within the last five years (acceptance date of publication must be no later than 2020). 
• is highly recommended to be featured in the Journal of Chemical Education or Chemistry Education Research and Practice, but other science education/learning science journals such as Science Education, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and Journal of the Learning Sciences are permitted
• must be a research article (not a literature review, commentary, or laboratory experiment). 

Multidisciplinary

Papers must be selected in consultation with the advisor.

Inorganic

• The division recommends that students select an article published within the last 5 years
• The article cannot be a review or perspective and must contain an original research contribution
• Students must consult with their advisor on the paper selection and obtain advisor approval before uploading

Organic

• The article must be no more than 4 years old
• Published in a journal with an impact factor above 3
• Either a full research article or communications; review articles are not recommended
  • Researchers should select a topic of interest and/or directly related to their research topic but not one that is published by their own group
• Students should bear in mind that the focus of the presentation must be on the chemistry of the topic.

Physical

The Physical Division First-Year Oral Exam Committee recommends selecting a normal-length paper in a discipline-specific journal in your field. Communications and other short papers in multidisciplinary journals such as Science and Nature typically make poor exam papers, although there is no explicit rule against selecting a paper from these journals.