Thesis or Substantive Research Project
Individuals pursuing the Master of Science in Clinical Research are required to complete a formal thesis or substantive research project. The thesis or project will apply toward the 30 credits needed for the master's degree and must satisfy the following requirements: (1) It must be primarily independent work by the student. (2) It must be submitted to the student's specialty track faculty in written form. (3) It must form the basis for a comprehensive review of competence by the specialty track committee.
As described below, there are two standard mechanisms that are considered appropriate for the substantive research project. The student must submit a one-page prospectus on the mechanism of choice by June of the CSTP research year. The prospectus should include (1) a brief description of the plan to meet the thesis requirements and (2) the names of the three or more members of the student's review committee. The prospectus must be reviewed and approved by the associate director of the CSTP.
- A standard thesis: A student may elect to write a master's thesis in his or her field of specialty. A thesis produced under this option must conform to all applicable University policies regarding theses (visit www.pitt.edu/~graduate/etd for details) and must be defended before the student's formal review committee (see below).
- Manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals: At the discretion of a student's specialty track director, the student may elect to write two first-author manuscripts related to his or her research and to submit these manuscripts as evidence of independent work. The manuscripts must be original research papers organized and formatted for peer-reviewed journals, and they must be "submission ready." Each manuscript must be reviewed and approved by the student's formal review committee (see below).
Other options may fulfill the substantive research project requirement, subject to approval by the associate director of the CRSP.
Each of the options listed above must be reviewed and defended before a review committee consisting of a minimum of three persons: the student's mentor, an Institute for Clinical Research Education (ICRE) faculty member (e.g., the associate director of the CSTP), and an ad hoc member. The ad hoc member should be someone familiar with the student's project. To avoid conflicts of interest in the two-manuscript option, the committee must include a member who is not a coauthor on either manuscript. Although it is expected that the student's mentor would be a coauthor on both manuscripts, other members of the committee should not be a coauthor on more than one of the manuscripts. The ICRE faculty member will determine if the presence of a statistical reviewer is necessary.
The student's presentation to the review committee should be scheduled at least 2 months prior to graduation to allow enough time for revisions and subsequent reviews. Once approval is granted by the review committee and formal documentation is submitted to the ICRE, the student will receive a passing grade and will be permitted to proceed with the graduation ceremonies.
