1. A thesis committee shall make a degree conferment decision based on a student's paper publication records, general knowledge, ability to comprehend and solve problems in Life Science, and paper/dissertation writing skills.
2. It is the minimum requirement of the Department that PhD candidates complete the credit requirements specified in the University Statutes and publish one first-authored paper or more in a major journal in their area of study.
Dept. of Life Sciences PhD degree requirements for international journals (first-authored paper) : SCI(E) journals that for a given year are ranked in the top 20% in each field or have an Impact Factor (IF) of 3.0 or higher.
※Excludes review papers
3. The list of major journals shall be drawn up by faculty members in each area of study, and must be approved by the Department's Graduate Program Committee.
4. In addition to the minimum requirements in 4.2, students first enrolled in Spring 2004 or earlier are required to conduct research equivalent to one paper. Alternatively, this requirement can be met if the advisor and the thesis committee of a student decide that the student has had equivalent research experience and/or education.
5. In addition to the minimum requirements in 4.2, students first enrolled in Fall 2004 or later are, as a general rule, required to publish papers with a combined impact factor of 12 or higher. Alternatively, this requirement can be met if the advisor and the thesis committee of a student decide that the student has had equivalent research experience and/or education.
6. The following scale shall be used for the calculation of authorship credits: first author (100%), co-first author or co-corresponding (80%), second author (50%), and others (30%).
7. Should any problems arise because of disagreement within a thesis committee, the student's advisor may submit a petition to the Graduate Program Committee for deliberation and arbitration.
8. In addition to passing the QE and the thesis proposal, students are required to take seminars as specified by the Department.
* MS and PhD students must attend a minimum of eight seminars per semester for the first four semesters of each degree program. Students in the MS/PhD integrated program must attend a minimum of eight seminars per semester for the first eight semesters of study. A minimum of four of the seminars attended each semester must be the Department's regularly scheduled seminars.

Category	Program	Requirements
Up to	MS/PhD	Must attend a minimum of 8 seminars per semester for 4 semesters, 32 seminar attendance requested in total *a minimum of 4 of the seminars attended each semester must be Regular Seminar
Sept 2015 freshmen	Integrated	Must attend a minimum of 8 seminars per semester for 8 semesters, 64 seminar attendance requested in total
		*a minimum of 4 of the seminars attended each semester must be Regular Seminar
Starting from March 2016 freshmen	MS / PhD /Integrated	1st year (2 semesters): Must take seminar class
		*Must attend a minimum of 11 classes, and maximum of 3 classes can be replaced by LS/IBB special seminar
	MS / PhD	2nd year and on: Must attend a minimum of 8 seminars per semester for 2 semesters-16 seminar attendance required in total
		*a minimum of 4 of the seminars attended each semester must be Regular Seminar
	Integrated	2nd year and on: Must attend a minimum of 8 seminars per semester for 6 semesters-48 seminar attendance required in total
		*a minimum of 4 of the seminars attended each semester must be Regular Seminar

9. Students must fulfill the teaching assistant duty as required by the department.

1. Students in the PhD program must form a thesis committee within two semesters of study; students in the MS/PhD integrated program within six semesters of study.
2. At least one of the five members in a doctoral thesis committee must be a professor from outside of a student’s department, and at least half of the committee members must be POSTECH faculty members.
3. Students in the PhD program must submit a thesis proposal to their thesis committee and have an oral defense within two semesters of study; students in the MS/PhD program within six semesters of study.
4. If a student fails a thesis proposal defense at his/her first attempt, he/she is allowed to have a maximum of one more attempt, and it must take place within six months from the original defense date.
5. A thesis proposal defense may be postponed once up to six months. (Implemented from Sep. 11, 2017)
6. In principle, if a student passes a thesis proposal defense, he/she must present and discuss the research progress at a meeting with thesis committee members once every year before the graduation. (Implemented from Sep. 11, 2017)

1. If a student enrolled in the MS/PhD integrated program cannot continue with his/her study for unavoidable reasons, the Department's Graduate Program Committee can consider whether to confer an MS degree on the student.
2. It is the principle of the Department that master's candidates complete the credit requirements specified in the University Statutes and publish a paper in a journal listed in the SCI(E) database. However, the thesis committee may deliberate on the case and decide to confer a degree if a student's advisor files a petition.
* Co-first authored papers published in SCI(E) journals are also acceptable. (Implemented from August 11, 2007)
3. A master's thesis committee must be composed of three faculty members (as per University regulations).

1. A co-advisor can be selected if desired both by the student and the current advisor (as per University regulations).
2. A co-advisor must provide guidance for the advisee on a regular basis.