All students are initially advised by the Director of Graduate Studies. Students then receive other advisors to support them in a variety of ways during their graduate education. The Director of Graduate Studies continues to be available for consultation throughout the program.

After the first semester, students will meet with their Research Advisor to select courses. Students will chose their Research Advisor after learning about faculty research interests in PHC 588, Faculty Research Seminar – an orientation class offered in the fall semester.

All new PhD students are required to arrange a one-on-one meeting with at least five departmental faculty and discuss their research interests. At least two of the meetings should be with Assistant Professors in the Department. Students are free to make arrangements for rotations with individual faculty, if desired. The conditions of the rotations of will be determined by the individual professor.

Students in the PhD program have a Dissertation Committee, which is normally chosen after the student has successfully completed the comprehensive Preliminary Exam and before filing the Application to Candidacy. Choices for Dissertation Advisors are due November 30th. Students requiring additional time to make their decisions should notify the Director of Graduate Studies. Students must submit at least three choices for Dissertation Advisors to the Director of Graduate Studies. At least two must be full time, tenure track faculty members in the department. The student’s Research Advisor will serve as the fourth member of the Committee. The assignments proposed by the Graduate Studies Committee will be reviewed and approved by the Department Chair. Students should seek an informal meeting with their PhD Dissertation Committee members every six months to review progress.

Faculty should not make formal commitments to PhD students until the Graduate Affairs committee has reviewed and coordinated the choices provided by students. The assignments proposed by the Graduate Studies Committee will be reviewed and approved by the Department Chair.

The advisor’s role in the preparation of the written document is limited to an examination of the Specific Aims proposed by the student. Students should not have access to any written grant proposal of the advisor relevant to the subject matter. The evaluation of the proposed Specific Aims should assess feasibility of the proposed aims, which should occur prior to the actual writing by the student. The advisor should not edit, review or make suggestions for document revision prior to document distribution to all committee members. Additionally, the advisor should give the thesis committee an indication of any other contribution the advisor has made to the thesis proposal.

If there is a change in your committee:
- Master's students must notify the department and also send an email to grad@buffalo.edu.
- PhD students must notify the department submit an amended ATC.

Students in the MS program have Project Committees. The MS Project Committee is comprised of at least one faculty member (regular, adjunct, or research faculty) in addition to the student’s research advisor. Students should seek an informal meeting with their MS Project Committee members every six months to review progress.

All PhD and PharmD/PhD students are required to submit an Annual Progress report. The deadline for submitting the report is February 15th. The reports must be submitted to the staff member responsible for Graduate Studies in the Departmental Office.

There are two parts to the Annual Report. The first part of the Annual Report is to be filled by the student. The student must schedule a meeting with their Research Advisor after completing their portion of the Annual Report. The Research Advisor will add in comments and discuss the Annual Report and both the student and the Research Advisor must sign the document before submission.