The final will be a one-hour oral exam, given by two faculty members. The format is much like a qualifying exam, with questions pertaining to a research proposal (~2/3 of the exam) followed by questions concerning general course material. The ability to reason through problems and experimental approaches will be emphasized more than the ability to recall specific details. Students are asked to write a one-page research proposal on a BioReg-related topic that should be well-focused and based on a clear, testable hypothesis. As a general guideline, the proposal should cover a body of work that a team of two scientists could complete in 2-3 years; that is, you can propose more than one line of experimentation, and an experiment, if successful, can be followed up with additional experiments. It is important that you be able to explain how the results of the experiments will answer the questions you posed. Sample proposals will be handed out later in the course. Students are encouraged to run possible ideas for proposals (and early drafts) past the faculty and the TAs as the course proceeds and not to wait until the last minute. It is strongly recommended that you submit a written abstract to TAs and faculty members at least a week in advance of the proposal due date to allow time to refine your ideas. Written proposals (10 copies) must be handed in by Tues, Mar 9 at noon to Alan's assistant, Jude Hawley, (jhawley@biochem.ucsf.edu) at Mission Bay, room S372A. An exam schedule will be posted on the Web site by Wed, Mar 10 at noon. The faculty will review proposals and contact students if there appear to be any general problems or questions (very unlikely if you've discussed your ideas ahead of time). Exams will be given over four days (Mar 15-18). You will not know which faculty members are on your exam and should not expect the "obvious" ones based on your research topic. It may be hard to believe, but these exams can be quite fun when approached constructively, and students generally find them very valuable in preparing for future exams.