Graduate Degree Programs

graduate

 

Overview | Requirement Details


Detailed Requirements for the Ph.D Degree in Geophysics

The University, the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and the Department of Geosciences requirements for graduate degrees must be met.  It is the student's obligation to be familiar with and to fulfill these requirements.  These requirements include, but are not limited to:

  1. Students desiring to enter the Ph.D. program from another University or upon completing the M.S. program within the department must submit a formal application for admission to the Department of Geoscience's Ph.D. program.

  2. All Ph.D. students must report in person to the Department prior to the start of their first full semester of study for the Placement Examination.  The time of the examination, generally one week prior to the start of the semester, will be announced a few months in advance.  The purpose of this examination is to determine whether the student has any areas of weakness that require specific course work, independent study, or that can rectified by some other means.

  3. The student must have a minimum of one continuous academic year (two long semesters) as a full-time student, i.e., consisting of nine (9) semester hours of credit per semester. A total of twenty-four (24) credit hours are the minimum required by the University for the Ph.D. degree. The 24 hours may include formal course work, independent study,  doctoral research or dissertation  credit. No more than 12 of the 24 hrs may be dissertation credit.

  4. All supported students (e.g., T.A.'s and R.A.'s) are required to report to the Department one week prior to the beginning of each semester to meet with the Graduate Committee and review their progress toward the degree and to be advised concerning course work.  Additionally, all students receiving financial support from the University must enroll in at least nine (9) semester hours during the Fall and Spring semesters. Full-time enrollment during the Summer is required for those students receiving financial support from the University.

  5. Ph.D. applicants are encouraged to formulate their Dissertation Committee promptly in order to ensure proper guidance throughout their research. The dissertation committee must be chaired by a tenure track faculty member of the Department of Geosciences and have at least two other departmental faculty members on the committee as well as one member external to the department.  At least 50% of the committee must be tenure track Geoscience faculty members.  Additional faculty and/or appropriate off campus individuals may be a part of the committee.  The Dissertation Committee must be approved by the Dean's Office. Any changes to the Committee must be approved by the Dean's Office at least one semester (Fall, Spring, or Summer) prior to defense of the dissertation.

  6. Before completion of three semesters of full-time studies (or equivalent), and after removal of all deficiencies, the student will appear for the Candidacy Examination and Dissertation Proposal. Students, in consultation with members of the faculty, will select three research proposal topics, two proposals for the Candidacy Examination, and one for the Dissertation Proposal. A statement describing the three proposal topics must be submitted for the approval by the Candidacy Committee and Chair of the department no later than the 9th week of their 2nd semester in the program. The Chair of the Department and the Candidacy Committee will decide if the proposal topics represent sufficient breadth. It is the student's responsibility to be familiar with the section on Requirements for Valid Proposals.

    1. Upon approval of the three proposal topics, the student shall submit two written proposals, which are not intended to be part of the student's dissertation research, at least one week before the Candidacy Examination. The Candidacy Examination is an oral presentation of two research proposals, approximately 2 hours in length, given during the first 9 weeks of each semester.  The Candidacy Committee will assess the depth of the candidate's knowledge of the proposed research. Approval by a majority of the five members of the Candidacy Committee is required for the student to pass the examination.  At the discretion of the Candidacy Committee, a student who fails the Candidacy Examination may be permitted to re-take it. However, the exam cannot be taken more than twice by the applicant.  Re-examination will take place within one month of the initial examination.  The student must pass the Candidacy Examination before proceeding to the Dissertation Proposal.



      Requirements for Valid Proposals
      R1. Key elements of a proposal (recommended for the statement of the proposal topics, and required for the full proposals):
      1. Intellectual merits
      2. Scientific background
      3. Testable hypotheses
      4. Proposed research

      R2. Conditions for acceptable proposal topics:
      1. No more than two proposals in one of the broad disciplines defined in R3 below. Proposal topics in the same broad discipline must be different in the nature of the inquiry.
      2. The ultimate decision on the acceptability of the three proposal topics will be made by the Geophysics Candidacy Committee who may also consider other factors that promote the education of the student.

      R3. Broad disciplines:
      1. Seismology
      2. Gravity & magnetic
      3. EM methods
      4. Rock Physics/Well Logging
      5. Geodesy & Remote sensing
      6. Structural Geology, Tectonics & Geodynamics
      7. Sedimentology & Stratigraphy
      8. Volcanology, Geochemistry & Petrology
      9. Environmental Geology & Hydrology
      10. Atmospheric science & Air quality
      11. Ocean sciences
      12. Planetary sciences & Space physics
      13. Other geophysical disciplines different from all of the above

    2. The Dissertation Proposal is an oral presentation that will be given during the same semester, after successful passage of the Candidacy Examination. Two hours should be allocated for the Dissertation Proposal presentation and questions.  Scheduling of Dissertation Proposal is done by each applicant through the Advising Assistant. Ph.D. proposals can take place Monday-Friday, with starting times between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., during the Fall and Spring semesters prior to the end of the 11th week of classes during their semester.  Proposals cannot occur during Summer terms, vacations, reading days, or final examination periods (nor over spring or inter-semester breaks).


      Proposals are preceded by the distribution and approval of a 5 to 10 page (10 page maximum for text) written description of the dissertation project to the Dissertation Committee.  A one page abstract must be posted and distributed to all Faculty members at least one week prior to presentation and a copy of the full proposal filed with the Advising Assistant at that time.  The proposal abstract must contain the title, time and place of the proposal, and the names of the committee members.  The Dissertation Advisor and at least one other member of the committee must initial the abstract prior to posting, thus indicating that they approve of the presentation of the proposal.  Upon successful presentation of the proposal, a copy of the complete proposal with the Dissertation Advisor's signature indicating approval of the proposal as originally presented or modified must be filed with the Advising Assistant to be placed in the student's permanent academic file.


      The student should demonstrate in both the written proposal and the oral presentation, a thorough understanding of the dissertation research, i.e., its anticipated significance, previous work in the area, methods by which pertinent data will be gathered, limitations of the research, possible pitfalls, etc.  It is incumbent upon the applicant to convey to the Faculty that the applicant has a thorough understanding of all aspects of the dissertation research.  Thus, it is strongly recommended that the applicant review all aspects of the dissertation research, both the written proposal and oral presentation with the dissertation advisor as well as with any other pertinent faculty member(s), other professionals, and/or fellow students.


      The oral presentation, approximately 30 to 45 minutes long, will be followed by a period during which all present can ask questions of the student related to the suitability and feasibility of the project, as well as the student's ability to perform the research. All faculty present can participate in the deliberations.  All Geoscicnce  Faculty as well as other committee members present may vote on the success or failure of the student's performance in the Dissertation Proposal. Approval by a majority of those voting is needed to pass the proposal.  Upon successful presentation of the Dissertation Proposal, the student will be granted Ph.D. Candidacy status.


      The Examining Committee, at their discretion, can allow a student who failed the Dissertation Proposal to re-propose. This, however, can be done no more than once.  The second presentation must take place within one (1) month of the initial presentation.

  7. Prior to defense of the dissertation, the student will submit at least one (1) completed manuscript, based on the dissertation research, to a peer-reviewed journal.  This manuscript must have been judged publication-ready by the Dissertation Advisor and at least one other faculty member on the Dissertation Committee prior to submission.

  8. A public defense of the complete dissertation research will be presented to the Faculty at large and may be attended by any other interested parties. An abstract, which lists the time and place of the defense, must be distributed to the department Faculty and posted publicly at least one week prior to the scheduled date. The Dissertation Advisor and at least one other departmental committee member must initial the notice of defense, thus indicating they approve of the defense.   An unbound copy of the final draft, including all illustrations, must be made available in the Departmental Office at least one week prior to the defense date for inspection by the Faculty of the Department of Geosciences.  Ph.D. defenses can be given Monday-Friday during the Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters with starting times between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.  Defenses cannot be given during vacations, reading days, or final examination periods (nor over spring or inter-semester breaks).  Scheduling of defenses is done through the Advising Assistant. A positive vote by a majority of the Dissertation Committee is required for successful defense of the dissertation.


    If the student does not complete and successfully defend the Ph.D dissertation within the five years of passing the Candidacy Examination, the student may be required to re-take the Candidacy Examination.

Sequence and Timing

Full time students:

Prior to first full semester in Ph.D. program.

  • Departmental Placement Examination.
First year in program.
  1. Appropriate course work.
  2. Removal of all deficiencies.
  3. Establishment of Dissertation Committee
Second year in program.
  1. Candidacy Examination and presentation of Dissertation Proposal during the first semester of the second year
  2. Completion of all formal course work.
  3. Initiation of research.
Third & successive year(s).
  1. Submission of a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal
  2. Completion and defense of dissertation.

Part-time students:

Sequence and timing should approximate as closely as possible to those of the fulltime students.