GPAS offers a program leading to the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Atmospheric Science. This program is designed to furnish the student with the education and research background necessary to carry out independent and original scientific research. To earn the Ph.D., the student must complete a course work requirement, pass the Qualifying Examination, and prepare and defend a dissertation. Students who have a Master's Degree must also pass the Qualifying Examination to achieve Ph.D. candidacy.
For course requirements, please see: Course Requirements
Qualifying Examination
The Qualifying Examination consists of the following two components.
- Students complete a dissertation proposal by the beginning of their 5th semester
The student will write a dissertation proposal, receiving higher level feedback from their advisor after the first draft has been written. The format of the proposal is flexible; it can be an NSF-style format or any other common format for the field. The examining committee would score the proposal as they would in a funding agency review using a scale of Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, and Poor. To pass this portion of the examination, a ranking of Good or better would be required from a majority of the committee.
- Students give a presentation (~30-minutes) of the dissertation work they intend to do, followed by a session in which the student answers questions specific to their proposal and questions about their general knowledge of atmospheric science. The presentation is open to the public and the Q&A session is closed.
If students fail (1), they can either revise their submission one time within a time frame determined by the examining committee to continue on the path to a Ph.D. OR stand for an oral examination covering an expository essay to leave with a non-thesis M.S.
If students fail (2), they can retake their oral examination one time within a time frame determined by the examining committee OR stand for an oral examination covering an expository essay to leave with a non-thesis M.S
Graduate students with exceptional, documented scientific achievements may, through written petition, replace the Qualifying Examination with a seminar followed by an oral examination. To qualify for this option, the student must meet the following requirements: (1) The student must have an earned M.S. degree in atmospheric science or a related field. This will ordinarily be from an accredited American university and requires approval from the Curriculum Committee and the Program Director; (2) The student must have published at least five peer-reviewed, Science Citation Index (SCI) journal articles in atmospheric, oceanic, or a closely related science. The student must be the lead or corresponding author of at least three of those papers; (3) The student must present an open seminar on the student's past research followed by a closed oral exam by a Qualifying Examination Committee, as constituted above. This committee determines whether the performance in the combined seminar and oral exam is equivalent to passing the Qualifying Examination. The student is deemed to pass on approval of at least three members of the student's Qualifying Examination Committee. If the student does not pass the oral examination, the written petition to replace the Qualifying Examination will be revoked, and the student may only repeat the Qualifying Examination through the normal procedure.
Dissertation and Final Examination
Ability to perform independent research must be demonstrated through a written dissertation based on the proposal presented at the Proposal Evaluation. The dissertation should be an original contribution to knowledge, and the subject matter must be presented in a scholarly style. Upon completion of the dissertation, the candidate is required to defend the material to the satisfaction of a Final Examining Committee appointed by the GPAS Director. Normally, the composition of the Final Examining Committee will be identical to the student's Dissertation Committee.
Time Limits
Full-time students are expected to take the Qualifying Examination and be admitted to candidacy by the end of the third year. Students must be admitted to candidacy within five years after admission to the doctoral program and at least one academic year before the date on which the degree will be conferred. The student must complete the entire program for the degree, including the dissertation and final examination, during a four-year period after admission to candidacy.