Doctoral Program

Minimum semester hours required: 96 credit hours past the bachelor’s degree.

Coursework: Thirty-two hours of course work is required, not counting a 2 hour first-year class. At least 3 courses (minimum 3 credit hours) must be taken at the 500 level within EaES, excluding EaES 595, 596, and 599. A GPA of 3.0 (B average) or better needs to be maintained for all courses. Only grades of A, B, C, P, or S can be counted towards the degree.

Departmental Qualifying Examination: After the end of the second semester but before the end of the third semester. An extra semester is permitted if the student enters with a non-EaES related degree or if extra time is needed to improve English proficiency.

Preliminary Examination: In the second semester after the Qualifying Exam (at least 1 calendar year before defense).

Dissertation: Required. Students must earn at least 46 semester hours in EAES 599.

Students admitted to the M.S. program can be transitioned to the Ph.D. program if suggested by a student’s advisor and approved by the faculty.

1. The student must have a form signed by the advisor and all committee members to apply for the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination.
2. The form must be approved by the DGS and Department Head.
3. The Qualifying Examination must be passed before the student is allowed into the Ph.D. program.

Ph.D. students are required to complete 96 credit hours (minimum 46 thesis-EAES 599, 2 hours in a required first-year course, and minimum 32 course hours) after the bachelor’s degree. Out of the 32 course hours, only 3 courses (minimum 3 credit hours) may be outside EaES, and at least 3 courses (minimum 3 credit hours) must be at the 500 level. These 500 level classes must be within EaES, and exclude 595, 596, and 599. The restriction on 596 counting towards this 500-level requirement can be lifted with approval of a simple majority of EaES faculty. Regardless, only 4 hours of 596 can be counted towards the degree. Note that these are minimum requirements; your advisor or committee might recommend additional coursework. Only grades of A, B, C, P, or S can be counted towards the degree.

Thirty-two hours can be awarded Advanced Standing if the student enters with a master’s degree. Of those 32 hours, only 16 hours may be applied against the coursework requirement of 32 hours. Advanced Standing students may only have 1 class (minimum 3 credit hours) external to EaES apply towards the remaining 16 hours of coursework, and would be required to take 2 courses (minimum 3 credit hours) at the 500 level.

All doctoral students must pass a departmental Qualifying Examination to continue in the program. The purpose of the Qualifying Examination is to determine the student’s ability to engage in independent research at the doctoral level. The examination is designed to develop and assess the student’s depth of knowledge in a chosen field of specialization, as well as breadth of knowledge in the Earth and Environmental Sciences relevant to the student’s research interests. Emphasis will be placed on the student’s ability to integrate, synthesize, and use this knowledge in the analysis of scientific topics. The exam will also be used to identify possible deficiencies in the student’s background and training, in order to plan additional training that may be needed. Preparation for this exam will take time, and students should plan accordingly.

1. Examination Deadlines: The examination should be taken after the end of the second semester but before the end of the third semester. An extra semester is permitted if the student enters with a non-EaES related degree or if extra time is needed to improve English proficiency.
2. Qualifying Examination Committee: Composed of four faculty members in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, including the student’s advisor. The other 3 will be composed of a standing committee of three faculty, rotating yearly, who will serve on all Qualifying Exams happening that year. This standing committee will not include the DGS, who can then serve on an exam committee should the student’s advisor be a member of the standing committee. The full faculty will strive for a diversity of expertise on the committee. The committee plus advisor will meet with the student in their first semester to define that subset of Earth and Environmental Sciences that will be covered in the examination, and provide some guidance on the relevant literature to help the student prepare. The advisor shall document what topics are fair game for the exam.
3. The Examination: The first part of the Qualifying Examination is written, and the second part is oral. The written part will consist of a heavily referenced paper in response to a question from the committee. This question will be fundamental to the student’s line of research, but with multiple parts to guide what topics to be covered, and the goal of this paper is to develop depth and breadth of knowledge. The paper shall be limited to 15 pages in length (double-spaced, 12 pt font with 1 inch margins), excluding figures and references. The student has 30 days to write the paper. When scheduling the exam, please note any UIC recognized holidays or other dates of significance to the student, as extra time beyond the 30 days will not be granted, from the committee and the advisor on the paper should be reserved until the full exam is completed. Held about 1 week after submission of the paper, the oral exam is designed to test the student’s knowledge and ability to synthesize information quickly and provide coherent answers to posed questions. The oral exam will begin with a 15-20 minute presentation on the written part, followed by questions. These questions will not be restricted to those on the written exam, but will probe the subset of EaES decided in the student’s first semester.
4. Exam Results: When the question for the written part is distributed to the student, a committee member (not the advisor) is selected as chairper The chair runs the oral exam. After the exam when the student is dismissed, the chair calls for an anonymous vote. The committee then discusses until a unanimous decision is reached. Three items will be evaluated: the quality of the paper and its accompanying presentation, the state of knowledge of the relevant literature, and the state of knowledge as determined in the question session. An unconditional pass consists of doing well in all three items. A conditional pass can be granted if one of the sections is evaluated as insufficient. Examples and possible conditions include: poor writing, requiring a suitably revised paper; insufficient knowledge of the relevant literature, with a reading list provided by the committee; or insufficient general knowledge of the field, to be rectified with serving as a TA in an intro class, reading an appropriate textbook, etc. A student fails the exam if more than one section is evaluated as insufficient. Students who fail may be permitted to retake the exam within one semester or be given the option to remain in the M.S. program and complete a thesis. The committee will record the results of the exam on a Departmental Examination Report, and the original will be placed in the student’s file.

1. Purpose: The purpose of the Preliminary Exam is to determine the student’s readiness to undertake dissertation research; passing constitutes formal Admission to Candidacy. The examination serves as the last major step towards the Ph.D. degree except for the completion and defense of the dissertation. The examination provides a student with timely feedback of the faculty’s views of the student’s potential for completing the Ph.D. program. Only students in good standing may be admitted to the examination.
2. Examination Deadlines: The Preliminary Exam is usually not offered before one calendar year of residence, and must be completed at least one calendar year before the defense of the dissertation. It is usually administered in the second semester after the Qualifying Exam. The timing of this exam generally coincides with the end of most formal coursework.
3. Nature of the Examination: The Preliminary Examination is oral with exam questions directed toward the doctoral proposal, which is a formal written statement of the proposed dissertation research. The doctoral proposal constitutes part of the exam and should be presented (in writing) to the exam committee at least one week before the oral examination, and should be written in the style of a funding agency relevant to the student’s line of research. The student should make a short (~30 minute) presentation of the proposed work at the beginning of the exam. A question and answer period lasting typically 1-2 hours follows the presentation.
4. Preliminary Examination Committee: The committee consists of at least five persons, three of whom must be full members of the UIC Graduate College faculty and two of whom must be tenured. The chair of the committee must be a full member of the UIC Graduate faculty. The appointment of one or two members from outside the degree-granting program or University is encouraged. For each member from outside the University, a curriculum vitae must be provided. At least three weeks prior to the scheduled exam date, the student fills out the Committee Recommendation Form. The advisor and DGS or Department Head sign the document and it is submitted to the Graduate College. A copy is kept in the student’s file. After reviewing the eligibility of the proposed committee membership, the Dean of the Graduate College will send formal notification of the selection of the Examination Committee to each committee member. The Graduate College will also send the formal Examination Report document to the department office. The Examination Report will be given to the student’s advisor.
5. Exam Results: Each member of the committee votes pass or fail. A candidate cannot pass if more than one vote of fail is recorded. The committee may require that specific conditions be met before the passing recommendation becomes effective. The DGS, on the recommendation of the committee, may permit a second exam, which must be taken by the end of the following semester. A third exam is not permitted. The Examination Report must be filled out, signed by all committee members, and returned to the Graduate College within two days of the exam. Upon successful completion of the Preliminary Examination, the Graduate Dean will notify the student that he/she has advanced to candidacy.

A major requirement of the Ph.D. program is the completion of a dissertation based on original research under the supervision of a faculty member. The Dissertation Committee consists of at least five members, one of whom must be from outside the department. The members of the Dissertation Committee are often the same as those of the Preliminary Examination Committee (described above). The chair of the committee must be a full member of the graduate faculty. At least two members must be tenured UIC faculty, and at least one must be from outside the department or from outside the University. Any committee member(s) from outside UIC must provide his/her curriculum vitae to accompany the Committee Recommendation form.

Provided that a student has completed all graduation requirements and is in good academic standing, he/she is then ready to defend the dissertation. The dissertation is presented before the academic community in a publicly announced oral presentation and subsequently defended before the Dissertation Committee in a closed-door session typically lasting up to two hours. In all other respects, the Dissertation Defense is held under the rules stipulated for the Master’s Thesis Defense.

At least three weeks before the proposed date of defense of the completed dissertation, the student must fill out and submit a Committee Recommendation Form to the Graduate College. Within a few days of receipt of the form by the Graduate College, the student will receive notification of access to iThenticate. The student is expected to screen his/her dissertation prior to the defense using iThenticate to avoid inadvertently including previously published work without proper citation, paraphrasing, or quoting. See http://grad.uic.edu/ithenticate-review-procedures. After review of the form, the Dean of the Graduate College will send formal notification of the selection of the Examination Committee to each committee member, and also sends the formal Examination Report document to the department office. The Examination Report will be given to the student’s advisor.

A graduate student who is admitted to the Graduate College with a master’s degree and 32 hours awarded towards the Ph.D., or who continues in the Graduate College after completing the master’s degree at UIC, must complete the degree requirements within 7 years after initial registration. A student who is admitted to the Graduate College without a master’s degree and proceeds directly to the Ph.D. must complete degree requirements within 9 years after initial registration.

Deadlines for completing the Intent to Graduate Form and submitting the final approved dissertation are listed on the Academic Dates & Events page of the Graduate College.