Chemistry, Ph.D.

About the Chemistry Doctoral Program

A doctoral degree program includes a minimum of 24 credit hours of graduate-level coursework, 36 credit hours of research (CHEM 7000 ), and 12 credit hours of dissertation (CHEM 8000 ).

A cumulative examination system is used as the written part of the qualifying examination for the doctoral degree, with cumulative examinations offered six times each year. A successful oral defense of the Ph.D. research and future work plan must be completed before the end of the second year. This constitutes the oral part of the qualifying exam.

Each student fulfilling the doctoral residence requirement in chemistry and biochemistry will normally enroll for 24 hours within a 12-month period. Ordinarily, this would be accomplished by taking 9 hours in two long semesters and 6 hours in the summer.