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Environmental & Plant Biology
Mailing address: Porter 315

Guidelines for the Ph.D. Degree (PBIO)

Important Deadlines

  • End of second semester – Course Approval Form to Graduate Chair.
  • Beginning of fourth semester –Dissertation Committee Information (CAS#5) to Graduate Chair.
  • End of fourth academic semester – Dissertation Proposal approved by Dissertation Committee, Dept. Proposal Approval Form to Graduate Chair.
  • End of sixh academic semester – Comprehensive exam finished, Recommendation to Advance Student to Candidacy for Ph.D. Degree (CAS#6) to Graduate Chair.
  • Graduation semester – Apply to graduate.
    • Submit dissertation to committee at least 2 weeks prior to defense and provide thesis title and abstract to colloquium coordinator.
    • Check TAD for their deadlines.
    • Submit Report of the Oral Thesis Examination/Dissertation Defense (CAS#8) to Graduate Chair.
  • End of every spring semester – Graduate Student Progress Report.

Graduation Requirements

  • Successful completion of three credits of PBIO 6970 (Seminar) before their last semester.
  • Successful completion of Biological Research and Science Ethics (PBIO 5170).
  • A student without an M.S. degree must take a minimum of 30 graded graduate credit hours, of which 20 must be PBIO.
  • A student with an M.S. degree must take a minimum of 21 graded graduate credit hours, of which 12 must be PBIO.
  • Graded graduate credit hours course excludes supervised study, colloquium, lab meetings, and research. Courses will be determined by the student and the advisor, with recommendation by the graduate committee, and signed by the Graduate Chair.
  • A Ph.D. student without an M.S. degree is required to take:
    • PBIO 5150: Statistical Methods in Plant Biology (4 credits)
    • PBIO 5180: Writing in the Life Sciences (3 credits)
  • A Ph.D. student with an M.S. degree is not required to take any class, besides three classes of PBIO 6970 and PBIO 5170.
  • A GPA below 3.00 in two consecutive academic semesters, two grades below “B-“, or one grade below a “C-“ in graduate courses will result in dismissal from the graduate program. One grade below a “C+“ will result in academic probation.
    • The student should inform his/her/their advisor and the Graduate Chair before withdrawing from a course because it may impact departmental support.
  • A minimum of 60 credits hours of Dissertation (PBIO 8950)
  • Must pass a comprehensive examination composed of written and oral sections no later than the 9th semester (it should be done by the end of the 6 th academic semester) or face dismissal from the program.
  • Must successfully complete a research dissertation, with the intent of submitting multiple publications to peer-reviewed journals.
  • Must orally defend a research dissertation.

Program of Study

  • All new students will report to their advisors for initial instructions.
  • A student may be co-advised by two PBIO tenure-track faculty members.
  • A student may change advisors, but only after approval of the current and potential advisor, and the Graduate Chair. If a student leaves his/her advisor, for whatever reason, s/he/they must find another advisor within four weeks or before the start of the following semester.
    • An unadvised student cannot remain in the PBIO graduate program beyond this time limit.

The Dissertation Committee

  • Will advise the student of courses and requirements, conduct the comprehensive exam, approve the dissertation research proposal, and conduct the Ph.D. exam for approval of the dissertation.
  • Will be chaired by the student’s advisor and must have at least four tenure-track faculty, at least two (2) from PBIO and a Graduate Faculty Representative of the College of Arts & Sciences.
    • The Graduate Faculty Representative cannot be a faculty member in the Department of Environmental & Plant Biology and must be approved by the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences.
    • Names must be submitted to the Graduate Chair for Approval (Dissertation Committee Information form) and submission to the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. 

Dissertation Proposal

  • The dissertation proposal should describe a comprehensive, multi-study research project.
  • The student must meet with their dissertation committee no later than the end of the fourth academic semester to discuss the proposal.
    • This meeting should, but does not necessarily need to be, a formal meeting for proposal approval.
    • The purpose of this meeting is to determine research direction and progress and to offer constructive criticism and suggestions on proposal improvement.
  • The dissertation committee must unanimously approve the research proposal by signing the PBIO Proposal Defense Form.
    • The signed form should be presented to the Graduate Chair attached to a digital copy of the proposal.
  • If the research project changes substantively (i.e., hypothesis or experimental design), the student must submit an updated proposal and seek approval of the committee.
  • An approved proposal will make the student eligible to take the comprehensive exam.

Comprehensive Examination

  • Will contain a written and oral section.
  • Must be completed before the end of the 6th academic semester and will be planned and organized by the student and advisor.
    • Failure to take the exam will likely result in termination of funding and/or dismissal from the program.
  • Eligibility to take the comprehensive examination:
    • Minimum 3.00 GPA for all graduate courses.
    • Completion of all course requirements from the course approval form or permission from the Graduate Chair.
    • An approved research proposal.
  • At least four members of the Dissertation Committee will be the examiners for the exam.
    • The student should contact their examiners the semester before the exam to discuss expectations, exam format, and to receive reading assignments.
    • The Graduate Faculty Representative of the College of Arts and Sciences may choose not to participate. Another faculty member from the Department of Environmental & Plant Biology may substitute for one of the Dissertation Committee members.
  • Written section:
    • Each examiner will prepare a written examination.
    • The examinations is typically scheduled over the course of one week with four hours allotted for each exam. Actual format is up to the committee.
    • If an examiner elects to grade numerically, 70% will be considered a passing score.
    • Results of written examination will be communicated to the student and Graduate Chair by the advisor.
    • A student receiving no more than one failing vote in the written section will be permitted to retake the oral section.
  • Oral section
    • Prior to the oral examination, the student can meet with each of the examiners to discuss the results of the written section, withholding the student’s answers. The answers will become part of the student’s permanent record and will be sent to the Graduate Chair as a digital copy.
    • The oral examination will take place within two weeks after the student and Graduate Chair have been notified of the results of the written section.
    • Following the oral examination, each examiner will be asked to either pass or fail the student.
      • All passes: The Report of the Comprehensive Exam for the Ph.D. (CAS#4) form will be forwarded to the College of Arts & Sciences. The student may enter candidacy for the Ph.D. Degree (CAS#6).
      • Pass, one failing vote: The Report of the Comprehensive Exam for the Ph.D. (CAS#4) form will be forwarded to the Graduate Chair, but not dated and not signed by the Graduate Chair or one examiner.
        (1) Once the examiner is satisfied, CAS#4 can be signed and dated by examiner and Graduate Chair and forwarded to CAS.
      • Fail, two failing votes: a report of the comprehensive examination indicating that the student has failed will be forwarded to the College
        of Arts & Sciences by the Graduate Chair.
      • If fail, the student can retake the exam (both written and oral) within six weeks.
      • A student who fails the comprehensive examination twice will be dismissed from the graduate program.

Ph.D. Dissertation

  • The student should meet once a semester with each committee member for informal progress reports.
    • The committee must have the option to review a chapter prior to submission for publication. Review turnaround time is four weeks.
  • The dissertation must use the format provided by the Thesis and Dissertation Services (TAD) by using the template provided by TAD.
  • The Ph.D. dissertation must be submitted to the committee at least two weeks (i.e. 14 days) before the examination date. The committee must approve the examination date.
  • The dissertation will be orally defended in a formal, public presentation (e.g. PBIO colloquium). After the public presentation, the committee will conduct a closed-door defense to thoroughly evaluate the quality of the research. At this time, the committee will provide constructive comments to improve unsatisfactory sections.
  • The oral defense must be approved unanimously, as evidenced by presenting a committee signed CAS#8 (Report on the Oral Dissertation Examination Defense) to the Graduate Chair.
    • If a student receives only two passes, the committee, advisor and student should work together in an attempt to satisfy the dissenting opinion via revision or additional work.
    • If a student receives less than two passes, a report of the dissertation examination (indicating that the student has failed) will be submitted and the student will be dismissed from the graduate program.
  • The dissertation committee completes the Assessment of the Dissertation Form to be submitted to the Graduate Chair.
  • A PDF of the finalized thesis will be submitted to TAD, along with CAS#8.