Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Genetics and Molecular Toxicology

Curriculum for EGMT PhD Program, and Additional Student Forms & Documents available on the

Student Resources

Following admission into the Environmental Genetics and Molecular Toxicology (EGMT) PhD program, students become provisional doctoral degree candidates and are assigned an academic advisor. The EGMT Director of Graduate Studies usually is the academic advisor to all first-year students, unless a research laboratory has already been chosen.

During the first academic year, students do faculty interviews and laboratory rotations to identify the laboratory in which they will do their dissertation research.

The required coursework for the Environmental Genetics and Molecular Toxicology PhD Training Program is described in a separate document, available on the Curriculum portion of the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences (DEPHS) EGMT website. Students must achieve a grade of B- or better in all required courses; if this grade is not achieved, the course must be retaken. The University requires a minimum of 90 semester graduate-level credit hours for the PhD degree. Electives and research credits round out the required courses. The core curriculum must be completed before taking the Qualifying Examination. Exceptions to this rule require written permission of the Program Director.

All individuals who do not have English as their first language must take an oral English proficiency examination administered by the University. In case of failure, the student may repeat the examination as necessary. A student may not pass the qualifying Examination process until he/she has passed the English proficiency examination.

In order to achieve candidacy and be an official PhD candidate, students must take the PhD Qualifying Examination. Prior to taking the Qualifying Exam, students should complete all required courses with a grade of “B” or better, maintain a grade point average of at least 3.0 in required courses, and an average of 3.0 or above in all courses.

The format for the Qualifying Examination is explained in a separate document available on the EGMT Curriculum tab. This document details all aspects of the Qualifying Examination process. The decision of the Qualifying Exam Committee will be reported using the Qualifying Examination report form that is available under the EGMT Curriculum tab. The completed form, with original signatures, will be submitted to the Graduate Studies Office.

After passing the Qualifying Exam, students must prepare a Statement of Intent and identify a Dissertation Committee within 6 months. Upon approval by the Department’s Degrees Committee, students must meet with their Dissertation Committee every 6 months and submit a written report of each meeting, as described in the Report Form.

In addition to conducting dissertation research and writing and defending your dissertation, students should publish at least 2 first-author papers (or have them in press) prior to certification for graduation. Students should also be an author on at least one additional paper in the general topic area of the dissertation research.

The defense of the dissertation will be open to the academic community and to the general public. The PhD candidate typically presents an overview of the research completed for the dissertation. Following this presentation, the student will be questioned by both the general audience and by the Dissertation Committee. The Committee must then decide whether the dissertation and defense are acceptable. The candidate is informed immediately of the Committee’s decision. After the Dissertation Committee has approved the final version of the dissertation, students must submit the dissertation to the Graduate School, as described in the Graduate School Handbook. The faculty mentor must approve the online submission by 5:00 p.m. on the submission deadline.

Important deadlines and details of the Graduation process are available on the Graduate School website, as well as in the DEPHS Graduate Studies office. Students cannot graduate if an “I” or “NG” grade remains on your record. Grades of “F” do not count in the credits required for graduation.