{"id":79,"date":"2020-05-13T21:23:57","date_gmt":"2020-05-13T21:23:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-as.vanderbilt.edu\/chemistry\/?page_id=79"},"modified":"2025-08-06T15:03:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T15:03:19","slug":"phd-requirements","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/chemistry\/phd-requirements\/","title":{"rendered":"Degree Requirements"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<h2>Chemistry Ph.D. Requirements<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>For full Ph.D. requirements, see our <a href=\"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/chemistry\/graduate-program-handbook\/\">graduate program handbook<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<p>The chemistry Ph.D. program is designed to emphasize the importance of research and advanced critical thinking in graduate study with an overall objective of enabling each student to carry out and defend an independent, successful research project at the Ph.D. level.<\/p>\r\n<p>To accomplish this objective, students must:<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Advance their broad understanding of chemical knowledge;<\/li>\r\n<li>Master the subject material relevant to their field of study;<\/li>\r\n<li>Complete a successful Ph.D. research dissertation; and<\/li>\r\n<li>Advance their communication skills, particularly in regard to effective communication of chemical knowledge and the defense proposed.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>Close interaction between graduate students and their research directors is critically important in designing and completing an appropriate program of study and a successful research project. Coursework and research programs undertaken by students will be individually tailored for students in consultation initially with a faculty advising committee and subsequently with their research director. The student&#8217;s research director, faculty committees, and the director of graduate studies will regularly monitor student progress in all areas of graduate study, particularly research performance.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2>Chemistry Ph.D. Program Timeline<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3>First Year<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Participate in orientation and TA training activities.<\/li>\r\n<li>Enroll in\u00a0<u>Chem 6901<\/u>\u00a0(Introduction to Research) and complete three research group rotations by the end of the fall semester.<\/li>\r\n<li>Enroll in the\u00a0<u>Chem 6900<\/u>\u00a0(Professional Development) course offered in fall and spring semesters.<\/li>\r\n<li>After completing the research rotations, submit the names of three potential research directors.<\/li>\r\n<li>Join a Research Group by January and begin\u00a0<u>Research<\/u>\u00a0as soon as possible.<\/li>\r\n<li>Complete at least five academic quality-point courses of the\u00a0<u>Course Program<\/u>\u00a0in addition to Chem 5130, Chem 6900, and Chem 6901 by the end of the first year<\/li>\r\n<li>Attend the Departmental and Graduate Student\u00a0<u>Seminar<\/u>\u00a0series.<\/li>\r\n<li>Register for 12 credit hours each semester, including 12 research hours in the summer.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3>Second Year<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Continue\u00a0<u>Research<\/u>\u00a0at an accelerated pace.<\/li>\r\n<li>Complete\u00a0<u>Course<\/u>\u00a0<u>Program of 24 Quality Hours<\/u>, and register for 12 credit hours each semester, including 12 research hours in the summer to finish 72 credit hours total.<\/li>\r\n<li>Select members of student Academic and Research Monitoring (ARM) Committee in consultation with your Research Advisers and complete the\u00a0<u>Preliminary Examination<\/u>\u00a0requirement by\u00a0<strong><em>31 October<\/em><\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n<li>Attend the Departmental and Graduate Student\u00a0<u>Seminar<\/u> series.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3>Third Year<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Continue\u00a0<u>Research<\/u>\u00a0as a major effort.<\/li>\r\n<li>Present a public\u00a0<u>seminar<\/u>\u00a0based on your research project as part of the Graduate Student Seminar series. Attend the Departmental and Graduate Student\u00a0<u>Seminar<\/u>\u00a0series.<\/li>\r\n<li>Select additional members of student Ph.D. Committee in consultation with Research Director and complete the\u00a0<u>Ph.D. Qualifying Examination<\/u>\u00a0requirement by\u00a0<strong><em>15 March<\/em><\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3>Fourth and Subsequent Years Until Completion of the Degree Requirements<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Attend the Departmental and Graduate Student Seminar series<\/li>\r\n<li>Present and defend an\u00a0<u>Independent Research Proposal<\/u>\u00a0coupled with an\u00a0<u>ARM Committee<\/u>\u00a0Review before May 15<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0and at least six months prior to the Final Defense.<\/li>\r\n<li>Write a\u00a0<u>Dissertation<\/u>\u00a0and complete a public Final Defense of the dissertation before the student\u2019s\u00a0<u>Ph.D. Committee<\/u>\u00a0(final year).<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>* Program is based on student admission in Fall Semester (with an academic year beginning at the start of Fall Semester); underlined terms are discussed further in Part III.\u00a0 To minimize scheduling conflicts, students may be requested to conform to staggered deadlines for date-specific requirements.<br \/><br \/><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a class=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/catalogs\/graduate\/graduate-school\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Graduate Catalog <\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem\">\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><a class=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg\" href=\"https:\/\/apply.vanderbilt.edu\/apply\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apply Now<\/a><\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chemistry Ph.D. Requirements For full Ph.D. requirements, see our graduate program handbook. The chemistry Ph.D. program is designed to emphasize the importance of research and advanced critical thinking in graduate study with an overall objective of enabling each student to carry out and defend an independent, successful research project at the Ph.D. level. To accomplish&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-headline-img.php","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/79"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/79\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1968,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/79\/revisions\/1968"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}