Graduate Program

1. Introduction

Ph.D. training in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences emphasizes modern, quantitative approaches. It involves field and laboratory work as well as theory and advanced computation. The degree requirements are intended to ensure that all Ph.D. candidates develop independence and originality of thought and be knowledgeable in Earth and planetary sciences. Two aspects of this knowledge are defined as breadth (the broad knowledge of Earth and planetary sciences) and depth (a deeper working knowledge of a specific research area). To develop a balanced knowledge students are required to complete breadth (Section 3.2) and depth (Section 3.3) course requirements.

In the second semester students complete their Graduate Research Project (Section 3.4), which will be used during student's evaluation at the end of first year (Section 4). By the end of the fourth semester, a student prepares and orally defends a research paper to be formally allowed to pursue the Ph.D. (Section 5). Students also demonstrate competence in teaching by completing the Doctoral Teaching Requirement (Section 6). Finally, the Ph.D. student completes and defends a dissertation (Section 7).

Detailed descriptions of the requirements are given in the following sections and a summary of the qualification process during the first two years is summarized in Figure 1.

2. Advising

2.1 First-Year Advisor

The First-Year Advisor is a member of the EPSc teaching faculty who provides guidance to all first-year students. The First-Year Advisor (i) recommends a sequence of courses for the student to take during the first two years, (ii) acts as a sounding board and provide feedback to the student regarding her/his progress in the program, and (iii) provides an assessment to the faculty as a whole regarding the student's qualifications to proceed in the Ph.D. program (see Section 4). Students should discuss course selection in the first year with faculty members close to their areas of interest. However, only the First-Year Advisor can approve selections or changes.

2.2 Major Advisor

Selection of a Major Advisor and a research problem area is a very important decision that affects much of the student's graduate career. Each student, by the end of the second semester of graduate work, should select an area of concentration and a Major Advisor. The Major Advisor must be a member of the EPSc teaching faculty.

The selection process will vary greatly among students. Some students will know exactly with whom they wish to work before they arrive. Other students will have the possibilities narrowed down to two or three faculty members, while still others will select from among the faculty as a whole. Students should make every effort to get to know faculty members with whom they might work and are encouraged to interview faculty members so as to understand better their research interests. Courses, seminars and Departmental colloquia given by professors also provide information on their research interests. The Graduate Research Project (see Section 3.4) undertaken in the second semester is an obvious way to get to know the research style of a specific faculty member.

2.3 Research Advisory Committee

At least 6 months before the oral exam, the student populates the Research Advisory Committee. This is a three-person committee, tailored to the student's research interests, and chaired by the Major Advisor. Besides the Major Advisor, at least one other person must be a member of the EPSc teaching faculty. The third person may be a member of the teaching faculty, the research faculty, or the senior academic research staff. This committee will be part of the student's Oral Examination Committee (see Section 5.3) and the Dissertation Examination Committee (see Section 7.1).

Graduate students are required to meet with their Research Advisory Committee at least once a year (effective Spring 2010):

• Second year students meet with their committee soon after the committee has been formed. The goal of this meeting is to confirm that a research project of adequate scope is well underway.
• Following successful completion of the oral exam, students meet with their committee annually in the spring semester to give a summary of research progress.
• Students nearing degree completion meet with their committee at least 6 months prior to the expected defense date. Students will provide the committee with an outline of the dissertation, including expected completion dates for various aspects of the research. At this time committee members may identify areas that need expansion or reconsideration.

In case of significant schedule conflicts, the student can meet with members of the committee individually.

The meetings with the Research Advisory Committee must be documented using a "Graduate Student Meetings with Research Advisory Committee" form available from the Department Office and on the Department website (Information & Forms). The committee's members sign and provide comments on the form. The forms are filed with the Department Office and will be evaluated during the dissertation defense.

3. Course Requirements

3.1 General

A student must maintain a grade point average (GPA) of B or above to remain in good academic standing with the Graduate School. The Department imposes three additional requirements: (i) A student must maintain a B average exclusive of hours taken for research (EPSc 592). (ii) A student is expected to maintain excellent grades in her/his discipline of interest. This can be interpreted generally to be a grade of B+ or better. Withdrawals or incomplete course work are not allowed except under special circumstances. (iii) A student must complete at least 15 units of EPSc coursework, at or above the 4xx level. EPSc 590, 591, 592, or 595 do not qualify, except for 3xx breadth courses taken as part of an EPSc 590 Independent Study.

It is recognized that students entering the program will bring a diverse background in their undergraduate course work. The Department has a history of admitting students to the graduate program with degrees in physics, chemistry, and engineering, as well as the traditional Earth sciences. An adequate background, outside of the Earth sciences, would be three semesters of calculus, a year of general physics, and a year of general chemistry. Students have been successful in the program, depending on their discipline interests, with less than this level of preparation. However, two semesters of calculus constitutes a minimum mathematics background to be successful in the program. The First-Year Advisor will ultimately determine a student's needs in physics, math, and chemistry and provide advice and direction on the means of removing deficiencies.

The minimum Earth sciences prerequisites to take almost any course within the Department are Earth and the Environment (EPSc 201), Earth Materials (EPSc 352), and Earth Forces (EPSc 353). Incoming students whose degree area is outside of the Earth Sciences will be expected to obtain the knowledge in these areas by the end of the first year, using a combination of any appropriate undergraduate courses and steps taken within the Department to remove these deficiencies. Again, the First-Year Advisor will determine a student's needs in this area and provide advice on the means of removing deficiencies. The Ph.D. program is flexible in its course work requirement. It is not intended that a student will repeat her/his undergraduate experience. Those students with a strong undergraduate background will be able to concentrate on research at a relatively early stage in the program. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences requires the completion of 72 semester units for the Ph.D. degree. Within the Department this requirement is met by a combination of formal course work and, later in the program, Research (EPSc 592).

3.2 Breadth Requirement

A minimum of 6 approved breadth courses is required to fulfill the breadth requirement (Table 1). Two courses must be completed in each of the three disciplines of geology, geochemistry, and geophysics.

Courses taken as an undergraduate that match the content of courses in Table 1, may count toward the breadth requirement, provided that the student has attained at least a B grade in these courses. The final decision regarding acceptability of any undergraduate course in meeting the breadth requirement rests with the First-Year Advisor. Any prior coursework that will substitute part of the breadth requirement needs to be properly documented by the end of the second semester. The intent here is to avoid repeating the undergraduate Earth sciences experience, so that well-prepared students will be able to focus on research and discipline-related graduate courses at a relatively early stage in the program.

The breadth requirement is to be completed nominally within the first two years of the Ph.D. program. This assumes that a student has taken the prerequisites for the courses listed in Table 1. In some cases students will have to take the prerequisites first and will not complete the breadth requirement until the third year.

3.3 Depth Requirement

A minimum of 4 courses appropriate to the student's research area (in addition to courses taken as breadth courses) is required to complete the depth requirement. Any courses in the Department at the 4XX level or above, excluding EPSc 590, 591, 592, and 595, may fulfill the depth requirement. Courses outside of the student's research area taken within the Department or in other departments satisfy the depth requirement if the course content is necessary for dissertation research and is at the 4XX level or above. Advanced coursework at other institutions may improve the student's developing expertise, but they do not satisfy the depth course requirement.

Advice on courses to complete the depth requirement will be given by the First-Year Advisor and relevant faculty, and then by the Major Advisor. Students will likely take course work in the third year to attain specific skills needed in thesis research, and specific advice on advanced course work is often given as a result of the oral exam taken at the end of the second year (see Section 5.3)

3.4 Graduate Research Project

Each student will take a minimum of 3 units of EPSc 591, Graduate Research Project, in the second semester. In conjunction with a faculty advisor or advisors, the student selects, designs, and completes a one-semester research project in a field of interest to the student. The student will submit a written report on the research project - its scope, approach and analytical methods employed, data analysis, and conclusions - by the end of the second semester.

The Graduate Research Project will help the student develop research skills early in his/her program, and give the faculty an early assessment of the student's potential for research. The Project also gives the student the opportunity to "try out" a faculty member before selecting a Major Advisor.

The topic chosen by the student, in mutual agreement with a faculty member, must be sufficiently well-defined and limited in scope so that it can be completed by the end of the semester. Students are encouraged to interview several faculty members during their first semester and to have their project well-defined by the time the second semester commences. The Graduate Research Project supervisor may be a member of either the teaching faculty or the research faculty.

3.5 Research

Each student is also required to take at least 3 hours of Research, EPSc 592, in the third and fourth semesters of her/his program. This is to help ensure that the student is well prepared for the Oral Exam (see Section 5).

4. Evaluation at the End of First Year

At the end of the second semester, the First-Year Advisor, in consultation with the Major Advisor, will formulate a recommendation to the general faculty as to whether the student should continue in the Ph.D. program or switch to a Master's degree track. In the case of very poor performance, the student may be dismissed from the program altogether. A combination of the performance in course work and in the Graduate Research Project will be the basis of the recommendation. The Advisor will attempt to answer two questions: "Is the individual likely to be successful in the Ph.D. program?" and "Is the individual likely to be successful in the workplace for the types of positions that require Ph.D. degrees?" The faculty as a whole will make the final decision, and the student may appeal an adverse decision.

5. Research Paper and Orals

The research carried out during the summer following the first year, and the Research hours taken during the second year will culminate in a research paper and an oral defense of the research undertaken. A research proposal may be presented as an option to the research paper when circumstances warrant this option. The exam is taken at the end of the second year (fourth semester). Students passing this exam will advance to full candidacy for the Ph.D. degree, provided they have also completed their breadth requirement and have maintained the minimum GPA (B average) in course work.

5.1 Research Paper

During the fourth semester, the student will work closely with the Major Advisor to develop a research paper. The written format will be that of a journal paper and it is, in fact, expected that the document (or something close to it) will eventually be submitted to a journal for publication. The contents of the paper typically will be: Abstract, Introduction and Justification, Background, Models, Observations/Results, Analysis and Interpretation, Conclusions and Future Directions, References, and Tables/Figures. When the Major Advisor is satisfied with the effort, the paper will be distributed, at least one week before the oral exam, to the entire Department faculty. The research paper need not become part of the thesis project.

5.2 Research Proposal

When circumstances warrant, with advisor approval, a research proposal may be completed in lieu of a research paper. The format will be generally similar to that of the research paper, except that data collection and analysis will be much reduced or entirely absent. In most cases, the proposal option would be used only if the topic area was too broad or the data collection still largely incomplete, perhaps due to instrumentation problems. The proposal is not expected to be suitable for publication, but the other guidelines, requirements, and deadlines for the research paper do apply to the research proposal and its oral defense.

5.3 Orals

The oral exam will cover the subject matter of the research paper or research proposal. The primary interest of the committee will be to evaluate the student's grasp of the context and justification for the research, the experimental, observational, or theoretical methods required, and the accuracy and significance of the results. A mature performance is expected in the student's understanding of the research, the clarity of presentation, and the thoughts about future directions of the work. The student will be expected to have a firm knowledge base in both the primary and peripheral subjects of the research, as well as the relevant published literature related to the research.

The Oral Examination Committee will consist of the Research Advisory Committee and an additional person designated to represent the faculty as a whole. The committee will be chaired by the Major Advisor, and attendance at the exam is limited to the Research Advisory Committee, the Department faculty examiner, and any other interested faculty. The format of the exam will be an oral presentation by the student of about 30 minutes duration. This will be followed by questions from Research Advisory Committee and any other faculty member. Questions will cover the subject of the research paper or research proposal and also material from course work that is relevant to the research.

Successful completion of the orals will partially satisfy the requirements for an A.M. degree, which will be awarded once all A.M. requirements are met (see Section 8.2.2 for specific requirements).

There are four possible outcomes of the oral exam:

1. The student advances to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree.
2. The level of performance is deemed inadequate to advance to a Ph.D., and the student is switched to the terminal Master's program ("Master's level pass").
3. The student fails the orals and is dismissed from the program.
4. The student achieves a "Master's level pass" or fails the orals but is allowed to retake the exam one more time to try to achieve the next level. This new exam is to take place no later than the beginning of the third year and only if the Committee feels that there is a reasonable probability of success.

It is the intention of the faculty that those students who have a successful first-year evaluation should also have a high probability of passing the oral exam if they adequately prepare. Thus the "Master's level pass", or outright dismissal, should be unusual outcomes of the exam.

6. Teaching Requirement

6.1 Definitions and Qualifying Elements

A crucial component in the training of successful scholars is the development of oral and written communication skills. Moreover, exposure to formal teaching methods should be part of the training of future faculty. Consequently, the Graduate School has added specific teaching requirements to the mandatory elements of the Doctoral degree. The teaching requirement becomes effective with students entering during or after the Fall 2004 semester.

The Graduate School requires documented completion of 14 units of teaching experience at the basic level and four units of teaching experience at the advanced level. The School defines a unit of teaching broadly as an hour spent communicating with a group of students or scholars. Each academic department stipulates more precisely the conditions for qualifying communications as a unit of teaching.

For the basic teaching requirement, the faculty of Earth and Planetary Sciences have stipulated the following experiences as qualifying for one unit of teaching per event:

• Conducting a discussion or review section of a class.
• Teaching or co-teaching a laboratory session (one unit per session).
• Delivering a lecture in class using notes provided by the professor.
• Leading a full class session of an EPSc seminar course or of an EPSc journal club.

For the advanced teaching requirement, the faculty of Earth and Planetary Sciences have stipulated the following experiences as qualifying for one unit of teaching per event:

• Delivering a paper (oral or poster) at a science meeting. At least one of the four units must be qualified in this fashion.
• Preparing from scratch and delivering a lecture in an EPSc class. At least one, but not more than two, units must be qualified in this fashion.
• Delivering a "brown bag" seminar giving the results of the student's own research.
• An outreach activity such as preparing and presenting a lecture and/or demonstration in science at a middle or high school.

A teaching experience that qualifies for the advanced level also qualifies for the basic level (but it cannot be counted twice).

6.2 Filing Forms

Each teaching unit completed must be documented using a "Certification of Teaching Units for Ph.D. Candidates" form available from the Department Office and on the Department website (Information & Forms). Each form must be signed by the student's advisor or by a faculty member supervising the event and filed with the Department Office. In the Fall semester, the completed "Certification of Teaching Units for Ph.D. Candidates" form should be submitted no later than the 1st of December and in the Spring semester, no later than the 1st of May. Prompt filing following the date of the event is strongly recommended. Once the total required units are accomplished, the student will need to file the "Graduate School-wide Teaching Requirement Fulfillment" form (Section 11.2) to the Department Office.

6.3 Responsibility for Completion

a. The student is the person primarily responsible for completion of the teaching requirement, including scheduling, preparation, presentation, and documentation of each teaching experience.

b. The advisor is tasked with monitoring advisee progress toward completion of the teaching requirement. This support includes interacting with the EPSc Teaching Assistant coordinator to schedule the necessary T.A. assignments and providing financial resources, where possible, to cover at least partially the student's travel expenses associated with participation in national science meetings.

c. The student will arrange for a faculty member to attend and evaluate at least one of the events at either basic or advanced level. This faculty member will provide constructive criticism as well as a written evaluation of the teaching skills of the student on the completion form.

d. The Department Office records each unit as submitted by the student (see Section6.2 and Section 11.2).

7. Dissertation

7.1 Graduate School Requirements

A dissertation must be defended in accordance with the requirements of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The students, in consultation with their Major Advisor, make the Dissertation Examination Committee. The Committee normally contains six Washington University faculty members. At least five must be full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty, while the sixth is permitted to be part-time, non-tenure-track, visiting, emeritus, research-track, etc. Four members must be from within the department and two from outside it. The outside members should be able to comprehend the student's work but should not be experts in it. The point of having outside members is to ensure that students can communicate the results of their research to scholars in multiple disciplines. The Major Advisor, who chairs the committee, should be both inside and full-time tenured or tenure-track. For complete description of the Graduate School requirements see the Graduate School Bulletin and the Doctoral Dissertation Guide, which are available on the Graduate School's website and Information & Forms.

7.2 Time to Completion

All Ph.D. requirements, including dissertation defense, are expected to be completed at the latest by the end of the tenth semester. Time extensions must be agreed to by the faculty.

8. Requirements for A.M. Degree

8.1 Graduate School requirements

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences requires that students working toward a Master's degree maintain a B average in their course work and recognizes two tracks to the Master's degree:

Track I. Completion of a minimum of 24 units plus preparation and defense of a thesis.

Track II. Completion of a minimum of 30 units plus "... an examination which tests competence in the field of study, and evidence offered in seminars or individual study projects of a capability for scholarly research and analysis equivalent to that required for the A.M. thesis."

See the Graduate School Bulletin available on the Graduate School's website for additional information on requirements.

8.2 Departmental Requirements

The Department imposes additional requirements for the Master's degree:

8.2.1 Track I

This track is available to students who declare their intent to pursue a Master's degree upon entering the program or who are directed to a Master's degree as a result of the first-year evaluation.

8.2.1.1 Course Requirements

Students must complete the breadth requirement as discussed in (see Section 3.2). Completion of 36 units is required for the A.M. degree by the Department. Courses for the first year will be determined jointly by the student, the First-Year Advisor, and faculty in the student's area of interest. The student and Major Advisor will select subsequent courses needed to meet requirements. At least 9 units of 500 level course work (EPSc 590, 591, 592, and 595 excluded) are required.

8.2.1.2 Thesis

A thesis must be completed and successfully defended before a committee of no fewer than three Department faculty members. Prior approval of the thesis by the Major Advisor is necessary to bring it to a defense. Graduate school requirements are contained in the Graduate School Bulletin and the Master's Thesis Guide, which are available on the Graduate School's website and Information & Forms. The thesis defense is open to any interested person. Following questions from the general audience, all except for the student and the examining committee are excused. Members of the examining committee then may continue the questioning.

8.2.1.3 Time to Completion

Students are expected to fulfill all requirements, including successful defense of a thesis, by the end of the summer after their fourth semester at the latest. Time extensions must be approved by the EPSc faculty.

8.2.2 Track II

A Master's degree will be awarded under the Track II guidelines with either a Ph.D. level or Master's level pass of the Ph.D. oral exam. At least 36 credits must have been completed, as well as the successful completion of

(1) the Graduate Research Project (EPSc 591)

(2) the Breadth Requirement (see Section 3.2).

9. Financial Aid

Most incoming graduate students receive financial aid in the form of tuition scholarships and fellowships, teaching assistantships or research assistantships. The Tolman and Wheeler Fellowships are typically given to EPSc students who have expressed interest in the Earth sciences. Astronaut, Haskin, and Graduate Fellowships are awarded by the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences to students with interests in planetary science. EPSc students are also eligible to compete for special fellowships sponsored by the Graduate School. The current stipends for these awards and for the assistantships are available from the Department Office. For more information see Fellowships, Assistantships, and Financial Aid.

No separate application is required for Department-administered fellowships. All students are considered for any fellowship for which they qualify. Some Graduate School fellowships do require separate application. Opportunities to compete for these fellowships are announced by the Graduate School.

The maximum duration for financial support by any of the funding sources administered by the Department is normally as follows:

                For A.M. Candidates - four (4) semesters.

                For Ph.D. Candidates - ten (10) semesters.

Tuition scholarships are provided by the Graduate School for graduate-level coursework up to the number of units required for the degree. The Graduate School also covers the Continuing Student Fee (CSF) for Teaching Assistants or those supported by University-sponsored fellowships, as long as satisfactory academic progress is made. For other students, the Department will pay the Continuing Student Fee, at maximum, until the end of the third year for Master's students and until the end of the sixth year for Doctoral students. Beyond this time, the student is responsible for payment of any student fees.

10. Communication Skills

All graduate students must possess written and oral communications skills sufficiently well developed to support the student's academic program and to support possible teaching assistant assignments.

It is particularly important for international students to remove any communications deficiencies immediately. Financial support via teaching assistantship is a possibility at any point in the academic program.

Students must be qualified to complete teaching assignments including those requiring oral as well as written skills - or else forfeit the financial aid offered. International students are required to take an oral English competency examination prior to the beginning of the first semester. If improvement in communication skills is indicated, it is the student's responsibility to develop the appropriate skill level. The University provides English as a Second Language (ESL) courses to help international students achieve communication competency. While tuition fees for these courses are comparatively low, the tuition scholarship does not cover them. The student is responsible for paying most of the ESL tuition fees. For more information see Office for International Students & Scholars.

11. Preliminary Graduation Requirements (Master's and Ph.D.)

11.1 Intent to Graduate Form

All candidates for a degree must file an Intent to Graduate Form by the College-specified date to be considered for degree conferral (this includes Ph.D. students obtaining their Master's degree). The form is available online at WebSTAC. It can also be downloaded from Information & Forms. Paper copies are available from the Office of Student Records or from the Dean's Office. The deadline for filing the form is printed each semester on the university calendar in the Course Listings or may be obtained by contacting the Dean's office or the Office of Student Records.

Once the student files the form, the student's academic division is notified to consider him or her as a candidate for degree. They will evaluate the student's record to determine if the student has met degree requirements and notify the department of the names of all final degree recipients. The Office of Student Records then posts degrees conferred with dates to records.

If the student fails to complete degree requirements during the semester for which the form is filed, the student must refile the form for a subsequent degree period.

11.2 Notice of Title, Scope, and Procedure of Dissertation and Teaching Requirement Fulfillment Forms

The Notice of Title, Scope, and Procedure of Dissertation and Graduate School-wide Teaching Requirement Fulfillment forms (Information & Forms) should be completed, signed and submitted to the Department Office no later than six months before the student's dissertation examination, and is required in order to be considered ABD (All But Dissertation) status and for the Dissertation Fellowship.