Entomology: Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

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Graduate College Requirements

For degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Entomology you must complete at least 36 units (exclusive of dissertation) in the major subject or related areas, 18 units of dissertation, and 9 units in the minor.

Departmental Requirements

The Department of Entomology has established doctoral standards, which are in addition to those of the Graduate College. The Ph.D. applicant is required to submit the results of Verbal, Quantitative and Analytical Test Scores of the Graduate Record Examination upon application for graduate admission. Students are expected to have had coursework in physics, organic chemistry, mathematics and the evolutionary, ecological, organismic, cellular and molecular aspects of biological systems. Deficiencies in these areas will have to be made up.*

The course requirements are as follows:

Four graduate seminars (ENTO 596A through 596G)
ENTO 515 R&L Insect Biology 4 credits

Plus at least three courses from:
ENTO 511 Insect Behavior
ENTO 517 Insect Systematics
ENTO 520 Insect Molecular Biology
ENTO 544 Insect Ecology
ENTO 547 Medical Veterinary Entomology

Other courses including several in Entomology are available to suit the student's needs and interests.

The Student's Committee of five should be chosen in consultation with the major professor. The Student's Committee should include a representative of at least one minor field outside of Entomology.

The prescriptive meeting with the student's committee should be held no later than the first semester after the student arrives. At this meeting a program of study is developed taking into consideration the interests of the student. The program of study must be submitted to the Graduate Council for approval. The committee should ensure that the student has a broad background in biology, and ensure that any deficiencies are made up. The student should present a detailed research proposal for discussion by the committee either at the time of the prescriptive meeting, or at some later time set by the committee. Twice yearly meetings of the committee to monitor research and coursework are required. These meetings can also be very useful opportunities for informal discussion of your work and problems.

The student must present to the committee a grant proposal, which can be based on his or her research, after the first year of research, or as decided by the committee. This requirement must be fulfilled before the Preliminary Oral Exam can be taken. This is an opportunity to gain experience in writing grants, which is an important aspect of most jobs.

The Preliminary Exam should be held as soon as possible after all course work is finished, but no later than 3 months prior to the final oral exam (defense of thesis). The Preliminary Exam will be comprised of two parts. The first part will consist of an open book, written exam, consisting of questions submitted by the members of the Student's Committee and other faculty of the Department. The student will have 48 hours to answer the questions from each person. The exam may be taken over a period of one month as prescribed by the committee and should consist of no more than 6, 48-hour sessions. The exam questions will be graded by the faculty concerned, and the results presented to the committee as a whole. The second part of the Preliminary exam will consist of an oral exam given by the Student's Committee, taken no later than 6 months after the completion of the written part of the exam. Both parts of the exam will test the student's "general fundamental knowledge of the fields of the major and minor subjects of study."

On successful completion of the Preliminary exam and showing evidence of ability to do original research, the Student's Committee will recommend the student to the Graduate Council for acceptance as a candidate for the doctorate. This must be done no later than 3 months prior to the date of the final oral exam.

The Final Oral Exam should be preceded by a formal, advertised, seminar. At this exam the student will defend the thesis "as well as any general questioning which may develop there from." The student should present a penultimate draft of the thesis to each member of the committee one month prior to the exam. A final copy of the thesis must be presented to the committee a week prior to the exam. The time and place of the Final Oral Exam should be scheduled with the Graduate Council three weeks in advance. The exam is open to the public.

An example of the Doctorate record-keeping process form is at the back of the "Handbook for Graduate Students".

Teaching Experience

Each Ph.D. candidate, before taking the final oral examination, should have satisfactorily assisted in teaching a course in Entomology. Students should make arrangements with professors prior to the term. The student can sign up for Independent Study (ENTO 599). The number of credits given should be agreed upon with the professor. Assisting in teaching a course in another department, such as MCB181, will satisfy this requirement.

* At the discretion of the Graduate Committee, equivalent courses may be substituted for those required.