Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry
The Ph.D. in Chemistry degree exposes students to various methods and techniques for research. The department maintains instrumentation enabling atomic, molecular, cellular, and small animal studies.
Degree Requirements
The Ph.D. in Chemistry requires 84 credits beyond the bachelor’s degree. A prior master’s degree may be transferred for up to 30 credits without specific course descriptions. The remaining 54 credits must include at least:
- a minimum of 30 dissertation credits (CH960)
- 12 credits of technical electives
- up to 6 credits of unrestricted electives from other relevant Departments with approval from their advisor
- 3 credit course of PRV961 after passing the qualifying exam
Up to one-third of additional course credits may be transferred with the approval of the Program Director and the Office of Graduate Academics & Student Success, provided they have not been used to obtain another degree.
Language Proficiency:
Students must fulfill the English proficiency requirements as advised by the Office of Graduate Education.
Research Seminars and Student Presentations
Ph.D. students are required to attend research seminars. Students failing to meet this requirement may be put on probation at the discretion of the faculty.
PhD students after passing their qualifying exam must give a presentation annually at the CCB PhD Presentation Day.
Qualifying Exam
The qualifying exam is an oral examination that must be completed by the end of the 4th semester of full-time study. The policies and regulations governing the qualifying exam are described in detail in the Chemistry and Chemical Biology Program Graduate Student Handbook
Dissertation
Students must complete a minimum of 30 credits of CH 960 Dissertation/Research. The dissertation must demonstrate the student’s mastery of the associated topic area, it must exhibit sound research methodology and it must make a unique and substantial contribution to an area of research.
Dissertation Defense
The final Ph.D. dissertation is usually defended at the end of the fourth year of full-time study. The policies and regulations governing the doctoral dissertation are described in detail in the Chemistry and Chemical Biology Program Graduate Student Handbook.
Exceptions
The faculty reserve the right to make exceptions to any of the rules and procedures described above in order to promote and preserve the health of the doctoral program and to ensure each student’s prompt and effective progress through the program.
Elective Options
To complete the course requirements for the Master's and Ph.D. degree, a student will choose technical electives from the list of available courses as specified above for the Master's in Chemistry and Chemical Biology. The technical electives can be applied to a certificate program such as Drug Discovery or Analytical Chemistry. Students can take electives within a concentration – Analytical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry or Physical Chemistry – as specified below.
Note: students can take up to 6 credits of unrestricted electives from other relevant Departments with approval from their advisor.
Analytical Chemistry
| CH 550 | Spectra and Structure | 3 |
| CH 561 | Instrumental Methods of Analysis | 3 |
| CH 660 | Advanced Instrumental Analysis | 3 |
| CH 662 | Separation Methods in Analytical and Organic Chemistry | 3 |
| CH 666 | Modern Mass Spectrometry | 3 |
Biology
| BIO 507 | Applications of Statistics in Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences | 3 |
| BIO 509 | Clinical Research Methodology and Design | 3 |
| BIO 526 | Cancer Biology | 3 |
| BIO 568 | Computational Biology | 3 |
| BIO 583 | Physiology | 3 |
| BIO 584 | Pathophysiology | 3 |
| BIO 586 | Immunology | 3 |
| BIO 682 | Biochemical Laboratory Techniques | 3 |
| BIO 683 | Microscopy Imaging in Biological Systems | 3 |
| BIO 684 | Molecular Biology Laboratory Techniques | 3 |
| BIO 687 | Molecular Genetics | 3 |
| BIO 690 | Cellular Signal Transduction | 3 |
Organic and Inorganic Chemistry
| CH 550 | Spectra and Structure | 3 |
| CH 580 | Biochemistry I - Cellular Metabolism and Regulation | 3 |
| CH 581 | Biochemistry II: Biomolecular Structure and Function | 3 |
| CH 582 | Biophysical Chemistry | 3 |
| CH 610 | Advanced Inorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry | 3 |
| CH 640 | Advanced Organic andHeterocyclic Chemistry | 3 |
| CH 646 | Chemistry of Natural Products | 3 |
| CH 685 | Medicinal Chemistry | 3 |
Physical Chemistry
| CH 520 | Advanced Physical Chemistry | 3 |
| CH 582 | Biophysical Chemistry | 3 |
| CH 620 | Chemical Thermodynamics and Kinetics | 3 |
| CH 664 | Computer Methods in Chemistry | 3 |
| CH 669 | Applied Quantum Chemistry | 3 |