PhD in Geological Sciences, USC

The PhD program at the Department of Geological Sciences prepares students for professional careers and leadership positions in industry, government and academia. Graduates are expected to conduct independent, original scientific research and to have an understanding of the fundamental principles and practices related to primary areas of the Earth and Ocean sciences. Training involves developing the ability to use appropriate laboratory and field equipment and expanding his/her understanding of scientific methodology, quantitative problem-solving skills and experimental/numerical techniques.

The Department expects all graduates to possess effective oral and written communication skills.

Upon admission to the Doctoral program a PhD student must ensure satisfactory progress toward the award of the degree. Satisfactory progress includes (in order of execution):

(i) selection of a Dissertation Advisor from the faculty of the Department of Geological Sciences (1^st semester or upon admission);

(iii) Dissertation proposal presentation / Qualifying examination (advisable by the end of 1^st year but not later than the end of 2^nd year);

(iv) formation and submission of PhD Program of Study (usually at Qualifying examination);

Although a PhD degree can be awarded in three years, the median time for graduation in the Department of Geological Sciences is four years, assuming satisfactory progress. There are several time limitations that, if not met, may lead to coursework expiration (sections 4.1.2 and 4.1.3) or termination from the program (section 4.13).

4.1 Selection of PhD Dissertation Advisor

All PhD students are admitted with a Dissertation Advisor already assigned. The major advisor must be a member of the faculty of the Department of Geological Sciences. In exceptional circumstances, faculty outside the Department can be assigned as co-advisors.

The major professor, in consultation with the other advisory committee members, will direct the student's efforts towards successful completion of research goals and provide advice on course selections and other matters. The major professor will also assist the student in selecting other advisory committee members.

Students must remain officially active in the PhD program by taking at least one credit hour during all semesters when advisement is conducted.

4.2 Doctoral Committee

The Graduate School requires that each Ph.D. student forms three committees: a Ph.D. Dissertation Committee, a Comprehensive Exam Committee and a Dissertation Exam Committee. The Department requires that membership in each committee is the same (hereafter termed the Doctoral Committee).

Doctoral committees consist of a minimum of four qualified individuals, including the major advisor and one member from outside the Department. The majority of the committee’s membership must be tenure-track USC faculty and a minimum of two members (including the major advisor) must be tenured or tenure-track faculty in the Department of Geological Sciences.

Members from outside the University of South Carolina require the approval of the Graduate Director and the Graduate School. The selection of such members needs to be justified on academic grounds and the member must have expertise relevant to the research area of the project. Such members must have a PhD and be actively involved in research, demonstrated through their recent publication record. Furthermore, they should be prepared to actively participate in the process of advisement and in the meetings / exams required by the program. No funding is provided by the program to cover expenses of outside members for travel to participate to committee meetings. Participation via videoconference is acceptable by the program for cases when a committee member cannot participate on site. Securing such videoconferencing facilities is the responsibility of the student and his/her advisor.

The Committee must be approved by the Dean of the Graduate School by submitting a Doctoral Committee Appointment Request form before it can recommend a Program of Study for a PhD student. Changes in committee membership require the approval of the Graduate Studies Director, and the consent of the majority of the Doctoral Committee.

Students must remain officially active by signing up for at least one credit hour during all semesters when they are advised by the Doctoral Committee. No formal Doctoral Committee meetings may be arranged if the student is officially inactive.

Students should organize regular (annual or more often if needed) meetings with their Dissertation Committee to present and discuss research goals, hypotheses and progress. The Doctoral Committee may request that the student prepares a written proposal describing the background, rationale, hypotheses and approach for the student’s doctoral research project as well as written progress reports.

All Ph.D. candidates must be in residence at an approved university for at least three academic years after the candidate has begun graduate work. At least one year of the three must be spent on the Columbia campus of the University of South Carolina. The year of residence on the Columbia campus after admission to the Doctoral program can be fulfilled by successful completion of at least 18 graduate credit hours within a span of three consecutive semesters (excluding summers). Enrollment in a summer term is not required to maintain continuity, but credits earned during summer terms will count towards residency.

4.4 PhD Degree Requirements

Requirements for the PhD degree include: (i) course requirements; (ii) course distribution requirements; (iii) seminar attendance; (iv) seminar presentation; (v) publication requirement; and (vi) foreign language requirement, if applicable. Each category represents a minimum requirement and none of the requirements should be viewed as restrictive or exclusive of another requirement.

4.4.1 Course Requirements

All Ph.D. candidates must complete a minimum of sixty (60) graduate hours beyond the Bachelor’s degree, or a minimum of thirty (30) graduate hours beyond the Master’s degree including at least 12 credits of GEOL 899 (Dissertation Preparation).

In addition, Ph.D. students, with the help of their advisors and members of their Doctoral Committee, will choose the courses they need to take in order to ensure adequate preparation for their research.

Ph.D. students must complete at least half of their credit requirements in courses numbered 700 or above, exclusive of GEOL 899 and GEOL 800. No more than 20% of their total credit requirements (i.e., 6 for 30 hours or 12 for a 60 hours requirement) may be taken in GEOL 790 (Directed Individual Studies).

The remainder of the requirements may include courses numbered from 500 to 699 taken for graduate credit. All students must also satisfy the departmental course distribution requirement (see section 4.4.4).

An average grade of B (GPA score of 3.0) is also required for all courses taken in the Program of Study, and any grade below B is considered a failure and does not count toward meeting degree requirements. In addition, the student must achieve a B average (GPA score of 3.0) on all courses taken for graduate credit including courses that are not part of the degree program, and must not accumulate more than 11 credits with a grade of C+ or below. A form for calculating projected GPA can be found at the Registrar’s website (http://registrar.sc.edu/html/gpa_calc/gpa.htm).

The table below shows the minimum and maximum number of credit hours required to create a typical Program of Study for a PhD degree for a student with and without a MS degree (30 and 60 hours requirement, respectively) as well as the conditions that need to be met for each case.

	Courses	Credit Hours Required
	Courses	With MS	Without MS
(A)	GEOL 899	12	12
(B)	GEOL 800	0 to 8	0 to 8
(C)	GEOL 790	0 to 6	0 to 12
(D)	700 & 800 level courses (excluding GEOL790, GEOL800 and GEOL899, independent study or pass-fail seminar courses)	6 or more	18 or more
(E)	500 and 600 level courses	any	any
	Condition 1: (C)+(D)	³9	³24
	Condition 2: (A)+(B)+(C)+(D)+(E)	³30	³60

A number of courses available through other departments and colleges may be counted as graduate credit toward a Geological Sciences PhD degree. Students must consult with their major professor and advisory committee for advice and approval concerning curriculum planning. The faculty regularly offers seminar courses in specialized areas in response to student requests. Students should confirm when courses are offered to avoid delays in their progress, as many courses are only taught once every other year or only when there are enough students interested in a particular course.

4.4.4 Course Distribution Requirement

All PhD students must complete one class in each of the three departmental focus areas (Environmental Geosciences, Solid Earth and Climate Change and Ocean Sciences). Courses outside the department, including those taken at other universities, cannot be substituted for this requirement. A list of courses satisfying this requirement is found in Appendix I.

4.4.5 Seminar Attendance Requirement

All PhD students must register for GEOL 800 in all semesters when they are registered for 6 or more credit hours. Exemptions to this requirement are granted only by the Graduate Studies Director and only for exceptional circumstances.

4.4.6 Seminar Presentation Requirement

All PhD students must present public seminars on their research plans and progress at least once per year on the University of South Carolina, Columbia campus. Students on a normal timetable can partially satisfy this requirement by including their Dissertation Proposal and Comprehensive Examination presentations. Students may also present at Graduate Student’s Day, Departmental seminars, brown bag meetings etc.

4.4.7 Publication Requirements

All Ph.D. students are required to publish at least one paper and submit or publish a second paper in refereed scientific journals. Both papers should be from work carried out as part of their Ph.D. studies in the Department of Geological Sciences. In particular:

Paper In Press or In Print Requirement: All Ph.D. students are required to publish (i.e., in press or in print) one paper from their doctoral research in a refereed scientific journal. Publications from work not directly related to the Doctoral research of the candidate or from previous MS or other degree do not count toward this requirement. The above-mentioned paper must be reviewed by the Doctoral Committee prior to submission. The student must be first author on the paper, and his/her contribution to the paper must be evident and substantial. The paper used as part of the Comprehensive exam (see below) counts toward this requirement.

Submitted Paper Requirement: Prior to the Dissertation Defense the student is required to have submitted a second paper from his/her Dissertation work to a refereed scientific journal. Publications from work not directly related to the Doctoral research of the candidate or from previous MS or other degrees do not count toward this requirement.

4.4.8 Foreign Language Requirement

The Department of Geological Sciences has no mandatory foreign language requirement. However, the student’s Doctoral Committee may require the student to fulfill such a requirement.

Once a Ph.D. student has selected a major advisor and identified a Dissertation topic, he/she should assemble his/her Doctoral Committee members. A written Dissertation proposal must be submitted to the student’s committee at least two weeks prior to the presentation.

(i) A technical research presentation of the Dissertation project for the Dissertation committee. This presentation is open to the public and the date should be publicly announced at least one week in advance. The presentation is followed by technical questions from the public at the discretion of the committee chair (i.e., Major Professor / Research Director).

(ii) A private discussion with the Dissertation committee in which the project is discussed. The committee will determine whether the student is qualified to carry out the proposed research and whether the proposed project is a viable research study.

If the majority of the committee decides the proposal is not adequate for PhD study, the student has the option to repeat the qualifying exam within 120 days. If the second exam is also unsatisfactory the student will be terminated from the PhD program. The committee, at its discretion, may recommend that the student apply for a transfer to the MS program.

The earlier the qualifying exam takes place the sooner the student can focus on his/her specific research needs. With this in mind, it is strongly recommended the exam be scheduled within one calendar year from admission to the program. If the exam has not taken place by the end of the second year, the student will be terminated or recommended for transfer to the MS program.

The Dissertation proposal must be completed at least one full academic year prior to the date at which the PhD degree is granted. A copy of the approved proposal and the determination of the committee must be filed with the Graduate Director’s office within one week of the exam date. These must be accompanied by the appropriate program assessment forms (see section 6).

4.6 PhD Program of Study

All students enrolled in the PhD program, in consultation with their major advisor and the members of their Doctoral Committee must identify their Dissertation research topic and the coursework required for the student to obtain the background required to complete his/her Dissertation work. This coursework should be listed in the Program of Study even if it does not reflect any of the requirements listed above. No expired coursework can be included in the Program of Study (see section 4.8).

It is emphasized that the course requirements (see section 4.1.1) represent the minimum hours, which must be included in the Program of Study and should not be interpreted as an upper limit. The Program of Study may include additional coursework, beyond the minimum required hours and should be in accordance to the requirements listed in sections 4.4.1 and 4.4.2

The Program of Study form should be prepared and submitted within two weeks after the Qualifying exam (see section 4.5). The Graduate Director and the Dean of the Graduate School must approve this form.

4.7 Transfer of Graduate Credit

A limited number of credits may be transferred into the doctoral program. Graduate credits that are not part of a completed degree or certificate program in USC or another institution may be transferred to the PhD program subject to the following restrictions:

(i) The transferred credits do not constitute more than 9 or 18 hours for a student with a 30 or 60 hour requirement, respectively and do not include any credits obtained as part of a Thesis preparation or Individual Directed Study course.

(ii) The credits are relevant to the doctoral program of the student, of appropriate level and approved by the Dissertation committee.

(iii) The credits are from an accredited institution recognized by USC; carry graduate credit with a grade of B or better; and are earned within eight years prior to completion of the PhD degree.

Applications for credit transfer should be made initially to the Graduate Studies Director. The application should include an Affidavit that all of the restrictions listed above have been met and must be signed by all members of the Doctoral Committee.

The University of South Carolina offers no correspondence courses for graduate credit and does not accept correspondence work or professional experience toward a graduate degree. Expired coursework cannot be transferred.

4.8 Coursework Expiration / Re-certification Process

All work to be applied toward the Ph.D., exclusive of the Master’s degree portion, should be completed within 8 years prior to graduation. Courses listed in the Program of Study that have expired can be re-certified through an application to the Graduate School. As part of the re-certification process, a faculty from the Department of Geological Sciences (usually the faculty member teaching the course to be re-certified) will have to assess the current knowledge of the student requesting the re-certification. This assessment can be either through an interview, oral, written exam, or a combination of the above.

4.9 Admission to Candidacy

A student is officially admitted to Candidacy when all three of the following conditions are satisfied:

Admission to candidacy must occur at least one full academic year before graduation and no later than three years after admission to the PhD program.

All Ph.D. candidates must satisfactorily pass a comprehensive exam on subject areas pertinent to their Dissertation.

The comprehensive examination cannot be scheduled until the student has had a paper submitted for publication (see section 4.4.7 for restrictions on the paper) or before he/she has been officially admitted to candidacy (see section 4.9). The paper fulfills the requirement for the written portion of the comprehensive examination and the exam is allowed to take place even at the submission stage to avoid delays from the peer review process. Proof of acceptance or publication will be required before the student is cleared for graduation (see section 4.11).

As part of the comprehensive examination, the student will be required to orally defend the publication and answer questions related to the paper.

If a student fails the comprehensive examination, the committee, at its discretion, can recommend the student’s transfer to the MS program or can reschedule a new examination for a future date not earlier than 30 days and not later than 120 days after the examination. If the student fails the second examination, then he/she will be terminated from the PhD program or he/she may be transferred to the MS program. The latter requires the approval of the Dissertation committee.

The results of each Comprehensive Examination meeting should be filed with the Graduate Director's office within one week of the defense using the appropriate form (see Appendix). The form must be accompanied by the appropriate program assessment forms (see section 6).

The comprehensive examination is normally given after the candidate has completed all of the courses required by the Program of Study except those for which the student may be currently registered, but not earlier than 60 days prior to the Dissertation defense.

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4.11 Completion of Dissertation / Dissertation Defense

A written Dissertation is required of all students in the Ph.D. program. The Dissertation must be reviewed and accepted by the Doctoral Committee members before it can be publicly defended. This review should take no more than 4 weeks. No Defense date may be set prior to approval by the committee or before the comprehensive examination has been passed and registered with the Graduate School.

Every Ph.D. student is required to defend his/her Dissertation in public before the Dissertation committee. This consists of a presentation, a public question and answer period, and a private consultation with the Thesis committee. This defense must be publicly announced and recorded with the Graduate Director at least one week in advance by submission of:

(ii) Proof of acceptance or publication of the paper used for the written part of the comprehensive exam.

(iii) Proof of submission of the second paper (see Publication requirements, section 4.4.7).

This information will be distributed to all faculty and students and posted on the department’s web site.

The Defense must take place on the Columbia campus and all members of the Dissertation committee must be present for this event. Participation via videoconference is allowed only for a member who cannot be present at the time of the scheduled Defense. This must be approved in advance by the Graduate Studies Director. Any arrangements for videoconference must be carried out by the student in collaboration with their major advisor.

The student should consult the Graduate School for general Ph.D. regulations and deadlines before his/her defense. The Dissertation defense should be given no later than 30 days before the date at which the candidate expects to receive his or her degree. Students must be registered for at least one hour of graduate credit in the term in which the Dissertation defense takes place.

4.12 PhD Dissertation Submission

Students are required to remain active with at least one hour of Dissertation credit during the semester in which they are to receive their degree.

The Dissertation should be formatted according to the requirements set by the Graduate School (see Dissertation Guidelines link at http://www.gradschool.sc.edu/currentstudents/index.html). In addition, the Department of Geological Sciences requires the names of the committee members and the Dean of the Graduate School be listed on the first page under their respective signature.

The Thesis is read in draft and in final form by the advisor and other committee members before submission to the Graduate School for the Dean’s (Graduate School) approval.

As a matter of courtesy, it is recommended that the student provides a bound copy of the final version of the Dissertation to each of the committee members.

4.13 Time – Limits / Restrictions

After admission, students are expected to make satisfactory and timely progress toward their degree.

Following three years of non-enrollment, the graduate admission of students admitted to the PhD program becomes invalid. Degree-seeking students wishing to continue must re-apply and fulfill the admission requirements in effect at the time of re-application. Upon re-admission, these students are subject to regulations in the current Graduate Studies Bulletin and to the current Departmental program requirements.

Students who fail to graduate within 10 years of their initial registration are automatically withdrawn from the PhD program.

4. PhD in Geological Sciences

4.1 Selection of PhD Dissertation Advisor.

4.1 Selection of PhD Dissertation Advisor

4.2 Doctoral Committee

4.4 PhD Degree Requirements

4.4.1 Course Requirements

4.4.4 Course Distribution Requirement

4.4.5 Seminar Attendance Requirement

4.4.6 Seminar Presentation Requirement

4.4.7 Publication Requirements

4.4.8 Foreign Language Requirement

4.6 PhD Program of Study

4.7 Transfer of Graduate Credit

4.8 Coursework Expiration / Re-certification Process

4.9 Admission to Candidacy

A student is officially admitted to Candidacy when all three of the following conditions are satisfied:

4.11 Completion of Dissertation / Dissertation Defense

4.12 PhD Dissertation Submission

4.13 Time – Limits / Restrictions