The PhD program

See also Coursework for MS and PhD students.

PhD students must complete 18 credits of coursework before advancing to candidacy. Of these 18 credits,

• at least 12 credits must be in EARTH.
• no more than 4 credits may be in seminars.
• at least 3 must be in cognate courses offered by other academic units that broaden expertise in areas related to the student’s research. The student can depart from this program rule by taking advantage of special cognate courses that are beneficial to the student’s scientific interests. The student must write an acceptable justification, which must be reviewed and approved by the student’s adviser and the Grad Chair.

Onboarding seminars EARTH 531 (“Seminar in Geologic Problems”) and EARTH 495 (“Methods in Research for Natural Sciences”) are required for all first-year students. EARTH 531 is offered in the fall term. EARTH 495 is offered in the winter term and satisfies the U-M Responsible Conduct of Research and Scholarship (RCRS) training requirement. You do not have to repeat these courses if you have taken them previously as an MS student in EARTH.

The course numbers for Independent study courses depend on the year in the program:

EARTH 990 – Pre-candidates
EARTH 995 – Candidates

Electronic permission is required for registration for independent study classes. To obtain permission, contact the Academic Program Manager with the following information: course name, course number, and name of the adviser. Once the permission has been entered, you will receive an automatic notification that you may register for the course.

Students take the qualifying exam in their third or fourth term in residence. Students will advance to candidacy after completing requisite course work and passing the Qualifying Exam in either the third or fourth term in residence.

Before the first day of classes of the term following the successful completion of the Qualifying Examination, the student and adviser must form a Dissertation Committee of at least four members but five members are recommended.

1. Chair – the research adviser. 
2. Cognate member – a regular member of the Graduate Faculty in a doctoral program in the Rackham Graduate School from outside EARTH.
3. Member – the academic mentor.
4. Member
5. Member (recommended)

The chair of the committee must be a tenure-track faculty member in EARTH. A research scientist may serve as co-chair. At least two of the committee members must be tenure-track or tenured faculty with their primary appointment in EARTH. The cognate member must be a regular member of the Graduate Faculty in a doctoral program in the Rackham Graduate School from outside EARTH. This cognate member must hold an appointment in a collateral or related field.

See Guidelines for Dissertation Committee Service for Rackham’s rules and recommendations.

The Dissertation Committee Worksheet 

The student must fill out the Dissertation Committee Worksheet and submit it to the Academic Program Manager. The Academic Program Manager will submit the committee to Rackham Graduate School at which point an email will be sent to the student, adviser, and graduate chair for their review and approval. Students do not submit anything directly to Rackham in regard to their committee.

The student must meet with the Dissertation Committee at least once each academic year before the end of Winter semester to review thesis research progress. Usually, the one-hour meeting begins with a 15–20 minute (powerpoint) presentation that includes

• a summary of the year’s research activities
  
• a list of (tentative) thesis chapter titles
  
• a list of publications and papers in press or preparation
  
• a summary of professional meetings and workshops attended
  
• research goals for the coming year(s)
  
• other academic and professional activities
  
• expected defense date
  
• career plans

The student should send an up-to-date CV, copies of recently published or submitted research articles, and a copy of the (preliminary) presentation to the Committee one week prior to the meeting. 

The presentation will be followed by a discussion of the past year and the years ahead. The main goal is to update the Committee on the student’s progress, to discuss the feasibility and timeline of newly planned research, and to make adjustments where necessary.

Following this meeting, the research adviser must use the Dissertation Committee Meeting Report Form for PhD Students to inform the Grad Chair and the Academic Program Manager of the outcome of this meeting.

The Rackham Graduate School sets dissertation defense requirements and deadlines. See the Dissertation Timeline, Doctoral degree deadlines, Dissertation Handbook, Formatting Guidelines, and other guidelines under “Dissertation” in Navigating Your Degree. Students should consult with the Academic Program Manager early in their final term about scheduling the dissertation defense and final requirements. Please note that in general defenses must occur before the fall and winter term deadlines, or their respective grace period deadlines, and not under the spring/summer term deadline. 

Clean copies of PhD dissertations are available in Word and Latex. This is the overleaf template. The U-M library has help pages on Word formatted PhD dissertations.

The thesis defense has two parts:

1. a 1-hour public seminar that includes a 45-minute talk and a 15-minute block for questions by the audience (not by PhD Committee members).
2. a 1-2 hour oral defense with the PhD Committee.