Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry

The requirements for completion of the Doctor of Philosophy degree in chemistry are: 1. A minimum of ninety (90) credits of course work. A grade of "C"or higher must be obtained in all courses with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. The courses must include:   a) At least nine credits of chemistry courses in at least two of the five major areas of chemistry (Analytical, Biochemistry, Inorganic, Organic, and Physical) as listed below:   Analytical CHM 5156 Advanced Chromatograhy CHM 6157 Advanced Analytical Chemistry   Biochemistry CHM 5506 Physical Biochemistry   Inorganic CHM 5440 Kinetics and Catalysis CHM 5650 Physical Inorganic Chemistry   Organic CHM 5250 Organic Synthesis CHM 5236 Spectroscopic Techniques & Structure Elucidation CHM 5260 Physical Organic Chemistry   Physical CHM 5490 Physical Spectroscopy CHM 6430 Advanced Thermodynamics CHM 6461 Statistical Thermodynamics CHM 6480 Quantum Mechanics CHM 5423 Atmospheric Chemistry   Courses not listed above may be counted in one of the five areas with prior departmental approval. b) At least nine credits of additional graduate-level chemistry courses (excluding research and seminar) approved by the thesis committee in consultation with the Graduate Program Director with the following guidelines:   (1)    The courses must be 5000 or 6000 level chemistry    courses (CHM prefixes) or approved cognates (up to a maximum of six credits) and   (2) The following courses cannot count towards              the eighteen credits a) and (b): Graduate Analytical Methods (CHM 5150); Graduate Organic Chemistry (CHM 5225) and Graduate Physical Chemistry (CHM 5425). c) Full time graduate students are required to register for one credit of CHM 6940 (Supervised Teaching) each semester they serve as teaching assistants. d) Full time graduate students are required to register for one credit of CHM 6935 (Graduate Seminar) or one credit of CHM 6936 (Chemistry Colloquium) each fall and spring semester. e) At least two credits of CHM 6936 (Chemistry Colloquium) is required. Each student must give a seminar at the colloquium for a letter grade in his/her second and fifth semester of graduate study. f) At least eight credits of CHM 7910 (Dissertation Research) involving independent thesis research under the direction of a faculty member in the department. g) CHM 7980 (Dissertation) is taken in the semester in which the Ph.D. dissertation is to be defended.  Prerequisite: Admission to candidacy.  2. Satisfactory completion of a series of 3-hour cumulative examinations.  The student will begin taking the cumulative examinations after completing the proficiency requirements but no later than the beginning of the student's second semester. Five examinations will be given per year. The student must pass 4 out of 10 consecutively-offered exams for admission to candidacy. 3. Submission, presentation, and satisfactory defense of an original research proposal and completion of a "PreOral"  examination before the end of the fourth as well as minor and cognate fields. 4. Submission and public presentation and defense of a satisfactory research dissertation as determined by the dissertation committee. The requirements for an incoming student having either a Master's Degree or a Bachelor of Science degree are the same. Students having a M.S. in chemistry may transfer as many as 36 credits towards their Ph.D. degree, however only 6 of those credits will count to fulfill requirement (1) (formal course work requirement). Students may transfer more than 6 course work credits with special permission of the graduate committee. The number of additional course work credits required by the graduate committee will depend on, among other things, the student's performance in course work, the date course work was completed, and the area of Ph.D. concentration chosen by the student. The graduate student's Ph.D. thesis committee will consist of the research advisor, a member from outside the department, a randomly chosen committee member chosen by the graduate program director from the departmental research faculty, and at least two additional committee members who have some expertise in the graduate students research area. At least two members of the student's Ph.D. dissertation committee must be tenured in the Department of Chemistry. FIU courtesy professors may serve as research supervisors and co-major professors on a student’s dissertation committee. It is expected that a meaningful collaboration will be established between courtesy faculty serving as co-major professors and the major professor from within the department. The degree of collaboration and expectations including co-authorship on publications resulting from such collaborations must be agreed upon in the semester in which a graduate student chooses an advisor(s). Financial Support Full-time graduate students who are in good academic standing are eligible for financial support. Teaching and research assistantships are available on a competitive basis. Students may also apply for a waiver of both in-state and out-of-state tuition. Inquiries concerning application to the program and availability of financial support should be directed to the Chemistry Graduate Director.

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