Ph.D. in
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Full-time Residence Units
Six units of full-time
residency are required by the Graduate School of Arts
and Sciences.
Advisors
Students are admitted to
the program with a primary research advisor already
identified. By the end of the second semester, each EEB
student, in consultation with the advisor and Director
of Graduate Studies (DGS), will select a 3-member
advisory committee from the faculty associated with the
EEB program. This committee has primary responsibility
for student supervision and designing the student's
individual program. In most cases, the committee members
become part of the 5-member dissertation committee.
Core Courses
All first-year students,
even if admitted to advanced standing, are required to
take two core courses in the Fall:
- Fundamentals of Ecology and Evolution (EEEB 4122)
- Conservation Biology
(EEEB G6990)
Note that all Ph.D. students are strongly urged to take Evolution (EEEB 6110) and in some cases, a student's advisor or committee may require this course, but this course is no longer a core requirement as it was prior to the 2007/2008 academic year.
Students receiving a grade
of less than B in any of these courses will be required
to take a written exam at the end of the first summer
based on the core course material.
In addition, enrollment in
the CERC/Research Seminar (EEEB G6300) is required for the first
4 years (3 years for those with advanced standing), and
attendance is expected thereafter for students in
residence in New York.
Elective Courses
Elective courses provide
highly specialized training in one or more of the areas
of program specialization, e.g. evolution, ecology,
population biology, systematics, behavior, and
ethnoscience. Students choose elective courses in
consultation with the DGS and their advisory committees.
Most students take 5-6 elective courses.
Biology Internships
Two internships are
required, neither with the student's advisor, and in
different areas. Sponsors should be from different
institutions. The internships may be outside of the CERC
consortium if CERC/E3B faculty takes official and
serious responsibility for approving internship proposal
and its successful completion.
Scholarly Language
Requirement
Students will be required
to demonstrate proficiency in foreign languages as
needed for their specific fieldwork locations.
Proficiency will be assessed by University examination.
Teaching
Assistantship
All Ph.D. students will
serve as teaching assistants, usually for undergraduate
courses, for 2-4 semesters. This experience provides
students an opportunity to develop skills related to
many professional directions they may eventually follow.
Service as a TA is a component of all fellowships.
Students may not register for courses they TA.
Advanced
Examinations
The purpose of the advanced
exams is to test a student's ability to think like a
professional. Each student takes two advanced exams,
normally during the third year. As of Fall 2002,
advanced exams will be taken in a 3-day take-home
format, similar to a short article that might appear in
a publication like TREE (Trends in Ecology and
Evolution). Students who entered in 2001 and earlier can
follow this format or the in-house type of exam (3
questions in 8 hours) used previously.
Literature Review
One in-depth review of the
scholarly literature most relevant to the proposed
dissertation research, written in the style of an
article submitted to a scholarly journal or an
introductory chapter of a dissertation, will be
submitted for committee approval in the third year of
study.
Oral Examination of the
Dissertation Proposal
A well-developed written
research proposal, in a style for submission to a
specific major granting agency (e.g. NSF), will be
defended orally before the student's dissertation
committee, normally during the second semester of the
third year (second year for students with advanced
standing). Final revisions to the proposal will be
discussed, and the committee will recommend whether or
not to advance the student to Ph.D. candidacy.
Advancing to Candidacy
Students advance to
candidacy if they pass their oral exam (proposal
defense), and have completed all other requirements of
the Ph.D. degree other than the dissertation. Completion
of the Environmental Policy certificate is not required
for advancement to candidacy. A student advanced to
candidacy is eligible for the M. Phil. degree (see
below).
Dissertation
Research
Once a student is advanced
to Ph.D. candidacy, he/she is expected to submit the
proposal to granting agencies for outside funding.
M.A., M. Phil., and
Ph.D.
The sequential M.A. degree
is awarded to Ph.D. students who have competed one full
year in the program, but no later than within two years of entering the program.
The M. Phil. degree is
awarded upon successful completion of all the Ph.D.
requirements other than the preparation and defense of
the dissertation. This degree is to be completed by the
end of the fourth year of study, except for those
students granted advanced standing, who must complete
the degree by the end of the third year of study. Six
units of residency and 40 E credits approved by the DGS
and the student's advisory committee are required for
this degree.
The Ph.D. degree is earned
after the defense and final deposition of the
dissertation. The written dissertation is first
submitted to the student's sponsor and other readers as
recommended. After revisions, the dissertation is
submited to the full five-member dissertation committee,
and the students defend the dissertation orally.
Public Presentation of
Dissertation Research
All students are required
to prepare and present a full length seminar to the
department.
Please see the Student Handbook for additional
specific information about program requirements.
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Steffen Foerster