Environmental Science, Ph.D.

Admission Requirements

An applicant for the doctoral program in environmental science must have a bachelor’s or master’s degree from an accredited institution in environmental science, biology, chemistry or another appropriate science curriculum. In some cases, certain undergraduate courses must be taken to remediate areas of deficiency before a student can start the doctoral program.

For admission, a student should have a superior academic record and at least three letters of recommendation, including one from the master’s degree thesis advisor. Preference will be given to students with high scores on the Graduate Record Examination.

Included with the application should be a short but clear statement of the interest and objectives of the applicant. Although not absolutely required, an on-campus interview is highly recommended.

General admission requirements and the process for applying are presented under Graduate Academic Information .

Degree Requirements

The doctoral degree is primarily a research degree and is conferred in part in recognition of research accomplishments. Each student must complete an approved program of coursework; pass the comprehensive examinations; write an acceptable research proposal and petition for admission to candidacy; complete a program of significant original research; prepare and defend a dissertation concerning the research, and present a seminar on the research. Each candidate is expected to publish a major portion of the dissertation in refereed national or international journals. A minimum of 18 credit hours of coursework and 24 credit hours of research and dissertation beyond a master’s degree is required. At least 15 semester credit hours of dissertation (ENS 6999) must be taken beginning with the term in which a student is admitted to candidacy.

General degree requirements are presented under Graduate Academic Information  and on the Florida Tech graduate programs website.