Ph.D. Requirements
Students with appropriate academic training at the baccalaureate or master’s level will design a program of study in conjunction with a faculty guidance committee. Upon completion of all relevant graduate courses, the student will be required to pass a qualifying examination conducted by the guidance committee, which will contain oral and/or written components at the discretion of the committee members. After the student’s advancement to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree, a doctoral committee will be appointed to supervise and approve the dissertation. The guidance and doctoral committees will consist of a minimum of five members, usually three from within the Department of Animal and Nutritional Sciences and two from related departments. The dissertation must be based on original hypothesis-driven research of publishable quality. A public presentation of the dissertation research findings will be followed by a final examination, which will be primarily an oral defense of the dissertation. During the tenure of the Ph.D. program, the candidate will be required to serve as a teaching assistant for a minimum of two semesters or to teach a course for one semester. Aptitude in scientific speaking will be developed by presentation of one seminar during each year of enrollment, not including the dissertation defense.
