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The GPAS offers a program leading to the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Atmospheric Science. This program is designed to furnish the student with the education and research background necessary to carry out independent and original scientific research. To earn the Ph.D., the student must complete a course work requirement, pass the Candidacy Examination, and prepare and defend a dissertation. The Candidacy Examination is divided into two parts: the Qualifying Examination and the Proposal Evaluation. The Qualifying Examination for Ph.D. candidates tests the breadth and understanding of the student in the core courses. The Proposal Evaluation tests the preparation of the student for writing a dissertation. Students who have a Master's Degree must also pass the Candidacy Examination to achieve Ph.D. candidacy.

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Qualifying Examination

The Qualifying Examination consists of a written and an oral part. The written part is a comprehensive examination that will be conducted by the GPAS near the end of each semester. The written portion of the Examination will be the same for all students each semester, will cover topics taught in the Program's core courses, and will test the students' basic knowledge of atmospheric science. Questions for the written examination will be solicited from core-course instructors by the Curriculum Committee, who will review the questions and select five for the examination. Students will answer four of the five questions. The students' answers will be graded by the appropriate core-course instructors. The Curriculum Committee will evaluate the combined results for all questions and determine if the student has demonstrated sufficient mastery of the material to continue toward Ph.D. candidacy. Upon passing the examination at the Ph.D. level, students will receive an M.S. degree with no additional work, assuming they have satisfied the course requirements and have completed a satisfactory expository essay. If a student fails the written portion of the exam, the student will not be allowed to take the oral part, and the Curriculum Committee may elect to allow the student to (a) repeat the written examination the next time it is offered (once only), (b) issue a pass conditional on satisfactory completion of additional courses, or (c) terminate the student's enrollment in GPAS.

The oral portion of the Qualifying Examination, designed and administered by the student's Qualifying Examination Committee approximately one week after passing the written portion, may include questions related to the written part of the Examination and/or to the student's sub-discipline. The oral portion is designed to evaluate the student's ability to integrate knowledge and concepts, and to explore the limits of the student's understanding. Each Qualifying Examination Committee will consist of four GPAS faculty members: the student's dissertation advisor, who may not chair the committee, and three other faculty members, one of whom must come from sub-disciplines other than the student's own but from whom the student has taken a core course. Members of the student's Qualifying Examination Committee will be proposed by the student and the student's advisor, and then approved by the Program Director, who will also select the committee chair. The student will pass the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination upon approval of at least three members of the student's Qualifying Examination Committee.

Graduate students with exceptional, documented scientific achievements may, through written petition, replace the Qualifying Exam with a seminar followed by an oral examination. To qualify for this option, the student needs to meet the following requirements:

The student must have an earned M.S. degree in atmospheric science, or a related field. This will ordinarily be from an accredited American university, and requires approval from the Curriculum Committee and the Program Director.
The student must have published at least five, peer-reviewed, Science Citation Index (SCI) journal articles in atmospheric, oceanic, or a closely related science. The student must be the lead or corresponding author of at least three of those papers.

The student must present an open seminar on the student's past research followed by a closed oral exam by a Qualifying Examination Committee, as constituted above. This committee will determine whether the performance in the combined seminar and oral exam are equivalent to passing the Qualifying Exam. The student will pass upon approval of at least three members of the student's Qualifying Examination Committee.

Proposal Evaluation

Within one year of passing the Qualifying Examination, the student will present a dissertation prospectus to the faculty. A Proposal Evaluation will then be given based on the student's dissertation proposal. The Evaluation will consist of an oral presentation of the student's dissertation proposal to the student's Dissertation Committee. The Dissertation Committee will be selected by the student and the student's advisor, and will consist of four faculty members who have expertise in the student's dissertation topic, three from GPAS and one from outside of GPAS. The oral presentation will be followed by a period of oral questioning by the Dissertation Committee. Questions may cover topics related to the student's dissertation project as well as fundamental principles and concepts in Atmospheric Science. The student's Dissertation Committee will evaluate the feasibility of the student's proposed dissertation project as well as the student's demonstration of knowledge and apparent aptitude for research. The student will pass the Proposal Evaluation upon approval of at least three members of the student's Dissertation Committee. A pass on the Proposal Evaluation will constitute acceptance of the dissertation prospectus and admission to Ph.D. candidacy. If the student fails the Proposal Evaluation, the Disseratation Committee, in conjunction with the Program Director, may allow the examination to be taken one more time or may determine that the student be terminated from the GPAS program.

Dissertation and Final Examination

Ability to perform independent research must be demonstrated by a written dissertation based on the proposal presented at the Proposal Evaluation. The dissertation should be an original contribution to knowledge, and the subject matter must be presented in a scholarly style. Upon completion of the dissertation, the candidate is required to defend the material to the satisfaction of a Final Examining Committee appointed by the GPAS Director. Normally, this will be the same as the student's Dissertation Committee.

Time Limits

Full-time students are expected to take the Qualifying Examination by the end of the second year of graduate study and be admitted to candidacy by the end of the third year. Students must be admitted to candidacy within five years after admission to the doctoral program and at least one academic year before the date on which the degree will be conferred. The student must complete the entire program for the degree, including the dissertation and final examination, during a four-year period after admission to candidacy.