Geology, Ph.D.

(PGEOL)

The departmental-level academic course plan for each student is developed in consultation with, and approved by, the student’s graduate advisory committee. The committee will include the student’s major advisor and at least three additional members of the graduate faculty in the department or allied areas so that requirements of the LSU Graduate School for graduate committees are satisfied. Major advisor must be selected by end of first semester in degree program. Dissertation committee must be selected by end of second semester in degree program.

The degree requires a dissertation project. Sixty hours of credit at the graduate level must be earned including a minimum of nine hours of credit for the thesis research project.

Course Requirements:

Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours in courses numbered 4000 or above;

• The Doctoral student must take a minimum of 24 hours of graded course work and seminars beyond the B.S. degree distributed as follows:

1.  At least 12 hours at the 7000 level, with the remainder at the 4000 level. The majority of course credit should be courses with the GEOL prefix. The remainder may be taken outside the department, with all selections to the approval of the Graduate Advisor, the student’s major professor, and Dissertation Committee.
2. Seminar: must take 4 credit hours of seminar.

• The Doctoral student must take at least 9 hours of GEOL 9000 Dissertation Research (1-12 per sem.)  

• The remaining 26 hours can be any combination of course work and 9000-level graduate credits which meet with the approval of the Major Professor and Dissertation Committee.

Up to 24 hours of M.S. or graduate transfer credit in graded course work can be counted towards the Ph.D. requirements.

 

Other PhD requirements include:

1. Comprehensive Research Proposal Exam: tests the student’s ability to conduct original, independent research and is administered by the student’s graduate advisory committee during the third semester in degree program. The exam consists of oral defense of a written thesis proposal or equivalent research proposal.
2. The general examination is the culmination of a student’s program in coursework, consisting of two parts: a written exam followed by an oral exam. The student will be expected to demonstrate expert competence over broad segments of her/his major field and a high degree of familiarity with the content of and current progress in related fields. The examination must be taken during or immediately following the semester in which all coursework is completed. The exam is administered by graduate advisory committee plus two additional graduate faculty members appointed by the graduate advisor and the dean of the Graduate School.
3. A public defense of the dissertation is required once the dissertation committee has approved a final draft. Public notice and distribution of draft copies of document to committee members and graduate coordinator must be made at least two weeks prior to public defense.
4. PhD students must have a first-author paper accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal prior to scheduling their dissertation defense.