Ph.D. Degree Requirements

Below you will find a description of how the Chemistry Department implements the specific requirements for the PhD degree as established by the Graduate School. More information about these requirements is available in the Graduate Catalog. Current graduate students may request an updated copy of the Department of Chemistry Handbook at gradchem@missouri.edu.

Qualification and Course Work

The purpose of Qualification is to demonstrate proficiency in core areas of chemistry.  Graduate students entering the Chemistry Department Graduate Program will be given Qualifying Exams in each of the 4 core areas of Chemistry (Analytical, Inorganic, Organic and Physical) prior to registration. These exams are administered in August and January by the Chemistry Department. A student must pass the exams in two or more areas to be Qualified for the Ph.D. graduate program. Entering graduate students who do not pass at least two of the Qualifying Exams when they first enter the Chemistry Department Graduate Program can qualify for the Ph.D. program by three different methods. 1. A student can retake one or two qualifying exams prior to registration for their second semester during the regular school year.  (This does not include the summer semester.)  It is assumed that the student will prepare for this exam by independent study. 2. A student can qualify in an area by passing an approved graduate level course in the area with a grade of B or better.  The approved courses are listed below. Analytical Chem. 8085 (in analytical chemistry), 8210, 8230, 8250, 8270 Inorganic Any graduate level (8xxx) inorganic course (i.e., Chem. 8085 (in inorganic chemistry), 8400, 8410, 8440, 8450 Organic Chem. 8150, 8160, 8170 Physical Chem. 8310, 8320, 8330, 8340 3. A student can qualify in an area by passing an approved undergraduate level course in the area with a grade of B or better.  The approved courses are listed below. Analytical Chem 7200 Inorganic Chem 7400 Physical Chem 7330 Students must qualify for the Ph.D. program by the end of their second semester of the regular school year.  (This does not include summer session.)  Failure to qualify will result in dismissal from the Chemistry Department Graduate Program.

The purposes of graduate course work is to provide an in-depth study of advanced chemical concepts. Students must take at least five 8000-level courses – two outside their own research concentration. Courses at the 7000-level in other departments may also satisfy this requirement, if they are germane to the student’s Program of Study and are approved by the student’s Program Committee and the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies.

Research Advisor, Dissertation Committee, and Written Requirements

A. Students are strongly encouraged to select a research advisor by the beginning of their second semester (fall entrance) and must select an advisor by the end of the semester preceding their first summer of research. With his/her advisor, the student will recommend faculty for appointment to his/her Doctoral Program Committee and submit the appropriate Graduate School forms. (The final membership of the committee must be approved by the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies.) B. The purpose of the cumulative exams is to test the graduate students’ ability to apply advanced methods in their field of interest to relevant problems in modern chemistry, and the capacity for independent study. Students may start taking cumes after they have selected an advisor, and research advisors are not officially declared before the end of the first semester. Therefore, the earliest a student can start taking the cumes is the first cume given in their second semester. Cumes are administered once a month during the academic year. Students must pass 5 cumes prior to the end of their fourth regular semester (four semester rule; which is a maximum of 14 attempts) in the graduate program. (This does not include summer.) Students may attempt an exam out of their research area. However, only one pass from an outside area exam, will be allowed. The four semester rule holds from the time of entry into the graduate program, NOT the time of qualification. C. The administration of exams will occur collectively on Saturday mornings at 9:00 am, preceded by at least two weeks with an announcement of the exams that will be offered. D. The faculty of each Division maintains responsibility for formulating their exam and grading the exams taken within that Division. The pass or fail decision remains within the Division. E. Students will submit a written report summarizing their research progress to their Doctoral Program Committee and the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies no later than September 30 after the first summer of research. This report will help the Doctoral Program Committee evaluate the student's progress. The report [minimum 2 typed (12 pt. font, 1” margins, and double-spaced) pages] should present the student's research in the context of what already exists in the literature. The report should include a brief paragraph-style introduction, bulleted experimental section, and paragraph-style future studies/directions. Figures, data tables, experimental details, and journal references should be included, as appropriate, but are not included in the page total. Students are encouraged to consult The ACS Style Guide for the proper formats. The student's Doctoral Program Committee will decide if this requirement has been met satisfactorily or if revisions are necessary. F. Graduate School Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines

Oral Requirements

A. All students will present seminars, preferably literature seminars, within their respective Divisions (Organic or DyNAMITE) during their third or fourth semester. B. 1. All students will be required to complete the Comprehensive Exam (CE) by the end of their 5th semester in the Chemistry Department Graduate Program. Completion is defined as submitting a written document, which is described below, and defending their document to their thesis committee. These constitute the written and oral components of the Comprehensive Exam. Students entering in September will be expected to complete the exam by the end of the Fall Semester of their third year, and students entering the program in January will be expected to complete the exam by the end of the Winter Semester of their third year. Students who do not complete the CE on time will not be allowed to continue in the Ph.D. program. They will be allowed to remain in the Masters program for one additional semester (either Winter or Summer) immediately following the deadline for completion of the CE to complete a Masters Thesis, and will then be dropped from the Masters program. Students should not expect departmental support after this time. 2. If a student fails the preliminary exam, the student’s committee will recommend a course of action which may include termination from the program, or establishing a set of criteria to be met by the student as a prerequisite for remaining in the program. The prerequisite will be met no more than one month after the regular deadline for completion of the CE. 3. Exceptions will only be made for catastrophic personal circumstances, and the student will need to seek an exception in writing. The Graduate Program committee will be the final arbiter of the exception. Though the student’s advisor will be consulted in making this decision, the advisor will not be allowed to submit a letter on behalf of the student. This places the burden for managing the exception on the student. 4. The content of the student presentation will include a review of literature pertinent to the student’s project, a summary of research to date and a plan for future work. The summary of research to date may include results presented at the student’s 1st year progress report. This format places no restrictions on the content of the “future plan” portion of the written document. 5. Students will be expected to present the “written portion” of their CE in a professional manner and it will be submitted to the committee at least two weeks in advance of the defense. Students should be aware that faculty members are not obligated to participate in graduate student committee meetings that are scheduled outside of the regular semester dates, and are encouraged to arrange committee meetings early in order to meet the CE requirement on time. Scheduling the CE is the student’s responsibility. Students are responsible for publicizing the time and date of the defense in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Graduate School. 6. The written proposal will be a maximum of 15 pages of double spaced text (12 point font), exclusive of title page, abstract page, figures, and references. The citations, figure captions, table captions, references to figures and tables and the “References Cited” will all be written in standard format for ACS publications (see The ACS Style Guide). The only exception is that references cited will include the full title of the publication. The proposal will include a 1 page abstract (double-spaced, 12 point font) that summarizes the main goals of the research, lists the experimental and/or theoretical techniques to be used, describes results obtained to date, and the proposed future directions of the project. The document will also include an “Introduction/Background/Significance” section that includes a literature review, motivation for the proposed studies, and its importance to the field (2-3 pages); a “Specific Aims” section that describes the goals of the research project that are to be accomplished (1 page maximum); a "Preliminary Results" section (if any, 1-3 pages) that presents the student's research results to date relevant to the proposed project; and a “Proposed Future Studies” section that provides a brief commentary on the results obtained so far, and will include a thorough discussion of where the project is heading in the future. For example, opinions about anticipated pitfalls that could be encountered and alternate experimental/theoretical strategies that to be used to achieve the specific aims of the project should be included along with the proposed studies (5-10 pages). For more information on the sections “Introduction/Background/Significance”, “Specific Aims” and “Preliminary Results”, the NIH web page instructions to investigators on RO1 research proposals may be of value (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html). 7. Students will be expected to make their oral presentation in a professional manner, preferably using digital media. Students are responsible for defending all aspects of the work, and should not rely on their advisors for assistance during the defense. Advisors are encouraged to avoid speaking for the students during the defense. C. All students will present an oral summary of their dissertation research to their Doctoral Program Committees three months prior to their final Oral Examination. D. The final oral requirement is a public presentation of the student's dissertation research followed by a defense of the dissertation research before his/her Doctoral Program Committee.

Seminars and Colloquia

Each student is required to attend regularly scheduled Departmental Colloquia and either one of the DyNAMITE or Organic seminar programs. Seminars are announced weekly in the departmental newsletter.

Any questions regarding decisions made by the Graduate Program Committee should be submitted in writing to the Committee Chair.