The following is a brief overview of the Ph.D. program. Interested students are urged to read the pertinent parts of the Graduate Catalog or communicate with the Director of Graduate Studies for additional details.

1. Admission—minimum G.P.A. of 3.00 for last 2 years undergraduate work and at least a 3.20 G.P.A. in Master's-level classroom work in geology (this includes 7000-level courses except field camp) taken as a graduate student. Computations based on scale of A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, and F=0.
   
   
2. GRE scores (Verbal and Quantitative) must be submitted prior to admission.
   
   
3. The equivalent of the MU Master of Science degree in geology or in another related science is normally required of each student prior to admission to the Ph.D. program. Students with outstanding first year graduate records, however, may bypass the Master's degree upon petition to the faculty.
   
   
4. Residence—the equivalent of 3 full years of graduate work (72 hours) is required. One year's credit is normally granted for the Master's degree.
   
   
5. Qualifying Exam—after filing a formal Application for the Ph.D., the student must take the departmental Ph.D. Qualifying Exam following the first semester in residence. This written and oral exam is administered by the Ph.D. Advisory Committee and other interested faculty. Successful passing of this exam enables the student and the committee to plan the Ph.D. Program of Study. There is no formal language requirement.
   
   
6. All PhD students must take at least three classes (9-12 hours) outside of the Department, at the 7000 level or higher, as approved by their PhD Committee. This requirement can be satisfied by non-Geology graduate credits taken elsewhere and accepted by the Graduate School, as approved by the PhD committee.
   
   
7. Comprehensive Exam—after the Program of Study is completed the student must take the Comprehensive Exam—typically in their 4^th semester. The written portion of the exam is a research proposal, followed by an oral defense of the proposal.
   
   
8. Dissertation—after the Comprehensive Exam is successfully passed, the student can devote full attention to the required dissertation. The dissertation is expected to be an original piece of research that is a genuine contribution to geology. Continuous registration (fall, winter and summer) is required until the degree is received.
   
   
9. The student is required to make an oral presentation of the results of his dissertation research before faculty and students as the project nears completion. A separate defense of the dissertation occurs during the Final Examination after the dissertation has been read by the supervisor and committee members.
   
   
10. Each year Ph.D. students will submit a report outlining their progress toward degree.

Note: International students for whom English is a foreign language must submit a TOEFL score of at least 530 (paper-based) or 197 (computer-based) or 71 (Internet-based) to be considered for admission.
 

The Department offers graduate RA and TA positions in all sub-fields covered within the department. For further information, please contact Kristin Bennett (BennettKA@missouri.edu) or the individual faculty member (faculty list) with whom you would like to work.

For additional information on Graduate Studies:

phone: 573-882-3759
email: BauerR@missouri.edu
 

Last Modified: winter 2008