PhD Degree
University Requirements:
- Ninety credit hours minimum (beyond the BS), corresponding to a minimum of three academic years of full-time study; a minimum of 9 credits must be obtained at Clarkson.
- master’s degree may be acceptable in lieu of a maximum of 30 credit hours of transfer credit. Official transcripts must be provided before transfer credit is awarded.
- minimum of 24 credit hours of coursework
- minimum of 6 credit hours of seminar
- All work is to be completed within seven years after the candidacy procedure is completed.
- All students must complete the candidacy procedure within two years after admission to the PhD program. Students may have two attempts to pass the candidacy procedure. If they fail in the first attempt, they have two months to make a second attempt. Students who do not complete the candidacy procedure within the time allowed will be dropped from the graduate program.
- A dissertation must be submitted and defended orally before a committee of five faculty members, with at least one member from outside the department of the thesis advisor.
- Students in the PhD program who have not yet completed the candidacy procedure will be called PhD students. After the procedure has been completed, the students will be called PhD candidates.
Degree Requirements
Environmental Science & Engineering PhD Required Courses:
The PhD candidates must complete 90 credit hours, including 6 credits of seminar and at least 24 credits of graduate coursework. Additionally, the PhD candidate must take:
- EV 532 (Risk Analysis)
- POL 570 (Environmental Policy) or POL 571 (Energy Policy)
- CE 586 (Industrial Ecology) or CE 582 (Environmental Systems Analysis and Design)
- Five (5) additional electives (15 credits) following a selected “Theme”
- At least three (3) of the above set of courses must be Engineering courses
- Completion of a Dissertation
- Six credits of seminar credit (EV610 or related seminar credits)
(Programs of study will be developed for each PhD candidate in conjunction with a Faculty Advisor based on research direction and should provide sufficient breadth and depth to allow for the student’s future intellectual development. For many this will require completing more than 24 course credits)
SUGGESTED ELECTIVE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & ENGINEERING THEMES:
Engineering and Policy:
- EC660 (Environmental Economics)
- POL571 (Energy Policy)
- CE586 (Industrial Ecology)
- EV536 (Global Climate Change: Science, Engineering, and Policy)
- ANTH570 (Environment, Technology, and Society)
- POL592 (Environmental Political Theory)
- POL575 (Environmental Law)
Air Quality and Environmental Assessment:
- CE577 (Atmospheric Chemistry)
- CM532 (Particle Size Analysis in Dispersions and Other Colloids)
- CM552 (Aerosol Chemistry)
- EHS505 (Methods and Analysis)
- CE533 (Human Exposure Analysis)
Sustainable Systems:
- BY659 (Systems Biology)
- BY520 (Microbiology)
- BY525 (Biological Systems & Global Environmental Change)
- CE586 (Industrial Ecology)
- CE534 (Sustainable Development Engineering)
- CE569 (Watershed Analysis)
- PHIL510 (Sustainability Theory & Practice: A Critical Assessment)
Environmental Chemistry:
- BY531/CE589 (Limnology)
- CE535 (Groundwater Hydrology and Geochemistry)
- CE577 (Atmospheric Chemistry)
- CE580 (Environmental Chemistry)
- CM530 (Colloids and Interfaces)
- CM532 (Particle Size Analysis in Dispersions and Other Colloids)
- CM552 (Aerosol Chemistry)
- EHS505 (Methods and Analysis)
Environmental Quality and Treatment:
- CE579 (Water and Wastewater Treatment and Design)
- CE581 (Hazardous Waste Management Engineering)
- CE584 (Chemodynamics)
- CE681 (Environmental Physico-Chemical Processes)
- CE682 (Environmental Biological Processes)
