University policies governing PhD programs can be found in the Regulations Pertaining to Doctoral Degrees policy . The information below summarizes further SCI-specific regulations.
Credit Requirements
The minimum requirement for the PhD degree of 72 credits may be earned in formal course work, directed study, independent study, and/or thesis and dissertation research. Students must achieve the minimum GPA established by their department or program, in no case less than 3.00, to be eligible to undergo the preliminary examination, to take the comprehensive examination, to be admitted to candidacy for the PhD degree, and to be graduated.
Preliminary Examination
The nature of the preliminary examination and the time at which it is conducted are determined by each department or program. In some programs, the preliminary doctoral exam/evaluation may be combined with a Master’s comprehensive examination. See Preliminary Evaluation under Regulations Pertaining to Doctoral Study for further details on regulations pertaining to the exam. Students must be registered in the term they are completing the Preliminary Examination.
Comprehensive Examination
Comprehensive examination results must be reported promptly to the SCI Dean’s Office, and no later than the last day of the term in which the examination is administered. Students must be enrolled in the term in which they are completing the Comprehensive Examination. See Comprehensive Examination under Regulations Pertaining to Doctoral Study for further detail on regulations regarding the exam.
Doctoral Committee
Departmental membership status: University of Pittsburgh faculty members with a primary or joint appointment in a SCI department are considered internal members of that department. Individuals holding primary appointments outside of the department are considered as external to the department. However, a University of Pittsburgh faculty member who holds a secondary appointment in a SCI department and is an active participant within the department may petition the department to be considered as an internal member, as determined by departmental criteria. Upon receiving internal status within a department, a faculty member may no longer act in an external capacity.
Committee composition: Doctoral dissertation committees are comprised of at least four members, including at least three internal members, and at least one external member from another department at the University of Pittsburgh or from an appropriate graduate program at another academic institution. The primary advisor and chair of the doctoral dissertation committee must be an internal member of the doctoral candidate’s home department. The majority of committee members must be from the University of Pittsburgh, and all committee members from the University of Pittsburgh must be members of the graduate faculty (https://ir.pitt.edu/graduate-faculty-roster/). Under certain circumstances, active researchers with appointments outside of academia may be approved as external committee members. The composition of the committee must be approved by the Department Chair and the Associate Dean for Academic Programs prior to scheduling the dissertation proposal.
Internal committee members who leave the University after a graduate student has been admitted to candidacy may remain on the committee in their original capacity for a period of up to 12 months. If the chair of the dissertation committee leaves the University, they may continue to serve as the sole chair of the committee for a period of up to 6 months; after this time, a co-chair must be appointed from within the department or program. After this 12-month period, a departed committee member is no longer eligible to be an internal member or committee chair, but may be added to the committee as an external member; this may necessitate the addition of further internal committee members. If a committee member retires, they may remain on the committee as long as they are still willing to serve, and are still active professionally in the academic community.
Any changes in the membership or roles of the committee must be approved by the Department Chair or Program Director and the Associate Dean for Academic Programs.
Admission to Candidacy for the PhD Degree
After completion of the overview/proposal, the student should, in consultation with the student’s major advisor, file the application for admission to candidacy for the Doctor of Philosophy degree. Students are informed of admission to candidacy by written notification from the Associate Dean for Academic Programs. Students must be enrolled in the term in which they are completing the overview for candidacy. For a listing of requirements for admission to candidacy, see Admission to Candidacy for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree .
Admission to candidacy must be at least eight months before the defense of the dissertation in order to provide an opportunity for the members of the doctoral committee to review, criticize, and monitor the proposed research.
Meetings of the doctoral candidate and the dissertation committee must occur at least annually from the time the student gains admission to doctoral candidacy. A record of such meetings must be maintained in the student’s file in their home department or program.
Dissertation
See Dissertation and Abstract under Regulations Pertaining to Doctoral Degrees for an overview of requirements and form for the dissertation and abstract.
Language of the Doctoral Dissertation
The language in which doctoral dissertations are written shall normally be English. Exceptions may be granted by the student’s dean with the approval of the dissertation adviser and committee, but only for sound reasons of scholarship. Permission shall never be granted on the ground of inadequate command of English.
Final Oral Examination
Students preparing to take their final oral examination in defense of their dissertation should refer to Final Oral Examination under Regulations Pertaining to Doctoral Degrees for details on the examination. School-specific timelines and processes are outlined, below.
The final examination must be scheduled at least four weeks in advance. When determining a date for the examination, students should consider the ETD processing deadlines, allowing themselves sufficient time between final oral examination and ETD deadline to revise their dissertation and gather the related paperwork.
When an examination date is established, the chair of the doctoral committee must submit a defense scheduling form to the Dean’s office, listing the title of the dissertation and the time and place for its defense. This allows adequate time for announcement in the University Times as required by University regulations.
At least two weeks prior to the dates set for the final oral examination, all members of the doctoral committee should be provided with a copy of the dissertation.
All members of the doctoral committee must physically attend the examination; exceptions can be made with the permission of the Associate Dean for Academic Programs. A report of this examination and a report on approval of the dissertation, signed by all members of the doctoral committee, must be sent to the Associate Dean for Academic Programs for approval. The report on the approval of the dissertation may be signed concurrently with or subsequently to the report of the final oral examination. If the decision of the committee is not unanimous, the case is referred to the Associate Dean for Academic Programs for resolution.
It is the responsibility of the student’s advisor to ensure that the dissertation is in final form before requesting signatures of all committee members. After the final oral examination is successfully completed, the student must submit their dissertation electronically. As well, the University requires students submit various forms, publication agreements, and fees in addition to the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD). Students submit all materials outlined in the SCI PhD Graduation Checklist by the ETD & Paperwork deadline. Any paperwork that is signed must be the original and therefore should be mailed if you are unable to submit it in person. See the checklist for details. ETD deadlines and the SCI PhD Graduation Checklist can be found on the SCI Current Students > Graduation Procedures webpage.
After submission of the ETD and paperwork, the Records Office will review all items for completion and adherence to University formatting guidelines. Students must be available to make additional edits to formatting of their ETD; this process typically takes one month to complete before the document is approved for publication.
Students will be required to register for at least one credit in the term during which they expect either to complete degree requirements or have the oral defense. Students who have completed all credit requirements for the PhD degree may register for “Full-Time Dissertation Study.” If the student is a doctoral candidate and off-campus, not using University facilities and/or faculty time, the candidate need only register for 1 credit per academic year to maintain active enrollment status.
If a student does complete all the work in a given term, including the dissertation defense, and has been cleared for graduation too late to be included on the graduation list for that term, the student may apply to graduate the following term and need not enroll for any courses or any credits, subject to approval. See "Student status during term of graduation" section for details.
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