Program Structure and Requirements
Overall Program Structure
The PhD in Earth Sciences consists of a minimum 60 credit hours, distributed as follows: 24 credit hours of coursework, 36 credit hours of PhD Dissertation, two zero credit PhD Seminar courses, as well as PhD Written Qualifying and PhD Research Proposal Examinations. The components of the program are summarized in the table below.
| Program Component |
Credit Hours |
| Program Core (1 course) |
3 |
| Research Seminar I |
0 |
| Research Seminar II |
0 |
| PhD Written Qualifying Examination |
0 |
| PhD Research Proposal Examination |
0 |
| Program Electives |
21 |
| PhD Research Dissertation |
36 |
| Total |
60 |
Program Requirements
Students seeking the degree of PhD in Earth Sciences must successfully complete a minimum 60 credit hours as specified in the program requirements detailed below, with a minimum CGPA of 3.0. Course selection should be made in consultation with the student’s Main Advisor. Students who may have previously taken PhD level courses during their MSc at KU are not allowed to repeat those courses during their PhD. All courses listed below have a credit rating of three credits each, except for PhD Research Seminar, Written Qualifying Exam, Research Proposal Exam, and the PhD Research Dissertation.
Program Core (3 credit hours)
Students must complete the core courses listed below.
Core Courses
Program Electives (21 credit hours)
Students must complete a total of seven elective courses. Program electives are listed below.
Program Elective Courses
Subject to approval of the Main Advisor and the Program Coordinator, up to two electives (6 credits) may be taken from outside the student’s department and ONLY chosen from the list below, if these courses support the student’s dissertation topic.
Elective Courses from Other Departments
Chemistry
| CHEM 711 | Recent Developments in Inorganic Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 712 | Recent Developments in Organic Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 714 | Recent Developments in Analytical Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 716 | Recent Developments in Environmental Chemistry | 3 |
Mathematics
| MATH 706 | Modern Statistical Predictionand Data Mining | 3 |
| MATH 707 | Nonlinear Optimization | 3 |
| MATH 708 | Partial Differential Equations | 3 |
Physics
| PHYS 707 | Advanced Solid State Physics | 3 |
| PHYS 708 | Theoretical Astroparticle Physics | 3 |
| PHYS 709 | Experimental Techniques in Astroparticle Physics | 3 |
| PHYS 710 | Planetary Astrophysics | 3 |
| PHYS 712 | Atomic and Molecular Physics for Space Scientists | 3 |
Chemical Engineering
| CHEG 720 | Modelling and Engineering of Microbial Environmental Bioprocesses | 3 |
Civil Engineering
| CIVE 703 | Groundwater Hydrology | 3 |
| CIVE 707 | Environmental Remote Sensing and Satellite Image Processing | 3 |
| CIVE 719 | Climate Dynamics | 3 |
Mechanical Engineering
| MEEN 782 | Materials Characterization Techniques | 3 |
| MSEN 712 | Imaging of Materials: Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-ray Microanalysis | 3 |
Petroleum Engineering
| PEEG 730 | Fluid Flow and Transport Processes in Porous Media | 3 |
PhD Research Dissertation (36 credit hours)
Students must complete a Dissertation that involves creative, research-oriented work within the field of Earth Sciences, under direct supervision of a full-time faculty advisor from the Earth Sciences Department, and at least one other full-time faculty who acts as a co-advisor. The outcome of research should demonstrate the synthesis of information into knowledge in a form that may be used by others. The research findings must be documented in a formal dissertation and defended successfully in a viva voce examination.
Dissertation