Chemistry, PhD
Degree Requirements
The Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry is granted for high scholarly achievement in analytical, inorganic, organic, physical or biochemistry. Students with either a baccalaureate or master’s degree may be admitted to the program. They must satisfy the following requirements to receive the degree:
- Complete a course of study designed in consultation with an advisor or advisory committee. This consists of the completion of at least 90 credits beyond the baccalaureate degree, including 24 credits of appropriate coursework.
- Complete monthly cumulative exam requirement.
- Complete oral exam requirement.
- Complete seminar requirement.
- Defend dissertation in an oral examination.
- Complete all general requirements for the doctor of philosophy degree.
Admission Requirements
In addition to submission of the graduate application and official transcripts applicants must submit three letters of recommendation, statement of purpose, and resume.
Review of applicants for fall enrollment begins February 1 and October 1 for spring enrollment. The application package must be complete for review to occur.
The core courses are:
Biochemistry
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| CHEM 501 | Biochemistry Lecture I | 3 |
| CHEM 502 | Biochemistry Lecture II | 3 |
| CHEM 506 | Biochemistry of Gene Expression | 3 |
| CHEM 715 | Special Topics: Biochemistry | 1-3 |
| CHEM 720 | Advanced Biochemical Techniques | 3 |
| CHEM 722 | Enzymatic Reactions | 3 |
| CHEM 726 | Advanced Metabolism | 3 |
Organic
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| CHEM 670 | Spectroscopic Identification of Organic Compounds | 3 |
| CHEM 683 | Mechanistic & Synthetic Organic Chemistry I | 3 |
| CHEM 684 | Mechanistic & Synthetic Organic Chemistry II | 3 |
| CHEM 740 | Physical Organic Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 750 | Advanced Synthetic Organic Chemistry | 3 |
Inorganic
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| CHEM 572 | Advanced Inorganic Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 619 | Transition-Metal Organometallics | 3 |
| CHEM 620 | Main Group Organometallics | 3 |
| CHEM 629 | Physical Inorganic Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 631 | Metals in Medicine | 3 |
| CHEM 645 | X-Ray Crystallography | 3 |
| CHEM 679 | Inorganic Polymers | 3 |
| CHEM 724 | Bioinorganic Chemistry | 3 |
Analytical
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| CHEM 641 | Spectral Methods | 3 |
| CHEM 645 | X-Ray Crystallography | 3 |
| CHEM 670 | Spectroscopic Identification of Organic Compounds | 3 |
| CHEM 640 | Chemical Separations | 3 |
| CHEM 715 | Special Topics: Biochemistry | 1-3 |
Physical
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| CHEM 610 | Basic Quantum Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 611 | Spectroscopy | 3 |
| CHEM 635 | Thermodynamics & Statistical Thermodynamics | 3 |
| CHEM 636 | Chemical Kinetics | 3 |
Graduate school requirements state that no graduate credit may be given for 500 level courses taken previously at the 400 level, without approval of the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. Additional information on this subject is contained in the General Bulletin.
A total of twenty-four (24) semester hours of graduate courses should be completed by the end of their 2nd year (24 months) in the Ph.D. program. Of these, 12 credits should be in the student’s major division. In addition, the student must take a minimum of 9 core course credits distributed over at least two divisions in the department other than your major division. The remaining 3 credits are met by taking an elective.
A doctoral candidate should register for dissertation research (CHEM 899) each semester.