Doctor of Philosophy in Atmospheric Sciences

Admission Requirements

The applicant must meet the School of Graduate Studies’ current minimum general admission requirements as published in the graduate catalog. In addition, students must fulfill the requirements below for admission to the Atmospheric Sciences doctoral degree program.

  1. A bachelor’s or master’s degree from a recognized institution. For U.S. degrees, accreditation must be by one of the six regional accrediting associations.
  2. A cumulative GPA of at least 3.00 for all undergraduate work.
  3. A GPA of at least 3.00 in all graduate level work.
  4. For international applicants only: A combined score of 300 in the quantitative and verbal sections of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
  5. Be recommended for doctoral work by the department.
  6. Satisfy the School of Graduate Studies’ English Language Proficiency requirements as published in the graduate catalog.
  7. Students with a bachelor’s degree may apply directly to the Ph.D. program and must include within their application:
    1. At least one letter of recommendation that comments on their research ability, and
    2. A sample of their previous research, or, provide a research topic proposal and how that research will be executed, completed, and presented within the first year of the Ph.D. program.
  8. In rare circumstances, students who begin the M.S. program in Atmospheric Sciences may bypass the M.S. and be admitted into the Ph.D. program with a unanimous recommendation by the departmental faculty and by first satisfying all other Ph.D. admission requirements of the UND School of Graduate Studies and Atmospheric Sciences Department including #7 above. Application materials should be submitted to the Graduate Committee in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences. The student need not have completed their M.S coursework at the time of application. The student would then be subject to the additional degree requirements stated in section 6 of “Degree Requirements” below.

Degree Requirements

Students seeking the Doctor of Philosophy degree through the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of North Dakota must satisfy all general requirements set forth by the School of Graduate Studies as well as particular requirements set forth by the Department of Atmospheric Sciences. These degree requirements include:

  1. Completion of 90 semester credits beyond a bachelor’s degree or 60 semester credits beyond a master’s degree.
  2. Two consecutive years of full-time academic work completed in residence at the University of North Dakota campus. With approval of a student’s Faculty Advisory Committee, one of these years may be completed through full-time academic work and/or research at another institution or location.
  3. At least 40 of the post-bachelor’s credits or 27 of the post-master’s credits must be formal coursework. A minimum of two-thirds of these credits must be taken in the Atmospheric Sciences department.
  4. Up to 9 credits may be taken through distance education.
  5. Completion of ATSC 500 Introduction to Atmospheric Research and ATSC 505 Advanced Atmospheric Dynamics or equivalent classes.
  6. Students who have been admitted under admission requirements #7 or #8 above must successfully present research in written and oral form during their first year of the Ph.D. program, subject to approval by the Departmental Graduate Committee and the student’s Doctoral Committee. Those students approved will finish classwork and progress toward comprehensive exams and Ph.D. candidacy while those not approved will be dismissed.
  7. Satisfactory completion of a written and oral doctoral comprehensive examination in Atmospheric Sciences is required before advancement to Ph.D. candidacy is granted. Students may attempt the written comprehensive exam twice.
  8. Students are required to complete independent research that culminates in a dissertation, a public departmental seminar, and final examination.