ENVRES-PHD - Environment and Resources (PHD)
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Program Overview
The Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER) develops the knowledge, skills, perspectives, and ways of thinking needed to understand and help solve the world’s most significant environmental and resource sustainability challenges. E-IPER strives to be a model for interdisciplinary graduate education. E-IPER offers a PhD in Environment and Resources, a Joint MS exclusively for students in Stanford’s Graduate School of Business or Stanford Law School, and a Dual MS for students in the Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy program, School of Medicine, or a PhD program in another department. E-IPER’s home is the Doerr School of Sustainability; affiliated faculty come from all seven Stanford schools.
Minimum Units in the Program
Minimum University Units
University graduate degree requirements can be found here.
E-IPER updates the PhD requirements annually, laying out the structure of advising meetings, core courses, program activities, and milestones that guide students’ progress. Each student works with a faculty advising team from different research areas to design a course of study that allows the student to develop and exhibit:
Understanding of analytical tools and research approaches for interdisciplinary problem solving and mastery of those tools and approaches central to the student’s thesis work
Depth of knowledge in at least two distinct fields of inquiry
Interdisciplinary research electives as determined by faculty, advising team, and student
In the first year, complete of the PhD core course sequence.
Complete a minimum of 135 units for the PhD. At least 90 units must be taken at Stanford to complete the 135 residency units for the PhD. The 135 units will be comprised of the required core courses - ENVRES 310, ENVRES 315, ENVRES 320, ENVRES 330, ENVRES 340, and ENVRES 398 – with the remaining units coming from coursework taken to fulfill the research electives needed in the student’s two Areas of Concentration. Student should consult their co-advisors about which courses to take.
On an ongoing basis, submit grant proposals for external funding, defined as fellowship and/or research funds provided by a government agency, a private foundation, or a university entity other than E-IPER or the Doerr School of Sustainability.
Students must meet with their co-advisors together at least once per quarter during Autumn and Winter Quarters throughout their five years.
Students must submit their Annual Review to the E-IPER Academic Guidance Committee (AGC) each year. A written report must be submitted by the end of Spring Quarter, which summarizes the student’s progress and discussion with their Co-Advisors.
Students must pass at least 25 letter-graded course units (200-level and above) with at least a B (3.0) average, which demonstrates knowledge in their two Areas of Concentration.
NOTE: This is not a requirement for the PhD, but rather outlines the process for changing from the PhD to the Master's Degree.
In exceptional circumstances, students in E-IPER’s PhD program may opt to complete their training with an MS degree. There is no direct admission to the MS degree. Requirements to fulfill the MS include the following.
Completion of a minimum of 45 units at or above the 100-level, of which 23 units must be at or above the 200-level. Courses numbered 1 to 99 are not allowable.
Complete the following E-IPER PhD core curriculum with a letter grade of B (3.0 GPA) or higher.
Additional courses may be chosen in consultation with the student’s Lead Advisors. Students must maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average (GPA) in all courses taken for the MS degree. The MS degree does not have an MS with a thesis option. Students may write an MS thesis, but the university does not formally recognize it.
All E-IPER PhD students are required to complete at least one quarter of teaching assistantship (TA). This can be fulfilled by serving as a TA in one of E-IPER’s core courses or in any course outside of E-IPER that offers an opportunity to lecture in at least one class session and/or lead a discussion session. Students who create their own course can use that course to satisfy the TA requirement, after E-IPER program approval. The TA requirement should be fulfilled by the end of their second year. If possible, TAs should be assigned to a separate discussion section so they will receive official University student evaluations separate from the faculty instructor(s).
Admission to a doctoral degree program is preliminary to, and distinct from, admission to candidacy. Admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree is a judgment by the faculty in the degree program of the student’s potential to complete the degree program’s requirements successfully. University policy requires all PhD students to complete their department’s degree program qualifying procedures, apply for candidacy by the end of their second year of graduate study, and remain in good standing in the PhD program. Candidacy is valid for five years, subject to satisfactory academic progress.
Written dissertation proposal that outlines the student’s projected dissertation research, which the candidate’s Reading Committee must approve
Oral defense of the dissertation proposal
After passing the qualifying exam, students file for PhD candidacy, a university milestone.
Students must submit the following documents to the Assistant Director of Student Services after passing their Qualifying Examination: 1) a Candidacy Plan which documents how the student has fulfilled the program requirements to date 2) a signed Oral Qualifying Examination Form, and 3) a Dissertation Proposal. Candidacy is valid for five years, during which students are expected to complete their degree.
See GAP 4.6.1 and the E-IPER Handbook for further details.
The doctoral dissertation is defended in a University Oral Examination. The oral examination defense is a public seminar followed by a closed session with the student’s Oral Examination committee comprised of at least five faculty members. The committee must meet university requirements for doctoral committee membership. A substantial dissertation draft must be submitted to the student’s Oral Examination committee at least one month before the oral exam occurs.
Once the University Oral Examination has been passed, students may submit a final draft of the dissertation to the University Registrar by requesting to graduate and receiving a conferral of the doctoral degree in Environment & Resources.
Under the supervision of the research reading committee that includes the faculty Co-Advisors, the candidate must prepare a doctoral dissertation that contributes to knowledge and is the result of independent research. The student is strongly urged to prepare dissertation chapters that, in scientific content and format, are readily publishable. The format of the dissertation must meet university dissertation guidelines. In addition, the final written dissertation must be approved by the student’s reading committee (a minimum of three approved faculty) and submitted to the Registrar’s Office. Upon completing this final requirement, a student is eligible for degree conferral.