Doctor of Philosophy

Students with a goal of PhD are admitted provisionally until they have passed the Basic Exam at the PhD level. Students who have not already received a Master's degree in Statistics from NCSU or another institution are strongly encouraged to get the Master of Statistics degree en route to the PhD.

Program Pre-requisites

Students are expected to have a good foundation in the material covered in the core courses of our Master’s program (ST 512, 521, 522, 552), even if the Master’s degree was received at another institution. Some students with previous Master’s degrees find it useful to take these courses at NCSU. However this tends to lengthen the time to degree. Students are also expected to have had courses comparable to MA 425-426 (Mathematical Analysis I and II).

Required Course Work

Students that join our doctoral program with a Master of Statistics from other universities are required to have a minimum of 54 credit hours in their doctoral Plan of Work (POW). Students who receive the Master’s degree from NCSU must have a minimum of 72 credit hours on the Master’s and PhD POWs combined. The POW may include research credit hours (ST 895 and 899), however students are required to take 21 hours of coursework consisting of core courses, a computing course, a consulting course and electives as detailed below.

• Measure Theory and Probability (ST 778, ST 779)
• Advanced Statistical Inference I & II (ST 793, ST 794)
• A new statistical computing course will be required for all students enrolling Fall 2006 or later. The was first offered Fall 2007 as ST 750, but is expected to be listed as ST 758 beginning Fall 2008.
• ST 841: Statistical consulting (unless student has taken ST 641 in our department)
• Ph.D. Electives:
• 6 hours of statistics Ph.D. electives are required from the following list
• ST 740: Bayesian Inference and Analysis
• ST 746: Stochastic Processes
• ST 750: Advanced Statistical Computing
• ST 762: Nonlinear Statistical Models
• ST 782, 783: Time Series Analysis
• ST 784: Multivariate Analysis
• Approved special topics and other courses
• 3 hours of supporting electives

Additonal Notes on Course Work

• If any of the above 21 credit hours or courses is taken as a part of the POW for a student’s Master’s program, then an equivalent number of hours of supporting electives need to be taken as a part of the student’s doctoral POW.
• Students are strongly encouraged to take ST 810A “Preparing for Research” during their first year in the PhD program.
• Research Hours
• Once a student has identified a research advisor, he/she may register for research credit hours (ST 895) with the consent of the advisor.
• Once a student has passed the prelim oral, he/she may register for ST 899 as long as 1) they have finished all coursework on the POW and 2) they are not registered for any other classes. Three hours of ST 899 is considered full-time credit (rather than the usual 9 hours).

Graduate Advisory Committee

Ph.D. advisory committees are composed of at least four faculty members. At least three committee members, including the chair, must be from Statistics. The committee must also include a faculty member from outside the department. If the student submits a committee of four statistics faculty, the graduate school will appoint a Graduate School Representative to the committee. The committee must be approved by the Director of Graduate Programs, as well as by the Dean of the Graduate School.

The initial assignment of an advisor to a student pursuing the Ph.D. degree is understood to be temporary. A change can be made if, for example, the student develops an interest in a research program of a different faculty member. Any changes in advisors or committee members must be approved by the Director of Graduate Programs. A faculty member from another university or a professional from industry or government may serve on a student advisory committee as an external member, with full voting rights, along with the required committee composed of four members of the NCSU Graduate Faculty. The credentials of the external member should be comparable to those required for membership on the Graduate Faculty. It is necessary to submit the external member’s resume to the Graduate School.

Examinations

Besides taking required course work, Ph.D. students must pass the Basic Exam at the PhD level, preliminary written and oral exams, write a dissertation and pass a final oral exam. The Basic Exam should be taken within one year of entering the program.

Ph.D. Preliminary Written Exam The main content of the Preliminary Written Exam will be a 15-20 page report prepared by the student without outside help. The topic will be assigned to the students by the Prelim Committee. The topic will be chosen from one broad area that the student will choose from a list of broad areas in statistics. In addition, the students will conduct and report on a simulation project. Also, the committee may ask for the student to make a presentation at which time they can question the student about the work. Students should take the Ph.D. preliminary written exam within one year of passing the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam or during the summer following the completion of their Ph.D. core courses. Further details on the exam will be given by the exam committee. Ph.D. Preliminary Oral Examination The preliminary oral examination may be scheduled only after the student has passed the Preliminary Written Exam and has the advisory committee and plan of work approved by the Graduate School. A doctoral student is allowed a maximum of six years from admission to the doctoral program to pass the preliminary oral exam. See the section entitled Preliminary Comprehensive Examinations in the Graduate Catalog. A doctoral student is admitted to candidacy upon passing the preliminary oral exam. The format of the preliminary oral will vary but may consist of some or all of the following components: I. The student may be asked questions based on courses listed in his/her plan of graduate work or contained in the core of the master’s and Ph.D. programs. Areas in which the student demonstrated weakness on the preliminary written exam may be emphasized. II. The student may be asked to write a research prospectus consisting, say, of a detailed literature review in his/her chosen area, a description of the proposed research problem, a presentation of preliminary finding and a bibliography. At the oral exam, the student may be asked to make a presentation and answer questions based on contents of this document. Failure to pass the preliminary oral exam terminates the student’s graduate work unless the student’s advisory committee recommends a conditional pass or a reexamination. No reexaminations may be given until at least one full semester has elapsed, and only one reexamination is permitted. All oral examinations must be officially scheduled through the Director of Graduate Programs by the Graduate School. It is the student’s responsibility to find a date and time that is acceptable to all members of his/her advisory committee (including the Graduate School Representative, if one is appointed) and to notify the graduate secretary at least 15 working days prior to the proposed exam date. The graduate secretary will the reserve a room and make the necessary arrangements with the Graduate School. Unless carefully planned in advance, summer oral exams are difficult to schedule and committee substitutions cannot be guaranteed. This is due to several faculty members who are on 9-month appointments. 22 Ph.D. Final Oral Examination The Ph.D. final oral examination consists of a defense by the candidate of the methodology used and conclusions reached in the dissertation. The dissertation must embody results of original research of a standard that would warrant publication in a statistics research journal. Publication of research in established journals is highly encouraged, regardless of whether you plan to work at a university or at a company.At least FOUR months are required to elapse between the date of an unconditional pass on the preliminary oral exam and the scheduling of the final oral exam. The four-month interval begins with the date when ALL conditions are satisfied and this date may not necessarily be the original date of the preliminary oral exam. As with the preliminary oral exam, it is the student’s responsibility to find a date and time that is acceptable to all members of his/her advisory committee (including the Graduate School Representative) and to notify the graduate secretary at least 15 working days prior to the proposed exam date. The graduate secretary will then reserve a room and make the necessary arrangements with the Graduate School. Unless carefully planned in advance, summer oral exams are difficult to schedule and committee substitutions cannot be guaranteed, especially since a dissertation is involved. It is also the responsibility of the student to provide a typed copy of the dissertation to each committee member at least two weeks prior to the exam. As a courtesy, the student should also offer to provide the Graduate School Representative with a copy. Final oral exams open to university community. Ph.D. Final Oral exams consist of an open seminar followed by questions from the committee in a closed session. Required Documents The student is required to submit several documents before s/he can graduate from NCSU. The following information is taken from the Schedule of Required Documents prepared by the Graduate School. Please see Adrian Blue for any necessary forms. In addition to the following documents, a doctoral student must be in residence (see Graduate Catalog) for at least two academic years, and all requirements must be completed within 10 calendar years from the date of enrollment in the doctoral program. 1. Change of Status to a Ph.D. Program: If a student was originally admitted as a Master’s student, he/she will need to request a change of status before graduating with the Master’s degree. 2. Patent Agreement Form: Students need to sign the Patent Agreement Form during the first semester of registration. Students who signed a Patent Agreement form as a Master’s student will need to sign another form as a PhD student. 3. Advisory Committee: Students are initially assigned academic advisors. Each student is responsible for finding a research advisor in the department. Once a student and faculty member agree to work together, a request should be sent to the Director of Graduate Programs to reassign this faculty member as the student’s advisor. The student should work with the research advisor to assemble an appropriate advisory committee. 4. Plan of Graduate Work: The Plan of Graduate Work (POW) form consists of the courses that a student has taken or plans to take before his/her graduation. The Graduate School recommends that the POW form be submitted after completion of 12 23 hours of required course work or earlier. A completed POW form with the signatures of his/her advisory committee members (does not include the Graduate School Representative) MUST be submitted at least SIX weeks before the preliminary oral exam is to be scheduled. The POW form should include, if applicable, any minor courses. Transfer credits are not allowed in the Ph.D. program. Changes to the POW form, if needed, can be made prior to scheduling the preliminary oral examination. 5. Preliminary Oral Examination Result: The student should return the signed copies of the exam results to the graduate secretary immediately after the oral exam. 6. Diploma Order Request Card: The student is required to fill out a diploma order request card before the end of the THIRD week of classes of the semester in which he/she plans to graduate. A new card is required if the student does not graduate during the intended semester. 7. Final Oral Examination Request: Request for scheduling the final oral exam must be submitted to the graduate secretary at least 15 working days prior to the proposed exam date. The student should contact all committee members, including the Graduate School Representative, prior to selecting a date for the final oral exam. At least FOUR months are required to elapse between the date of an UNCONDITIONAL pass on the preliminary oral exam and the scheduling of the final oral exam. The current dissertation title should be listed on the final oral exam request. 8. Final Oral Examination Result: The student should return the signed forms from the final oral exam to the graduate secretary immediately after the exam. For Fall graduation, the final oral exam should be held before October 31, and for Spring graduation, before March 31. 9. Dissertation: Students should provide copies of their dissertation to their advisory committee at least two weeks prior to the final oral exam. Prior to the final oral exam, students are also required to schedule an appointment with the thesis editor in the Graduate School. The dissertation is reviewed by the Graduate School to insure that the format conforms to the specifications described in the Thesis and Dissertation Guide. Dissertations are submitted electronically. Submission information is available at the graduate school web site.