Applied Science, PhD

Program Requirements

• Complete a minimum of 36 hours of course work.
• Complete a minimum of 30 hours of dissertation work. 

Hours of course work and dissertation work must total 75.

Admission Requirements

 Applicants must:

• Hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.
  Applicants with degrees other than mathematics (e.g. biological sciences, physics, engineering) should have mathematical preparation comparable to that of a baccalaureate in mathematics.
• Have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.00 (“A” is equivalent to 4.0).
• International applicants must complete the TOEFL exam with a minimum score of 550-600 (paper-based exam) or 213-250 (computer-based exam). If the student has completed one year of full-time academic study at a U.S. institution, this requirement can be waived.
• Provide all university transcripts.
• Provide three letters of recommendation.
• Submit UCCS graduate school application forms.
• Promising students who do not meet all of the requirements may be considered for provisional admission.
• GRE scores are recommended.

The graduate application forms can be found on the Graduate School website.

Transfer Credits Policy

• Students transferring into the program with graduate work or a Master’s degree in an appropriate discipline must satisfy the admissions requirements above.
• Graduate level courses completed outside UCCS prior to admission may be transferable into the program.
• Normally, transfer credits may not exceed 25% of the total required credit hours.
• In unusual circumstances, applicants may request a review of their records to determine whether additional credits may be transferred.
• Decisions regarding transfer of graduate credits are made by the appropriate graduate advisor, and are subject to the regulations of the UCCS Graduate School. 

Specific Program Requirements

• Students must satisfy coursework, examination, and dissertation requirements.
• The total hours of graduate course work and dissertation work applied to the degree must be 75.
• This total may include course work applied toward a Master’s degree.
• Students must complete a minimum of 30 hours of graduate course work with a GPA of 3.0 or above, and a minimum of 30 hours of dissertation work.
• Independent study may not exceed 25% of the minimum number of hours required for the degree.
• As part of the graduate course work, students must complete 3 two-semester sequences from the list of core courses.
• Students in the PhD program will normally take written and oral examinations.

Core Courses (18 credit hours)

Each PhD student in the mathematics track must complete 3 two-semester sequences from the following areas: 

• Complex Analysis 
• Applied Differential Equations 
• Probability 
• Real Analysis
• Ring Theory

Examinations

Students in the PhD program will normally take two written preliminary examinations and two written comprehensive examinations. These examinations are closely linked to the content of graduate courses, but they have distinct content descriptions, and may require independent study of material not covered in the courses.

The preliminary examinations cover real analysis and linear algebra at the Master’s degree level. The graduate committee will review the performance on the preliminary examinations to determine if the student may move forward in the PhD program. At the discretion of the graduate committee, the required preliminary examinations may be waived for students entering the graduate program with a Master’s degree, or with a comparable level of preparation.

The two PhD comprehensive examinations will each cover material corresponding to one of the three required PhD core sequences. Normally, students will have at most two attempts to pass each comprehensive exam, and may attempt exams in no more than three distinct core subject areas. Exceptions must be approved by the graduate committee.

There will be an oral dissertation proposal examination administered by the dissertation advisory committee to determine if the dissertation topic is appropriate, and if the student is adequately prepared for work on the dissertation.

After the dissertation has been accepted by the dissertation advisor, a final oral dissertation defense examination will be conducted by the dissertation advisory committee.

Admission Requirements

Applicants must:

• Hold a baccalaureate degree in biological sciences, mathematics, physics, or equivalents from an accredited college or university.
• Have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.00 (“A” is equivalent to 4.0).
• Non-English speaking applicants must complete the TOEFL exam with a minimum score of 525 (paper-based exam) or 200 (computer-based exam). If the student has completed one year of full-time academic study at a U.S. institution, this requirement can be waived.
• Provide three letters of recommendation, all past university transcripts, and complete an application form.
• Promising students who do not meet all of the requirements may be considered as provisional applicants.

The graduate application forms can be found on the Graduate School website.

Transfer of Credits

Students transferring into the program with a Master’s degree in an appropriate discipline also need to satisfy all the standards below for graduation. However, students may request a review of their existing credits and may have the number of credits required reduced at the discretion of the physics graduate advisor. If appropriate, the entire set of Master’s degree courses can be applied to the PhD program.

Program Requirements

The student must complete a total of 75 hours of coursework and dissertation. This includes:

    1. A minimum of 36 hours of course work with GPA above 3.0:

• 21 hours of Core courses
• 15 hours of Specialization, Elective or Interdisciplinary courses

    2. A minimum of 30 hours of dissertation work, and complete and successfully defend the dissertation.

To meet the 75 hour requirement, the student will need to have additional coursework or additional dissertation hours above the minimum.