Doctor of Philosophy Degree Requirements

1. Complete a minimum of 60 credit hours beyond the undergraduate degree. At least 24 of these hours (excluding dissertation) must be completed at the 700-level.
2. Dissertation credits may be repeated for credit as needed, but only 12 credits may be counted towards the 60 credit hour minimum graduation requirement.
3. Students must complete the specific didactic course work required. See SoLS’s Graduate Student Handbook for specific requirements.
4. Students may request a maximum of 15 graduate credits taken at UNLV prior to admission into SoLS’s Graduate Program to be counted towards the 30 credit hour minimum graduation requirement, provided that those credits were not used to fulfill undergraduate requirements and that a minimum grade of “B” (3.00) was earned in each course.
5. Students should register for at least 9 credits each semester if they are receiving financial support from the School; otherwise they must register for at least 6 credits each semester. Students working on their dissertation must register for at least 3 credits each semester (excluding summer) until the Dissertation is completed and given final approval.
6. Students must confer with their Dissertation Advisor prior to enrollment in their first semester. The Advisor will assist with designing an initial graduate degree program (i.e., an outline of the courses that the student will complete for the degree), engage in discussions about possible research directions, and introduce the student to the personnel and resources of the School of Life Sciences.
7. The student must form an Advisory Committee before the department’s posted deadline. This Committee will be composed by the Dissertation Advisor (who will serve as the Committee Chair), two members of SoLS’s Graduate Faculty, and a Graduate Faculty Representative from UNLV (outside of SoLS). Students are encouraged to include a fifth Committee member who is an expert on the student’s field of research. This fifth Committee member can have an academic affiliation outside of UNLV. See SoLS’s Graduate Student Handbook for specific requirements. Please see Graduate College policy for committee appointment guidelines.
8. Students must meet with their Advisory Committee at least once every year (i.e., from January to October), and a written report of this meeting must be submitted to SoLS’s Graduate Operations Committee by November 1.
9. The Advisory Committee will review the student’s past academic background and, taking into consideration the student’s research interests, determine his/her definitive graduate degree program.
10. Students must comply with the deadlines indicated in SoLS’s Graduate Student Handbook for submitting required paperwork to the Graduate College.
11. Students must take the comprehensive examination before the beginning of their sixth semester of residency in the Graduate Program.
    1. The exam must be held at least three (3) weeks before the last day of instruction of any given term.
    2. The exam will include both a written and an oral component, and will assess whether the student has reached the appropriate level of knowledge and analytical skills necessary for his/her field of study.
    3. The examination is developed or administered by the Doctoral Advisory Committee or an ad hoc Committee composed of Graduate Faculty within the Section to which the student belongs.
    4. See SoLS’s Graduate Student Handbook for information on the possible outcomes of the exam. Students who fail to pass the exam within the specified timeline will be placed on academic probation and will be allowed one retake of the exam.
    5. Failure to pass the retake or meet the requirements of academic probation will result in separation.
12. Doctoral students are advanced to candidacy after passing their comprehensive examination. Specific curricular requirements for each SoLS Section are described in detail in SoLS’s Graduate Student Handbook.
13. Each doctoral student should teach for a minimum of two semesters in the undergraduate curriculum of the School of Life Sciences. During that time the student will receive a Graduate Teaching Assistantship.
14. A student will be placed on academic probation if a minimum 3.00 grade point average is not maintained in all work taken as part of the graduate degree program. A grade of “C+” or less in two graduate-level classes will cause a student to be placed on academic probation. Failure to meet the requirements of academic probation will result in separation.

15. The Ph.D. candidate will present a seminar on his/her dissertation work that is open to all interested parties, including the general public. This public seminar will be widely advertised at least seven (7) days before it takes place, and will be followed by an oral defense of the dissertation research before the Advisory Committee and any other Graduate Faculty member who wishes to attend.