Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science

Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science

Objectives
The Ph.D. (Environmental Science) Program aims to develop students for careers in environmental assessment and planning and in environmental education. The Program envisions to fill the need for highly trained environmental scientists in the government, private industries and educational institutions.

Admission into the Program

  1. Admission into the M.S. Program shall require:
    • A B.S. or M.S. (Environmental Science) degree or their equivalent from a recognized institution of higher learning
    • A high degree of intellectual capacity and aptitude for advanced study and research in Environmental Science, and
    • Satisfaction of additional university requirements such as health clearance and other special admission requirements that may be imposed by the Environmental Science Graduate Program Committee
  2. Each application for Admission into the Ph.D. (Environmental Science) Program must be accomplished in the Official College application form and accompanied by official transcript of records, two (2) written recommendation from former professors or experts on the field, and the officially prescribed application fee.
  3. All applications shall be submitted to and processed by the Graduate Office, referred to the Graduate Committee concerned for evaluation and endorsed by the latter to the Dean for official and formal action.

General Requirement
Qualification for Ph.D. (Environmental Science) degree in the College of Science shall require the following:

  1. Completion of a Program of Study consisting of at least forty-five units of formal Environmental Science Graduate courses in the case of students admitted into the Ph.D. (Environmental Science) Program without a graduate courses in the case of students admitted into the Ph.D. (Environmental Science) Program without a master’s degree in Environmental Science or of at least twenty-four (24) units of formal graduate courses in Environmental Science in the case of students admitted into Ph.D. program with a master’s degree in Environmental Science
  2. Maintenance of a Cumulative Weighted Average Grade (CWAG) of 1.75 or better at the end of each academic year until completion of the program of study;
  3. Passing of the Preliminary Examination based on the core courses in the student’s program of study;
  4. Passing the Candidacy Examination after completion of at least two-thirds (2/3) of the student’s program of study; Completion of at least one (1) unit of a graduate seminar course in Environmental Science during the student’s course work and presentation of a yearly seminar report during the student’s Dissertation work;
  5. Completion of a Doctoral Dissertation based on an independent and original research;
  6. Successful defense of the Doctoral Dissertation based on an independent and original research;
  7. Submission of a Scientific reprint based on the approved Doctoral Dissertation and endorsed by the Dissertation Committee as an acceptable article for publication in a reputable scientific journal; and
  8. Submission of at least six (6) bound and certified copies of the approved Doctoral Dissertation.

Course Curriculum
Student entering the Ph.D. (Environmental Science) Program with only a B.S. degree in the program’s discipline or a master degree in a related discipline shall be required to complete at least forty-five (45) units of formal graduate courses. (pdf of POS)

Candidacy Examination

1) Nature
The Candidacy Examination is an oral examination that must be taken by the student after passing the Preliminary Examination and completing at least two-thirds (2/3) of his/her program of study. In this examination the student is required to give a seminar on an approved research topic in his/her chosen field of specialization and is examined on his/her

  • grasp of this chosen field of specialization,
  • mastery of the basic principles and methods of the discipline, and
  • readiness for dissertation research in the chosen field of specialization.

Rating of the Candidacy Examination
The Candidacy Examination shall be rated as either “Passed” of “Failed” by a simple majority vote of the special examination panel. Its result must be officially reported by the special examination panel to the Graduate Office through the Environmental Science Program Graduate Committee within the first working day after the examination. If the student fails the Candidacy Examination, he/she will be allowed to take a second Candidacy Examination within one (1) year after the first examination. Failure in the second Candidacy Examination shall disqualify the student from the Ph.D. (Environmental Science) Program.

The Doctoral Examination

  1. Standard for the Doctoral
    The major requirement for the Ph.D. (Environmental Science) degree is the submission of a doctoral dissertation which must:
    • embody an original, independent and significant scientific research by the student;
    • show the student’s capacity to make a critical evaluation of previous work done in his/her chosen research topic; and
    • demonstrate his/her ability to present scientific research findings in a clear, systematic, and scholarly manner
  2. The Dissertation Proposal

Before the dissertation research can be formally started, the student must first prepare a written dissertation proposal with the advice of his/her Dissertation Committee and submit it to the Environmental Science Graduate Committee for approval. Upon approval of his/her dissertation proposal, the student may proceed to carry out his/her dissertation research under the guidance of his/her dissertation committee. A certified copy of the approved dissertation proposal must be submitted by the Environmental Science Graduate Committee to the Graduate Office.

Defense of Doctoral Dissertation
The Doctoral Examination, in which the student must defend his/her dissertation before the Doctoral Examination Panel, may be held within the College at any mutually convenient time upon the recommendation of the Doctoral Examination Panel, the endorsement of the Environmental Science Graduate Program Committee, and the formal authorization of the Dean.

The Doctoral Examination may be held only if (a) the student has already satisfied the seminar requirement, (b) the dissertation manuscript has been received by each member of the Doctoral Examination Panel at least one (1) month beforehand, and (c) at least four (4) members of the Doctoral Examination Panel are present. The schedule and place of the Doctoral Examination shall be officially announced by the Dean and publicized throughout the College by the Environmental Science Graduate Committee at least two (2) weeks beforehand. The schedule of the Doctoral Examination may be changed only upon the recommendation of the Doctoral Examination Panel, the endorsement of the Environmental Science Graduate Committee, and the formal authorization of the Dean.

The Doctoral Examination shall be public oral examination lasting no less than two (2) hours and no longer than five (5) hours, In accordance with the
examination guidelines of the Environmental Science Graduate Committee, questions may be asked by anybody from the audience during the examination,
but the evaluation and rating of the student’s dissertation shall be done by the Doctoral Examination Panel in closed-door meeting to be held immediately after the Doctoral Examination.