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Ph.D. programs

DAES offers Ph.D. degrees in Atmospheric Science and Climate Science (links to the Graduate Bulletin). The two programs differ in core course requirements and admissions requirements, but these are identical to the respective MS degree programs. The two Ph.D. programs share all other non-course requirements so these are discussed together below.

Overview

Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science

The aim of the program leading to the Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science is to develop the student’s ability to carry on scholarly research and to communicate the results concisely and accurately to the scientific community and the general public. Additionally, the program prepares the student for senior professional positions in the atmospheric and environmental sciences at academic institutions and in industry, government, or other agencies.

The program of study and research requires at least three academic years of full-time study and research, or the equivalent over a longer period, beyond the baccalaureate.

The following specializations in doctoral study are offered: cloud and precipitation physics, theoretical and dynamical meteorology, aerosol physics, synoptic and mesoscale meteorology, numerical weather prediction, tropical meteorology, air pollution meteorology, atmospheric chemistry and modeling, atmospheric transport and chemical processes, climate dynamics and modeling, ocean atmospheric interactions, paleoclimate reconstruction and environmental geo chemistry.

For admissions requirements, see the MS degree page for Atmospheric Science

Ph.D. in Climate Science

The aims of the program leading to the Ph.D. in Climate Science are to (1) provide broad rigorous training in the fundamental theories and practices of the field, (2) ensure an expert level of fluency in climate data analysis, and (3) develop the student’s ability to carry out independent scholarly research and to communicate the results concisely and accurately to the scientific community and the general public.

Students may choose between two tracks: Climate Dynamics or Climate Chemistry & Physics. Both tracks prepare the student for senior professional positions at academic institutions and in industry, government, or other agencies.

The program requires at least 60 credit-hours of graduate study and research beyond the baccalaureate, culminating in a doctoral dissertation representing a significant and original contribution to a field of climate science. Areas of research specialization within the two tracks include climate dynamics and modeling, polar environments, atmospheric chemistry, paleoclimate reconstruction, environmental geochemistry, physical oceanography and ocean-atmosphere interactions, remote sensing, urban climate, renewable energy, and applications of machine learning.

For admissions requirements, see the MS degree page for Climate Science.

Program requirements

The student follows a program of study and research approved by his/her doctoral advisory committee. Course requirements include a minimum of 60 hours of graduate credit in organized courses, seminars, and independent study in atmospheric, climate, environmental, and other sciences or mathematics. Students must complete the coursework requirements for the M.S. degree in Atmospheric Science or Climate Science, respectively. These requirements can be satisfied by coursework while earning an M.S. degree. This program includes, in addition, research leading to an acceptable dissertation.

Departmental Examinations

  1. Written Qualifying Examination: The student must pass a written exam that covers the student’s particular program area: synoptic–dynamic meteorology, physical meteorology and atmospheric physics, atmospheric chemistry, climate dynamics, paleoclimatology, or environmental science.

  2. Oral Qualifying Examination: The student must pass an oral examination that is administered by the student’s doctoral committee. The exam is based on a written and oral prospectus prepared by the student that describes the basis and approach for the dissertation research.

  3. Dissertation Defense: The student must satisfactorily complete an oral presentation and defense of the dissertation.

Ancillary Duties

In addition to the completion of course requirements, satisfactory performance in some ancillary teaching, research, or practicum duties contributing to academic development is required. These duties will be assigned with educational objectives in mind.

Dissertation

The student must submit a dissertation in their area of specialization, which represents a significant and original contribution in the field of atmospheric or environmental sciences.

Full Time Study in Residence

Each student in a doctoral program must engage in full-time study beyond the Master’s degree, or equivalent at the University, for at least two semesters after admission to the advanced program. This requirement is designed to ensure a sustained period of intensive intellectual growth. For this purpose, a student will enroll in full-time study (nine credits) taken in each of two semesters, or in a regular semester and a summer session, not necessarily consecutive, which must be completed satisfactorily.

Graduate assistants holding a full assistantship may meet the full-time residency requirement by completing one academic year in such a position, including the satisfactory completion of a minimum of nine credits per semester plus satisfactory completion of assigned duties.

Admission to Candidacy

A student is admitted to candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy upon the following:

  1. Satisfactory record in course and seminar study (i.e., 60 credit hours)

  2. Completion of University residence requirements

  3. Satisfactory completion of the research tool requirement

  4. Satisfactory completion of the qualifying examinations

Department Guidelines

Credit counts

Pre-candidacy

Doctoral students supported as a GA, TA, or RA must register for nine credits every fall and spring semester in order to maintain full-time student status. Students intending to achieve PhD candidacy (i.e., 60 credits) at the end of three years will need to take, with their research advisor’s consent, 12 credits per semester in their third year in order to have accumulated the 60 credits required for candidacy. Note: This option may not be available to TAs and GAs due to state funding.

During the last semester before advancing to candidacy, a student may enroll in less than nine credits if they need less than nine to earn 60 credits (e.g., a student has 54 credits and only needs six to reach 60). If a funded student wishes to take less than nine credits, they must submit a Reduced Credit Load form and send the confirmation email to The Graduate Program Director.

All pre-candidacy doctoral students, regardless of funding source, must register for at least three credits each fall and spring semester to satisfy the university requirement of continuous registration until they advance to candidacy, unless a leave of absence is requested and granted.

Post-candidacy

Doctoral students achieving candidacy register for only one credit of ATM 899 each fall and spring semester until graduation. This satisfies the university requirement of continuous registration.

If a student wishes to take a class after candidacy, they must still enroll in one credit of ATM 899.

M.S. degree options for Ph.D. students

Students who consider the Master’s degree as an option for an intermediate or terminal degree, should initially follow the guidelines for the respective Master’s Program in order to satisfy the requirements for that degree. (Note: Doctoral students should not take ATM 699 unless they are certain they plan to obtain the M.S. degree since credits for ATM 699 are recorded as “Incomplete” until a Master’s thesis is submitted and approved.)

A PhD student who seeks award of the M.S. “along the way” must obtain supplementary M.S. program activation via submittal of a form and fee. If a student wishes to terminate with the M.S. degree, the student should, AFTER activation of the M.S. program, email their intention to withdraw from the Ph.D. program to The Graduate School. A student who has converted to the M.S. program and is not an international student does not need to register if they have completed all M.S. requirements except for submittal of the thesis (Note: Non-registered students do not have access to student services). International students are required to be registered in order to maintain student visa status.

Benchmarks for Progress

0–36 credits
Register for credits to satisfy Master’s degree requirements and/or courses to prepare for doctoral written exam as advised, along with doctoral research (ATM 898).
36–54 credits: Doctoral Written Qualifying Exam
Approximate time frame: Near, or shortly after, completion of Master’s thesis or end of second year/beginning of third year (if intending to skip Master’s degree) or end of first year/beginning of second year of studies in program for students with Master’s and graduate credit from another institution.
60 credits: Doctoral Oral Qualifying Exam (Prospectus)
Approximate time frame: About one year after passing written exam. Upon passing oral exam, earning 60 credits, satisfying the University Research Tool, and full-time study-in-residency requirements, the department nominates the student for candidacy. Student must achieve candidacy at least one semester prior to graduation.
≥60 credits: Doctoral candidacy.
Register for one credit of ATM 899 each semester; complete research; write dissertation; apply for graduation; present thesis seminar/oral defense.

The degree must be completed within eleven calendar years from the date of initial registration in the program unless an extension is requested and granted by The Graduate School.

Doctoral Written Qualifying Exam

Overview

The purpose of the Doctoral Written Exam is to evaluate a student’s critical analysis skills and their ability to apply the scientific method to answer important questions in the field. The written examination focuses on the student’s broad area of specialty, such as physical meteorology, synoptic–dynamic meteorology, tropical meteorology, atmospheric chemistry, climate dynamics, paleoclimatology, or environmental sciences. Each examination is constructed so as to accommodate the background and focus of individual students. Relevant questions can involve analyzing figures, equations, or results; designing an experiment to answer a scientific question; and/or critical evaluation of papers in the scientific literature.

Timing

Students who enter with a Master’s degree must take the written exam by the end of the third semester of enrollment, while students who enter without a Master’s degree must take the exam by the end of the spring semester of their third year. Students are allowed two attempts to pass the written qualifying examination. A third attempt may be allowed in unusual circumstances and then only after approval by the Graduate Program Committee upon formal petition by the student, with support of the student’s advisor(s).

The student should email the Graduate Program Director at the beginning of the semester stating their intention to take the exam and the names of their committee members. This step will assist in coordinating the exam date with other students, particularly if multiple students have the same examining committee members.

Exam committee structure

The examining committee should consist of four faculty members, include the student’s research advisor(s), and at least one member whose primary affiliation is with the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences. Only those with an earned doctorate or those who hold a full professorship are eligible to participate formally in dissertation advisement and the approval of a dissertation. DAES policy is that written exam committees should be entirely comprised of DAES/ASRC faculty. External members are typically not allowed unless there is a compelling case that the outside expertise is absolutely essential.

Exceptions to the committee membership requirements can be made with the approval of the Graduate Program Committee but will require a written petition (by email to the Graduate Program Director). A student’s examining committee may consist of the same people as the student’s Ph.D. thesis committee; however, this is not a requirement.

Preparing for the exam

The examining committee creates questions that are designed to test the student’s ability to understand, synthesize, and critically evaluate material in their subfield, including topics covered in advanced graduate courses, as well as in the refereed literature. An examiner may give the same question to multiple students taking the exam at the same time. Students are required to meet with each committee member prior to the exam to discuss possible question topics or literature to review. The student must keep a record of these meetings and communicate the dates to their thesis advisor(s). The committee is required to review the exam prior to administration to evaluate the breadth, depth, and appropriateness of the questions.

Written exam structure and logistics

  1. Two questions are obtained from each member of the exam committee. The written exam consists of eight total questions, with four questions given to the student on each of the two days of the exam. The student must choose, and submit answers to, three out of four questions each day; only answers to these three questions will be evaluated and graded. To ensure that the student answers at least one question from each committee member, the first day should consist of both questions from two committee members, while the second day should consist of both questions from the other two members. The exam must contain a cover sheet, a sample of which can be obtained here.

  2. The committee chair(s) should reserve an ETEC conference room for the exam. The student may bring snacks, paper, pens/pencils, a pocket (i.e., non-cell phone) calculator, and a specially designated laptop (see #4 below) into the exam room, but not their cell phone (the student may designate a contact person in case of a personal emergency).

  3. The student should be given six hours per day to answer the questions, with a break for lunch. The committee may grant extra time if necessary.

  4. The student may write the answers to their exam on paper or on a laptop computer (with internet access disabled) acquired from Kevin Tyle. The student must request the laptop from Kevin at least one month prior to the exam.

  5. The student may bring one, 8.5” x 11” sheet of handwritten notes (both sides; no copied text, inserted graphics, cut and paste figures, etc.) into the exam. The sheet must be turned in with the student’s answers. In addition, the examination committee may give the student hard copies of materials (e.g., journal articles, textbooks, data, research results, etc.) that may be used in answering the questions; these materials may be communicated to the student before the exam at the required meeting.

  6. Exam questions are graded on a scale of 0 to 10 with an average score of seven or more considered to be passing. The examining committee must vote on whether the student passed the exam. The student passes the exam if the average score on the exam is seven or greater. For an average score in the gray area (around 6.5 to seven), the examining committee decides whether to fail, pass, or conditionally pass (for instance, require additional course work to make up for a deficiency). The definitions of scores are:

ScoreDefinition
10Question is answered completely and thoroughly.
8.5Answer contains appropriate analysis and information, with minor issues in either fact or logic.
7.0Answer is characterized by some flaws in either logic or analysis, but meets minimum standards of PhD quality work.
5.0Answer contains either a major logical flaw, error in the analysis of the results, or lacks sufficient depth as would be expected for a PhD student.
3.0Answer contains multiple major logical flaws, errors in analysis, and lacks sufficient depth.

Written exam results

Following the exam, the committee shall meet to determine the outcome of the exam. The student’s advisor(s) is(are) responsible for sending a memo with the outcome of the student’s exam, the names of the committee members, and scores to the Graduate Program Director. An electronic copy of exam questions and the student’s graded answers shall be emailed to the Graduate Program Director to be placed in the student’s file.

Doctoral Oral Qualifying Exam

Ph.D. thesis committee

Upon successful completion of the Written Examination, the student, with the advice of their thesis advisor(s), has the responsibility to organize a Ph.D. thesis committee. The student must submit the composition of the committee to the Graduate Program Director. The committee must consist of at least four faculty members, one of which must have their primary affiliation in the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences. The student’s thesis advisor will serve as chair (co-advisors serve as co-chairs) of the committee. Only those with an earned doctorate are eligible to participate formally in dissertation advisement and the approval of a dissertation.

The thesis committee will have the responsibility for guiding the student in all aspects of their dissertation research. The student is strongly encouraged, and expected, to confer with all committee members, individually or as a group, on a regular basis. At the discretion of the committee, the student may be required periodically to provide a written and/or oral progress report.

Prospectus

The student must submit a formal written thesis prospectus to their Ph.D. thesis advisory committee. The prospectus will serve as the basis for the oral qualifying examination and must consist of:

  1. a clear statement of the research objectives and their scientific importance;

  2. a critical review of the background scientific literature; and,

  3. a carefully described proposed research plan including the method of attack to solve the problem.

The prospectus is not intended to be a preliminary dissertation of the student’s research. Description of the student’s research should be included only in so far as it provides background for the proposed research plan. The prospectus should not need to exceed 25 pages of text (figures and references are not included in the limit). A student is expected to consult closely with their advisor while developing the prospectus.

Oral exam

See here for logistics on scheduling the oral examination. The Ph.D. thesis committee must have at least one week to read the formal prospectus before the scheduled oral examination. The oral examination consists of an open departmental seminar with questions allowed from the audience followed by a closed session with the committee for additional questioning. The public presentation should not exceed 45 minutes. During the student’s presentation, questions from the audience should be limited to clarifications only. Following the end of the presentation, the members of the audience who are not on the Ph.D. committee are free to ask questions related to the presentation. Once all of the general audience questions are answered, the audience will be excused and the student will answer questions from the Ph.D. thesis committee related to the topic and prospectus.

A student who conditionally passes the oral qualifying exam may be asked to correct demonstrated deficiencies through additional course work and/or by submitting a revised prospectus for approval by their thesis committee. A student who does not pass the oral examination after two tries may be allowed a third attempt in unusual circumstances and then only after approval by the Graduate Program Committee upon formal petition by the student.

Advancement to candidacy

The department, upon the student’s completion of the Residency and Research Skill requirements, and the Written and Oral Ph.D. exams, nominates the student for Ph.D. candidacy. Candidacy should be attained at least one semester prior to the semester in which application for graduation is made.

Doctoral Research and Thesis Defense

Scope and quality

Students should proceed with their doctoral dissertation research in close collaboration with their advisor(s). The other committee members will be available to the student for consultation. The research program may be carried out away from the University at Albany with the approval and supervision of the student’s Ph.D. thesis advisory committee. Such students must also satisfy the University Residency requirements.

The dissertation should demonstrate the candidate’s mastery of a research problem, and their ability to arrive at results and conclusions that contribute significantly to knowledge of the subject area. In general, it is expected that the dissertation will be of the quality comparable to that found in articles in high-quality, well-regarded, refereed scientific journals.

Defense

When the student and advisor(s) agree that the doctoral dissertation is in final form, copies should be submitted to the rest of the student’s committee and a date for the formal Ph.D. thesis defense scheduled (see here for scheduling logistics). Committee members must be allowed at least two weeks to read the dissertation. The student will defend their dissertation by giving a 45-minute seminar to the full department followed by questions and comments from the committee. The thesis committee, including the student’s advisor(s), must formally vote to approve the dissertation. If two or more members of the committee do not approve, the dissertation must be revised and resubmitted for approval at a later date.

Research Tool Requirement

A doctoral student can satisfy the requirement in any one of the following ways:

Ph.D. Timeline

Entering department without M.S.:

Years 1–2
Follow M.S. timeline
Year 3
Form committee, take Ph.D. written exam
Year 4
Complete Prospectus and Research Tool Requirement. Attain 60 credits to advance to candidacy.
Year 5+
Complete research; write dissertation; apply for graduation; present thesis seminar/oral defense

Entering department with an M.S.:

Year 1
Take courses as discussed with advisor
Year 2
Take Ph.D. written exam by end of fall semester
Year 3
Complete Prospectus
Year 4+
Complete research; write dissertation; apply for graduation; present thesis seminar/oral defense
DAES Graduate Program Guide
Climate Science M.S.
DAES Graduate Program Guide
Department Policies