Forest and Conservation Sciences Ph.D.
General Graduate Program Requirements
Graduate School policies and standards can be found on the Graduate School Policies page.
The minimum GPA for any graduate program is 3.0. Individual programs may require more than a 3.0 to remain in good standing.
The minimum grade for a course to be accepted toward any requirement is C. Individual programs may require higher grades for specific courses.
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY - FOREST AND CONSERVATION SCIENCES
The primary emphasis of the Ph.D. program is professional development, stimulation of intellectual curiosity, and competency in science, rather than on a specified set of courses. However, a general set of coursework requirements must be completed successfully.
Students in the Forest and Conservation Sciences doctoral program must:
- Complete at least 60 credits beyond the Bachelor’s degree; more may be required by the dissertation committee depending on the student’s background. Specific courses determined by the student’s graduate committee.
- At least 40 credits of of these credits must be in coursework, not thesis or research credits.
- At least half (minimum 20 credits) of the 40 coursework credits must be at the 500-level or above.
- At least 30 credits must be taken at the University of Montana.
- Complete at least one credit of graduate seminar per academic year (FORS, NRSM, PTRM, or WILD 594).
- Successfully complete and defend a dissertation, which will include:
- A research statement – a short written description of preliminary research ideas.
- A research proposal – a formal research proposal presenting the conceptual and empirical framework of the research.
- Successfully complete a comprehensive exam, which includes 5 days of written questions and a 3-hour oral exam.
Required Courses
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate Seminar | ||
| Complete one credit of the following courses per academic year: | 2 | |
| Graduate Seminar | ||
| Seminar | ||
| Conservation and Social Science Seminar | ||
| Graduate Seminar in Wildlife Biology | ||
| Electives, Research, and Dissertation | ||
| Complete 58 credits of graduate-level coursework selected in consultation with your advisor. | 58 | |
| Total Hours | 60 | |