PhD Degrees - under construction

Doctor of Philosophy Degrees

The Department of Statistics at FSU offers a PhD in statistics and a PhD in biostatistics. Course programs and exact degree requirements are determined individually for students through consultation with their supervisory committee. General requirements for the PhD degree are in the FSU Graduate Bulletin. See the FSU Graduate Bulletin for the University's degree requirements, requirements for residence, time limits for the degree, and minimum dissertation hours.

Requirements for All Doctoral Students 

Required course for all PhD students.

The course STA5910: Supervised Research, "Faculty Research Presentations," must be taken by all PhD students.

Comprehensive Examination

This written examination is required for students who wish to pursue a PhD. It is not required for students who only desire an MS. The Comprehensive Examination (CE) is based on first year courses and is offered at the beginning of fall and spring semesters each year. Fall of the student’s second academic year is the expected time for students to take the CE. The spring offering of the CE is for those students who failed the CE at the fall offering. The expectation is that prospective PhD students pass the CE at the beginning of fall semester in their second academic year. They must pass the CE before applying to be a PhD student. Failing to pass in the first two academic years will end a student’s department financial support beyond the second year.

Progressing from MS Program to PhD Program (or 2nd year requirements for those admitted straight into the PhD Program)

Prospective PhD students apply for the PhD program in the beginning of the spring semester of their second year. They will apply to a department committee consisting of the department Graduate Student Recruiting and Admissions Committee supplemented by the chair of the TA Supervision and Duty Assignments Committee and the Graduate Student Director.

The student must identify a PhD major professor as part of the application process. They may begin research under this professor through directed individual study (DIS) at any time prior to becoming a PhD candidate. They do not need to have a full PhD committee formed for the application. Pairing of a student with a major professor requires the mutual consent of both the student and the major professor.

The major professor is expected to remain with the student until one of these events occurs:

• The student graduates
• The student leaves the program
• The student and major professor agree to the student changing major professors
• The student is dismissed from the program
• Two unsatisfactory grades in their DIS or dissertation (DISS) courses

Materials considered for admission to the PhD program include:

• CE scores from all attempts
• Grades earned in required courses for PhD admission
• Grades earned in other department courses
• Student comportment
• Willingness of a GFS faculty member to begin advising the student
• TA performance (if applicable)

The committee will make one of the following decisions for each applicant:

• Admit to the PhD program and continue existing funding
• Admit to the PhD program and discontinue existing funding
• Admit to the PhD program and award department funding
• Deny admission to the PhD program

If denied admission to the PhD program the student leaves the department, generally with an MS provided the MS degree requirements have been met. If admitted to the PhD program, the student will begin working with the identified major professor through DIS courses on a potential research problem. Before the end of the third year, and before taking the Qualifying Examination (as described below), the student must form the remainder of the PhD committee in accordance with this graduate student handbook.

Qualifying Examination

By the end of the third year, the student must take the Qualifying Examination (QE). This exam is given by the student’s full PhD committee.

The selection of a PhD committee and chair is done by mutual agreement between the student and faculty. It is expected that each student will review faculty research areas and initiate discussions with prospective faculty to act as committee members and chair. The department chair approves all such committees.

The chair and at least two other members of the committee must be full-time tenure-track faculty from the statistics department with graduate faculty status.  At least one committee member other than the chair (or co-chairs) must be a tenured faculty from the statistics department with graduate faculty status. See the FSU Graduate Bulletin for other requirements regarding forming a committee.

The student will create a manuscript detailing their current research progress and future research direction and provide this manuscript to the committee at least two weeks prior to the exam date. The student will also give a presentation of the manuscript to the committee as part of the QE.

Each committee member, other than the university representative, will submit at least one question to the student at least one week prior to the date of the exam. The questions should be relevant to the current and planned research of the student. The student will incorporate their answers to these questions in their presentation

The committee will evaluate:

• The student’s research presentation and manuscript
• The student’s research ability, progress, and potential
• The student’s performance in required coursework since being admitted to the PhD program
• The student’s performance in courses assigned by the major professor since being admitted to the PhD program
• The student's performance on committee-supplied questions relating to their presentation and manuscript. The student will provide thorough answers to these questions in writing to the committee within one week of the presentation

The committee assigns a grade of pass or fail on the QE based on the criteria in above. If the student fails the QE and wishes to continue in the program, they and the major professor must mutually decide if they will continue to work together, or if the student will find a new major professor. A student failing to pass the QE will be considered to be making unsatisfactory progress toward the degree for that semester.

If the student fails the QE and wishes to continue in the program, they must retake and pass it by the end of the fourth year. A student is allowed only two attempts at the QE. A student may not two QEs in a single semester and there must be at least 12 weeks between QE attempts. A student who has not passed the QE by the fourth year loses department support and is removed from the program.

If the student takes the QE a second time in a fall or spring term and fails, their funding ends at the end of spring of that academic year and they are removed from the program at the end of spring of that academic year. If the student takes the QE a second time in a summer term and fails, their funding ends at the end of that summer term and they are removed from the program at the end of that summer term.

When a student passes the QE, they become a PhD candidate. It is then expected that the major professor remain with the student through the end of their studies unless there is documented evidence of the student’s failure to progress, if the student and major professor agree to the student changing major professors, or if the student leaves the program.

A student passing the QE in fall / spring / summer may not defend their dissertation until the following fall / spring / summer or later.

Dissertation Defense

The dissertation defense is the last department examination for a PhD candidate. The defense consists of a 40 – 50 minute oral presentation of the student’s dissertation open to the entire Department of Statistics. All members of the university’s graduate faculty are invited to attend the seminar. This public presentation is immediately followed by an oral, closed-door defense of the dissertation and is administered by the student’s supervisory committee.

Academic courtesy requires that the dissertation be submitted to each member of the supervisory committee and to the department chair at least four weeks prior to the date of the oral examination. Individual committee members may have their own requirements or policies regarding timing and it is the student’s responsibility to ensure that each committee member’s requirements are met and that each member has an adequate opportunity to read the dissertation. A copy of the dissertation should also be sent to the department academic assistant at least four weeks prior to the defense. Faculty interested in the topic may obtain a copy of the dissertation from the department academic assistant before the defense.

The defense must be completed at least four weeks prior to the date on which the degree is to be conferred. Consult the registrar’s office or webpage for deadline dates. Students must enroll in STA 8985 during the term in which they defend their dissertation.

A decision of pass for the defense of dissertation requires at least a majority approval of the entire committee as well as at least a majority approval of the full-time statistics department committee members. Majority is defined as more than one half. See the FSU Graduate Bulletin for other information regarding dissertation grades.

Other Requirements

During the final semester of doctoral work, each PhD candidate must comply with a variety of university administrative requirements prior to obtaining the degree. The university also has specific requirements regarding the format for dissertations and abstracts. These requirements are issued by the Graduate School. Each candidate should become familiar with these requirements well in advance of their final semester’s work.

All PhD students must take the department courses required for their degree, either the PhD in Statistics or the PhD in Biostatistics.

PhD students must take at least one course each semester for the first three years of study. Beyond the third year and after the departments required coursework has been completed, additional course work other than dissertation research will be determined by the student with the approval of their major professor and their dissertation committee.

All required coursework (as provided in the table of required courses for the degree being sought) except dissertation hours must be taken for a letter grade.

PhD students must demonstrate active involvement in the scholarly community through interaction with faculty and peers. This requirement may be met through participating in various scholarly activities including enrollment in courses, attendance at colloquium, utilization of the library, utilization of university computational facilities, engaging in collaborative study and research beyond the university campus, and attendance and presentations at professional conferences. Note: It is the students’ responsibility to document this involvement every year as part of their annual review.

Graduate students at Florida State University must maintain continuous enrollment, which is defined as enrollment without an interruption of two or more consecutive semesters (where summer term counts as a semester!). Graduate students who are not enrolled at the University for two or more consecutive semesters, and who are not on approved leave of absence, must apply for readmission before resuming their studies. (For example, if you are not enrolled for a spring semester and the following summer term, then you must apply for readmission unless you have an approved leave of absence.)

A student who has completed the required coursework, passed the PhD Qualifying Examination, and advanced to doctoral candidacy, and continues to use campus facilities and/or receives faculty supervision, but has not been cleared by the Manuscript Clearance office shall include in the required full-time load a minimum of two credit hours of dissertation per semester, including Summer term, until completion of the degree. A student must be enrolled in a minimum of two hours of dissertation in the semester of graduation. Prior to degree conferral, all doctoral students must have completed a minimum of twenty-four credit hours of dissertation.

Note that the university rules in the previous two paragraphs allow a graduate student who is working on their dissertation to take a semester or a summer off without signing up for any dissertation units so long as they are not using campus facilities or receiving faculty supervision during this time.

Interdisciplinary Option

Students in either PhD program (Statistics or Biostatistics) may choose to pursue research in an interdisciplinary field of study. A student following the interdisciplinary option (IO) will typically take three graduate courses in an outside area related to the student's research area. No more than one of the three IO courses may be a DIS given by another department in the IO area of specialization.

Graduation Requirements

In their final semester, students must apply for degree clearance in the first two weeks of the term. Clearance is contingent upon successful completion of your program of study, as filed with the department. Therefore, the program should at all times accurately reflect the coursework taken. The student will be required to account for any discrepancies.

Students not enrolled in the PhD program who plan to continue working towards a PhD degree after earning a master’s degree must contact the academic program specialist in the department to discuss moving into the PhD program. Students already admitted into the PhD program but who would like to apply for the master’s degree must also contact the academic program specialist in the department to have the degree program added to their record.

There are many graduation requirements set by the university. Consult the FSU Graduate Bulletin for a comprehensive list.

Transferring Credits from Another University, Waiving Required Classes

The department follows the University's criteria for allowing transfer credits:

"Transfer of courses not counted toward a previous degree from another regionally accredited graduate school (or comparable international institution) is limited to six semester hours, and transfer of courses not counted toward a previous degree within Florida State University is limited to twelve semester hours, except when the departmental course requirement exceeds the thirty-two hour University-wide minimum requirement. In the latter case, additional transfer credit may be allowed to the extent of the additional required hours."

The complete University criteria may be found on the FSU Graduate Bulletin.

For those wishing to use courses from another university to meet the department's courses requirement, the student must obtain approval of the waiver from the instructor in our department who teaches the required course and the graduate director.

A form for applying for the waiver may be obtained from the Department Office.

PhD Degree in Statistics

Students in the PhD in Statistics degree program tailor their academic programs to be consistent with their individual career objectives. Programs can be designed to prepare graduates for careers in research and/or teaching, for careers emphasizing the application of statistics or for careers requiring the development of new statistical methodology.

Required courses for all students seeking the PhD in Statistics are given in Table 11.

Required courses for the PhD in Statistics. All courses are three credit hours.

The department requires a minimum of 36 credit hours of coursework for the PhD in Statistics. All required courses must be taken for a letter grade, but up to 6 credit hours of other coursework can be taken S/U.

Students entering the program with equivalent work (as determined by the faculty) from other institutions will not be required to repeat it. However, in preparing a course program, students should keep in mind that they are required to pass the PhD qualifying examination as one step towards the degree.

Students entering the graduate program without any prior graduate work in statistics typically begin course work by studying toward the MS degree in mathematical statistics. Students are responsible for the material
normally covered in the core coursework of the MS in mathematical statistics degree.

Students are strongly encouraged to register for STA 6468, Advanced Topics in Probability and Statistics, whenever topics to be covered are related to the student’s areas of concentration. The final selection of courses will be determined by the student and major professor and supervisory committee.

Doctor of Philosophy in Biostatistics

The Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Biostatistics prepares students for specialized careers in academia, industry, and government. Program graduates will find themselves sought after by employers in such varied areas as biotechnology, public health, pharmaceuticals, AIDS research, epidemiology, insurance, food sciences, and agribusiness. With an aging US population, the development of new drugs, and advances in the understanding of biological functions at the level of individual genes and proteins, the need for more people trained to design studies and analyze data from these research areas continues to increase.

Required courses for PhD in Biostatistics are presented in Table 12.

Table 12: Required courses for the PhD in Biostatistics. All courses are three credit hours.

The department requires a minimum of 36 credit hours of coursework for the PhD in Biostatistics. All required courses must be taken for a letter grade, but up to 6 credit hours of other coursework can be taken S/U. Flexibility is allowed in selecting the additional coursework for the Biostatistics PhD. The final selection of courses will be determined by the student and major professor and supervisory committee.

Financial Support

The department provides financial support for many of its graduate students. The two main ways in which students are funded are through teaching assistantships and research assistantships.

Types of Support

Teaching assistantships are the most common type of support in the department. These are halftime appointments. Students are paid a salary in return for 20 hours of work each week during the fall and spring semesters. Limited teaching assistantships are available each summer. Teaching assistants may be called upon to perform a combination of the following duties:

• Lecture in lower division statistics courses (STA 1XXX, 2XXX).
• Teach recitation sections of low-level statistics courses.
• Grade homework, projects, and exams for lower and upper level undergraduate and graduate level courses.
• Assist FSU students at the Strozier Library statistics help desk.
• Assist faculty with course-related tasks.
• Assist faculty in the Statistical Consulting Center.

Assignment of graduate students to differing duties is based on department need and when possible, student preference.

There are several university requirements that must be met before a graduate student may teach. These requirements are set forth in the document, "University-wide Standards for Teaching Assistants at Florida State University." This document is maintained by and available from the Office of Graduate Studies. Additionally, a TA must pass the departmental course "Teaching in the Discipline" before teaching.

Research assistantships are supported with funds from research contracts or grants, generally from agencies outside the university, held by department faculty. Students receiving such support assist faculty members with their research programs. Usually a student combines duties under this assistantship with their dissertation work, but the exact duties are established by the faculty member providing support.

In recognition of the differing degrees of responsibility of the above tasks, the amount of stipend provided to a student depends on the duties assigned. There are three levels of stipend in the department. The highest pay is reserved for students lecturing their own courses. The medium level is attained by those who teach recitation sections or work in the Statistical Consulting Center, and the third level is for the remaining students. Research assistant pay is determined by the faculty member supplying the salary.

Other avenues of support include competitive assistantships and fellowships available through the University. More general types of support include loans and grants and are administered through the University's Office of Student Financial Aid. Additionally, opportunities for employment in other university units are often available.

Restrictions on Support

Recipients of federal fellowships or traineeships or university fellowships must abide by the conditions of these awards. International graduate students must observe employment restrictions associated with visas issued. These regulations usually confine employment to appointments supportive of their field of study. Graduate students holding assistantships in the department or other units of the university must obtain permission for additional employment from the director of the project providing the assistantship, the faculty advisor or dissertation director, and the department chair. Any outside employment unrelated to the discipline or deemed to substantially lengthen the time to completion of the degree program may not be approved.

Holders of assistantships are required to register for at least nine hours each semester. Students are advised to consult the FSU Graduate Bulletin for the university policy regarding minimum enrollment requirements for assistantship holders and university residence requirements. Note that students not receiving support must also register for a minimum number of hours each term to meet University requirements.

The department expects all students to apply for the in-state residency tuition classification.

Requirements for Continued Department Support

Students receiving department financial support must complete the following to continue to receive it:

1. Master’s degree students who have not been accepted for continuing to the PhD degree will not receive financial support beyond their second year.
2. To be eligible to receive department financial support as a teaching assistant, PhD students must:

(a) Complete both CAT Module 1 and Module 2 training in the first year.
(b) Complete the Teaching-in-the Discipline training workshop in the first year.
(c) Pass the PhD written qualifying exam by January of their third academic year.
(d) Students whose primary language is not English must take and pass the FSU SPEAK exam
with a score at least 50 by the end of the spring semester of their second academic year.

3. Financial support as a TA stops at the end of the fifth academic year.

4. For PhD students who have passed their qualifying exam, their financial support will be terminated if they receive two “Unsatisfactory” grades from their advisor in their dissertation study. Students who do not meet these milestones may continue toward their degree, but with no department financial support. The department chair makes the final decision on matters of continued support.

Tutoring for Payment

The Department receives numerous requests for tutors in statistics. Graduate students in statistics may tutor for payment subject to the following policies and procedures:

Under no circumstances is anyone to tutor, for payment, a student taking a course he or she is teaching or assisting with. For example, a graduate student currently teaching STA2023 may NOT tutor any student currently taking STA2023, even if that student is in another section. The graduate student may tutor, however, a student in STA 2122.

Students may engage in tutoring only insofar that it does not detract from their graduate studies. Students on academic probation are not to tutor. Questions regarding these policies may be addressed to the chair.

Students wishing to tutor are requested to submit the following information to the department secretary: a list of courses they wish to tutor and where or how they can be contacted. The department will maintain a file on tutors giving the above information. When requests are received, the caller will be given the information in the tutor file. The department does not make recommendations.

Please remember that tutoring is suggested as a last resort for students having difficulties in their course work. All graduate student instructors in the department are expected to make sufficient time available for office hours for student help.

Advisors and Committee Formation

The advisor provides academic counsel to the student, advises the student in the preparation of a program of study (see below), and approves the program of study. At no time will a student be without a department advisor. Master's students and students who have not yet been admitted to PhD candidacy will be advised by the graduate director.

Students who have passed the PhD qualifying examination should choose a faculty member to direct their dissertation. This selection of a major professor is a decision based upon mutual research interests of the students and their major professors. The department web-page contains faculty information and indicates research interests. Students should indicate their interests to the faculty member with whom they wish to work. Assuming the faculty member agrees, the student then forms a new supervisory committee to replace the one formed during their first term at FSU. Members of the doctoral supervisory committee are selected in consultation with the major professor subject to certain constraints. In addition to the major professor, the supervisory committee must have at least three other members: two other faculty members from the department and a tenured faculty from outside the department. All committee members must have graduate faculty status. The composition of the committee should reflect the student's research interests and areas of concentration. The composition of the committee is flexible and may be altered at the discretion of the student. Approval of the doctoral supervisory committee by the department chair is required.

The doctoral supervisory committee assumes responsibility for the student's academic advisement. It advises the student in the preparation of a doctoral program of study (see below) and must approve it.

Each year an assessment of the progress of the student is made by the student's advisor. The entire committee conducts the PhD essay examination and the dissertation defense.

Program of Study

A student must have on file with the department an approved program of study at all times. This document represents an agreement between the student and department delineating the course requirements the student must satisfy for a degree. The program of study may be amended at any time with the mutual consent of the student and their advisor. In preparing a program of study, the student must be aware of the degree and residence requirements established by the department and by the university. These forms are available from the department secretary and the department webpage. The forms should be typed and signed by the student's committee members and by the department chair. The original is placed in the student's file in the department office. A copy is made for the major professor who uses it in future course advising. The student is responsible for updating this document annually.

Annual Review

Each year a graduate student progress evaluation is conducted. This is a review of the academic performance of each graduate student. Students are informed whether or not their progress is satisfactory and are expected to remedy any deficiencies noted. The review is used by the department chair in decisions pertaining to the continuation of students in the program. Students not making timely and satisfactory progress toward their intended degree will not be continued in the department. The review is performed by the graduate director or, for students admitted to PhD candidacy, their dissertation director.

The department chair makes the final decision on matters of continuance in the department's degree programs.

The Student Advisory Committee

The Department of Statistics, through the Student Advisory Committee (SAC), participates in the university-wide program which promotes active involvement of students in academic decision making. The SAC consists of one representative each from the first and second year classes, two advanced representatives, and two officers.

The main function of the committee is to act as a liaison between faculty and students. By making themselves available for comments from both groups, the committee promotes effective communications and student awareness of department policies. A member of the SAC attends department faculty meetings. Some past inputs from SAC to the faculty have been to request new courses and invite specific guest speakers to department colloquia.

In addition, the SAC sponsors social/recreational events and enters teams in various intramural programs available on campus.

SAC members are elected each spring term by the graduate students. A representative of the incoming is class chosen at the beginning of the following fall term.

Statistical Consulting Center

As a service to the university, the department operates the Statistical Consulting Center (SCC).

Department members associated with the SCC offer assistance to faculty and students in the university who require statistical help with their research. Occasional assistance is provided to state agencies or to other community members.

Department Colloquia

The department colloquium is a lecture-discussion series on research and applications in topics of interest to members of the department. Colloquia are presented by faculty members, graduate students and visitors to the department.

Attendance at colloquium is expected of all faculty and graduate students in the department. Suggestions for colloquium presentations are always welcomed, and should be passed to the faculty though the SAC.

The department has an annual speaker competition for graduate students, the Anna and Yongyuan Li presentation award. The student who is judged by the faculty of the awards committee to have made the best presentation for the academic year is given the award.