Ph.D. Program

Students in the statistics doctoral 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.

All courses are three credit hours.

• STA5106 Computational Methods in Statistics I
• STA5107 Computational Methods in Statistics II
• STA5207 Applied Regression Methods
• STA5208 Linear Statistical Models
• STA5326 Distribution Theory
• STA5327 Statistical Inference
• STA5334 Limit Theory of Statistics
• STA6346 Advanced Probability and Inference I
• STA6448 Advanced Probability and Inference II

At least three of the following courses:

• STA5507 Applied Nonparametric Statistics
• STA5707 Applied Multivariate Analysis
• STA5721 High-Dimensional Statistics
• STA5856 Time Series and Forecasting Methods
• STA6709 Spatial Statistics

The department requires a minimum of 36 credit hours of coursework for the Ph.D. 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 Ph.D. qualifying examination as one step towards the degree.

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

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, major professor and supervisory committee.

The doctoral degree in biostatistics prepares students for specialized careers in academia, industry and government. Program graduates will find themselves sought after by employers in various areas, such as biotechnology, public health, pharmaceuticals, AIDS research, epidemiology, insurance, food sciences and agribusiness. With an aging U.S. population, 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

All courses are three credit hours.

• STA5179 Applied Survival Analysis
• STA5197 Longitudinal Data Analysis
• STA5198 Epidemiology for Statisticians 
• STA5207 Applied Regression Methods
• STA5208 Linear Statistical Models
• STA5244 Fundamentals of Clinical Trials
• STA5326 Distribution Theory
• STA5327 Statistical Inference
• STA5334 Limit Theory of Statistics
• STA6346 Advanced Probability and Inference I
• STA6448 Advanced Probability and Inference II

The department requires a minimum of 36 credit hours of coursework for the Ph.D. 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 Ph.D. in biostatistics. The final selection of courses will be determined by the student, major professor and supervisory committee.

(or 2nd year requirements for those admitted straight into the Ph.D. Program)

Prospective Ph.D. students apply for the Ph.D. program in the beginning of the spring semester of their second year. They will apply to a department committee consisting of the department's 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 Ph.D. major professor as part of the application process. They may begin research under this professor through Directed Individual Study, or DIS, at any time prior to becoming a Ph.D. candidate. They do not need to have a full Ph.D. 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 Ph.D. program include:

• CE scores from all attempts
• Grades earned in required courses for Ph.D. 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 Ph.D. program and continue existing funding
• Admit to the Ph.D. program and discontinue existing funding
• Admit to the Ph.D. program and award department funding
• Deny admission to the Ph.D. program

If denied admission to the Ph.D. program the student leaves the department, generally with an M.S. provided the M.S. degree requirements have been met. If admitted to the Ph.D. 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 Ph.D. committee in accordance with this graduate student handbook.

Students in either Ph.D. degree program — statistics or biostatistics — may choose to pursue research in an interdisciplinary field of study. A student following the interdisciplinary option, or 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 Directed Individual Study given by another department in the IO area of specialization.

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 of Statistics office.

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.

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 Ph.D. candidacy, their dissertation director.

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

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, and this is part of the annual evaluation for Ph.D. students. Suggestions for colloquium presentations are always welcome and should be passed to the faculty though the Student Advisory Committee.

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