Requirements for the Degree:
To obtain the Ph.D. in Statistics Data Science, the student must meet a coursework requirement, a preliminary examination requirement, a candidacy Examination requirement, and a dissertation defense requirement.
Coursework requirement: The student must complete 49 credits of courses at the 600-level or above.
Students may be admitted in two categories: (1) standard program (2) accelerated program.
The course requirement for the standard program is for a total of 49 credits. For students being admitted on the standard program, they can be granted the MS Statistics once they obtain 33 credit hours (must include all courses in MS Core).
The course requirement for the accelerated program is the same, except MS Statistics Core (19 credits) are automatically waived. Therefore, the degree requirement is 30 credits of coursework.
For the accelerated program, students who have already taken the PhD core courses and obtained a grade of A- or better during their previous study at UD, will have their PhD core requirement replaced by electives.
The student will need to obtain advisor approval for every elective they select. STAT859 is an advanced topics course, whose subject changes based on faculty, therefore can be taken multiple times for credit with permission of the instructor.
Qualifying examination requirement: The written qualifying examination covers graduate topics in mathematics, probability, and statistics. This is designed to evaluate the students’ fundamental understanding and readiness to take on research topics.
Within one week of taking the candidacy exam, the student must also submit a statement of research proposals (no more than 5 pages), as part of the qualification exam.
For students under the standard program, they must pass the exam no later than the beginning of Year 2. For students under the accelerated program, they must pass the qualification exam at the beginning of Year 1, otherwise they will be put to the standard program instead, and required to pass the exam no later than the beginning of Year 2. Failing the exam by the required timeline will subject the student to dismissal from the PhD program. However, such students are still eligible for the MS degree.
Existing students in the MS statistics program are allowed to take this exam. Failing the exam has no consequence nor affect any timeline, if they are later enrolled in the PhD program. Passing the exam will count and make them eligible for the accelerated program option if they apply to the PhD program later.
Candidacy examination requirement: The candidacy exam is designed for students to present a research plan, and test the knowledge of the student in the research area of choice. it will assess the student’s readiness to undertake and complete a research project for the doctoral thesis. Each student on the standard program must pass the Candidacy Examination no later than the end of 6th semester; and no later than the end of 4th semester for the accelerated program.
The Examination consists of two parts: (1) a public presentation (not to exceed 30 minutes) about the research area the student plans to work on, including a summary of a relevant published paper, existing results in the area, proposed work to be carried out, preliminary investigation, and publication plans about the proposed research;
(2) an oral examination (not to exceed two hours) by members of the student’s Examining Committee.
The candidacy exam committee must consist of at least three faculty members. The primary research advisor must be the Chair of the committee. Any co-advisor must also be on the committee. The choices of committee members should be discussed with the advisor.
Dissertation requirement: The dissertation is expected to reflect the results of original, significant research written in a literate and scholarly manner worthy of publication. It is required that one paper has been published or under revision at a well-known statistics-related journal (or accepted by a top-tier computer science conference approved by advisor), and another draft manuscript that is either submitted or ready for submission..
The student must defend his or her dissertation before a Dissertation Committee consisting of the student’s primary research advisor, co-advisor (if applicable), and no less than three and no more than five additional members. For the additional faculty, at least two should be tenured or tenure-track faculty in the statistics area of the department. One member of the Dissertation Committee must be from a different academic unit, or from outside of the University of Delaware.
The dissertation defense shall happen before the end of 10th semester for standard option, or the end of 8th semester under accelerated option. Once the Examination has taken place, each member of the Examining Committee shall report the results, including a recommendation of Pass or Fail with written justification, to the Director of Graduate Studies within two business days.
A failed attempt at the defense may grant a second opportunity within six months, at the discretion of the defense committee. Failing the second opportunity will result in termination of the candidacy.
Other requirements: Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA, and a minimum grade of B- in all required courses.
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