Statistical Science Requirements

Course Requirements

Ph.D. students must complete 9 core courses: seven 5-unit courses listed below; a 3-unit course on research and teaching (STAT 200); and a 2-unit research seminar (STAT 280B).  Ph.D. students must complete 4 additional 5-unit courses from the approved list of elective courses, bringing the total non-seminar unit requirements to 58 units. None of the additional elective courses required to satisfy the unit requirements for the Ph.D. program can be substituted by independent study courses (STAT 297 and/or STAT 299).

Students in the Ph.D. program must take the following nine core courses:

STAT 203: Introduction to Probability Theory

STAT 204: Introduction to Statistical Data Analysis

STAT 205B: Intermediate Classical Inference

STAT 206B: Intermediate Bayesian Inference

STAT 207: Intermediate Bayesian Statistics

STAT 208: Linear Models

STAT 209: Generalized Linear Models

STAT 200: Research and Teaching in Statistics

STAT 280B: Seminars in Statistics

All core courses must be taken for a letter grade (except for STAT 200 and STAT 280B, which are given on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis). In order to maintain a full load for graduate standing after their first year, students take additional courses, including independent study courses, from the approved list of elective courses, appropriate to their research interests and selected in consultation with their advisors.

All Ph.D. students must complete at least four 5-credit electives from among the list of approved electives. Two of these electives must be taken from list A, while the remaining two electives may be taken from either list A or B.

In addition to the core and approved elective courses required to satisfy credit requirements for the program, students can take additional courses from across the School of Engineering.  Students are also encouraged to enroll in Independent Study courses even when not engaged with formal classroom courses.

A sample plan of study for a Statistical Science Ph.D. student is as follows:

Pre-Qualification Exam

At the end of the first year, Ph.D. students take a pre-qualifying examination covering six 5-unit core courses: STAT 203, 204, 205B, 206B, 207 and 208. This examination comprises two parts: an in-class written exam, followed by a take-home project involving data analysis. Students who do not pass this exam can retake it before the start of the following fall quarter; if they fail the second examination they are dismissed from the Ph.D. program but have the option to continue in the M.S. program.

Qualifying Examination

Ph.D. students must complete the qualifying examination (advancement to candidacy) requirement by the end of the spring quarter of their third year. Ph.D. students must select a research advisor by the end of their second year in the program. A written dissertation proposal must be submitted to the advisor and filed with the graduate advising office. A qualifying examination committee will be formed, consisting of the advisor and at least three additional members, approved by the Director of Graduate Studies and the Dean of the Graduate Division.

The student submits the written dissertation proposal to all members of the committee no less than one month in advance of the qualifying examination. The dissertation proposal is formally presented in a public oral qualifying examination with the committee, followed by a private examination. Students will advance to candidacy after they have completed all course requirements (including removal of any incompletes), passed the qualifying examination, and paid the advancement to candidacy fee. Under normal progress, a student will advance to candidacy by the end of the spring quarter of her/his third year. A student who has not advanced to candidacy by the start of the fourth year will be subject to academic probation.

Dissertation

The Ph.D. dissertation should consist of a minimum of three chapters composed of material suitable for publication in major professional journals in Statistics and journals in relevant scientific fields where the statistical methodology is applied. The completed dissertation must be submitted to the reading committee at least one month before the dissertation defense, which consists of a public presentation of the research followed by a private examination by the reading committee. Successful completion of the dissertation defense is the final requirement for the Ph.D. degree.

Normative Time to Degree

The normative pre-candidacy period for Ph.D. students (enrolled full-time) is three years and the normative candidacy period is two years, for a total of five years to the Ph.D. degree.

NOTE: This is an abbreviated version of the program requirements. Please review the Program Statement for a full explanation of all program requirements.