However, courses taken as an undergraduate in excess of minimum graduation requirements or as a graduate student towards completion of a M.S. are accepted. In addition, the department may not approve courses which we believe are not substantially equivalent in quality to courses offered here or which are equivalent to courses the student has also taken here. Credit transfers are usually made at the time of advancement to candidacy but can be made at any time prior to this. To count towards the 90 credits for the Ph.D. the courses must have been taken within 7 calendar years of advancement to candidacy. Interdepartmental Programs .
Chemistry participates in four interdepartmental programs.
Normally, Ph.D. work is commenced only after the first year but students in the program are encouraged to participate in the C500 interviews and associate themselves with a research group as soon as possible. This program enables students working for professors in Biology to get a Ph.D. in Biochemistry without having to fulfill the Biology Ph.D. requirements. The requirements are the same as for the Ph.D. in Biological chemistry so that students may switch research advisors if they wish. This enables physical chemists with strong physical interests to combine both physics and chemistry. This program allows students with multidisciplinary interest in the fields indicated to develop contacts with related departments.