Each candidate must present and defend a thesis based on original research. Ph.D. candidates must pass a written comprehensive examination before beginning an original research project, for which each candidate must present and defend a dissertation. An opportunity to gain teaching experience is provided for students interested in an academic career. Research Facilities Jordan Hall, the biological sciences laboratory building, has about 10,000 square feet of research space for microbiology and a suite for transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Additional research space, including an animal facility and greenhouse, is located in several other campus buildings.
Several freshwater lakes adjacent to the campus provide acquatic studies.
Visiting privileges enable students to conduct marine, estuarine, and salt-marsh studies at the South Carolina Marine and Wild Life Resources Center at Charleston and at the University of Georgia Marine Institute at Sapelo Island. Students have the opportunity to work with physicians and biomedical research faculty members at the research laboratory of the Greenville Hospital System, Greenville, South Carolina. The University library has approximately 2 million volumes and more than 6,000 serial titles. Privately owned apartments are available in the vicinity. The cost of living in Clemson is much lower than the national average.