Ph.D. candidates must also pass a Comprehensive Examination within 18 months of admission to the Ph.D. program. Both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees require a minimum of 36 semester credit hours, including 24 credits of course work and 12 credits of thesis or dissertation research, demonstrated competence in computer programming, and 30 days of field experience. Reading knowledge of a foreign language is required only for the Ph.D. All requirements for the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees should usually be completed within three and six years of admission, respectively. Smaller nearshore boats are also available. The School maintains machine, electronics, and engineering shops, a library, and graphics, publication, photography, and other support facilities.
Some workstations are public and accessible to students.
Admission and Financial Aid Applications to the Graduate Program in Oceanography are reviewed by all of the Graduate Faculty in the student's subdiscipline. Applicants are expected to have a strong background in basic science or engineering, generally an undergraduate major in physics, chemistry, geology, geophysics, engineering, mathematics, microbiology, zoology, botany, or a related field. Regardless of major, a minimum of one year of physics and chemistry and mathematical training including calculus through first-order ordinary differential equations is required of all students prior to admission. Additional course work in classical thermodynamics, applied differential equations, biology, and geology is desirable. Most of the Department's graduate students receive financial support as Research Assistants on federally-funded research grants and contracts.