Course description
Doctoral Degree
The PhD student exhibits a higher level of independence and originality of thought than that required of the MS student. Students must satisfy several requirements in order to graduate with a PhD degree. Each student is required to pass at least 8 graduate level courses numbered 600 and above with a grade of B- or higher. These courses will be in dynamic, synoptic, physical, tropical meteorology, oceanography or other closely related
fields. At least five of these courses must be completed at the Mānoa campus. At the discretion of the Graduate Chair, a student may be awarded credit for up to three relevant graduate courses taken elsewhere. The courses taken either here or elsewhere need to cover the core requirements MET 600, 610, 620 and one of MET 412 or MET 416. A student must pass each of these core courses with a grade of at least B-. A student must obtain a minimum 3.0 GPA in the core courses taken at Mānoa . A student must also maintain a GPA of at least 3.0 for all the courses taken in the PhD program at Mānoa.
After these 8 courses are successfully completed, but no later than the 24th month in the PhD program, each student must pass a two-part comprehensive examination. The purpose of this exam is to ascertain the student’s comprehension of the broad field of meteorology and so to insure that the student is well prepared for PhD research. The first part of the comprehensive examination is a set of written exercises completed on a single day. Within three (3) to seven (7) days after the written exam, this is followed by an oral
examination. No later than 12 months after successful completion of the comprehensive
examination, each student is required to submit a written research prospectus for
approval to his/her dissertation committee. A PhD student must also successfully complete two semesters of MET 765 during his/her PhD studies (so MET 765 taken before the student was admitted to the PhD program cannot be counted towards satisfying this requirement). Finally, the student must complete an acceptable PhD thesis and successfully defend it in a public final oral defense.
