Geodetic Science and Surveying Ph.D. Program
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science offers three areas of specialization within geodetic science at the Graduate level - geodesy, photogrammetry, and mapping / geographic information science.. An enrollment of 60-70 Graduate students in geodetic science allows small classes and an intimate learning environment.
Each student selects a program of study in consultation with an adviser, and it is subject to the rules of the Graduate Studies Committee. Admission to the Graduate School as a regular student does not imply an automatic acceptance to the Doctoral degree program offered by the Department. Procedures to achieve acceptance into the Ph.D. program are described below.
Acceptance to Doctoral Degree Program
A student wishing to pursue a Ph.D. program must be accepted into this program by the Graduate Studies Committee. Acceptance into the Ph.D. program is based on the grade point average of the student being at least 3.4 for Graduate-level courses. Students who have a grade point average below this level may apply for the Ph.D. program but acceptance in such cases will be rare.
A student enrolled in the Department, wishing to continuously pursue a Ph.D. program, must apply to the Graduate Studies Committee immediately after the completion of 55 graded Graduate credit hours taken in Department courses and in courses listed in Table 1. A student may take courses beyond the 55 credit hour limit, but these courses taken prior to admission to the program will be considered for the Ph.D. program only with the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee.
Students who have not previously enrolled in this Department and who desire direct entry into a Ph.D. program will have their request evaluated during the application process. Normally, a Master's degree within the Department is a requirement for entry into the Ph.D. program. Only rarely will a student with an M.S. degree outside the Department be admitted directly into the Ph.D. program.
Required Courses
The Ph.D. program is designed to allow a student to specialize in Geodesy, Photogrammetry, Mapping and Geographic Information Science, or Mathematical-Statistical Methods of Geodetic Sciences - both at the course level and the research level.
A minimum of 135 Graduate credit hours beyond the baccalaureate degree is required to earn a doctoral degree. If a Master's degree has been earned by the student, then a minimum of 90 Graduate credit hours beyond the Master's degree is required. If the Master's degree was earned at another university, it must be transferred to this university (Ref: 6-2-3 of the Graduate School Handbook).
A Ph.D. student in geodesy, photogrammetry, or mathematical-statistical methods is responsible for all material in the respective Masters program, in addition to the material covered by the advanced (post-Masters) courses, at the time of the Candidacy Examination. Within the minimum of 90 Graduate credit hours beyond the Master's degree, there must be five courses from Group I (Table 1)*, two courses may be used from the M.S. program) and the following advanced (post-Masters) courses:
- Geodesy specialization: GS760 (Advanced Geometric Geodesy), GS762 (Advanced Adjustment Computations), GS781(Topics in Geodynamics), GS871 (Advanced Gravimetric Geodesy), GS873 (Advanced Satellite Geodesy), and GS774 / 875 (Spectral Methods and Raster Geometry in Digital Mapping / Spectral Methods in Gravimetric Geodesy).
- Photogrammetry specialization: GS762 (Advanced Adjustment Computations), GS774 / 875 (Spectral Methods and Raster Geometry in Digital Mapping / Spectral Methods in Gravimetric Geodesy), GS828 (Advanced Photogrammetric Applications), GS829 (Advanced Digital Image Acquisition in Photogrammetry), GS830 (Advanced Methods of Processing Digital Imagery in Photogrammetry), and GS831 (Advanced Pattern Recognition and Interpretation Methods in Digital Mapping).
- Mathematical-statistical methods specialization: GS762 (Advanced Adjustment Computations), GS765 (?), GS774/875 (Spectral Methods and Raster Geometry in Digital Mapping / Spectral Methods in Gravimetric Geodesy), GS872 (?), plus two from the chosen specialization (which may include Mapping & GIS).
- The Ph.D. program in Mapping and Geographic Information Science can be arranged on an individual basis through the Graduate Studies Committee.
The course requirements, including Group I, may be modified to suit a particular student's needs through a written petition to be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee.
More detailed information about requirements are given in the "Graduate Program Handbook" of the Department and in the Graduate School Handbook, which are available in the department office.
*See the Master's program specialization areas for Table 1