Credit Requirements

ESS graduate students should familiarize themselves with the Graduate School credit requirements for conferral of Master’s and Doctoral Degrees:

• UW Graduate School Policy 1.1: Graduate Degree Requirements
• UW Graduate School Policy 1.1.1: Requirements Applying to All Graduate Degree Programs
• UW Graduate School Policy 1.1.2: The Master’s Degree
• UW Graduate School Policy: 1.1.4: The Doctoral Degree other than Practice Doctorates

Research Program Required Classes (MS & PhD)

Courses are determined in consultation with the student’s advisory committee to ensure both depth and breadth.

• ESS 590 Teaching Seminar – recommended for all TAs, required for ESS 101 TAs.
• Breadth Courses: 2 courses (each 3 credits or more) drawn from existing ESS 500-level courses and approved by the individual student’s advisor. Courses in allied areas in OCEAN and ATM S may also be taken if approved by the student’s advisor. If the breadth courses are not ESS, OCEAN or ATM S courses, a student and their advisor should petition to GPC to have a course added to a list of additional breadth courses and added to this guide.

Additional provisions:

• Students affiliated with the Program on Climate Change can count one cross-listed ESS course in that program as a breadth course if it is 3 credits or more.
• Students doing the Astrobiology Dual-Title PhD or Graduate Certificate may not count ASTBIO courses for breadth since these are generally not geosciences classes.
• Master’s students must take breadth courses before their final MS exam. PhD students are strongly encouraged to complete their breadth courses before the General Exam.
• 1 Data Analysis Class (ESS 521, ESS 522, ESS 523, ESS 525, ESS 579, ESS 580, ATM 552, AMATH 506, AMATH 581, AMATH 582, CEE 574, QSCI 482) or another course with permission of the Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC)
• ESS 594, Autumn and Spring quarters of the first year
• ESS 599, every quarter each year (except summer)

Experiential Learning (MS & PhD)

Experiential Learning Requirement (MS & PhD): The experiential learning requirement has students gain practical research experience in their field of research. Past examples include: ESS Field School, extensive field work with your faculty advisor, Astrobiology Lab Rotation, lab exchange with another institution, intensive academic/disciplinary workshop, and experiential research. This requirement should be coordinated and will need approval from the GPC.

Teaching Experience Requirement (MS & PhD)

Teaching experience is required for the ESS MS and PhD degrees. Most students gain this experience as a Teaching Assistant (minimum of one quarter), but other alternatives include teaching a course, leading a workshop, or similar activities. Alternatives can be coordinated with the GPC. The department strongly encourages all graduate students to gain teaching experience beyond the required minimum.

Research and Thesis/Dissertation Credits

Students will take Research Credits (ESS 600) in their first year. After successful completion of the Preliminary exam, students should take Thesis or Dissertation Credits (ESS 700 or 800) depending on their program. Students should register for a maximum of 10 credits of research each quarter.

Full course list

Students are expected to maintain satisfactory academic progress. Satisfactory progress must be maintained to remain in good academic standing (not placed on warning or probation status) and remain eligible for funding.

Satisfactory progress in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences Program is defined as:

• Successful passage of a Preliminary Exam after the first year, and completion of any recommendations by the Preliminary Exam committee
• Creation of a supervisory committee by the end of the second year
• Satisfactory Academic progress as outlined by the student’s research advisor
• Satisfactory Research progress as outlined by the student’s research advisor
• Successful passage of a General Exam in the third year and no later than the end of the 4th Autumn Quarter (PhD Students Only)
• Successful passage of a Final Exam following a plan and timeline as outlined by the student’s research advisor and supervisory committee (PhD Students Only)
• Annual submission of a Graduate Student Scholarly Activities Report
• Annual meeting with your supervisory committee
• Annual progress meeting with ESS Student Services

The GPC reviews the progress of all the graduate students annually via the Graduate Student Scholarly Activities Report (GSAR). The review looks at factors such as grades, research, service and student progress towards a degree. The review is based, in part, on information provided by the student and their faculty advisor.

If at any point, the Supervisory Committee concludes that the academic performance and/or progress is not proceeding appropriately, the Graduate Program Coordinator may request in writing to the Graduate School that the student is placed on warning, probation, or final probation status. Graduate School Policy 3.7 describes the process in detail.

In order to be making satisfactory academic progress, all ESS Research Program Graduate Students must have a supervisory committee. The supervisory committee make-up will depend on where the student is in the program, and which degree is being pursued. Students should carefully review Graduate School Policy 4.2: Supervisory Committee for Graduate Students.

Once a student and their faculty advisor have confirmed membership of any committee with the committee members, the student should propose the exam to the Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC) using the Forming a Supervisory Committee Form.

Preliminary Exam

The Preliminary Exam is taken by all ESS Graduate Research program students (MS and PhD students) at the beginning of the second year, typically the Thursday/Friday or Monday/Tuesday before the first day of Autumn Quarter. The exam is an oral presentation of a research proposal. Exam results determine whether students are permitted to begin progress toward MS project/thesis or dissertation research.

Further information about the Prelim Exam can be found on the Policies and Procedures page under the “Students (Graduate)” section.

Milestone Exams

ESS Graduate Students will take a combination of milestone exams including Master’s Exams for students pursuing an MS, and the General Exam and Final Exam for students pursuing a PhD. Students should have and are strongly encouraged to have completed their required coursework before taking a milestone exam. Eligibility for milestone exams includes having completed the Graduate School Degree Requirements.

Students must have established relevant supervisory committees prior to scheduling an exam (Master’s Supervisory Committee for Master’s Exams, PhD Supervisory Committee for General Exams, and Dissertation Reading Committee for Final Exams).

Exams must be scheduled with the Graduate School via the MyGrad Program Student Portal and should be entered at least 2 weeks ahead of the exam. Exams can be scheduled in the quarter ahead of the exam, but do not use the MyGrad Program Portal during quarter breaks to schedule exams (the system will lose your request). Students may request a room for exams using the ESS Room Scheduling Tool or contacting ESS Student Services.

Exams can be fully in-person, hybrid, or fully remote per the Graduate School Policy. ESS allows exams in any format so long as the committee members, in particular the GSR for doctoral exams, do not submit an objection to the GPC. Students must be enrolled for credits in the quarters in which exams are taken and cannot take multiple milestone exams in the same quarter. Additional Graduate School Resources can be reviewed here.

ESS Students planning to submit a Master’s Thesis or Dissertation should carefully review the Graduate School’s instructions regarding Thesis and Dissertation submission. Theses and Dissertations must be submitted to the Graduate School by the last day of the quarter in which the degree will be conferred (the student will graduate), unless the student has paid a registration waiver fee. Theses and Dissertations should also be submitted to the ESS Department Student Publications Page. Master’s Project Papers and General Exam Manuscripts should be submitted to the ESS Department Student Publications Page when appropriate, but are not submitted to the Graduate School.

Students planning to graduate should plan to meet with their Supervisory Committee and the Graduate Program Advisor in ESS Student Services to discuss steps to graduation. Graduating students should carefully review the Graduate School’s Preparing to Graduate Document. This includes:

• Important Dates and Deadlines
• Proquest Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Portal
• Graduation checklists for Thesis MS, Non-Thesis/Project MS, and Doctoral program students

Graduate degrees post to UW transcripts between 2-8 weeks after the quarter concludes and grades are posted. Diplomas are shipped via post approximately 2 months after the student’s graduation date. Students are also able to request an Electronic Diploma. Students who need informal degree verification for a future employer can request a degree verification letter from ESS Student Services.

Students are encouraged to participate in UW Commencement, which happens annually in June for any annual Autumn-Summer quarter graduates. Information about the annual ESS Graduation Celebration Ceremony can be found here.

• General Information
• Dates and Deadlines
• Assistantship Information
• Academic Probation Guidelines
• Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines
• Leave Requests