Organic Ph.D
The curriculum for organic/bioorganic is flexible and will vary based on each student’s previous course experience and career goals. The organic/bioorganic degree has the following recommendations in addition to the requirements of the graduate school and the department of chemistry.
- A research advisor must be chosen before the end of the second semester of the first year. It is appropriate and encouraged to ask a faculty member for a chance to have a short rotation in his or her laboratory.
- A dissertation committee of at least four faculty members must be selected by the student in consultation with their advisor in the second year. The committee chair will be the student’s research advisor. Other committee members may be selected from outside of the Organic Division and Department.
- Passing the Preliminary Examination moves a student to the rank of “doctoral candidate” and consists of a written examination followed by an oral examination.
- The written examination will be scheduled to take place on the second Saturday after completing the second year of course-work (mid-to-late May). This examination will test general organic background as well as areas related specifically to the student's area of specialty, including current literature. As an aid to students preparing for their preliminary examinations, a suggested reading list may be obtained from the each faculty member on the student’s committee. The dissertation committee will write and grade the examination. If successful, the student will move on to the oral examination described below. If the student fails the written exam, two outcomes are possible: 1) the student may be allowed to retake the written preliminary exam, or 2) the student will end their progress towards earning a PhD.
- The oral examination will consist of the defense of a written research proposal. The scope of this proposal must be acceptable to the student’s advisor and committee and the proposal should adhere to the format described for NSF or NIH predoctoral fellowships (a limit of 10 pages). The proposal may be related to the student's dissertation research and if so, should contain preliminary results while extending beyond the expected scope of the dissertation. The defense of this proposal will be conducted in the form of an open public seminar and immediately followed by a closed meeting with the dissertation committee. During the exam, students should be prepared to answer questions concerning their proposed research. The oral examination should be completed by the end of the fifth semester. If the student passes the oral exam, he or she is advanced to doctoral candidacy. If the student fails the oral exam, he or she may be permitted to retake the exam. This decision is made by the student’s committee immediately following the oral exam.
- Beginning with the second semester and each semester until graduation, all students must register for Chem 594, Organic Seminar and Chem 544, Organic Colloquium. Students enrolled in these courses will prepare and present talks that alternate between literature-based and research-based presentations.
- The Final Examination consists of the presentation and defense of the student's dissertation. This presentation will be conducted in the form of an open public seminar, which will be immediately followed by a closed meeting with the dissertation committee.
Graduate Student Curriculum in Organic Chemistry
The Graduate School at WSU requires 34 graded credits in order to award a PhD. A typical program of study is shown below that meets or exceeds this graded credit requirement. As an organic student, you will find our curriculum is very flexible beyond the first semester of Year 1. You should consult with your research advisor to select electives that support your dissertation research. Core courses (Chem 501, 520, 531, 542) are noted in bold; students are required to complete any three of these four core courses. Please note that Chem 544 section 1 and section 2 (Chem 544.1/Chem 544.2) are one credit courses reserved for our Organic Colloqiua while Chem 544 section 3 (544.3 is reserved for advanced special topics courses such as Complex Molecular Synthesis).
Year 1
1st semester; 11 graded credit hours
| Chem 542 | 3 | Advanced Organic Chemistry |
| Chem 520 | 3 | Advanced Analytical Chemistry |
| Chem 546 | 3 | Spectroscopic Identification of Organic Compounds |
| Chem 555 | 1 | Teaching Chemistry |
| Chem 590 | 1 | Introduction to Research |
2nd semester; 10 or 11 graded credit hours
| Chem 540 | 3 | Physical Organic Chemistry |
| Chem 501 | 3 | Advanced Analytical Chemistry (or Chem 531 Advanced Physical Chemistry I) |
| Chem 544 | 1 | Colloquium in Organic Chemistry |
| Chem 594 | 1 | Seminar in Organic Chemistry |
| Elective | 2/3 | Course related to research |
Year 2
1st semester; 7 or 8 graded credit hours
| Chem 543 | 3 | Bioorganic Chemistry |
| Chem 544.3 | 3 | Complex Molecular Synthesis |
| Chem 544.1 or .2 | 1 | Colloquium in Organic Chemistry |
| MBioS 513 | 3 | General Biochemistry I |
| Chem 594 | 1 | Seminar in Organic Chemistry |
2nd semester; 7 or 8 graded credit hours
| Chem 545 | 3 | Synthetic Organic Chemistry |
| Chem 544.1 or .2 | 1 | Colloquium in Organic Chemistry |
| Chem 594 | 1 | Seminar in Organic Chemistry |
| Elective | 2/3 | Course related to research |
Year 3 & Year 4 In addition to any desired electives, Chem 544 (Colloquium in Organic Chemistry) and Chem 594 (Seminar in Organic Chemistry) will be required each semester.
Typical Electives Include:
| Chem 510 | 2 | Introduction to Proteomics |
| Chem 514 | 2 | Mass Spectrometry |
| Chem 532 | 3 | Advanced Physical Chemistry II |
| MbioS 514 | 3 | General Biochemistry II |
| Phys 566 | 3 | Biological Physics |
| P/T 512 | V | Topics in Pharmacology |
| P/T 510 | 3 | Advanced Pharmacokinetics / Toxicokinetics |
| PharS 546 | 3 | Selective Toxicology |
| PharS 541 | 3 | Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics |
| PharS 544 | 2 | Toxicology |