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The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree is primarily a research degree. The candidate must complete at least 36 units of graduate course credit in the major field, including a core of 6 units of dynamic meteorology and 6 units of physical meteorology. An additional 18 units of other graduate-level atmospheric sciences courses and 6 units of graduate-level elective coursework completes the 36 credit requirement. In addition, the candidate must complete 18 units of dissertation credit, 2 units of ATMO seminar, and fulfill the minor requirement (typically 12 units, depending on the minor Department). All Ph.D. students must pass a written and oral Comprehensive Examination, and complete and defend a dissertation based on original research.
Students accepted into the graduate program without a Master's of Science (M.S.) degree must first successfully complete the M.S. program before proceeding with the Ph.D. Students entering the Ph.D. program with an M.S. degree in another field are permitted to minor within the department with the approval of their committee. This minor will consist of 12 units of atmospheric sciences at the graduate level in subjects other than those directly related to their area of research.
The program is highly quantitative, it is required for applicants to have a strong background in physics and calculus.
Active research in the following areas:
Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences
The Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences offers graduate-level Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degree programs in three Majors: Atmospheric Sciences, Hydrology, and Hydrometeorology. You can read about the differences and similarities for these majors here.
To understand the depth and breadth of our teaching and research and learn how these complementary areas guide our efforts, read about our Research Focus Areas here.
Graduate Certificate: Available for Hydrology
Master of Science Non-Thesis Option: Available for Hydrology
Accelerated Master of Science: Combined Bachelor of Science and Master of Science programs are available for the following combinations:
Doctoral Minors: Doctoral Minors are available for Atmospheric Sciences and Hydrology
You can find more information about these programs and review Program Guides and Summary Pages for all degree programs here.
College of Science
University of Arizona - Main - Tucson
Please upload the following required documents to the University of Arizona's GradApp online application system:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the GRE Exam will be waived for Fall 2021.
Required for International Applicant:
GRE Exam Minimum GRE Quantitative: 159 Minimum GRE Written: 4.5
English Proficiency Exam: Minimum TOEFL: 550 or 95 OR Minimum IELTS: 8
As of August 2020, GRE Exam are no longer required for domestic applicants.
Our department attempts to support all students as Graduate Research or Teaching Assistants.
Other available funding by the university can be found at https://financialaid.arizona.edu/scholarshipuniverse and https://grad.arizona.edu/funding/opportunities.
January 15th for Fall Admission.
International applicants will not be considered for conditional admission by this program.
4832
ETS Major Field Code(s) for this program: 0501, 0507
NRC Taxon(a) for this program: Oceanography, Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology
66
Minimum credits: 14 units
*A 3.0 GPA in core courses is required to continue in the program
ATMO 521 Physical Climatology (3 units)
ATMO 524 Hydroclimatology (3 units)
ATMO 529 Objective Analysis in the Atmospheric and Related Sciences (3 units)
ATMO 536A Fundamental in Atmospheric Sciences (3 units)
ATMO 545 Intro Data Assimilation (3 units)
ATMO 555 Introduction to Data Assimilation (3 units)
ATMO 558 Mesoscale Meteorological Modeling (3 units)
ATMO 569A Air Pollution I: Gases (3 units)
ATMO 569B Air Pollution II: Aerosols (3 units)
ATMO 574A Weather Analysis and Forecasting I (3 units)
ATMO 574B Weather Analysis and Forecasting II (3 units)
ATMO 579 Boundary Layer Meteorology and Surface Processes (3 units)
ATMO 580 Tropical Meteorology (3 units)
ATMO 595B Global Climate Change (3 units)
ATMO 595C General Circulation Observations and Modelling (3 units)
ATMO 641 Advanced Atmospheric & Oceanic Fluid Dynamics (3 units)
HWRS 519 Fundamentals of Surface Water (3 units)
HWRS 543A Risk Assessment for Environmental Systems (3 units)
CE 523 Hydrology (3 units)
GC 572 Global Biogeochemical Cycles (3 units)
GEOG 530 The Climate System (3 units)
GEOG 539A Introduction to Dendrochronology (4 units)
GEOS 567 Inverse Problems in Geophysics (3 units)
GEOS 578 Global Change (3 units)
GEOS 579 Introduction to Climate Dynamics (3 units)
GEOS 582 Paleoclimatology (3 units)
PTYS 537 Physics of the Sun (3 units)
PTYS 544 Physics of High Atmospheres (3 units)
PTYS 517 Atmospheres & Remote Sensing (3 units)
REM 590 Remote Sensing or the Study of Planet Earth (3 units)
WSM 560A Watershed Hydrology (4 units)
BE 585 Remote Sensing Data & Methods (3 units)
All students must demonstrate competence in statistics and computer programming (e.g. FORTRAN, MatLab, GrADS, NCL), numerical atmospheric models and specialized instrumentation. Participation in laboratory or field work may be a component. Competence may be demonstrated by successful completion of approved courses in these subjects (undergraduate or graduate level).
All students must present the results of their research in a formal seminar or presentation at a scientific meeting in the form of an oral or poster presentation. Typically, students present at the HAS annual student research conference, El Día del Agua y la Atmósfera (Spring Semester) or at AGU (December) or AMS (January) meetings.
YEAR 1 Second Semester: Take Doctoral Qualifying Examination – Major, Minor (if any)
YEAR 2.5 to 3: Initiate Doctoral Comprehensive Examination Process – 1) Major Written Examn, 2) Minor Written Exam (if any), and 3) Combined Oral in Major and Minor Programs
YEAR 5 End: Written Disstertation (3 Scholarly Maniscruipts) and take Doctoral Final Oral Examination-Dissertation Defense
The department requires a minimum of 12 units in a minor field. Please contact the minor field advising department in order to see minor requirements.
Previous doctoral students have minor in the following subjects:
Please refer to the Graduate Student Handbook for students who are pursuing this program of study.
| Program-level Information | |
|---|---|
| Application Acceptance Rate | 72.22% |
| Avg. Time-to-degree (years) | 4.13 |
| Department-level Information | |
| Enrollment Percent Male | 58.82% |
| Enrollment Percent Female | 41.18% |
| Enrollment Percent International | 52.94% |
| Enrollment Percent URM | 5.88% |