Doctoral Degree (Ph.D. and D.M.A.)

Overview

The degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)  was historically the first degree to be conferred by universities. It is granted in recognition of a candidate’s high level of scholarly competence and demonstrated ability to conduct and report significant research independently and effectively. “Doctor” is the Latin Word for “teacher.” “Philosophy” in its broadest definition means “all knowledge.” The modern sense of the title “Doctor of Philosophy” refers to one who comprehends all knowledge in their chosen field and has mastered an area of specialization. They have added to that body of knowledge, in a significant way, and transmitted the new knowledge. A person who has received the doctorate has adhered to the highest ethical standards of the discipline. It is expected that the future work of the candidate for the Ph.D. will maintain and uphold the same standards of ethical scholarship demanded for the degree, so the title and its meaning continue to apply.

The three requirements for the Ph.D. are assessed in the final defense of a dissertation.

• The dissertation demonstrates significant original work.
• The dissertation is presented with clarity of thought and excellence of exposition that make it suitable for publication as a book or a series of papers in learned journals.
• The dissertation demonstrates a breadth and depth of the candidate’s knowledge beyond the confines of their own research, and is critically assessed throughout the student’s studies.

The fundamental degree requirements for the Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) are essentially the same as those for the Ph.D. with the exception that the scope of the original work and the scale of the research can be demonstrated in a different way. The requirements for expertise within the subject area and clear exposition to be awarded the D.M.A. are equal to those for the Ph.D. In the case of the D.M.A., clarity of exposition is demonstrated through the medium of recital.

Admission to the Graduate School does not automatically qualify a student as a candidate for the Ph.D. or D.M.A. degrees. Formal recommendation of advancement to candidacy must be made to the Graduate School by the program after a review of the student’s performance in courses, independent study, and program examinations. The Graduate School has established minimal requirements for these doctoral degrees, however, individual programs may set additional requirements.

Preliminary Examination

The purpose of the preliminary examination is to ascertain the breadth and depth of the student’s preparation, appraise readiness to undertake significant original investigation, and evaluate the potential for a student to complete program specific doctoral degree requirements. At the discretion of the program, the preliminary examination may be oral, written, or both, and may consist of a series of examinations. Individual programs will establish guidelines on the review and assessment of the preliminary examination, which will include how evaluation committees are appointed, the composition of evaluation committees, communication of results (to the student, program, and Graduate School), and policies for repeated exam attempts. The Dean of the Graduate School must approve a second repeat attempt.

Advancement to Candidacy

A candidate for the doctoral degree engages in research or scholarly activity leading to a dissertation (Ph.D.) or recital (D.M.A.). Advanced students (G5) may enroll in up to 3 credits per full academic semester (Fall/Spring) in courses that are directly related to the student’s dissertation or provide relevant professional development without prior approval. In addition, students who were approved to work concurrently towards a secondary degree program or advanced certificate prior to advancement to candidacy can also register for courses to satisfy the approved secondary program/advanced certificate. A student’s time limit to complete the primary degree program will not be extended due to enrollment in other courses leading to a secondary program/advanced certificate or professional development. 

A student may be advanced to candidacy (G5 status) after completing all Graduate School and program requirements other than the dissertation or its equivalent, with the following restrictions:

• Students on academic probation cannot be advanced to candidacy.
• Students must be G4 at the time of request for advancement.
• Students must have grades assigned for all courses in all previous semesters of graduate study.
• Advancement to candidacy is granted by the Dean of the Graduate School upon recommendation of the Graduate Program Director.
• Ph.D. students must be advanced to candidacy for one academic year and may defend their dissertation during their second semester of advancement. An academic year is defined as the Fall and Spring semesters, in either order, that immediately precede the semester of defense.
• D.M.A. students may be advanced for one semester prior to their final recital and graduation semester.
• Summer and winter terms do not count as semesters for purposes of advancement to candidacy.
• Requests for advancement to candidacy must be received by the Graduate School from the program by day 5 of classes for the advancement to take effect that same semester. Advancements received by the Graduate School after the published deadline date will not take effect until the next semester or term.

Dissertation Examining Committee

The dissertation must be approved by a committee appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School upon recommendation of the students graduate program director. The dissertation committee must be constituted such that it provides independent evaluation and expert advice on the dissertation. The overriding purpose for service on a dissertation committee is the development of the student and their dissertation project. Other professional interests that committee members may have in the dissertation work of students (including intellectual property or publication interests) must be secondary to the interests of the student.

The Graduate School recognizes that programs may have different needs depending on the size of the faculty, the interdisciplinarity of the field, among other factors. Thus, programs may maintain additional policies that extend the requirements listed here; however, these additional requirements must be publicly available.

The dissertation committee must consist of a minimum of four people and must include:

• a chairperson of the defense, who is internal to the student’s degree program;
• the dissertation advisor(s) (at least one who is internal to the student’s degree program);
• a member with no conflict of interest in relationship to the student (often, but not always, someone external to the program or university). 
• one additional member

The role of the chairperson is to ensure that the dissertation has been prepared according to the requirements of the student’s graduate program, and to manage the proceedings of the dissertation defense, ensuring that an appropriate opportunity for public questions and responses is allowed. In order to ensure that the chairperson of the dissertation committee is able to fulfill these roles, they must be a member of the student’s graduate program.

The role of the dissertation advisor(s) is to provide intellectual guidance to the student throughout the preparation of the dissertation. Students may have a single faculty advisor; a primary advisor and a secondary co-advisor; or co-advisors with equal responsibilities to the student. In order to ensure that the student is given guidance consistent with the expectations of their graduate program, at least one of the advisors must be a member of the students’ graduate program.

The role of the member with no conflict of interest in relationship to the student is to ensure an impartial assessment of the dissertation and they must be free from direct personal, financial, business, professional, or intellectual property relationships with the student. Programs may endorse a policy that requires that this member be external to the university.

The role of the additional member is to increase the breadth and/or depth of expertise of the committee evaluating the dissertation. 

All members of the dissertation examining committee must have demonstrated expertise relevant to the student’s dissertation so as to be able to understand, criticize, and contribute to the dissertation and the quality and significance of the work presented there-in. To avoid questions regarding objective evaluation of the dissertation, no member of the committee may have a family, romantic, business, or otherwise close personal relationship with the student.

Each program must maintain a consistent and published policy on the allowed roles of affiliate program faculty based on the degree to which affiliate faculty are integrated into the program. In the absence of a published program policy, affiliate program faculty may serve as a dissertation advisor, but cannot serve as the chairperson of the defense.

Faculty that leave the program and/or the institution may continue to sit on any committees to which they were already appointed; such members must still comply with the policies of Stony Brook University, including the requirement that their service on the dissertation committee serves the interests of the student. Should the departing faculty member be the dissertation advisor, they may continue in that role, but a co-advisor internal to the program must be appointed. Should the departing faculty member be the chair, a new committee chair must be appointed.

Since the dissertation defense is such a significant milestone in a student’s career, the Graduate School strongly prefers that all committee members attend in person. The student, the chairperson, and the primary dissertation advisor (as listed on the Defense Committee Appointment form) must be physically present at the defense. In the case when there are equal co-advisors, they all must be present. At the program's discretion, the third and fourth committee members may participate in a dissertation defense remotely. A list of those members who will be attending remotely must be indicated on the Defense Committee Appointment form and sent to the Graduate School prior to the defense date.

Requests to appoint a Dissertation Committee must be submitted by the student’s graduate program (not by the student or members of the committee); the appointment request may be submitted any time after the student has advanced to candidacy, but must be received by the Graduate School no less than four weeks prior to the date of the defense. Any proposed changes to an approved committee must be submitted in writing by the program and must receive Graduate School approval before going into effect.

Dissertation and Dissertation Defense (Ph.D.)

A dissertation is required for the Ph.D. degree. It must convey in a clear and convincing manner the results of an original and significant scholarly investigation. Students are strongly encouraged to consult with their graduate program director when selecting an appropriate advisor and their dissertation committee members. The dissertation must be prepared according to the Guidelines for the Preparation of Theses and Dissertations.

All dissertations should be written in English. Exceptions will be considered if it is integral to the purpose of that dissertation that it be in a language other than English. Requests for exceptions should come directly in writing from the dissertation advisor, the program director, or the department chair to the Dean of the Graduate School. The dissertation abstract and the majority of the dissertation defense must be in English. Multiple authorship of a dissertation is not permissible.

Examination of the dissertation involves a formal oral defense. This event will be conducted by the dissertation examining committee and will not be chaired by the primary advisor of the dissertation. The formal defense must be announced publicly at least three weeks in advance and is open to all interested members of the University community. All candidates must provide the Graduate School with a dissertation abstract, as well as other relevant details, at least three weeks in advance of the proposed event. The Doctoral Defense Announcement form is available on the Graduate School Website. The Graduate School will be responsible for advertising the defense to the University community. 

All dissertation defenses must take place on campus. At the program's discretion, committee members may participate in a dissertation defense virtually. However, the primary dissertation advisor (as listed on the Defense Committee Appointment form) or equal co-advisors , and the chairperson must be physically present at the defense. Additionally, the student must be physically present at their dissertation defense.  A list of those members who will be attending virtual must be indicated on the Defense Committee Appointment form and sent to the Graduate School prior to the defense date. Any exceptions from this practice will require approval from the Dean of the Graduate School.

The examination that follows the public defense may be either open to the public or closed, at the discretion of the dissertation examining committee. For the student to satisfy degree requirements, all members of the dissertation committee must sign the signature page of the completed dissertation. The signatures indicate unanimous approval of the dissertation and its defense. 

The student has three months following a successful defense to submit the final version of their dissertation to the Graduate School. The semester the student submits the dissertation will be the semester that the degree will be awarded. A student may register for no more than one additional semester following the successful defense of the dissertation.

Doctoral Recital (D.M.A.)

The student must demonstrate a distinguished level of performance in the doctoral recital. A recording of the recital is to be kept permanently in the University Library. The recital program and other relevant information must be submitted to the Graduate School at least three weeks in advance of the recital.

Using Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools

Large language model (LLM) generative AI is an evolving field that requires responsible use and a firm understanding of academic expectations, which includes copyright concerns, data privacy, and academic integrity. We believe that LLMs can offer insight and inspiration into graduate level work, be integral to academic research and scholarly activities, facilitate data processing, and allow for new discoveries. However, LLMs should not be used in an unattributed manner, and/or as a substitute for your own scholarly writing.

Graduate Programs will make available a statement on the appropriate use of LLMs considering the norms and expectations within individual disciplines. We also encourage Graduate Programs to include statements regarding the use of Generative AI detection software, which can provide guidance on the likelihood of generative AI content, but have the same limitations as current LLMs and currently lag behind the advances of the LLMs generation tools themselves. Graduate students must read and understand these program statements, and appreciate that individual faculty may have different levels of approved LLM use in their classes, ranging from no use of LLMs allowed, to students being encouraged to use LLMs freely. Non-adherence to syllabus and program-level statements on LLM use can be considered grounds for a report of a potential academic integrity violation.

All theses and dissertations must be written by the author. Exceptions to allow LLM generated content will only be considered if the LLM generated content is integral to the purpose of the study. However this type of content cannot make up the majority of the document attributed to the author. Theses and dissertations cannot list multiple authors, and this includes LLMs.

Residence Requirements

At least two consecutive semesters of full-time graduate study at Stony Brook University in the program granting the degree are required. Some program residence requirements may vary from the Graduate School’s minimum requirement and are described in the individual program requirements for the degree. Unless specified, the Graduate School requirement takes precedence.

Research for the doctoral dissertation will normally be conducted at Stony Brook University under the guidance of the faculty of the student’s doctoral program. Facilities at Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, regional hospitals, other institutions on Long Island, or the libraries of New York City are all considered to be on-campus for the purposes of dissertation work. For on-campus dissertation research, students should register for their programs 699 course. When a student's research would be facilitated at an off-campus location they must obtain approval from the dissertation advisor, Graduate Program Director, and the Dean of the Graduate School. When a major portion of a student's research will take place off-campus but in the United States and/or U.S. territories they should register for their programs 700 course for the relevant semesters. When a major portion of their research will take place outside of the United States and/or U.S. territories they should register for their programs 701 course.

Time Limit

The time limit for a doctoral degree is seven years for a student who has a previous graduate degree or 24 credits of graduate study in such a degree program. For all other students, the time limit for a doctoral degree is seven years after completion of 24 graduate level credits at Stony Brook University.

In exceptional cases where the program cannot be completed within these periods, students may petition for an extension of the time limit, using the Waiver of Graduate Time Limit form. This form requires the approval of the student’s advisor and graduate program director. Requests for a time limit extension must be filed before the limit is exceeded and must contain a significant justification. The final decision rests with the Dean of the Graduate School, who may impose additional requirements.

The Master of Philosophy Degree

The degree of Master of Philosophy (M. Phil.) is intended as a formal recognition of what is informally known as “ABD” status. This degree is reserved for students who have advanced to candidacy in a Ph.D. program but are unable to complete the final culminating element. The degree implies educational achievements well beyond those required for a regular master’s degree.

The Master of Philosophy degree is available in every program that awards a Ph.D. The requirements for the M. Phil. are identical to those for the Ph.D., except that the submission and defense of the final culminating element are not required. Students must be advanced to candidacy for one full year before receiving a M. Phil. degree. Students cannot earn a Ph.D. concurrently with an M. Phil. in the same degree program.