Research

The job prospects, and lifelong scholarly contributions, of a Ph.D. student are positively correlated with the training the student receives in the Ph.D. program. While the doctoral seminars are intended to expose students to different types of research, each student will be expected to develop a viable research program consisting of the following elements:

• Students will target the following research agenda:
  • one viable research project by May 15 of year two in the Ph.D. program;
  • two viable research projects by May 15 of year three in the Ph.D. program;
  • three viable research projects by May 15 of year four in the Ph.D. program.
• It is strongly encouraged that a minimum of two faculty collaborators will participate across the three projects.
• A viable research project has the following characteristics:
  • a project proposal (faculty verified);
  • it is at least 30% complete (faculty verified)
  • is likely to be publishable at a second-tier journal or better (faculty verified), provided it is successfully executed.
• Student progress will be officially assessed in May of each academic year. To assess student progress, the Graduate Coordinator will contact the student and/or faculty advisors. A record of student progress will be maintained.
• A student with an insufficient number of viable projects will work with the Graduate Coordinator to identify research projects and/or faculty collaborators. A student with an insufficient number of viable projects, and a given target date, will have three months to remedy the situation. Students that cannot remedy the situation in three months will be put on probation. Students that cannot remedy the situation in six months will be asked to leave the doctoral program but can continue taking courses to obtain an MS-ISOM degree.

Dissertation Proposal and Defense

Students must prepare and present their dissertation proposal to faculty members to demonstrate their research skills. Students should have approximately two thirds of their research completed prior to the dissertation proposal. Students can defend their dissertation when they have completed the remainder of the thesis.