I. Admission
The Department of Mathematics, through the Graduate School, offers the Doctor of Philosophy degree.
I. Admission
In most cases an applicant to the Ph.D. program should have completed work in mathematics equivalent to that required for a Master's Degree at Kansas State University.
An application file should be completed at least three months before the time of enrollment, although in some exceptional cases, later applications can be considered. Admission is granted upon approval by the Graduate Advisory Committee, the Department Head, and the Graduate School. Students pursuing graduate studies are enrolled in the Graduate School and are subject to the policies of the University's graduate faculty as well as the regulations of the Mathematics Department.
II. The Counseling Examination
All students must take a Counseling Examination before entering graduate study at Kansas State University. The purpose of the examination is to determine the student's level of mathematical background and maturity and to enable the Graduate Advisory Committee to advise the student accordingly. The examination tests for a basic knowledge of undergraduate mathematics (especially in the areas of modern algebra and elementary analysis) and the ability to construct and elucidate a proof.
The Counseling Examination is also given during each Spring Semester. A first year GTA or GRA wishing to have his/her support continued into the second year is expected to pass the counseling examination during the first year, as well as to capably discharge the various responsibilites of a GTA or GRA. Subsequent appointments as a GTA or GRA will always be conditioned on adequate academic progress in the degree program as well as on satisfactorily carrying out the duties of the appointment.
III. Overview of the Program
The goal of the doctoral program in mathematics at Kansas State University is to provide each student with the tools needed to become a productive member of the mathematical community. To reach this goal, students must demonstrate to the faculty that they have met criteria for both breadth and depth in their studies. The breadth requirement actually consists of two components:
The Graduate Faculty feels that a student having met the above
described breadth requirement can be expected to understand and
to communicate with specialists from a broad range of
mathematics. The depth criterion will be met by the Preliminary
Examination (PE) and the dissertation. To pass the PE, students
must show a high level of mastery of the major ideas in their
chosen area of specialization, thereby demonstrating the ability
to make real contributions to the field of mathematics. The
particular format of the Preliminary Examination will be left to
the discretion of the student's Ph.D. supervisory committee members.
In addition to the QE and PE, each Ph.D. candidate will be required to pass a language examination in French, German or Russian. No substitutes will be allowed.
Detailed characteristics of the QE and PE are given below. Any deviations from the rules contained therein requires the approval of the Mathematics Graduate Faculty.
IV. Qualifying Exam
The QE consists of three written Subject Area Examinations. The Subject Area Examinations may be chosen by the student from the following list (given in alphabetical order).
Students who wish to obtain the Ph.D. at Kansas State University
will be required to pass the QE by the fall semester of the
fourth year from the time that they enter the graduate program.
(Students who enter the graduate program in a Spring Semester
will be regarded, for the purpose of meeting the deadline for
successful completion of the QE, as having entered the program at
the beginning of the following Fall Semester.) The QE will be
offered early in the Fall and Spring Semesters of each year.
Students who intend to take the QE in a given semester must
declare their intention to the Director of Graduate Studies
before the end of the preceding semester. All seven Subject Area
Examinations will be given within a one-week period. Each
Subject Area Examination will be based on material covered in a
one-year 800-level course in the subject area. These examinations
will test the student's general knowledge of the subject area,
rather than testing mastery of specialized material necessary to
do research in that area. Essentially, these will be equivalent
to final examinations in the corresponding 800-level courses.
Small committees of faculty will write the Subject Area
Examinations in each of the seven areas and will do the
preliminary grading of them. The Qualifying Exam Committee will
consist of the union of these seven small committees. The
Qualifying Exam Committee will judge whether the student has
passed or failed the QE as a whole. A student is not permitted
to take more than three Subject Area Examinations in a given
examination period. There are no "conditional" or "provisional"
passing grades on the QE. Each student will receive a grade of
"pass" or "fail" on the QE as a whole. No grades are given for
the three individual parts.
V. Major Professor, Supervisory Committee, and the Program of Study
Within one year of passing the Qualifying Exam, the Ph.D. student
is expected to select a major professor and to form a Supervisory
Committee. This committee will advise the student throughout the
remaining period of study. At the same time, the student must
file a Program of Study with the Graduate School.
The Program of Study must be approved by the student's
Supervisory Committee, the Department Head, and the Dean of the
Graduate School. The student must earn a minimum of 90 credit
hours of graduate credit (courses numbered at the 700 level or
above), with at least 60% of the course work credit hours in
courses numbered 800 or higher. Students entering with a
Master's Degree from an accredited programs may transfer up to 30 hours
of that degree toward the Ph.D. Furthermore, the student's
program of study much contain a minimum of 30 credit hours of
MATH 999 (Ph.D. research). The student must maintain
at least a 3.0 GPA in the courses listed on the
Program of Study. Furthermore, the student must make a grade
of A or B in three-fourths of these courses, with no worse than a C
grade in the remaining courses.
VI. Preliminary Exam
The student's Supervisory Committee is in charge of administering the Preliminary Examination (PE). [See the University General Catalog or the Graduate Handbook for more information concerning the duties of the Ph.D. Supervisory Committee and other general requirements for graduate degrees.] Each student must pass a PE. The PE may be taken only after successfully completing the QE. The structure of the PE may vary, depending on the characteristics of the student's chosen field of study, the Program of Study, and the discretion of the Supervisory Committee. For example, the PE may include one or more of the following components: an oral examination, a prepared colloquium talk, a computer program, or a publishable paper. The Supervisory Committee will determine a date for the PE. This date should be no later than two years after successful completion of the QE. Failure on the PE will be grounds for termination of financial support by the Mathematics Department (if applicable), and failure of a second attempt will be grounds for dismissal from the Ph.D. program by the Graduate School.
VII. MATH 999 Coursework
It is the intention of the Department of Mathematics that a Ph.D. student enrolled in MATH 999 is actively doing research directly relevant to the writing of the doctoral dissertation. Since a student not having yet passed the Preliminary Exam has not yet demonstrated sufficient depth to embark on Ph.D. level research, enrolling in MATH 999 coursework is restricted to only those students having passed the Preliminary Exam.
VIII. The Thesis
After successful completion of the PE, students will continue their research under the supervision of their doctoral advisor. In order to receive the Ph. D. degree, the student will be required to write a Ph.D. thesis containing non-trivial, new results of publishable quality.
IX. The Final Public Oral
After the student's thesis has been deemed acceptable by the doctoral advisor, a final oral examination will be held in accordance with graduate school requirements.
X. Time Allowed
Students are expected to complete this program within seven
years. Students should not anticipate receiving financial support
(such as Teaching or Research Assistantships) from the
Department for more
than seven years.
Any questions concerning the above requirements can be directed to the Director of Graduate Studies, Dr. David B. Surowski.
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