Dec 11, 2024  
2024-2025 Graduate Catalog 
    
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2024-2025 Graduate Catalog

Doctor of Philosophy - Radiochemistry

Plan Description

The Radiochemistry Ph.D. Program is a student-driven research intensive program stressing fundamental aspects of radiochemistry science. It was established by the Departments of Health Physics and Chemistry and includes participants from the Harry Reid Center, Nuclear Science and Technology Group. The program is administered by the UNLV Graduate College. The Ph.D. program requires 60 credits of research and courses beyond the baccalaureate degree. Credit is required for four courses in nuclear chemistry, radiochemistry, detectors, and laboratory. The remaining courses are based on the area of interest of the student and include laboratory research. Students are obliged to maintain a B average and show progress in their research. The curriculum and research provides a comprehensive and interdisciplinary examination of topics and experiences necessary to produce graduates who are ready to secure employment and participate in radiochemistry research.

For more information about your program, including your graduate program handbook and learning outcomes please visit the Degree Directory.

Plan Admission Requirements

Application Deadlines

Applications available on the UNLV Graduate College website.

All domestic and international applicants must review and follow the Graduate College Admission and Registration Requirements.

(a) Graduate College Admission Requirements

  1. Completed application in the Application Portal and non-refundable application fee. 
  2. Bachelor’s Degree – You must hold a four-year baccalaureate from a regionally accredited institution or an approved equivalent.
    1. Post-Master’s tracks and Advanced Certificates require a regionally accredited Master’s degree.
  3. Grade Point Average – You must have a minimum overall grade point average of 2.75 (4.00=A) for the bachelor’s degree or a minimum 3.00 (4.00=A) for the last two years (60 semester credits). 
  4. All applicants are required to submit an unofficial transcript from each postsecondary institution attended, showing all degrees and coursework, the dates awarded, and grades received. Official transcripts required upon admission.
    1. Credentials not in English must be accompanied by an English translation certified as true by a university official, an official representative of a United States embassy or consulate, the United States Information Service, the United States Education Foundation, or an approved professional translating service. Notarized copies of originals or translations are not considered official.

(b) Department Admission Requirements

  1. For entrance into the program in Subplan 1: Post-Bachelor’s the following requirements apply: An earned undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited institution in the field of chemistry, radiochemistry, health physics, engineering or other related field with a minimum GPA of 3.0. Applicants with a GPA below 3.0, but not less than 2.75, may be admitted on a provisional basis. For entrance into the program in Subplan 2: Post-Masters, the following requirements apply: An earned master of science degree from a regionally accredited institution in the field of chemistry, radiochemistry, health physics, engineering or other closely related discipline. An evaluation by the radiochemistry faculty of the candidate’s scientific knowledge of chemistry, radiochemistry and health physics is required to determine a student’s admission status. A minimum GPA of 3.0 in an approved master’s program is required. Applicants with a GPA below 3.0, but not less than 2.75, may be admitted on a provisional basis.
  2. Three letters of recommendation including one letter from an individual who can evaluate the applicant’s ability to conduct graduate work at the PhD level. A second letter of recommendation must come from someone who has supervised the candidate in a work setting.
  3. A current resume.
  4. A statement of purpose explaining the applicant’s career goals and why the doctorate would enhance the likelihood of achieving those goals. The statement should also explain why the applicant believes that he or she is qualified to conduct academic work at the advance graduate level. Finally, the statement should address the specific area of specialization the student would like to emphasize.
  5. Optional submission of the General Graduate Record Exam (GRE) test score. Applications without graduate exam scores will not be penalized, but favorable scores will enhance applications.
  6. Students meeting all of the above admission requirements may be asked to meet with the admission committee for a personal interview.

For information on Conditional Admission, please refer to the Graduate Student Handbook section of the Graduate Catalog.

Students are accepted into a degree program as described in the Graduate Catalog. The faculty and corresponding sub-disciplines and sub-plans within the described programs are subject to change at any time.

Plan Requirements

Subplan 1: Post-Bachelor’s

Subplan 2: Post-Masters

Subplan 1 Requirements: Post-Bachelor’s

Total Credits Required: 60

Course Requirements

Core Courses – Credits: 12
Electives – Credits: 30-36

Complete 30-36 credits of advisor-approved electives.

Dissertation – Credits: 12-18

Degree Requirements

  1. Students must complete a minimum of 60 credits with a minimum GPA of 3.00.
  2. RDCH 702 must be completed before enrolling in RDCH 710.
  3. Students enrolled in the Radiochemistry Ph.D. program are required to maintain satisfactory progress toward the degree as determined by the student’s academic advisor and advisory committee. To maintain satisfactory progress in the Radiochemistry Ph.D. program, a student must:
    1. Maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or above each semester enrolled.
    2. Receive a grade of B (3.0) or above in all core Radiochemistry courses. If less than a B is earned in any given course, it may be repeated. The student must be in good standing to repeat a course, and courses may not be repeated more than one time.
    3. Schedule and take the oral qualifying exam within 1.5 years of satisfactorily completing the core Radiochemistry courses.
    4. Pass the dissertation prospectus defense within 3 years of entering the Radiochemistry Ph.D. program.
    5. Participate in Radiochemistry seminar. Students are required to participate in the weekly Radiochemistry seminar each semester they are in residence at UNLV. Students may only be exempted from this requirement due to scheduling conflicts, with the prior approval of their academic advisor.
  4. Failure to make satisfactory progress as determined by the student’s academic advisor and/or advisory committee may include: failure to complete six credits per calendar year toward the degree program; unsatisfactory grades (including Incompletes, grades below a B, or Withdrawals); failure to consult with the academic advisor when requested; failure to establish a graduate advisory committee; failure to establish the groundwork for an acceptable dissertation; failure of oral qualifying examination; failure to pass prospectus defense; or, continuous or willful neglect and/or intentional or continuous disregard for laboratory safety procedures.
  5. To advance to candidacy, students are required to pass an oral exam on their research and an outside topic related to radiochemistry.
  6. Complete all requirements for the Ph.D. degree within eight years, or six years if entering the program with a master’s degree. If these requirements are not met, the program may place the student on academic probation or drop him/her from the Ph.D. program.
  7. In consultation with their advisor, a student will organize a dissertation committee. The graduate advisory committee is responsible for guiding students through the Radiochemistry Ph.D. program. Upon entering the program, the Radiochemistry Graduate Coordinator will serve as academic advisor to all students until individual advisory committees have been established. The responsibility of establishing an advisory committee falls upon the students. By the end of the first year in the program, students must select an advisory committee chair who will also serve as the student’s academic advisor from that point forward. By the end of the second year in the program, students must select the remaining members of the graduate advisory committee.
  8. The graduate advisory committee consists of at least four graduate faculty members as follows:
    1. Advisory Committee Chair - must have graduate faculty status with approved Doctoral Chair Committee privileges in Radiochemistry.
    2. Graduate College Representative (GCR) - must have graduate faculty status with approved GCR privileges at UNLV in a program outside of Radiochemistry and the host department. Faculty with status in Radiochemistry may not serve as the GCR.
    3. Committee Member - must have appropriately approved member graduate faculty status privileges in Radiochemistry.
    4. Committee Member - must have appropriately approved member graduate faculty status privileges in Radiochemistry.
  9. The oral qualifying exam must be taken within 1.5 years of successfully completing the radiochemistry core courses listed above. The exam is designed to test students on the fundamental science underlying radiochemistry, including all content covered in the core courses. In addition, students are tested on their depth of knowledge in their area of research specialization.
    1. The oral qualifying exam is held in closed session and is given by the qualifying examination committee. This committee is made up of a minimum of three members, the advisory committee chair, another member of the UNLV radiochemistry faculty, and an affiliate, associate or full graduate faculty status member in Radiochemistry. All members of the qualifying examination committee must be present during the oral qualifying exam. Additional members of the student’s advisory committee may participate on the qualifying examination at the discretion of the academic advisor, but are not required to be present.
    2. For the exam, students are responsible for preparing two presentations which are presented to the qualifying examination committee. The first presentation is an overview of the student’s proposed research, including relevant literature, a proposed research plan and summary/results of current research. This presentation may serve as the basis for the Prospectus Defense as well. The second presentation summarizes a recent published scientific article on a topic not directly related to the candidate’s proposed dissertation research. The article must be approved by the student’s advisor prior to the exam.
    3. Students who do not pass the exam may repeat the exam one time within 6 months, but no sooner than 3 months from the first attempt. Students who do not pass the oral qualifying exam on the second attempt will be severed from the program.
    4. Students must schedule and take the oral qualifying exam within 1.5 years of satisfactorily completing the core Radiochemistry courses.
  10. Students are required to participate in the weekly Radiochemistry seminar each semester they are in residence at UNLV. Students may only be exempted from this requirement due to scheduling conflicts, with the prior approval of their academic advisor.
  11. Students must prepare and successfully defend their dissertation prospectus prior to the completion of their sixth semester. The prospectus will cover a review of the relevant literature, a statement of the problem or hypothesis to be examined and a research plan for the project. The prospectus will be defended to the student’s advisory committee and will be open to the general research community. All members of the student’s advisory committee must be present at the student’s prospectus defense.
  12. Students are expected to write a dissertation demonstrating both knowledge of a specific topic and the ability to conduct high quality original research. The dissertation must be accepted by the student’s advisory committee prior to the completion of the degree program. Upon completion of the dissertation, the dissertation must be defended to the student’s advisory committee in a public dissertation defense.
  13. To advance to candidacy, students are required to pass the oral qualifying exam and successfully defend their dissertation prospectus. Upon successful completion of the prospectus defense, students shall be promoted to Ph.D. candidate the term following the defense.
  14. The dissertation must be written in collaboration with the student’s academic advisor and advisory committee. The dissertation must be accepted by the student’s advisory committee prior to the completion of the degree program. Students must enroll in six credits of dissertation work each semester they are working on the dissertation and the minimum number of dissertation credits required for graduation is twelve.

Subplan 2 Requirements: Post Master’s

Total Credits Required: 30

Course Requirements

Core Courses – Credits: 12
Dissertation – Credits: 18

Degree Requirements

  1. Doctoral students entering the Ph.D. program with an approved M.S. degree in Chemistry or a closely related discipline, are required to complete 30 credits in the Ph.D. program at UNLV comprised of courses at the 700-level or other courses as directed by the student’s advisory committee . Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.00.
  2. RDCH 702 must be completed before enrolling in RDCH 710.
  3. Students enrolled in the Radiochemistry Ph.D. program are required to maintain satisfactory progress toward the degree as determined by the student’s academic advisor and advisory committee. To maintain satisfactory progress in the Radiochemistry Ph.D. program, a student must:
    1. Maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or above each semester enrolled.
    2. Receive a grade of B (3.0) or above in all core Radiochemistry courses. If less than a B is earned in any given course, it may be repeated. The student must be in good standing to repeat a course, and courses may not be repeated more than one time.
    3. Schedule and take the oral qualifying exam within 1.5 years of satisfactorily completing the core Radiochemistry courses.
    4. Pass the dissertation prospectus defense within 3 years of entering the Radiochemistry Ph.D. program.
    5. Participate in Radiochemistry seminar. Students are required to participate in the weekly Radiochemistry seminar each semester they are in residence at UNLV. Students may only be exempted from this requirement due to scheduling conflicts, with the prior approval of their academic advisor.
  4. Failure to make satisfactory progress as determined by the student’s academic advisor and/or advisory committee may include: failure to complete six credits per calendar year toward the degree program; unsatisfactory grades (including Incompletes, grades below a B, or Withdrawals); failure to consult with the academic advisor when requested; failure to establish a graduate advisory committee; failure to establish the groundwork for an acceptable dissertation; failure of oral qualifying examination; failure to pass prospectus defense; or, continuous or willful neglect and/or intentional or continuous disregard for laboratory safety procedures.
  5. To advance to candidacy, students are required to pass an oral exam on their research and an outside topic related to radiochemistry.
  6. Complete all requirements for the Ph.D. degree within eight years, or six years if entering the program with a master’s degree. If these requirements are not met, the program may place the student on academic probation or drop him/her from the Ph.D. program.
  7. In consultation with their advisor, a student will organize a dissertation committee. The graduate advisory committee is responsible for guiding students through the Radiochemistry Ph.D. program. Upon entering the program, the Radiochemistry Graduate Coordinator will serve as academic advisor to all students until individual advisory committees have been established. The responsibility of establishing an advisory committee falls upon the students. By the end of the first year in the program, students must select an advisory committee chair who will also serve as the student’s academic advisor from that point forward. By the end of the second year in the program, students must select the remaining members of the graduate advisory committee.
  8. The graduate advisory committee consists of at least four graduate faculty members as follows:
    1. Advisory Committee Chair - must have graduate faculty status with approved Doctoral Chair Committee privileges in Radiochemistry.
    2. Graduate College Representative (GCR) - must have graduate faculty status with approved GCR privileges at UNLV in a program outside of Radiochemistry and the host department. Faculty with status in Radiochemistry may not serve as the GCR.
    3. Committee Member - must have appropriately approved member graduate faculty status privileges in Radiochemistry.
    4. Committee Member - must have appropriately approved member graduate faculty status privileges in Radiochemistry.
  9. The oral qualifying exam must be taken within 1.5 years of successfully completing the radiochemistry core courses listed above. The exam is designed to test students on the fundamental science underlying radiochemistry, including all content covered in the core courses. In addition, students are tested on their depth of knowledge in their area of research specialization.
    1. The oral qualifying exam is held in closed session and is given by the qualifying examination committee. This committee is made up of a minimum of three members, the advisory committee chair, another member of the UNLV radiochemistry faculty, and an affiliate, associate or full graduate faculty status member in Radiochemistry. All members of the qualifying examination committee must be present during the oral qualifying exam. Additional members of the student’s advisory committee may participate on the qualifying examination at the discretion of the academic advisor, but are not required to be present.
    2. For the exam, students are responsible for preparing two presentations which are presented to the qualifying examination committee. The first presentation is an overview of the student’s proposed research, including relevant literature, a proposed research plan and summary/results of current research. This presentation may serve as the basis for the Prospectus Defense as well. The second presentation summarizes a recent published scientific article on a topic not directly related to the candidate’s proposed dissertation research. The article must be approved by the student’s advisor prior to the exam.
    3. Students who do not pass the exam may repeat the exam one time within 6 months, but no sooner than 3 months from the first attempt. Students who do not pass the oral qualifying exam on the second attempt will be severed from the program.
    4. Students must schedule and take the oral qualifying exam within 1.5 years of satisfactorily completing the core Radiochemistry courses.
  10. Students are required to participate in the weekly Radiochemistry seminar each semester they are in residence at UNLV. Students may only be exempted from this requirement due to scheduling conflicts, with the prior approval of their academic advisor.
  11. Students must prepare and successfully defend their dissertation prospectus prior to the completion of their sixth semester. The prospectus will cover a review of the relevant literature, a statement of the problem or hypothesis to be examined and a research plan for the project. The prospectus will be defended to the student’s advisory committee and will be open to the general research community. All members of the student’s advisory committee must be present at the student’s prospectus defense.
  12. Students are expected to write a dissertation demonstrating both knowledge of a specific topic and the ability to conduct high quality original research. The dissertation must be accepted by the student’s advisory committee prior to the completion of the degree program. Upon completion of the dissertation, the dissertation must be defended to the student’s advisory committee in a public dissertation defense.
  13. To advance to candidacy, students are required to pass the oral qualifying exam and successfully defend their dissertation prospectus. Upon successful completion of the prospectus defense, students shall be promoted to Ph.D. candidate the term following the defense.
  14. The dissertation must be written in collaboration with the student’s academic advisor and advisory committee. The dissertation must be accepted by the student’s advisory committee prior to the completion of the degree program. Students must enroll in six credits of dissertation work each semester they are working on the dissertation and the minimum number of dissertation credits required for graduation is twelve.

Plan Graduation Requirements

The student must submit and successfully defend their dissertation by the posted deadline. The defense must be advertised and is open to the public.

After the dissertation defense, the student must electronically submit a properly formatted pdf copy of their dissertation to the Graduate College for format check. Once the dissertation format has been approved by the Graduate College, the student will submit the approved electronic version to ProQuest. Deadlines for dissertation defenses, format check submissions, and the final ProQuest submission can be found here. 

Students may apply for graduation up to two semesters prior to completing their degree requirements. All required forms must be submitted to the graduate college via the Grad Rebel Gateway.