Graduate Programs
Ph.D. Program
Degree Requirements
General Information
Ninety credit hours are required for the Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD) Ph.D. in Dental and Oral Health Science degree with 32-40 required course credits in a major focus area and 12 credits in a minor focus area. Disciplines included in the program are anatomy, biochemistry, biomedical engineering, biostatistics, cell biology, chemistry, immunology, materials science engineering, mechanical engineering, microbiology, molecular biology, pathology, physics
The Ph.D. degree research focus areas contain courses in biostatistics, research ethics, research communications, and effective teaching methods. The courses in biostatistics emphasize the important role of appropriate statistical methods used in biological research. The research ethics course addresses the importance of a strong ethical approach to the scientific method and human and animal research. Research Communications is a multidisciplinary course that will increase the ability of the student to write and review scientific papers. The teaching methods courses recognize that most of our students will ultimately teach in an academic environment and may have no previous course work in education.
All general requirements of Indiana University Indianapolis Graduate School apply to the Ph.D. in Dental and Oral Health Science program, plus specific requirements of the program as outlined in the core curricula. All Ph.D. coursework offered in partial fulfillment of degree requirements must either be completed within seven consecutive calendar years of the passing of the qualifying examination or be revalidated. Any student whose candidacy lapses will be required to apply to Indiana University Indianapolis Graduate School for reinstatement before further work toward the degree may formally be done. To be reinstated to candidacy, the student must: (1) obtain permission of the program director; (2) fulfill the program requirements in effect at the time of the application for reinstatement; (3) pass a current Ph.D. qualifying examination or its equivalent which will be defined in advance; and (4) request reinstatement to candidacy from the Dean of the Indiana University Indianapolis Graduate School. Such reinstatement, if granted, is valid for a period of three years, during which time the candidate must enroll each semester for a minimum of one credit hour.
English Proficiency
Students who are nonnative speakers of English must take the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Placement Test at the beginning of their dental school program. Students must satisfactorily complete all English courses required as a result of performance on the EAP test before a certificate or degree can be awarded. The required English courses must be completed during the first year of study. The test is offered on the IU Indianapolis campus by the EAP Program in the Department of English in the School of Liberal Arts. Questions about the EAP Program may be directed to esl@iu.edu.
Continuing Enrollment
Students who have passed the qualifying examination must enroll each semester (excluding summer sessions) for any remaining required
A candidate who will be graduating in June, July, or August of any year must enroll in a minimum of one hour of credit in either the current or immediately preceding summer session.
Academic Warning for the Ph.D. Program
For Ph.D. courses to meet graduation requirements, a grade of B- or better must be earned. Courses where a lower grade has been earned must be retaken for the student to meet graduation requirements and the student will receive an academic warning from the IUSD. Students will automatically be placed on academic warning if their cumulative GPA falls below 3.0 and/or if they have received a grade lower than the minimum required for their program of study, unless extenuating circumstances are submitted by the course instructor via the grade report.
The Ph.D. Program Academic Progress Review Committee will consist of a minimum of two IUSD graduate faculty and well as the IUSD PhD Program Director and the Associate Dean for Graduate Education, along with the Ph.D. Chair of the Advisory or Dissertation Committee. A warning will be issued to a student via email by the IUSD Office for Graduate Education. The student will be notified in writing and documentation will be placed in the student’s file. The student will be given appropriate due-process and the ability to remediate. If the deficiency is not corrected after one semester or if the required standards are not met by the timeframe stipulated in the written probation letter, dismissal may be recommended. If a student is enrolled in the dual-degree D.D.S./Ph.D. program, the Academic Progress Review Committee will also be consulted. The committee members will determine whether a student is allowed to continue in the dual-degree D.D.S./Ph.D. program, transition to either the D.D.S. or Ph.D. program, or be dismissed.
Probation for the Ph.D. Program
The Ph.D. Program Academic Progress Review Committee may recommend probation for any student who has not corrected the deficiency which resulted in the warning. A student on academic probation is expected to meet the required standards by the timeframe stipulated in the written letter. Failure to meet the required academic standards can result in dismissal from the program.
Dismissal from the Ph.D. Program
A student who has failed to meet the minimum GPA requirement in a Ph.D. course or appropriate research milestones will be terminated from the program. If a student does not complete the D.D.S./Ph.D. dual degree program, the D.D.S. credits earned will still count toward D.D.S. degree. Academic progress and promotion will be determined by the respective Progress Committees independently. The IUSD Office for Graduate Education will provide email notification to the student as well as a written letter by certified postal mail notifying the student of termination from the program.
The policy of the Graduate Faculty is that students may be dismissed for failure to maintain adequate academic progress toward the degree. For candidates, this standard is set by the faculty of each program or by the student's dissertation committee. The student must first be notified of deficient academic progress by being placed on probation for one semester. If the deficiency is not corrected, the student may be dismissed.
Policy for IUSD Graduate Student Leave of Absence
Graduate students pursuing a Ph.D. or M.S. degree at Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD) are required to be continuously enrolled in credit-earning graduate courses for all semesters during each year of the program. Individuals enrolled in the Ph.D. in Dental and Oral Health Sciece degree, the D.D.S./Ph.D. dual degree and the M.S. degree programs will be required to adhere to all leave of absence policies established by IUSD Office of Graduate Education and IU Indianapolis Graduate School.
It is understood that graduate students must occasionally be absent from class, clinic or laboratory for unavoidable personal reasons. At such times, Ph.D. students are expected to contact the IUSD Office of Graduate Education as early as possible to report an absence. The IUSD Office of Graduate Education will then notify the research mentor and Ph.D. program director regarding the absence and its general nature. For research related activities, the graduate student must work with their research mentor or program director to determine procedures to minimize long term impact on ongoing research studies.
Students enrolled in the D.D.S./Ph.D dual degree program will also need to observe all leave policies applicable to D.D.S. students as outlined in the D.D.S. student handbook, and must contact the IUSD Office of Student Affairs and Admissions, who will then notify D.D.S. course directors regarding the absence and its general nature. It is the responsibility of the student to coordinate missed assignments and makeup quizzes with course directors and make alternative arrangements for ongoing research activity with research mentors. These alternative arrangements must be made in a timely fashion. A student who is absent and fails to communicate their absence in a timely manner is accountable for any negative outcomes based on the existing attendance policies. The IUSD Office of Student Affairs and Admissions only determines whether an absence is excused or unexcused when an assessment is involved.
For more information, please refer to the IUSD Policy for Graduate Leave of Absence, which includes all guidelines for all attendance absences, including the vacation policy for Ph.D. students. The complete policy is available from the IUSD Office for Graduate Education and the Director of Ph.D. Training and Research Development.
Student Advisory Committee
The Ph.D. student, in consultation with the student’s major department and the IUSD Office of Graduate Education will select the advisory committee in the first semester of program start, and no later than one year after admission to the Ph.D. program. The role of the Advisory Committee is to guide and approve the student’s didactic program of study and counsel the student through the early phases of the Ph.D., through to the end of passing the qualifying examination. This committee will be responsible for monitoring the student’s progress, and for advising the student with regards to all matters associated with the graduate program. The committee will advise the student regarding the selection of the research rotation mentors and guide the research proposal development, which generally becomes the student’s research area for the dissertation. The Advisory Committee will be minimally composed of at least five members: Of these, three or four members must be IUSD faculty, two of whom must be members of the Indiana University Indianapolis Graduate School faculty. It is recommended that one member be the student’s intended dissertation mentor. One additional member of the committee must be outside of the School of Dentistry and be Graduate School faculty (this individual is generally the Chair of the Minor). The student has the option to keep the same individuals on both the Advisory Committee and Dissertation Committee. If so, one additional committee member who is an expert in the student’s field of research and is outside the Indiana University system (external committee member) should be added to the dissertation committee.
Prior to the student’s qualifying exam (generally by the second summer following enrollment), two additional advisory committee members will be added from the student’s minor field and/or from the general area in which the student has decided to conduct his or her dissertation research. This committee of five serves as the qualifying exam committee, with a member other than the dissertation mentor serving as chairperson.
Qualifying Examination for Admission to Candidacy
The qualifying examination assesses the students research aptitude and critical thinking skills necessary to complete the requirements and intellectual rigors of the Ph.D. The qualifying exam consists of two major parts: 1) writing and presenting an oral defense of a research proposal, and 2) completion a written exam.
1) Research Proposal & Oral Defense
The research proposal generally serves as the student’s dissertation proposal. After completion of the research proposal and oral defense, all committee members will provide a pass/fail grade along with written comments. After the student has passed the proposal oral defense, they will be instructed to complete a written exam within 60 days of the oral defense. The written exam will be reviewed by the student’s Advisory Committee and the Ph.D. Program Director. A pass/fail grade along with written feedback will be provided to the student. Examination of the students chosen minor field of study is at the discretion of the minor field department in collaboration with the Ph.D. Program Director and the student’s Advisory Committee. The student chooses, with the help and approval of the advisory committee chairperson, a topic for a grant proposal to be written and defended as part of the qualifying exam. This is usually done by the end of the second spring semester following enrollment. The proposal topic is generally in the focus area of the student’s intended dissertation research and cannot be prepared as a requirement for another graduate course.
Students should begin with an outline (Specific Aims, 1 page in length) for a research proposal that is approved by the chairperson of the Advisory Committee and student’s research mentor. After approval of the Specific Aims page, the student generally writes a proposal in the style of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant. The following sections must be included: specific aims, background, significance, impact, research design and methodology, limitations and alternative strategies, statistical considerations, animal and/or human studies description, literature cited, and proposed budget. The length will be between 8 and 12 single-spaced pages, written in no less than 11-point font size. The page limit does not include the animal and/or human studies description, literature cited, and the proposed budget, which have no page limits. Note: If the student has written an external grant application (such as the NIH-F30/F31 mechanism which has a 6 page science limit), the same general proposal can be used as the basis for the qualifying proposal. However, the proposal will need to be expanded in key areas, including background, methodology and approach (max 12 page limit) to ensure that the breadth and depth of knowledge of their proposed research area is appropriately detailed and demonstrated in the proposal.
The completed proposal is submitted to the committee chair and distributed to the rest of the committee. The committee will be given a minimum of 4 weeks to review the completed proposal prior to the qualifying exam. The student can receive feedback from members of the advisory committee. Please note that the qualifying proposal must be primarily the work of the candidate. Once distributed to the Advisory Committee, the committee will decide whether the proposal is defensible or in need of revisions prior to the defense. Upon final approval, a date and time is set for the student to defend the qualifying proposal in the presence of the committee.
The defense of the proposal consists of a 30- to 45-minute presentation of the proposed work by the student, followed by a one- to three-hour oral examination consisting of questions arising from the proposal, the student’s presentation, or answers to initial questions.
Satisfactory defense of the proposal will be followed by a written exam at a date and time convenient to the members of the committee and student (within 60 days after the proposal defense). Students who do not satisfactorily complete the proposal defense may be allowed to retake it with the permission of the advisory committee.
2) Written Examination
Each member of the advisory committee submits a comprehensive question(s) in their area(s) of expertise to the committee chairperson, who then collates the questions and administers the exam. The exam package is administered to the student on the morning of the exam (generally 8:00 a.m). The exam will be open-book, and the student can use any literature resources, which must be cited. However, artificial intelligence and any human interference or assistance is strictly not permitted. The completed exam should be returned (emailed) to the Advisory Committee Chair, generally within 8 hours of starting the exam. Extensions beyond 11:59 p.m. on the exam day will not be permitted.
The chairperson will distribute the answers to individual committee members for comments, corrections, feedback, and grading. Comments will be returned to the student generally within 10 business days of receiving the exam. Students who do not satisfactorily complete the written exam may be given permission by the advisory committee to repeat the written exam once. In this case, the committee may decide to give the same questions or modify the exam questions. Students who fail components of the qualifying exam are normally allowed to retake the exam once.
Note that the qualifying exam must be completed at least eight months before the degree is awarded, and only after completing all remaining milestones of the Ph.D. program. Some programs may have deadlines which are earlier than those of the Indiana University Indianapolis Graduate School; therefore, students will consult with their program office.
Admission to Candidacy
It is anticipated that the Ph.D. student will complete the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam by the end of the second year (or third year of the dual degree D.D.S./Ph.D. program). Students who have completed all major and minor coursework and have passed all parts of the Qualifying Exam will be recommended for admission to candidacy. The student’s advisory committee submits a Nomination to Candidacy form to the Indiana University Indianapolis Graduate School after the student has completed all required didactic courses and passed the qualifying exam.
Research Committee
Members of the advisory committee may continue to serve as members of the student’s dissertation committee. However, the latter committee is chaired by the student’s research mentor, who must be a member of the Indiana University Indianapolis Graduate School faculty with endorsement to direct doctoral committees.
The research committee is minimally composed of three IUSD research faculty members, one member of the Graduate School faculty outside of the School of Dentistry (this individual is generally the Chair of the Minor) and an expert in the student’s field of research outside Indiana University (external committee member). The outside member must meet the requirements of membership and be given “limited status” by the Graduate School. At least half of the members of the dissertation committee must be members of the Graduate School faculty with endorsement; others may be members either with or without endorsement.
The research committee is responsible for supervising the student’s research, reading the dissertation and providing scientific and editorial comments on its content, and conducting the final examination (defense of dissertation). The research committee, except for the outside member, typically meets formally with the student twice annually to assess progress and make appropriate suggestions. During one of these assessments, most likely during the third or fourth year but usually at least six months prior to the completion of the dissertation, the student will give a 45–50 minute oral presentation open to all dental school faculty, followed by a closed one- to three-hour oral examination on the dissertation by the dissertation committee.
Learn more about how to apply to Indiana University School of Dentistry's Ph.D. degree program and review the tuition and fees and curriculum.
Updated April 2025