College of Arts and Sciences

Departmental URL: https://psych.indiana.edu/

(Please note that when conferring University Graduate School degrees, minors, certificates, and sub-plans, The University Graduate School’s staff use those requirements contained only in The University Graduate School Bulletin.)

Curriculum

Curriculum
Courses
Faculty

Special Departmental Requirements

(See also general University Graduate School requirements.)

Admission Requirements

Recommended Undergraduate Background: To prepare for graduate work in psychological and brain sciences at Indiana University, students should have a general background in psy­chology consisting of approximately 20 credit hours in psychol­ogy, including laboratory work in psychology and statistics. Undergraduate course work in mathematics and in the biologi­cal and/or physical sciences is desirable. While it is expected that students will have a substantial background in psychology, students with backgrounds in other areas, for example, biology or mathematics, will be considered for admission on an equal basis with those students who have majored in psychology.

Grades

An average of at least a B+ (3.3) must be maintained in all course work. No grades below B– (2.7) may be counted toward degree requirements. Students with a GPA below 3.3 or receiving more than one grade below B– (2.7) may be subject to academic probation and dismissal. 

Master of Arts Degree

The department accepts only Ph.D. students, but under unusual circumstances, applicants are considered for a M.A. degree only. Students accepted for a M.A. normally are not provided with financial support by the department. Students completing the M.A. program are not ensured acceptance into the Ph.D. program and will be evaluated in comparison with all other applicants to the Ph.D. program. No training program in clinical psychology is offered at the master’s level.

Course Requirements

A total of 30 credit hours including a core consisting of four graduate courses relevant to the student’s course of study, as approved by the student’s advisory committee and the Director of Graduate Studies. A minimum of another three credit hours should be research credits, to reflect work on thesis research. Usually at least 20 credit hours are in the major field, Psychology, but this is not required if the advisory committee and Director of Graduate Studies agree that the credits taken are relevant to the student’s major area of study. Beyond the six core courses and minimum of three research credits, additional credits (to count toward the required total of 30 credit hours) can be additional courses or additional research credits. A minimum of nine credit hours of coursework (excluding thesis research credits) must be numbered 500 or above. Any course requirements discussed above can be waived; such waivers must be approved by the department’s Director of Graduate Studies and the University Graduate School.

Skills Requirements

Students must also demonstrate competency in two areas of skills requirements:

• Statistical Skills Requirement: Demonstrated proficiency in statistical skills, at a level comparable to successful completion of a graduate course in statistics. This requirement usually will be fulfilled by successful completion of P553. However, with approval from the P553 instructor, the student’s advisory committee, and the Director of Graduate Studies, proficiency could be demonstrated in other ways, such as (but not limited to) equivalent coursework from another institution, proficiency through prior research or work experience, and completion of relevant workshop and training experiences. Courses for this proficiency can be counted towards the required 30 credit hours.
• Professional Development Skills Requirement: Demonstrated proficiency in professional development issues. This requirement usually will be fulfilled by taking P595or Q510. However, with approval from the P595/COGS-Q510 instructor, the student’s advisory committee, and the Director of Graduate Studies, proficiency can be demonstrated in other ways, primarily through equivalent coursework from another institution. Courses for this proficiency can be counted towards the required 30 credit hours.

Master’s Thesis

Required. The student’s advisory committee will participate in the approval of the thesis. The student is required to hold an oral defense of the thesis with the advisory committee. The outcome of the defense (pass or fail) must be communicated to the Director of Graduate Studies by the student’s advisor. The preferred method is to submit the thesis to the University Graduate School electronically. Instructions and deadlines are available on the University Graduate School website. Students also must email a copy of the thesis to the department’s Academic Services Coordinator; the department will pay for one printed and bound copy for the department archives.

In instances where shortcomings are apparent (in coursework or the thesis), the student may be required to complete additional coursework or assignments, as determined by the advisory committee in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. For example, additional work on the research project or an additional course to provide deeper training may be required. Students must be consistently involved in productive research throughout their course of graduate study. Students who are determined, by their faculty advisory committee, not to be making adequate research progress may be subject to academic probation and dismissal.

At the time when a student decides to leave the doctoral program and seek a Masters degree instead, the timeline for completing the requirements for the Masters degree will be discussed. In most instances, the student will have one to two semesters to complete the Masters degree. If there are special circumstances in which a student is accepted directly for a Masters degree, the timeline will be discussed with the student’s advisory committee and the Director of Graduate Studies, both at admissions and throughout the student’s course of study.

Doctor of Philosophy Degree

Research 

To remain in good standing, students must be consistently involved in productive research throughout their course of graduate study. Students are judged on research potential and productivity, as well as on course work. All students are ex­pected to develop research skills appropriate to their programs through a combination of course work, individual study, and experience. One substantial research project must be complet­ed and formally approved by the student’s advisory commit­tee before the end of the third semester. Students will present this project as a poster at a department research symposium. A second substantial research project must be completed and approved by the end of the fifth semester. Student research progress will be evalu­ated annually by the student’s advisory and research commit­tees, which will examine progress on first and second research projects, the dissertation research project, and involvement in other research projects. Students who fail to make adequate research progress at any point may be subject to academic probation and dismissal.

Course Requirements

A total of 90 credit hours, including dissertation. Students must complete course selections from the student’s area of specialization, usually consisting of approximately 12-15 credit hours from a selection of core courses in a student’s ma¬jor area of study. Unless pursuing a double major, the student is also required to complete an individualized or external minor as approved by the advisory committee. Occasionally, additional courses may be specified by the student’s advisory committee at any time before the Qualifying Exam has been successfully passed. Any course requirement discussed above can be waived; such waivers must be approved by the department's Director of Graduate Studies.

Students must also demonstrate competency in four areas of skills requirements before being nominated to candidacy:

• Statistical Skills Requirement: Demonstrated proficiency in statistical skills, at a level comparable to successful completion of a graduate course in statistics. This requirement usually will be fulfilled by successful completion of P553. However, with approval from the P553 instructor, the student’s advisory committee, and the Director of Graduate Studies, proficiency could be demonstrated in other ways, such as (but not limited to) equivalent coursework from another institution, proficiency through prior research or work experience, and completion of relevant workshop and training experiences. Courses for this proficiency cannot be double counted towards a Psychological and Brain Sciences major or the minor.
• Research Methods Skills Requirement: Demonstrated proficiency in additional research methods, at a level comparable to successful completion of a graduate course in these topics. This requirement usually will be fulfilled by successful completion of one other statistics or methods class approved by the student’s advisory committee. However, with approval from the advisory committee and the Director of Graduate Studies, proficiency could be demonstrated in other ways, such as (but not limited to) equivalent coursework from another institution, proficiency through prior research or work experience, and completion of relevant workshop and training experiences. Courses for this proficiency cannot be double counted towards a Psychological and Brain Science major or the minor.
• Professional Development Skills Requirement: Demonstrated proficiency in professional development issues. This requirement usually will be fulfilled by taking P595or Q510. However, with approval from the P595/COGS-Q510 instructor, the student’s advisory committee, and the Director of Graduate Studies, proficiency can be demonstrated in other ways, primarily through equivalent coursework from another institution. Courses for this proficiency cannot be double counted towards a Psychological and Brain Sciences major or the minor.
• Teaching and Dissemination Requirement: Demonstrated training and proficiency in teaching and dissemination of scientific information. This requirement typically will be fulfilled by taking P660 and designing an individualized proposal written by the student and approved by their advisory committee and the DGS. If a student can demonstrate they had equivalent prior teaching and dissemination experience before entering the program, the above requirements may be waived at the discretion of the DGS. Courses for this proficiency cannot be double counted towards a Psychological and Brain Sciences major or minor. If the competency of the graduate student’s teaching, as evaluated by a faculty member supervisor, is judged as inadequate, the student will be asked to take remedial action, which may include additional training in teaching and an additional teaching assignment. International students must meet the department's English proficiency requirements before teaching.

Students completing the APA approved Program in Clinical Psychology must complete one clinical elective courses, at least 6 hours of P690 (practicum training), a one-year internship approved by the clinical science program, and must demonstrate competence in APA specified areas of broad and general training in psychology.

Failure to complete required courses within a timeframe specified by the student’s advisory committee may make a student subject to academic probation and dismissal.

Minor

Doctoral students pursuing a single major may choose to minor outside of the department or to take an in-depth individualized minor within the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. If a minor outside the department is elected, the requirements are specified by that unit. An individualized minor within the department consists of at least 9 credit hours of graduate course work in areas, inside or outside the department, other than that of the major. The specific courses making up such a minor must be approved by the student’s advisory committee. The individualized minor must also be approved by the University Graduate School. Students pursuing a double major are not required to complete a minor (see General Requirements section of the Graduate Bulletin).

Qualifying Examination

Written and oral portions of the qualifying exam must be suc¬cessfully passed by the beginning of the fifth regular semester. Students with a double major may request one additional year before they take the qualifying examination and must successfully pass the exam by the beginning of the sev¬enth regular semester (see General Requirements section of the Graduate Bulletin). Specifically, the written portion of the exam must be completed during the last week of the summer break, with the exact deadline determined by the committee in consultation with the student. The oral portion of the exam must be completed by the end of the second week of classes in the fall term. If a student does not pass the qualifying exam, then by 5 pm on Thursday of the third week of classes, the student must meet with the Director of Graduate Studies to discuss plans and notify the Director of any requested course changes for the fall semester. Students who do not pass the qualifying exam will be given an opportunity to retake the exam within one semester (i.e., by the end of the fifth semes¬ter or for double majors by the end of the seventh semester). Students who do not successfully pass their second attempt at the qualifying examination will be dismissed.

Advisory and Research Committees

Students must identify a major advisor and have an advi­sor throughout the course of their graduate studies. Student must form an advisory committee by the end of their first year; later in their course of study, students must form a research (dissertation) committee. The student’s committee (advisory or research) shall consult with the student, at least once per year, to help determine the student’s course of gradu­ate study, develop a research program, approve the student’s course selections, and review the student’s progress in all areas (for example, but not limited to: completion of required courses, course grades, adequacy of teaching, and research progress). Following each yearly meeting a written report of the meeting must be filed with the Director of Graduate Studies. The student’s committee will determine whether or not the student is making adequate progress in all areas. Should the advisory (or research) committee determine that a student is not making adequate progress in any area, this may be grounds for eliminating a student’s department funding, probation, or dismissal from the program.

Ph.D. Minor in Psychological and Brain Sciences

Doctoral students in other departments may elect Psychologi­cal and Brain Sciences as an outside minor. A minimum of four courses (12 credit hours) at the graduate level is required. The student must achieve a grade of at least B– in each course and an overall grade point average of at least 3.0. The specific courses must be approved by a faculty advisor who is a faculty member within the Psychological and Brain Sciences department and may include no more than one research course (P895). 

Accreditation Status

The Clinical Science Program in the Department of Psychologi­cal and Brain Sciences at Indiana University has been accred­ited continuously since 1948 by the American Psychological Association Committee on Accreditation. For further informa­tion on the program’s status you may contact: Committee on Accreditation c/o Office of Program Consultation and Accredita­tion Education Directorate American Psychological Association 750 First Street NE Washington, DC 20002-4242, (202) 336-5979