Doctoral Curriculum

The doctoral curriculum includes courses taken to fulfill the common graduate curriculum, research requirements, pedagogical training, and other requirements set by the student's area of specialization.

Common Graduate Course Curriculum

Proseminar: One-quarter course in which faculty members in the Department of Psychology give a summary of their ongoing research and students write a research proposal, to be submitted for an NSF graduate fellowship if the student is eligible for this funding. Professional development topics are also covered.

Statistics Requirement: Three courses (these courses must be passed with a grade of B or better):

Statistics 22000 or Business 41000 or equivalent approved by the Graduate Curriculum and Student Affairs Committee. More advanced courses, for which these courses are prerequisites also fulfill this requirement.
Psychology 37300: Experimental Design and Statistical Modeling I
Psychology 37900 Experimental Design and Statistical Modeling II

Trial Research Seminar: All graduate students are required to take the trial research seminar in the spring quarter of their first year. The primary aim of this seminar is to guide students in formulating and completing their trial research projects.

Breadth Requirement: Students are required to take a minimum of three doctoral level courses in Psychology, extending across different areas of psychological science. Statistics courses and laboratory meetings may not be used to fulfill this requirement. These courses should be chosen in consultation with the student’s advisor and program area. These courses must be passed with a grade of B or better.

Research Requirements

Trial Research Project
Each student will complete a trial research project under the guidance of a faculty advisor or advisors by the end of Spring quarter of the second year. Successful completion of the trial research project is a prerequisite for PhD candidacy.

Formation of the Advisory Committee: At the end of the first year, students are required to form an advisory committee consisting of three faculty members. Typically, the chair of the committee is the student's primary research advisor and must be a faculty or emeritus faculty member in the Psychology Department. At least one other member of the committee must be a faculty, emeritus faculty or affiliated faculty member in the Psychology Department. The third member of the committee may be from outside of the Psychology Department, provided that the chair of the trial research committee gives his or her approval. The advisory committee will serve as a resource to aid each student with their trial research project, provide advice, and evaluate the trial research defense.
Initiating the Trial Research Project: The student should initiate discussion of their trial research project with their advisory committee members as soon as possible, but ideally by the start of Autumn quarter of their second year. By the end of the Autumn quarter in their second year, students are expected to meet with members of their advisory committee to update them on their trial research project proposal. At a minimum, this meeting consists of a student presentation of the proposed work and discussion of the plan with the members of the committee. Each student should discuss the expectations for the trial research project and defense with their advisor before beginning the process.
Trial Research Paper Submission and Defense. Students must submit their trial research paper and defend their project at a hearing with their committee before the end of the Spring quarter of their second year. At this hearing, the committee will also assess the student’s breadth and depth of knowledge regarding their research problem.

Dissertation

Advisory Committee Role: Similar to the trial research process, each student’s three-member advisory committee will support the dissertation process, offering guidance, advice, and evaluation of both the dissertation proposal and the final dissertation. Typically, the chair of this committee is the student's primary research advisor and must be a faculty or emeritus faculty member in the Psychology Department. At least one other member of the committee must also be a faculty, emeritus faculty, or affiliated faculty member in the Psychology Department. The third member can be a faculty member from any department at the University of Chicago, subject to approval by the committee chair.
Dissertation Proposal Process: Each student must develop independent research projects, primarily under the guidance of their advisor and with support from the other advisory committee members. Students are required to prepare a written dissertation proposal and submit it to their committee. This proposal should clearly define the research question(s), contextualize them within the relevant literature, and outline a detailed plan for conducting the dissertation research. This plan should include the proposed methodology and analyses, anticipated outcomes, and a timeline for completion. The feasibility of the project should also be discussed, potentially including preliminary data. Once the advisor approves, the student may schedule an oral defense of the proposal with their advisory committee. Each student should discuss the expectations for the dissertation proposal process with their advisor before beginning the process.
Admission to PhD Candidacy: To be admitted to PhD candidacy, a student must have successfully completed the following: (a) the Common Graduate Curriculum (completion of the core coursework); (b) Area Course Requirements (fulfillment of course requirements specified by their program or an individual course of study, approved by the GSAC); (c) Trial Research Project (successful completion of a trial research project); (d) Dissertation Proposal (approval of the dissertation proposal by all members of the student's dissertation committee following the oral defense).
Dissertation Submission and Defense: Following approval by the advisor, the completed dissertation must be submitted to the two additional advisory committee members plus an ‘outside reader’ for review. The outside reader may be a faculty member at the University of Chicago, or a scientist at another institution (with a PhD) and must be approved by the student's advisor. Once the advisor consents, the student may schedule an oral defense of the dissertation. This oral exam is conducted by the three advisory committee members and the outside reader. If, after the oral defense, all committee members approve the dissertation document and defense, the student has met the Psychology Department's requirements for the PhD degree.

Doctoral Program Mentored Teaching Requirements

Practical pedagogical training is a required component of doctoral education in the Department of Psychology. Beginning as early as the second year of graduate school, students may start fulfilling their five required mentored teaching experiences (MTEs), but the general expectation is that students will start completing these in Year 3, after having completed most of their coursework. Each year, students will be asked to request their preferences for their MTEs, which may be required courses for undergraduate majors or larger undergraduate elective courses. The Department will do its best to meet students’ requests although this will depend on openings and the number of students requesting the same courses. Students are required to have completed five MTEs before completing the Ph.D. program. Note that although students must complete all coursework before being eligible to defend their dissertation proposal and being admitted to candidacy, fulfilling the MTE requirement is not a precondition for entering candidacy. However, the general expectation is that students will have completed most or all of their MTEs prior to proposing their dissertation and entering candidacy. Please consult the Mentoring Plan Framework’s Appendix A: Mentored Teaching Experiences for additional information.

Additional Teaching Assignments: Students interested in accepting teaching assignments beyond the five required by the Psychology Department or those not counting towards the department’s teaching requirements should follow these steps:

Advisor Approval: Discuss the additional teaching opportunity with your advisor(s) and obtain their approval.
Department Notification: Email Kristi Schonwald at kschonwa@uchicago.edu with details of the teaching opportunity. Ensure that the email confirms you have received your advisor's approval.
Department Review: The department will verify that you are in good academic standing and have met all program milestones appropriate for your stage before forwarding your request to the Dean of Students for further review.

Approval Limits and Exceptions: The Department of Psychology and the Dean of Students will approve up to three additional teaching assignments per year that do not fulfill academic and funding requirements. For non-standard teaching opportunities, such as a single-weekend workshop, students may petition the Dean of Students for exceptions to this three-assignment limit.

Mentoring Plan

The department’s mentoring plan outlines the timing of the expected milestones of students in the program, and provides a description of the role of the Faculty Advisor, Advisory Committees, Area Chairs, the Director of Graduate Studies, and the Chair of the Department in mentoring graduate students during their PhD program. Students who do not meet the expected milestones by the deadlines listed fully described in the mentoring plan may petition the appropriate faculty leader (director of graduate studies for general curriculum and research requirements; area chairs for area requirements) for an extension to a deadline. Students who do not complete the requirements by the approved deadlines may be placed on probation. A notice of probation will include the necessary steps and timeline to return to good academic standing. Students who do not complete the steps to return to good academic standing will be withdrawn from the program.

Students with questions about the requirements may contact Kristi Schonwald (Sr. Student Affairs Administrator) in the Department of Psychology. Students may also contact Brett Baker (Associate Dean of Students) in the Social Sciences Division or Amanda Young (Associate Director, Graduate Student Affairs) in UChicagoGRAD.

Department of Psychology Mentoring Framework