The doctoral degree (PhD) in Biostatistics prepares individuals to understand the mathematical and theoretical basis of statistical methodology; collaborate on the design of research studies in the health sciences; provide advice on the proper collection, entry, storage, retrieval, and manipulation of data; and take primary responsibility for the analysis, interpretation and dissemination of data in a research study using state-of-the-art statistical methods and software. PhD students are also prepared to carry out original methodological research in statistics and apply the resulting methodology to health-related research problems.
General Information
The PhD program curriculum includes
Funding for PhD Students
We offer a Graduate Research Assistantship to competitive PhD students that consists:
Graduate Research Assistants provide statistical consulting support as well as methodological statistical work with their mentor in order to gain practical application and methodological development skills on real world applications of biostatistics in the health sciences.
Check out a complete sample list of the courses and course descriptions.
Year |
Fall |
Spring |
Summer |
1 |
STAT 7110 – Statistical Models and Methods (3) STAT 7520 – Stat Theory I (3) DATS 7510 –Programming for Data Analysis (3) BIOM 8011 – RCR (1) |
STAT 7630 – Applied Linear Models (3) STAT 7620 – Stat Theory II (3) Elective (3) Elective (3) |
No summer courses are required. Enrolling in Stat 8890 RR Is optional (without summer funding). Year 1: 16 hrs core, 6 hrs elect |
2 |
STAT 9220 Advanced Stat Inference (3) or STAT 9120 – Theory of Linear Models (3) STAT 7640 – Gen Linear Models I (3) STAT 7720 Survival Analysis (3) STAT 7870 – Biostat Consulting Research (3) |
STAT 9140 -Gen Linear Models II (3) or STAT 9240 – Bayesian Inference (3) DATS 8170 – Advanced Comp Methods (3) Elective (3) Elective (3) |
No summer courses are required. Enrolling in Stat 8890 RR Is optional (without summer funding). Year 2: 18 hrs core, 6 hrs elect |
3 |
STAT 9220 Advanced Stat Inference (3) or STAT 9120 – Theory of Linear Models (3) Elective (3) Electives (3) STAT 8890 – RR (3) 1st attempt Comp Exam: 1st and 2nd wks in fall. 2nd attempt: 2 wks before end of the fall semester. |
STAT 9140 – Gen Linear Models II (3) or STAT 9240 – Bayesian Inference (3) Elective (3) STAT 8890 – RR (6) |
No summer courses are required. Enrolling in Stat 8890 RR is optional (without summer funding). Year 3: 6 hrs core, 9 hrs. elect, 9 RR
|
4 |
STAT 8890 – RR (9-12) Proposal due (1st attempt) |
STAT 9300 –Dissertation Res (DS) [Enrollment in 9300 requires pass of the Proposal] (9) or STAT 8890 RR (9) Proposal due (2nd attmpt) |
STAT 9300 – DS (12) Year 4: 9 - 21 hrs RR, 12-21 hrs DS
|
5 |
STAT 9300 – DS (12) |
STAT 9300 – DS (12)
|
STAT 9300 – DS (12) Year 5: 24 - 36 hrs DS
|
Notes:
Suggested Elective Courses (21 credit hours with at least 6 credit hours at the 8000-level or above with prefix STAT or DAT)
For more information on the course pre-requisites and other requirements for
applying to the PhD program in Biostatistics, see our Prospective Students page.