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University of Arizona

Department of Planetary Sciences / LPL

Graduate Program

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Masters Program

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

A minimum of 30 hours of graduate credit is required for the Master's degree, including a minimum of 15 credit hours selected from the Planetary Sciences core curriculum. Selected courses are to include at least 1 course in each of the core areas: physics, chemistry, and geosciences. The remaining 15 hours are to be selected by agreement between the student and his or her advisor. The student must maintain a B average in all core courses.

MASTERS COMMITTEE

A committee of three faculty members (the thesis advisor, and two others) is responsible, in lieu of the entire faculty, for advising the student of the degree requirements and reviewing the student's progress. This committee should be activated as soon as it is known that the student has the MS as a degree objective. The Graduate Student Affairs Committee, in consultation with the student and the thesis advisor, will nominate members for the committee, to be approved by the Department Head and the Dean of the Graduate College. In the event that a student has not chosen a thesis advisor at the time the committee is selected, a temporary member will be chosen. The temporary committee member will be replaced by the student's thesis advisor if the advisor is not already a member of the committee.

It is the duty of the MS Committee to read and evaluate the MS thesis and to administer the Final Examination.

MS THESIS AND FINAL EXAMINATION

The Master's candidate is required to write a thesis suitable for publication. Final approval of the thesis rests with the MS Committee. It is expected that the thesis will be submitted to the members of the MS Committee at least two weeks prior to the date when the committee members' signatures are required.

UNIVERSITY THESIS

A University thesis to be deposited in the University Library has to be approved by the Graduate College and all regulations concerning typing, binding, etc. (as described in the "Manual for Theses and Dissertations") have to be followed. The MS degree conferred will then be "with thesis". Registration for some units of 910 (Thesis) is required by the Graduate College and serves as an application for thesis. The standard number of thesis units, as recommended by the Graduate College, is two to four.

Two copies of the thesis must be deposited with the LPL/PtyS library, where they will be cataloged and shelved. The defense of the thesis and general questions constitutes the Final Examination. The student should note that he or she must adhere to the deadline for the completion of the Final Examination. The relevant dates are listed in the current Graduate College.