Doctor of Philosophy Degree

The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree focuses on research and prepares you for a career in university-level teaching and research. The EHS Department offers two doctoral programs:

PhD Environmental Health Sciences

Research areas of interest include a broad range of environmental and occupational areas.  Many topics include aspects of  Environment, Sustainability, and Heath,  exposure science-industrial Hygiene and occupational and environmental epidemiology

PhD Toxicology

The field of toxicology identifies environmental and therapeutic exposures of concern, reveals mechanisms by which chemical toxicants create pathological dysfunction or disease, identifies interventions for the prevention of adverse effects, conducts safety assessments, and estimates acceptable levels of exposure for the protection of the public health.

Degree Requirements

There are three major stages in the program to be completed prior to getting the PhD degree:

  • Coursework and successful completion of the Doctoral Qualifying Examination (DQE)
  • Completion of the research proposal and successful passing of the Preliminary Examination
  • Conduct dissertation and research and successfully complete and defend the research

Typically, a PhD program takes a total of 4-5 years to complete. The time frame depends largely on how soon advancement to candidacy is achieved. Once advancement to candidacy has occurred (usually after two years), students typically develop and defend their research prospectus the following year and complete their research effort (including its written presentation) in 2-3 years.

 

You can explore all EHS and non-EHS classes in the course catalogue.

Department Course Requirements

BIOSTAT 521 Applied Biostatistics
PUBHLTH 512 Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health
EHS 510 Responsible Conduct in Research and Scholarship (RCRS)
EHS 801 Professional Development in EHS
EHS 850 Research Design and Proposal Development in EHS
EHS 869 Research Critiques and Scientifics Communications in EHS (Docotral Seminar)
EHS 899 Advanced Research (2 separate rotations required during first year)
EHS 990 Dissertation/Pre-Candidacy 
EHS 995 Dissertation/Candidacy

Select one of the following:

     EHS 576 Biological Agents 
     EHS 652 Evaluation of Chemical Hazards 
     EHS 658 Physical Hazards

Select one of the following:

     BIOSTAT 502 Application of Regression Analysis to Health Studies
     BIOSTAT 522 Biostatistical Analysis for Health-Related Studies
     BIOSTAT 523 Statistical Methods in Epidemiology 
     STAT 401 Applied Statistical Methods II
     STAT 503 Applied Multivariate Analysis 

Additional Course Requirements

Students must complete 9 credits from the list below (3-4 classes):

EHS 504 Genes and the Environment
EHS 556 Occupational Ergonomics
EHS 570 Water Quality Management
EHS 572 Environmental Impact Assessment
EHS 576 Biological Agents
EHS 582 Principles of Community Air Pollution
EHS 592 Infectious Disease & Emergency Response in Communities
EHS 601 Exposure Science and Health
EHS 608 Environmental Epidemiology
EHS 614 Water and Global Health
EHS 616 Toxicologic Pathology 
EHS 651 Occupational Health, Safety, and Environmental Program Management
EHS 652 Evaluation of Chemical Hazards*
EHS 653 Environmental Sampling & Analysis Laboratory
EHS 654 Control of Exposures to Airborne Contaminants
EHS 655 Human Exposure Analysis **
EHS 657 Advanced Exposure Assessment
EHS 658 Physical Hazards*
EHS 660 Environmental Epigenetics and Public Health
EHS 668 Professional Seminar in Occupational Health
EHS 672 Healthy and Sustainable Foods and Products - Life Cycle Assessment***
EHS 675 Data Analysis for Environmental Epidemiology
EHS 683 Air Pollution and Global Health
EHS 685 Toxicology Case Studies of Environmental Disasters: How Chemicals Cause Harm (previously Mechanisms of Toxicology)
EHS 717 Toxicologic Pathology Lab (taken with EHS 616)
EHS 757 Occupational Health Aspects of Industrial Processes (IH field trips course) 
EHS 796 Topics in EHS: Disaster Response and Environmental Health
EHS 796 Topics in EHS: Psychosocial Aspects of Occupational Health

You can explore all EHS and non-EHS classes in the course catalogue.

Department Course Requirements

BIOLCHEM 515 Introduction to Biochemistry 
BIOSTAT 521 Applied Biostatistics
PUBHLTH 512 Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health
EHS 510 Responsible Conduct in Research and Scholarship (RCRS) 
EHS 602 Essentials of Toxicology
EHS 616/717 Toxicological Pathology & Lab 
EHS 685 Toxicology Case Studies of Environmental Disasters: How Chemicals Cause Harm 
EHS 801 Professional Development in EHS
EHS 850 Research Design and Proposal Development in EHS
EHS 869 Research Critiques and Scientifics Communications in EHS (Docotral Seminar)
EHS 899 Advanced Research (2 separate rotations required during first year)
EHS 990 Dissertation/Pre-Candidacy 
EHS 995 Dissertation/Candidacy

Select one of the following:

     EHS 603 Occupational and Environmental Disease
     EHS 652 Evaluation of Chemical Hazards     

Select one of the following:

     EHS 504 Genes and the Environment
     EHS 608 Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology 
     EHS 660 Environmental Epigenetics and Public Health 
     EHS 674 Environmental and Health Risk Modeling

Select two of the following:

     CDB 530 Cell Biology 
     HUMGEN 541 Molecular Genetics
     BIOLCHEM 660 Molecules of Life: Protein Structure, Function, and Dynamics

Select one of the following:

     BIOSTAT 502 Application of Regression Analysis to Health Studies
     BIOSTAT 522 Biostatistical Analysis for Health-Related Studies
     BIOSTAT 523 Statistical Methods in Epidemiology 
     STAT 401 Applied Statistical Methods II
     STAT 503 Applied Multivariate Analysis 

Typical undergraduate majors among applicants admitted to the PhD program in recent years include environmental sciences/studies, public health, industrial hygiene, biology, chemistry, biochemistry, and engineering. However, prospective students with other undergraduate majors are welcome to apply. 

Students who are applying for the PhD programs must meet the following prerequisite courses listed below. Some deficiencies may be made up after admission to the program. Courses taken to fulfill basic deficiencies do not count toward fulfillment of the degree's course requirements.

  • General Biology
  • General Chemistry
  • Organic Chemistry
  • General Physics
  • Calculus

All doctoral students must submit a Rackham Graduate Application (see detailed application process below). All doctoral applications are due December 1. 

There are three steps in the doctoral admission process. This is a general timeline to give applicants a sense of what to expect during the lengthy application process, however, the timeline may be adjusted each year:

  • Fall semester: All completed applications are reviewed by the Admissions Committee.
  • Janauary/February: Select students will be invited to participate in EHS Doctoral Day. This event will provide more insight into UM and the EHS department, but will also include meetings with EHS faculty which is how our faculty can determine who they could mentor.
  • End of March/early April: Students will be contacted by the department with an update on their admission. If admitted, students will recieve an admission and funding letter. 

Students who are offered admission to the doctoral program will be fully-funded through a variety of funding mechanisms. Your funding package will be provided upon admittance into the department; however, funding plans consist of the following:

  • Traineeships from the NIOSH ERC and ETEP
  • Grants/Scholarships from the Department, Rackham Graduate School and the School of Public Health
  • Teaching assistantships from EHS or other SPH departments
  • Research assistantships from faculty research grants

Ready to Apply?

Applications for the PhD program should be submitted through the Rackham Graduate School online application. 

DEADLINES

PhD in Environmental Health Sciences or Toxicology: December 1

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

  • Academic Statement of Purpose: Your SOP should be a concise, well-written statement about your academic and research background, your career goals, and how Michigan's graduate program will help you meet your career and educational objectives. The SOP should be 1-3 pages in length and include your name, name of the graduate program, and your UM ID (if known).
  • Personal Statement: How have your background and life experiences, including cultural, geographical, financial, educational, citizenship status, or other opportunities or challenges, motivated your decision to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Michigan? The personal statement should be 500 words and include your name, name of the graduate program, and your UM ID (if known).
  • Quantitative Statement: In an effort to get a better understanding of your abilities, we require a statement for all graduate-level applicants as part of the application process. This short essay (maximum 500 words) asks you to summarize the strength of your analytical and quantitative skills by addressing the following (if applicable).
    • List each college-level course you have taken that evaluates mathematical or quantitative skills (e.g. algebra, calculus, differential equations, statistics, physics, or courses that require data analysis using statistical software, etc.). For each course, indicate the name of the course, academic year (e.g. freshman, sophomore, etc.), and grade received. Example: Calculus I, freshman year, B+
    • Discuss specific details and examples of relevant research, work, volunteer, or professional experiences that involved analytical and/or quantitative skills and tasks. You may also incorporate instances where you worked with data.
    • If you have experience with quantitative or qualitative data, describe how you used it to solve a complex problem and include how you communicated your findings. Note: please include measurable outcomes that demonstrate your results.
  • Letters of Recommendation: 3 letters of recommendation signed and on letterhead. Electronic submission is highly preferred method which will require a valid email address of your recommenders. 
  • CV/Resume: Upload your CV/Resume that describes your education, work experience, research publications, teaching experience, professional/volunteer activities, community engagement, honors, and awards. 
  • Faculty Members: Please list individual department faculty members with whom you would like to work if admitted into the program. Applicants are required to list a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4 faculty members on the application. 
  • Transcripts:
    • Submitting transcript/academic records is a two-step process.
      • Upload an electronic version of your official transcript/academic record for each bachelor’s, master’s, professional, or doctoral degree earned or in progress through your ApplyWeb application account.
      • If you are recommended admission, you must submit an official or attested transcript/academic record for each institution attended. See Rackham’s detailed instructions on how to submit transcripts/academic records to the Rackham Graduate School.
    • All applicants should report their Grade Point Average (GPA) on page 5 of the online application. The GPA should be reported using a standard U.S. four point scale.  Applicants who attended an institution outside the United States should follow the instructions to convert their international average grade point to a U.S. four point GPA (see "How to Convert Grades to a U.S. GPA" here).
    • Applicants who attended or are attending a Non-U.S. Institution: Review Required Academic Credentials from Non-U.S. Institutions for transcript/academic record requirements by country or region. 
  • Standardized Tests:
    • Michigan Public Health does not require and does not review GRE or other standardized test scores for admission to any master's or doctoral programs. Applications will be reviewed holistically based on required application components. Please contact our admissions staff at sph-inquiries@umich.edu if you have questions.
  •  English Language Test Scores: The TOEFL or IELTS is required for applicants whose native language is not English. Below are the current scores required for international applicants per the Rackham Graduate School.  
    • 84 iBT TOEFL
    • 6.5 IELTS 

APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS

The Admissions Committee will review the application and notify students regarding their admission. For answers to any questions that you might have, please visit other pages on this website and/or contact Rachel Yarbrough, Graduate Program Coordinator at ryarbro@umich.edu

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