phd programs at stanford

PhD Program

Professor Wender discusses chemistry with his graduate students.

Doctoral study in chemistry at Stanford University prepares students for research and teaching careers with diverse emphases in basic, life, medical, physical, energy, materials, and environmental sciences.

The Department of Chemistry offers opportunities for graduate study spanning contemporary subfields, including theoretical, organic, inorganic, physical, biophysical and biomedical chemistry and more. Much of the research defies easy classification along traditional divisions; cross-disciplinary collaborations with Stanford's many vibrant research departments and institutes is among factors distinguishing this world-class graduate program.

The Department of Chemistry is committed to providing academic advising in support of graduate student scholarly and professional development.  This advising relationship entails collaborative and sustained engagement with mutual respect by both the adviser and advisee.

• The adviser is expected to meet at least monthly with the graduate student to discuss on-going research.
• There should be a yearly independent development plan (IDP) meeting between the graduate student and adviser. Topics include research progress, expectations for completion of PhD, areas for both the student and adviser to improve in their joint research effort.
• A research adviser should provide timely feedback on manuscripts and thesis chapters.
• Graduate students are active contributors to the advising relationship, proactively seeking academic and professional guidance and taking responsibility for informing themselves of policies and degree requirements for their graduate program.
• If there is a significant issue concerning the graduate student’s progress in research, the adviser must communicate this to the student and to the Graduate Studies Committee in writing.  This feedback should include the issues, what needs to be done to overcome these issues and by when.

Academic advising by Stanford faculty is a critical component of all graduate students' education and additional resources can be found in the  Policies and Best Practices for Advising Relationships at Stanford  and the  Guidelines for Faculty-Student Advising at Stanford .

Learn more about the program through the links below, and by exploring the research interests of the  Chemistry Faculty  and  Courtesy Faculty .

How to Apply

Main navigation, the online application for 2024 entry is open..

Visit the Apply Now page to start your application for graduate study.

Select One Program

Out of the graduate degree programs listed on the Explore Graduate Programs page , you may apply to only one program per academic year.

The only exception is within the Biosciences PhD programs , where you may apply for two programs within a single application.

Central & Departmental Processes

We work in partnership with your graduate program of interest to ensure a smooth admission experience from the time you start your application until you enroll at Stanford.

Graduate Admissions

• Oversees the online application system
• Determines university-wide admission requirements
• Reviews the official documents of incoming graduate students to verify that they meet university-wide admission requirements

Graduate Program

• Oversees the review of applications
• May supplement university-wide requirements with program-specific admission requirements
• Communicates admission decisions and offers of financial support

Admission Process Overview

Application.

The first step is to prepare and submit your application materials through the online application system, by the deadline set by your intended graduate program. 

After you submit your application, it is routed to your graduate program for review by its admission committee. Some programs conduct interviews as part of the evaluation process.

Your graduate program communicates the admission decision to you once it is finalized by the admission committee.

If you are admitted, you must respond to the offer of admission by the deadline set by your program. Some programs host "visit days" to help you make an informed decision.

Verification

If you accept the offer of admission, you must arrange for your official transcripts and degree documents to be sent to Graduate Admissions for verification.

Matriculation

After Graduate Admissions reviews your official documents, you are matriculated into your degree program. At this point, you are eligible to enroll in courses if you have no enrollment holds on your record. Note: If you are an international student, you have an enrollment hold until you arrive on campus.

Ph.D. Program

Grad student, Tamkinat Rauf, with Sociologist, William Julius Wilson, at a CASBS event. Image credit: Jerry Wang, courtesy of CASBS at Stanford

The Ph.D. program is defined by a commitment to highly analytical sociology

The program trains graduate students to use a range of methods – quantitative and qualitative – and data – survey, administrative, experimental, interview, direct observation, and more – to answer pressing empirical questions and to advance important theoretical and policy debates.

The Ph.D. curriculum and degree requirements provide students with the methodological skills, substantive knowledge, and mentorship to make important and impactful contributions to sociological knowledge. The program guides Ph.D. students to work on ambitious, independent research projects about which students are passionate. Graduates finish the program well-positioned to be leaders in the field of sociology.

Doctoral Program

Stanford's Ph.D. program is among the world's best. Our graduate students receive their training in a lively community of philosophers engaged in a wide range of philosophical projects. Our Ph.D. program trains students in traditional core areas of philosophy and provides them with opportunities to explore many subfields such as the philosophy of literature, nineteenth-century German philosophy, and medieval philosophy.

Among other areas, we are exceptionally strong in Kant studies, the philosophy of action, ancient philosophy, logic, and the philosophy of science. We attract some of the best students from around the world and we turn them into accomplished philosophers ready to compete for the best jobs in a very tight job market.

The most up-to-date requirements are listed in   t he Bulletin .  

CHECK PHD REQUIREMENTS

From the 2020-2021 edition of Explore Degrees:

Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy

Prospective graduate students should see the  Office of Graduate Admissions  web site for information and application materials. 

The University's basic requirements for the Ph.D. degree including candidacy, residence, dissertation, and examination are discussed in the " Graduate Degrees " section of this bulletin.

University candidacy requirements, published in the " Candidacy " section of this bulletin, apply to all Ph.D. students. Admission to a doctoral degree program is preliminary to, and distinct from, admission to candidacy. Admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree is a judgment by the faculty in the department or school of the student's potential to successfully complete the requirements of the degree program. Students are expected to complete department qualifying procedures and apply for candidacy at the beginning of the seventh academic quarter, normally the Autumn Quarter of the student's third year.

Admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree is granted by the major department following a student's successful completion of qualifying procedures as determined by the department. Departmental policy determines procedures for subsequent attempts to become advanced to candidacy in the event that the student does not successfully complete the procedures. Failure to advance to candidacy results in the dismissal of the student from the doctoral program; see the " Guidelines for Dismissal of Graduate Students for Academic Reasons " section of this bulletin.

The requirements detailed here are department requirements. These requirements are meant to balance structure and flexibility in allowing students, in consultation with their  advisors , to take a path through the program that gives them a rigorous and broad philosophical education, with room to focus on areas of particular interest, and with an eye to completing the degree with an excellent dissertation and a solid preparation for a career in academic philosophy.

Normally, all courses used to satisfy the distribution requirements for the Philosophy Ph.D. are Stanford courses taken as part of a student's graduate program.  In special circumstances, a student may petition to use a very small number of graduate-level courses taken at other institutions to satisfy a distribution requirement.  To be approved for this purpose, the student’s work in such a graduate-level course would need to involve an appropriate subject matter and would need to be judged by the department to be at the level of an 'A' in a corresponding graduate-level course at Stanford.  

Courses used to satisfy any course requirement in Philosophy (except Teaching Methods and the summer Dissertation Development Seminar) must be passed with a letter grade of 'B-' or better (no satisfactory/no credit), except in the case of a course/seminar used to satisfy the third-year course/seminar requirement and taken for only 2 units. Such a reduced-unit third-year course/seminar must be taken credit/no credit. 

At the end of each year, the department reviews the progress of each student to determine whether the student is making satisfactory progress, and on that basis to make decisions about probationary status and termination from the program where appropriate.

Any student in one of the Ph.D. programs may apply for the M.A. when all University and department requirements have been met.

Proficiency Requirements

• First-year Ph.D. Proseminar : a one quarter, topically focused seminar offered in Autumn Quarter, and required of all first-year students.
• two courses in value theory including ethics, aesthetics, political philosophy, social philosophy, philosophy of law. At least one of the courses satisfying this distribution requirement must be in ethics or political philosophy.
• Two courses in language, mind, and action. One course satisfying this requirement must be drawn from the language related courses, and one from mind and action related courses.
• two courses in metaphysics and epistemology (including metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science). At least one of the courses satisfying this requirement must be drawn from either metaphysics or epistemology.
• Instructors indicate which courses may satisfy particular requirements. If a course potentially satisfies more than one requirement the student may use it for only one of those area requirements; no units may be double-counted. Students must develop broad competencies in all these areas. Those without strong backgrounds in these areas would normally satisfy these distribution requirements by taking more basic courses rather than highly specialized and focused courses. Students should consult with their advisor in making these course decisions, and be prepared to explain these decisions when reviewed for candidacy; see requirement 6 below.
• Logic requirement:  PHIL 150  Mathematical Logic or equivalent.
• History/logic requirement. One approved course each in ancient and modern philosophy, plus either another approved history of philosophy course or  PHIL 151  Metalogic.
• Students should normally take at least 64 graduate level units at Stanford during their first six quarters (in many cases students would take more units than that) and of those total units, at least 49 units of course work are to be in the Philosophy department. These courses must be numbered above 110, but not including Teaching Methods ( PHIL 239  Teaching Methods in Philosophy) or affiliated courses. Units of Individual Directed Reading are normally not to be counted toward this 49-unit requirement unless there is special permission from the student's advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies.
•  Prior to candidacy, at least 3 units of work must be taken with each of four Stanford faculty members.

Writing Requirement: Second Year Paper

The second year paper should demonstrate good scholarship and argumentative rigor, and be a polished piece of writing approximately 8000 words in length. The second year paper need not bear any specific relationship to the dissertation. It may be a version of a prospective dissertation chapter, but this is not required. The final version must be turned in on the last class of the Second Year Paper Development Seminar in Summer Quarter of the second year. Extensions of this deadline require the consent of the instructor of the Second Year Paper Development Seminar and the Director of Graduate Studies and are only granted in exceptional cases (e.g., documented illness, family crisis). The final paper is read by a committee of two faculty members and it is an important consideration in the department’s decision on the student’s candidacy. 

Teaching Assistancy

A minimum of five quarters of teaching assistancy are required for the Ph.D. Normally one of these quarters is as a teaching assistant for the Philosophy Department's Writing in the Major course,  PHIL 80  Mind, Matter, and Meaning. It is expected that students not teach in their first year and that they teach no more than two quarters in their second year. Students are required to take  PHIL 239  Teaching Methods in Philosophy during Spring Quarter of their first year and during Autumn Quarter of their second year. Teaching is an important part of students’ preparation to be professional philosophers.

Review at the End of the Second Year for Advancement to Candidacy

The faculty's review of each student includes a review of the student's record, an assessment of the second year paper, and an assessment of the student's preparation for work in her/his intended area of specialization, as well as recommendations of additional preparation, if necessary.

To continue in the Ph.D. program, each student must apply for candidacy at the beginning of the sixth academic quarter, normally the Spring Quarter of the student's second year. Students may be approved for or denied candidacy by the end of that quarter by the department. In some cases, where there are only one or two outstanding deficiencies, the department may defer the candidacy decision and require the student to re-apply for candidacy in a subsequent quarter. In such cases, definite conditions for the candidacy re-application must be specified, and the student must work with the advisor and the DGS to meet those conditions in a timely fashion. A failure to maintain timely progress in satisfying the specified conditions constitutes grounds for withholding travel and discretionary funds and for a denial of advancement to candidacy.

• Writing Seminar : In the Summer Quarter after the second year, students are required to attend the Second Year Paper Development Seminar. The seminar is intended to help students complete their second year papers. 
• Upon completion of the summer writing seminar, students must sign up for independent study credit,  PHIL 240  Individual Work for Graduate Students, with their respective advisors each quarter. A plan at the beginning, and a report at the end, of each quarter must be signed by both student and advisor and submitted to the graduate administrator for inclusion in the student's file. This is the process every quarter until the completion of the departmental oral.
• In Autumn and Winter quarters of the third year, students register in and satisfactorily complete  PHIL 301  Dissertation Development Proseminar. Students meet to present their work in progress and discuss their thesis project. Participation in these seminars is required.
• During the third and fourth years in the program, a student should complete at least three graduate-level courses/seminars, at least two of them in philosophy (a course outside philosophy can be approved by the advisor), and at least two of them in the third year. The three seminars can be taken credit/no-credit for reduced (2) units. Courses required for candidacy are not counted toward satisfaction of this requirement. This light load of courses allows students to deepen their philosophical training while keeping time free for thesis research.

Dissertation Work and Defense

The third and following years are devoted to dissertation work. The few requirements in this segment of the program are milestones to encourage students and advisors to ensure that the project is on track.

• Dissertation Proposal— By Spring Quarter of the third year, students should have selected a dissertation topic and committee. A proposal sketching the topic, status, and plan for the thesis project, as well as an annotated bibliography or literature review indicating familiarity with the relevant literature, must be received by the committee one week before the meeting on graduate student progress late in Spring Quarter. The dissertation proposal and the reading committee's report on it will constitute a substantial portion of the third year review.
• Departmental Oral— During Autumn Quarter of the fourth year, students take an oral examination based on at least 30 pages of written work, in addition to the proposal. The aim of the exam is to help the student arrive at an acceptable plan for the dissertation and to make sure that student, thesis topic, and advisors make a reasonable fit. It is an important chance for the student to clarify their goals and intentions with the entire committee present.
• Fourth-Year Colloquium— No later than Spring Quarter of the fourth year, students present a research paper in a 60-minute seminar open to the entire department. This paper should be on an aspect of the student's dissertation research. This is an opportunity for the student to make their work known to the wider department, and to explain their ideas to a general philosophical audience.
• University Oral Exam— Ph.D. students must submit a completed draft of the dissertation to the reading committee at least one month before the student expects to defend the thesis in the University oral exam. If the student is given consent to go forward, the University oral can take place approximately two weeks later. A portion of the exam consists of a student presentation based on the dissertation and is open to the public. A closed question period follows. If the draft is ready by Autumn Quarter of the fourth year, the student may request that the University oral count as the department oral.

Below are yearly lists of courses which the faculty have approved to fulfill distribution requirements in these areas: value theory (including ethics, aesthetics, political philosophy, social philosophy, philosophy of law); language; mind and action; metaphysics and epistemology (including metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science); logic; ancient philosophy; modern philosophy.

The most up-to-date requirements are listed in  t he Bulletin .  

Ph.D. Minor in Philosophy

To obtain a Ph.D. minor in Philosophy, students must follow these procedures:

• Consult with the Director of Graduate Study to establish eligibility, and select a suitable  advisor .
• 30 units of courses in the Department of Philosophy with a letter grade of 'B-' or better in each course. No more than 3 units of directed reading may be counted in the 30-unit requirement.
• Philosophy of science
• Ethics, value theory, and moral and political philosophy
• Metaphysics and epistemology
• Language, mind and action
• History of philosophy
• Two additional courses numbered over 199 to be taken in one of those (b) six areas.
• A faculty member from the Department of Philosophy (usually the student's advisor) serves on the student's doctoral oral examination committee and may request that up to one third of this examination be devoted to the minor subject.
• Paperwork for the minor must be submitted to the department office before beginning the program.

Interdisciplinary Study

The department supports interdisciplinary study. Courses in Stanford's other departments and programs may be counted towards the degree, and course requirements in Philosophy are designed to allow students considerable freedom in taking such courses. Dissertation committees may include members from other departments. Where special needs arise, the department is committed to making it possible for students to obtain a philosophical education and to meet their interdisciplinary goals. Students are advised to consult their advisors and the department's student services office for assistance.

Graduate Program in Cognitive Science

Philosophy participates with the departments of Computer Science, Linguistics, and Psychology in an interdisciplinary program in Cognitive Science. It is intended to provide an interdisciplinary education, as well as a deeper concentration in philosophy, and is open to doctoral students. Students who complete the requirements within Philosophy and the Cognitive Science requirements receive a special designation in Cognitive Science along with the Ph.D. in Philosophy. To receive this field designation, students must complete 30 units of approved courses, 18 of which must be taken in two disciplines outside of philosophy. The list of approved courses can be obtained from the Cognitive Science program located in the Department of Psychology.

Special Track in Philosophy and Symbolic Systems

Students interested in interdisciplinary work relating philosophy to artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computer science, linguistics, or logic may pursue a degree in this program.

Prerequisites—Admitted students should have covered the equivalent of the core of the undergraduate Symbolic Systems Program requirements as described in the " Symbolic Systems " section of the Stanford Bulletin, including courses in artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive science, linguistics, logic, and philosophy. The graduate program is designed with this background in mind. Students missing part of this background may need additional course work. In addition to the required course work listed in the bulletin, the Ph.D. requirements are the same as for the regular program, with the exception that one course in value theory and one course in history may be omitted.

Joint Program in Ancient Philosophy

This program is jointly administered by the Departments of Classics and Philosophy and is overseen by a joint committee composed of members of both departments:

•         Christopher Bobonich , Philosophy (Ancient Greek Philosophy, Ethics)
•         Alan Code , Philosophy, Philosophy (Ancient Greek Philosophy, Metaphysics)
•         Reviel Netz , Classics (History of Greek and Pre-Modern Mathematics)
•         Andrea Nightingale , Classics, (Greek and Roman Philosophy and Literature)
•        Josh Ober , Classics and Political Science (Greek Political Thought, Democratic Theory)

It provides students with the training, specialist skills, and knowledge needed for research and teaching in ancient philosophy while producing scholars who are fully trained as either philosophers with a strong specialization in ancient languages and philology, or classicists with a concentration in philosophy.

Students are admitted to the program by either department. Graduate students admitted by the Philosophy department receive their Ph.D. from the Philosophy department; those admitted by the Classics department receive their Ph.D. from the Classics department. For Philosophy graduate students, this program provides training in classical languages, literature, culture, and history. For Classics graduate students, this program provides training in the history of philosophy and in contemporary philosophy.

Each student in the program is advised by a committee consisting of one professor in each department.

Requirements for Philosophy Graduate Students: These are the same as the proficiency requirements for the Ph.D. in Philosophy.

One year of Greek is a requirement for admission to the program. If students have had a year of Latin, they are required to take 3 courses in second- or third-year Greek or Latin, at least one of which must be in Latin. If they have not had a year of Latin, they are then required to complete a year of Latin, and take two courses in second- or third-year Greek or Latin.

Students are also required to take at least three courses in ancient philosophy at the 200 level or above, one of which must be in the Classics department and two of which must be in the Philosophy department.

Ph.D. Subplan in History and Philosophy of Science

Graduate students in the Philosophy Ph.D. program may pursue a Ph.D. subplan in History and Philosophy of Science. The subplan is declared in Axess and subplan designations appear on the official transcript, but are not printed on the diploma.

1.  Attendance at the HPS colloquium series. 2.  Philosophy of Science courses.  Select one of the following:

• PHIL 263 Significant Figures in Philosophy of Science: Einstein
• PHIL 264: Central Topics in the Philosophy of Science: Theory and Evidence
• PHIL 264A: Central Topics in Philosophy of Science: Causation
• PHIL 265: Philosophy of Physics: Space and Time
• PHIL 265C: Philosophy of Physics: Probability and Relativity
• PHIL 266: Probability: Ten Great Ideas About Chance
• PHIL 267A:  Philosophy of Biology
• PHIL 267B: Philosophy, Biology, and Behavior

3.  One elective seminar in the history of science. 4.  One elective seminar (in addition to the course satisfying requirement 2) in philosophy of science.

The PhD program provide 5 years of  financial support . We also try to provide support for our sixth year students and beyond though we cannot guarantee such support. In addition to covering tuition, providing a stipend, and covering Stanford's health insurance, we provide additional funds for books, computer equipment, and conference travel expenses. Some of the financial support is provided through requiring you to teach; however, our teaching requirement is quite low and we believe that this is a significant advantage of our program.

Stanford Support Programs

Additional support, such as advances, medical and emergency grants for Grad Students are available through the Financial Aid Office. The University has created the following programs specifically for graduate students dealing with challenging financial situations.

Graduate Financial Aid  homepage :

https://financialaid.stanford.edu/grad/funding/

Cash Advance:  https://sfs.stanford.edu/gradcashadvance

Emergency grant-in-aid :  https://financialaid.stanford.edu/pdf/emergencygrant-in-aid.pdf, family grants:  https://financialaid.stanford.edu/pdf/gradfamilygrant2021.pdf, housing loans:  https://financialaid.stanford.edu/loans/other/gradhousing.html, program characteristics.

Our program is well known for its small size, streamlined teaching requirements, and low average time to degree.

The program regulations are designed to efficiently provide students with a broad base in their first two years. In the third year students transition to working on their dissertations. During the summer prior to the third year, students are required to attend a dissertation development seminar. This seminar introduces students to what is involved in writing a dissertation. During the third year the course load drops to just under one course per quarter.

The rest of the time is spent working closely with a faculty member, or a couple of faculty members, on the student's area of research interest. The goal of the third year is that this process of intensive research and one-on-one interaction will generate a topic and proposal for the dissertation. During the fourth and fifth year the student is not required to take any courses and he or she focusses exclusively on research and writing on the dissertation.

Stanford University

Being a part of  Stanford University  means that students have access to one of the premier education institutions in the world. Stanford is replete with top departments in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. In addition, our professional schools, such as the  Stanford Law School , are among the best. The range of research in a variety of areas, many of which touch on or relate to philosophical issues, is simply astounding. Students have the freedom to take courses across the university. Graduate students also regularly earn joint degrees with other programs.

Main navigation

The PhD program requires three years of full-time graduate study, at least two years of which must be at Stanford. Typically, however, students take four to five years after entering the program to complete all PhD requirements. The University requires a minimum of 135 units for a PhD, up to 45 units of which may be transferred from another graduate program, or used toward a master's degree at Stanford.

Areas of research

Breadth requirement, qualification procedure requirements, degree progress and student responsibility.

Oral examination

Doctoral students are required to take a number of courses, both to pass a qualifying exam in one of these areas, and to complete a dissertation based on research which must make an original contribution to knowledge. The PhD is generally organized around the expectation that the student acquires a certain breadth across all areas of the department, and depth in one area.

The current areas are: Computational Social Science Decision and Risk Analysis Operations Research Organizations, Technology and Entrepreneurship Policy and Strategy Quantitative Finance

Each student admitted to the PhD program must satisfy a breadth requirement.

All first year students are required to attend and participate in MS&E 302 Fundamental Concepts in Management Science and Engineering, which will meet in the Autumn Quarter.

Each course session will be devoted to a specific MS&E PhD research area. At a given session, several advanced PhD students in that area will make carefully prepared presentations designed for first-year doctoral students regardless of area. The presentations will be devoted to: (a) illuminating how people in the area being explored that day think about and approach problems, and (b) illustrating what can and cannot be done when addressing problems by deploying the knowledge, perspectives, and skills acquired by those who specialize in the area in question.

Faculty in the focal area of the week will comment on the student presentations. The rest of the session will be devoted to questions posed and comments made by the first-year PhD students.

During the last two weeks of the quarter groups of first year students will make presentations on how they would approach a problem drawing on two or more of the perspectives to which they have been exposed earlier in the class.

Attendance is mandatory and performance will be assessed on the basis of the quality of the students’ presentations and class participation.

Each student admitted to the PhD program must pass an area qualification procedure. The purpose of the qualification procedure is to assess the student’s command of the field and to evaluate his or her potential to complete a high-quality dissertation in a timely manner. The student must complete specified course work in one of the areas of the department. The qualification decision is based on the student’s coursework and grade point average (GPA), on the one or two preliminary papers prepared by the student with close guidance from two faculty members, at least one of whom must be an MS&E faculty member, the student’s performance in an area examination or defense of the written paper(s), and an overall assessment by the faculty of the student's ability to conduct high-quality PhD research. Considering this evidence, the department faculty will vote on advancing the student to candidacy in the department at large.

The qualification procedure is based on depth in an area of the student’s choice and preparation for dissertation research. The qualification process must be completed by the end of the month of May in the student’s second year of graduate study in the department. The performance of all doctoral students will be reviewed every year at a department faculty meeting at the end of May or beginning of June. PhD qualification decisions will be made at that time and individual feedback will be provided.

The PhD qualification requirements comprise the following elements:

Courses and GPA: Students must complete the depth requirements of one of the areas of the MS&E department. All courses used to satisfy depth requirements must be taken for a letter grade, if the letter-graded option is available. Course substitutions may be approved by the doctoral program advisor or the MS&E dissertation advisor on the candidacy form or on a request for graduate course substitution form. A student must maintain a GPA of at least 3.4 in the set of all courses taken by the student within the department. The GPA will be computed on the basis of the nominal number of units for which each course is offered.

Paper(s): A student may choose between two options. The first option involves one paper supervised by a primary faculty advisor and a second faculty reader. This paper should be written in two quarters. The second option involves two shorter sequential tutorials, with two different faculty advisors. Each tutorial should be completed in one quarter. In both options, the student chooses the faculty advisor(s)/reader with the faculty members’ consent. There must be two faculty members, at least one of whom must be an MS&E faculty member, supervising and evaluating this requirement for advancement to candidacy. The paper/tutorials must be completed before the Spring Quarter of a student’s second year of graduate study in the department if the student’s qualifying exam is during the Spring Quarter, and before the end of May of that year otherwise.

Area qualification: In addition, during the second year, a student must pass an examination in one of the areas of the MS&E department, or defense of the written paper(s). The student chooses the area/program in which to take the examination. This area examination will be written, oral, or both at the discretion of the area faculty administering the exam. Most areas offer the qualifying exam only once per year, which may be early in the second year.

Each doctoral student’s progress is reviewed annually by the MS&E faculty. Typically, this occurs at a faculty meeting at the end of Spring Quarter, and appropriate email notifications are sent over the summer to the students and their advisors. It shall be the responsibility of the student to initiate each required step in completing the PhD program. To maintain good standing in the PhD program,

First year students must: 1. Complete 30 units, including MS&E 302 and doctoral courses taught by faculty in their research area; 2. Develop relationships with faculty members who can potentially serve as dissertation advisor or reading committee member. A faculty member is more likely to accept the responsibility of supervising the research of a student whom he or she knows fairly well than a student whose abilities, initiative, and originality the faculty member knows less. It is recommended that students participate in research rotations with MS&E and related faculty to facilitate the development of these relationships.

Second year students must: 1. Complete at least two one-quarter research rotations or tutorials, or one two-quarter research rotation, tutorial, or research paper, continuing to develop relationships with faculty members who might serve as dissertation advisor or reading committee member; 2. Pass an area qualifying exam or defense of the written paper(s); 3. Submit a candidacy form signed by at least one MS&E faculty member with whom they have or will complete research rotations, tutorials, or papers, and listing the course requirements agreed upon by both the student and the program advisor; 4. Complete 30 units, including most, if not all, of the required courses listed on the candidacy form; 5. Be advanced to candidacy by the faculty.

Third year students must: 1. Submit a progress form listing the dissertation topic and signed by the dissertation advisor (if the dissertation advisor is not an MS&E faculty member, the form must also be signed by an MS&E faculty member who agrees to be on the student's reading committee, as well as the student's point of contact within the department); 2. Complete 30 units, including any remaining depth courses.

Fourth year students must: 1. Select a reading committee (a dissertation advisor and two readers) with at least one member from the student's major department, and submit the reading committee form signed by each member on the reading committee; 2. Make satisfactory progress on their dissertation as determined by their dissertation advisor; 3. If the student has not transferred any previous graduate units to Stanford, complete 30 dissertation units.

Students beyond their fourth year must make satisfactory progress on their dissertation as determined by their dissertation advisor and approved by the faculty. Indeed, the dissertation advisor will have to present the case to (and seek approval for good standing of the student from) the faculty in the annual faculty meeting for student review. It should be noted that each student inherently has to pass the oral examination (see below) and submit their dissertation before their candidacy expires.

Oral Examination

As administered in this department, the University oral examination is a defense of the dissertation; however, the candidate should be prepared to answer any question raised by any members of the Academic Council who choose to be present. The examining committee consists of the three members of the reading committee as well as a fourth faculty member and an orals chair. The chair must be an Academic Council member and may not be affiliated with either the Department of Management Science and Engineering nor any department in which the student's adviser has a regular appointment; emeriti professors are eligible to serve as an orals chair. It is the responsibility of the student's adviser to find an appropriate orals chair. The University oral examination may be scheduled after the dissertation reading committee has given tentative approval to the dissertation.

The student must be enrolled in the quarter of their oral examination. Students should schedule three hours for the oral examination, which usually consists of a 45-minute public presentation, followed by closed-session questioning of the examinee by the committee, and committee deliberation. The student needs to reserve a room, and meet with the student services manager to complete the oral examination schedule and pick up other paper work. This paperwork, along with an abstract, needs to be delivered to the orals chair at least one week prior to the oral examination.

Incoming PhD Student Rupert Li Awarded Hertz Fellowship

Photo courtesy of the Hertz Foundation

The Hertz Fellowship is awarded to students who demonstrate extraordinary potential to become foremost leaders in their fields and tackle significant challenges facing the nation and the world. Rupert Li is currently a senior at MIT, and will be joining the Math Department's PhD program in 2025.

You can learn more about Rupert's contributions and the Hertz Fellowship here: www.hertzfoundation.org/person/rupert-li/

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HR Leader Brings Innovative Mindset to Established Network of Animal Hospitals

Magdalena Bugallo learned new skills and ways of thinking to improve employee compensation and benefits with the People, Culture, and Performance program.

May 14, 2024

With her two Chinese Shar-Peis, Simona and Eros, as loyal office companions, Magdalena Bugallo combines a lifelong love for animals with a passion for human resources. A native of Argentina, she relocated to Tennessee in 2021, and in February 2023, she became Director, Total Rewards Experience, for VCA Animal Hospitals.

Acquired by candy and food manufacturing giant Mars in 2017, VCA Animal Hospitals is headquartered in Los Angeles, with more than 25,000 associates in 1,000+ hospitals across the U.S. Magdalena, who goes by “Macu,” was hired as a change agent to improve the Total Rewards Experience, enhancing compensation and benefits offers for associates — in support of the organization’s business goals. The work demanded a thorough review of current programs and processes, along with new ways of thinking.

“The company has always had an entrepreneurial approach,” Macu says. “We had been in business since 1986, and we needed to rethink some processes and reshape them from scratch. We needed to build on our foundation but think like a startup.”

The job came with challenges. Veterinarians and veterinary technicians are in short supply, she notes, while the COVID-19 pandemic brought greater awareness of mental health and work-life balance issues. Employees, she adds, expect more flexibility and support. “I need to design programs and solutions that can help our company attract and retain top talent,” she says.

Macu already had a bachelor’s degree in human resources and a master’s in coaching and change management. As she embarked on her new role, she wanted to refresh her own perspective as a career HR professional. “I thought, OK, I’m in the U.S. and I love learning,” she recalls. “Where could I learn how the most innovative industries approach problems and solutions? I was looking for a startup mindset.”

As she researched educational programs, Macu was drawn to Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) and its sunny Silicon Valley campus. “This is where amazing top tech companies grow and ideas are born into bigger things,” she says. “This is where I could boost my curiosity and my creativity to bring something new to this job and develop myself, too.”

The Stanford Executive Education program People, Culture, and Performance: Strategies from Silicon Valley was just what Macu was looking for.

Learning with Other Industry Change Agents

Macu attended the one-week, on-campus program, which uses Silicon Valley models and mindsets to help participants recruit, retain, and inspire people for performance and growth. She was pleasantly surprised at the diversity of industries and experiences among her cohort of peers.

“The world was represented,” she says. “Seeing people from different countries and cultures approach the same challenges in different ways was mind blowing. That sparked my creativity.”

Quote If you have a curious mind and want to be amazed by a level of academic knowledge and experiences you’ve never seen before, then this is the program for you. Attribution Magdalena “Macu” Bugallo

Macu immersed herself in the program’s curriculum , which offers insights, strategies, and tools around key themes of growth and performance, design thinking, data analytics, diversity, and implementation and personal action plans. She enjoyed experiential learning activities/exercises involving leadership and team collaboration — opportunities to build self-awareness through “aha! moments of seeing yourself by how others see you.” Macu has since adapted the program’s exercises to use in her own team building.

Bringing Startup Ideas to a Time-Honored Brand

The program’s combination of lectures, exercises, and case study analyses helped Macu understand real-world lessons from Silicon Valley and embrace its spirit of ingenuity.

“This program taught me the startup mindset is to test, try, fail, learn, and try again,” she says. “Traditionally, in American culture, failure is not taken well. I wanted to bring back a mindset of it’s OK to fail. Let’s look at what happened. Let’s analyze. Let’s learn and see how we can make it better.”

Following her participation in the People, Culture, and Performance program, Macu applied what she learned to streamline HR processes across the VCA Animal Hospitals family. “We received compliments from senior leadership saying, ‘We’ve never seen processes go as smoothly — as perfectly — as this year. No errors. Literally no errors.’”

She looks forward to drawing on what she learned to help her organization promote its mission to “take care of the future of veterinary medicine and improve the health and well-being of our people, pets and the planet” — with her furry office mates keeping her motivated. The startup mindset she gained at Stanford GSB helps her to stay energized and find new ways to show staff they are highly valued and appreciated.

“I’m exploring innovative solutions on how to approach our communication and capability building with our leaders,” Macu says. “That’s what’s ahead.”

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People, Culture, and Performance: Strategies from Silicon Valley Gain a competitive advantage using Silicon Valley models and mindsets to recruit, retain, and inspire people for performance and growth.

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SDSU international student secures coveted spot in Stanford’s Art History doctoral program

Kehinde 'Kennii' Ekundayo faced tumultuous path to fund her education, but her resiliency paid off

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Kehinde “Kennii” Ekundayo laughs with ease these days, a levity that belies having to work multiple jobs, sell her blood to pay for college in her native Nigeria, or sometimes not be able to afford groceries during her graduate studies at San Diego State University.

Her high spirits stem from an email this spring from Stanford University, accepting Ekundayo into its Art History Ph.D. program.

Ranking among the top in the country, Stanford’s program is extremely selective. It typically admits fewer than eight candidates per year, according to its website.

“Certainly, I could say people who have a degree from an Ivy League institution regularly do not get admitted because it is so competitive,” said Gillian Sneed , assistant professor of Art History and area coordinator for Art History and Foundations. “We are very proud of Kennii for her achievement.”

Stanford is providing Ekundayo with a fellowship that pays her tuition and living expenses for five years. For her research, she also received a supplemental award through the university’s Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education (EDGE) Fellowship.

 This is uncharted territory for Ekundayo, who will graduate this month from SDSU’s interdisciplinary Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences (MALAS) program.

“Since starting my undergrad at 16, when I left home, I’ve had to fund myself,” she said. “And now at Stanford, I get this amazing opportunity to focus on my education and my research without having to focus on where my tuition is going to come from.”

Her SDSU community of faculty mentors, classmates and friends expects big things.

“Look out world,” said SDSU English and Comparative Literature Professor William Nericcio , who heads the MALAS program. “Her support package is extraordinary. For this brilliant woman who has been scrabbling together monies to cover living expenses, it could not have happened to a better person.”

Hustling for Art

Raised by a single mom, Ekundayo paid her way through college in Nigeria working as a courier, cosmetics salesperson, and other odd jobs.

She began freelancing for a local artist friend, helping curate events. Prior to that, she had rarely visited a gallery or museum. Her major was French. 

During an exhibit at a hotel, Ekundayo recognized a Nigerian state governor and his entourage in the lobby.

“I ran after him, and the security was like, ‘Go away girl,’” she recalled. “I said I am trying to invite you to a show that just opened. I made a spectacle and he said, ‘OK, I am going out now, but I will stop by when I return.’”

The official kept his word. “He bought so many works that day. We had never sold anything like that before,” she said.

That got Ekundayo on the artist’s payroll and hooked her on the vibrant creative scene in Lagos where she began meeting people and learning all she could about contemporary African art and curating shows.

Coming to San Diego

Looking for freedom to pursue her ideas, Ekundayo quit her job. She had built relationships with prominent gallery operators and Nigerian artisans. As a newcomer to the art scene, she occasionally felt the sting of elitism. But she persisted.

“The thing about me is I say yes to everything,” she said. “And even if, at the end of the day, I say I do not want to do this again, at least I did something.”

At a film festival in Lagos, Ekundayo met SDSU Professor Niyi Coker , director of the School of Theater, Television, and Film. The encounter led to a plan for a retrospective at SDSU of works from iconic African artist Bruce Onobrakpeya , accompanied by Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka . 

She had previously worked with both men, and CNN’s African Voices Changemakers featured her retrospective of Onobrakpeya’s career.  

Ekundayo curated the show and spent her life savings shipping art to the U.S. The exhibit opened in February 2022 in the SDSU University Art Gallery.  

“For 20 years, I took students to London for a study abroad program, and this show was of a quality that I was accustomed to in London, where the museums are amazing,” said Nericcio.

Sneed also was impressed. “I felt like this older generation, Bruce and Wole, had identified Kennii as being this bright star for their country.”

After the show, Ekundayo flew back to Nigeria. But she wanted to further her education. She had applied to a prestigious art college in the United Kingdom but could not afford to go.

Nericcio lobbied her to apply to SDSU. “I asked for funding,” said Ekundayo. “He said sorry, there is no funding. I was like, well, this is a dead end.”

She recalls Nericcio saying, just start with the application and everything will work out.

Next Chapter

Ekundayo enrolled in August 2022. She is a paid research assistant for Nericcio, works as managing editor of SDSU University Press, grades papers for professors, is a teaching assistant, and makes time to participate in campus activities.

“She is very active, knows everybody, gets out there and goes to all these events, just works her butt off,” said Sneed.

Ekundayo received a scholarship to travel to Brazil last summer for research on her master’s thesis, a comparative analysis of how Brazilian and Nigerian artists are shining light on climate change and flooding.

“She did a tremendous job of expanding her network on that trip in a short amount of time,” said Kristal Bivona, an SDSU assistant professor of classics and humanities and associate director of the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies. “It is impressive how she can contact people she has never met before, make plans and just get in there.”

Ekundayo is still wrapping her head around her academic journey to Stanford, where she plans to research recent refugee artists in the U.S. She is grateful to all her mentors and supporters, especially Nericcio, who is the reason she came to SDSU.

“When people are kind to you, you are able to perform at your peak,” she said. 

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Seven yalies to hone leadership skills as knight-hennessy scholars.

Top row, from left, Daviana Berkowitz-Sklar, Tilly Brooks, and Gabe Malek. Second row, Qusay Omran, Henry Smith, Lina Volin, and Barkotel Zemenu.

A Yale College senior and six Yale alumni are among 90 scholars from 30 countries to be named Knight-Hennessy Scholars at Stanford University. The scholars were selected for their independent thought, leadership, and civic-mindedness.

At Stanford, the cohort will pursue graduate degrees in 45 degree programs across all seven schools.

Knight-Hennessy Scholars is a multidisciplinary, multicultural graduate scholarship program that helps develop future leaders. The scholars receive up to three years of financial support to pursue graduate studies at Stanford while also engaging in experiences that prepare them to tackle global challenges.

The seven Yale affiliates named to the 2024 cohort of Knight-Hennessy scholars follows:

Daviana Berkowitz-Sklar ’23, who studied ecology and evolutionary biology as an undergraduate at Yale College, will pursue a Ph.D. in oceans at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Raised in Costa Rica and California, Berkowitz-Sklar aspires to develop collaborative, science-based solutions to improve the health of ecosystems and the people who depend on them. She is interested in marine spatial ecology and socio-ecological systems and has conducted research in Costa Rican fishing communities with the DynaMAR Project at Stanford. She was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship as well as a Yale postgraduate fellowship to research whale migrations at OKEANOS-University of the Azores and a Rohr Reef Resilience Fellowship to study coral reef resilience at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Berkowitz-Sklar is the co-founder and president of a nonprofit organization, Nature Now International, through which she leads programs to engage youth in community-based science and conservation, including hands-on work with wildlife, citizen science, and STEM education.

Tilly Brooks  ’23, who was a linguistics major as a Yale College undergraduate, will concurrently pursue a Ph.D. in linguistics at Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences and a J.D. at Yale Law School. Brooks, who is from New Haven, studied Indo-European philology at Yale before discovering an interest in action-based research and the relationship between language and law. Focusing both on the effects of law and policy decisions on marginalized linguistic communities and the application of linguistic theories, research methods, and tools to interpretive legal processes, she researches what she calls “the law of language and the language of law.” In the long term, Brooks aims to draw communities of legal scholars, linguists, and legal practitioners together with the common goals of advancing linguistic justice in the practice of law, and refining the use of linguistic evidence and tools for law and policy purposes.

Gabe Malek ’20, who was a double major in American studies and anthropology at Yale, will pursue a J.D. at Stanford Law School. He aspires to leverage commercial law, financial regulation, and tax policy to accelerate the clean energy transition. Malek has served as chief of staff at Fervo Energy, a next-generation geothermal power developer, and deputy chief of staff to Mark Carney, co-chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero and former governor of the Bank of England. He began his career at Environmental Defense Fund, where he helped formalize and scale the organization’s investor engagement strategy. At Yale, Malek received the Edward Sapir Prize for his research on international climate finance and the Institute for Social and Policy Studies Director’s Fellowship for his commitment to public service.

Qusay Omran ’21, who studied chemistry as an undergraduate at Yale College, will pursue an M.D. and Ph.D. in genetics at Stanford School of Medicine. He aspires to develop innovative therapies for cancers and immunologic disorders through research in chemical and synthetic biology. In college, he studied nucleic acid chemical biology at Yale and the National Cancer Institute, publishing his senior thesis on a novel self-splicing assay. Omran also led the Yale Review of International Studies, where he edited and published academic essays on global affairs solicited from around the world. Originally from Bahrain, Omran is a passionate advocate for displaced populations. He worked at Havenly, a nonprofit dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty for refugee women. He earned a Dwight Hall Community Response Fellowship and the Berkeley College Fellows’ Prize for his contributions to the greater community.

Henry Smith  ’22, who was a double major in mathematics and statistics at Yale, is pursuing a Ph.D. in statistics at Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. Through his Ph.D., Smith, who is from Hanover, Pennsylvania, aims to improve statistical understanding of machine learning algorithms so they can be more confidently applied across various domains. After graduating from Yale, he spent a year conducting research at the University of Cambridge, where he and a team developed a novel machine learning algorithm to solve a challenging problem in multi-drone flight. At Yale, Smith served as a leader of the Yale Votes Coalition to strengthen university voting policy and managed data for numerous political campaigns. He also spent three years preparing taxes for low-income New Haven residents. At Yale, Smith received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, an award for the best undergraduate thesis, and Yale’s Emerson Tuttle award for scholastic achievement.

Lina Volin ’19, who studied history at Yale, is pursuing a J.D. at Stanford Law School. Volin, who is from Hollywood, Florida, also holds a Master of Science degree in modern Middle Eastern studies from the University of Oxford. She aspires to advance access to health care and improve health outcomes through policymaking that centers equity and addresses intersecting social, economic, and legal issues. For three years, she served at the White House Gender Policy Council, most recently as director for health policy, where she worked on policy development and litigation response related to reproductive rights and helped to launch a new White House initiative aimed at closing critical research gaps in women’s health. Volin previously served as the council’s chief of staff and led efforts to advance pay equity and strengthen worker protections.

Barkotel Zemenu , an intensive physics major will graduate from Yale College this month, will pursue a Ph.D. in physics at Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. Zemenu, who is from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has conducted in research on three continents, including work that has spanned particle physics, quantum gravity, and observational astronomy. At Stanford, he plans to leverage this background to investigate fundamental questions in cosmology, with a focus on the elusive neutrinos and the hidden dark sector. As a Yale undergraduate, Zemenu was selected to join the 73rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Physics, named Top Oral Presenter at the annual international conference hosted by the American Physical Society, and awarded multiple national scholarships by the American Institute of Physics. At Yale, he enjoyed being a physics tutor and studying numerous foreign languages.

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