The Ph.D. degree is awarded largely on the basis of achievement of original research. In the first semester, graduate students begin their research rotations and take Chem. 898A – a survey course in which the faculty present and discuss their research with graduate students.  After completing Chem. 898A, graduate students are suggested to interview with potential research advisers. The Ph.D. nominee should choose a research adviser after discussing available research projects with several professors who are working in areas of interest to the student, regardless of division.

A student may select to work on a joint or collaborative project in which case more than one research advisor would be appropriate. The research program is a cooperative effort between the student and the research adviser with the latter having overall responsibility for the direction and course of the student's research program. There is a practical limit to the number of students who can be accepted into a faculty member's research group at a given time. Therefore, the student may have to conduct thesis research under the direction of a faculty member other than the student's initial choice.

See the New Red Book for more details.