Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Sustainability

About the program

The Ph.D. in Sustainability engages scientists and leaders in research to investigate the urgent sustainability challenges of the 21st century. The flexible, interdisciplinary nature of the program allows students to focus on problems of interest to them, drawing upon relevant knowledge from a variety of disciplines.

Learning Outcomes

Ph.D. graduates will have an advanced understanding of the dynamics of coupled socioecological systems and will be able to lead others in research and providing adaptive solutions to specific sustainability challenges. In addition to the common learning outcomes, Ph.D. students will be able to:

  • Understand the concepts and methods of a number of critical disciplines bearing on the sustainability of systems at different spatio-temporal scales.
  • Lead others in applying these concepts and methods to developing sustainable strategies for water, land, air, and urban management at the local and global level.
  • Lead others in the analysis and design of the built environment and institutions’ policies, regulations, and technologies to support sustainable development. In addition, they will be able to research particular sustainability challenges and develop standard (transferable) skills, including the capacity to:
  • Identify problems
  • Formulate and test hypotheses
  • Use statistical, econometric, and geographical-information-system techniques to construct and analyze datasets
  • Build and apply models

Curriculum

Students may be admitted to the Ph.D. program with either a bachelor’s or a master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution or the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree from an international institution officially recognized by that country.

If admitted with a bachelor’s degree, students must complete a minimum of 84 semester hours. If admitted with a master’s degree, they must complete a minimum of 54 hours.

Requirements and Electives

With a Bachelor’s Degree

Semester Hours

Required Core Courses:

15

Required Seminars:

6

Required Solutions Workshops:

6

Required Research:

12

Required Dissertation:

12

Electives (400-level or 500-level) Of which, a maximum of 6 hours can be at the 400-level:

33

Total Semester Hours Required:

84

With a Master’s Degree

Semester Hours

Required Core Courses:

12

Required Seminars:

3

Required Solutions Workshops:

3

Required Research:

12

Required Dissertation:

12

Electives (500-level or higher):

12

Total Semester Hours Required:

54

Required Core Courses (12 hours if admitted with a master’s degree or 15 hours if admitted with a bachelor’s degree)

The required core courses will bring students together in an integrated learning environment to form a cadre of diverse backgrounds. The core courses are designed to provide students with methods and theory appropriate to the study of sustainability. They will explore the link between concepts of sustainability and systems approaches to knowledge, and will develop the integrative methods needed to work across the disciplines on sustainability problems.

  • SOS 510 Perspectives on Sustainability (Required for all students)
  • SOS 511 Quantitative Methods in Sustainability (Required for all students)
  • SOS 512 Sustainable Resource Allocation
  • SOS 513 Science for Sustainability
  • SOS 514 Human Dimensions of Sustainability
  • SOS 515 Industrial Ecology and Design for Sustainability
  • SOS 516 Science, Technology, and Public Affairs or SOS 591 Uncertainty and Decision Making
  • SOS 591 Sustainability and Enterprise

Required Challenge Area Seminars (3 hours if admitted with a master’s degree or 6 hours if admitted with a bachelor’s degree)

Challenge area seminars are designed to provide students with a strong substantive foundation (content knowledge, big theory, and big studies) of the main themes of the School.

  • SOS 530 International Development and Sustainability
  • SOS 532 Sustainable Urban Dynamics
  • SOS 533 Sustainable Water
  • SOS 534 Sustainable Energy and Material Use
  • SOS 535 Sustainable Ecosystems
  • SOS 598 Food System Sustainability

Required Solutions Workshops (3 hours if admitted with a master’s degree or 6 hours if admitted with a bachelor’s degree)

Solutions workshops are designed to provide students with experience solving real-world problems that involve multiple sustainability challenges. As such, they will be problem-based, and not specifically attached to one of the main themes. Please check with Advising for a current list of workshops that are being offered.

Elective Courses (12 hours if admitted with a master’s degree or 33 hours if admitted with a bachelor’s degree)

Subject to satisfying pre-requisites and co-requisites, students enrolling with a bachelor’s degree will be able to select a minimum of 33 semester hours from the Graduate Electives List, of which a maximum of 6 hours can be at the 400-level. Students enrolling with a master’s degree will be able to select a minimum of 12 semester hours at the 500-level from the list of electives. With permission from the student’s supervisory committee, other electives (not included in this list) may be selected.

Download Graduate Electives List, which is located at the end of the Graduate Handbook.

Comprehensive Examination

When students have completed or are close to completing the coursework in an approved program of study, they may request permission to take the comprehensive examinations. Ph.D. comprehensive examinations are administered by the student’s supervisory committee. Ph.D. students achieve candidacy status in a letter from the Dean of the Graduate College after passing the comprehensive examinations and successfully defending the dissertation prospectus.

Required Research and Dissertation (24 hours)

At least 12 hours of the approved Ph.D. program must be SOS 792 Research and at least 12 hours must be SOS 799 Dissertation. Students may not apply semester hours earned for a Ph.D. previously awarded at ASU or another institution. At least 30 hours (which may include research credit) of the approved Ph.D. program and 12 dissertation hours must be completed after admission to a Ph.D. program at ASU. A maximum of 12 dissertation hours is permitted on the Program of Study. After completion of the dissertation, the student must pass an oral examination in defense of the dissertation.

  • SOS 792 Research
  • SOS 799 Dissertation

vision

Established in 2007, the School of Sustainability brings together multiple disciplines and leaders to create and share knowledge, train a new generation of scholars and practitioners, and develop practical solutions to the most pressing environmental, economic, and social challenges of sustainability - especially as they relate to urban areas.

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