Developmental Science
Department of Psychology • Florida International University

Ph.D. Program Requirements

The Developmental Science Program at FIU is unique in its integration of a life-span orientation with an interdisciplinary focus on both basic and applied developmental science in an international, multicultural urban context. This program leads to a Ph.D. in Psychology with a specialization in Developmental Science.

To be awarded the Ph.D. degree in psychology students must complete at least 90 semester hours
beyond the Bachelors degree. For the specialization in lifespan developmental science, sixty-six credits
are needed to fulfill Precandidacy requirements. An additional twenty-four hours of dissertation credits
are required after advancement to Candidacy. The precandidacy courses may be taken within the developmental program of the psychology department or in cognate areas as determined by the student’s research advisory and thesis committee. Students admitted to the program are expected to maintain
full-time status throughout their four years in the doctoral program and to be actively involved in research
at all times. The natural progression through the program normally involves initial exposure to research opportunities in the department followed rapidly by more intense direct “hands on” exposure to the process of knowledge development under the guidance of a faculty research mentor and a research advisory committee.

Benchmarks of Progress in Completing Ph.D. Program

A student’s progress toward the completion of the doctoral requirements is gauged by the attainment of the benchmarks of program progress as described in detail in the document, Degree Requirements for the Doctoral Program in Developmental Science Program. During the first phase of the program, the Precandidacy years, the focus of each student’s activity is on the evolution and articulation of a program of research consistent with the student’s emerging professional identity. Candidacy, the final phase of the program, provides the opportunity to bring together the emerging themes that will serve to launch each program graduate on a successful self-directed career trajectory, culminates in the preparation and defense of a doctoral dissertation

Precandidacy
Year 1: Initial Statement of a Research Agenda/Initial Course of Study/Preparing a Thesis Proposal
Year 2: Final Statement of a Research Agenda/Defending a Thesis/Preparing for Pre-candidacy Qualifying Examination
Year 3: Completing Final Course of Study/Pre-candidacy Qualifying Examination/Application for Candidacy/Select Dissertation Committee

Doctoral Candidate
Year 4: Dissertation Research and Dissertation Defense/Operationalizing a Research Program

These benchmarks of progress are intended to promote the development of a professional identity in students and an increasingly sophisticated articulation of their plans for contributing to knowledge development in the lifespan developmental sciences in the particular area of specialization that is the focus of their professional goals. The program document, Degree Requirements for the Doctoral Program in  Developmental Science Program, provides a description of the aim of each of the Benchmarks of Progress, the due dates that denote the attainment of each benchmark, and a detailed discussion of expected levels of student research activity and research program development that characterizes each level. Downloadable and printable copies of the forms that have to be submitted can be obtained on the Department of Psychology formes website or through the Department of Psychology Graduate Director.