| Graduate Study
The department offers programs of graduate study and
research leading to the MS and PhD degrees. The major strengths of the
graduate program in zoology are in the areas of animal behavior;
comparative endocrinology and physiology; cellular, molecular, and
developmental biology; and evolution and ecology. Especially strong
programs have developed in areas that utilize the resources of
Hawai‘i’s unique island setting, including develop-mental biology,
marine biology, and ecology, evolution and conservation biology. Much of
the research in the department emphasizes the animals of Hawai‘i:
marine invertebrates, terrestrial arthropods, fishes, and birds.
Graduate students in zoology may join three
interdisciplinary graduate specializations: the Cellular, Molecular and
Neuro-Sciences (CMNS) Program; the Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
Biology (EECB) Program; and the Marine Biology (MB) Program. The
department also hosts the Hawai‘i Cooperative Fishery Research Unit
and has active affiliations with the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine
Biology, the Kewalo Marine Laboratory, the Békésy Laboratory of
Neurobiology, and the Center for Conservation Research and Training.
Recipients of the MS degree usually teach, pursue
careers in research or government service, or pursue further graduate
training. Those with the PhD ordinarily seek teaching positions in
colleges and universities or research careers in university, government,
or private laboratories.
A brochure listing research interests and publications
of the members of the zoology graduate faculty, as well as describing
admissions and program requirements and opportunities for financial aid,
is available on request from the department; this information also is
available on the World Wide Web (www2.hawaii.edu/~zoology). The
following sections summarize the admissions and program requirements,
but the department brochure should be consulted for complete details.
Admissions
Students are admitted to the graduate program only in
the fall semester; the undergraduate and graduate studies; and letters
of recommendation from three persons who can appraise the student’s
aptitude for graduate study. An applicant also must be sponsored by a
member of the graduate faculty who has indicated his or her willingness
to advise the student; the applicant should communicate with prospective
faculty sponsors well in advance of the application deadline.
Intended candidates for the MS or PhD degrees in
zoology are expected to present a minimum of 18 credit hours of
undergraduate course work in zoology and/or biology and to have
completed at least three semesters of chemistry (inorganic and organic),
one year of physics, and at least one course each in calculus and
botany. Deficiencies in undergraduate preparation must be rectified
within the first year, without graduate credit. A course in biochemistry
or molecular biology is required of all students, but it may be taken
for graduate credit.
General Requirements
To ensure that students have broad competence in
zoology, they must take a diagnostic examination at the start of their
first semester. This examination seeks evidence of competence at the
level of the undergraduate major (for MS students) or the master’s
degree (for PhD students) in the areas of subcellular-cellular,
organismic, and supraorganismic zoology; students scoring at the 90th
percentile or higher on any of these sections of
the GRE biology test are exempted from the corresponding section of the
diagnostic exam. Students who do not perform satisfactorily on the
diagnostic examination will be required to take remedial course work,
which must be completed within two years.
Master’s Degree
Requirements
Thesis (Plan A) and non-thesis (Plan B) programs
leading to the MS degree in zoology are available. In addition to the
thesis, Plan A requires a minimum of 24 credit hours of course work and
6 credit hours of ZOOL 700 (thesis). The 24 credit hours must include at
least 12 credit hours of 600- or higher-level course work, including 1
credit hour of ZOOL 691B and 1 credit hour of ZOOL 691C. The 24 credit
hours may include up to 6 credit hours from related departments and up
to 2 credit hours of ZOOL 699.
All graduate students are required to take at least
one graduate seminar or topics course each year.
Plan B is a non-thesis program and requires a minimum
of 30 credit hours in 400- through 700-level courses. The 30 credit
hours must include at least 6 but not more than 16 credit hours from
related departments (excluding courses cross-listed in zoology or
applicable to the zoology BA degree) and at least 18 credit hours of
600- or higher-level course work. The 18 credit hours of graduate course
work must include 1 credit hour of ZOOL 691B, 1 credit hour of ZOOL
691C, and at least 2 but not more than 5 credit hours of ZOOL 699. A
research paper based on original scientific work is required.
Doctoral Degree
Applicants to the PhD program ordinarily will have
completed the master’s degree, but exceptionally well-qualified
applicants without the master’s degree may be admitted directly into
the PhD program. Students enrolled in the master’s program also may
apply for admission into the PhD program without completing the
master’s degree.
Requirements
Admission to candidacy requires evidence of reading
ability in an approved foreign language; this requirement may be
satisfied by completion of a language requirement equivalent to that for
the bachelor’s degree at the University of Hawaii at Manoa by
appropriate certification by a UHM language department, by attaining a
score of at least the 80th percentile on the Educational Testing Service
foreign language exam, or by completion of an acceptable foreign
language requirement in completing a graduate degree at another
accredited institution. An oral comprehensive examination must be passed
within one year of admission to candidacy; this examination will
emphasize the student’s research area but may cover any facet of
zoology. All PhD candidates are required to have some teaching
experience.
The research project culminating in the dissertation
is the most important part of the PhD degree program. The dissertation
is to be an original contribution based on independent research, carried
out under the guidance of the adviser and dissertation committee. The
completed dissertation is defended at a public final examination,
conducted by the dissertation committee and including a public research
seminar by the candidate.
Further Information
Further information about the graduate program in
zoology, including full details of admissions and program requirements,
may be obtained from the department or at www2.hawaii.edu/~zoology. |