Academic Programs

The doctoral degree (PhD) in Biostatistics prepares individuals to understand the mathematical and theoretical basis of statistical methodology; collaborate on the design of research studies in the health sciences; provide advice on the proper collection, entry, storage, retrieval, and manipulation of data; and take primary responsibility for the analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data in a research study using state-of-the-art statistical methods and software. PhD students are also prepared to carry out original methodological research in statistics and apply the resulting methodology to health-related research problems. 

General Information
The PhD program curriculum includes

• Didactic coursework
• 40 hours of core coursework
• 21 hours of elective coursework with at least nine credit hours at the 9000-level
• Preliminary and Comprehensive Exams, and
• Dissertation of original methodological, and statistical research applicable to the health sciences

Funding for PhD Students
We offer a Graduate Research Assistantship to competitive PhD students that consist:

• A $20,000 stipend for 9 months at the beginning years and a $25,000 yearly stipend for later years in the program
• Student health insurance for a single adult, and
• Tuition reduction to $25 per semester. 

Graduate Research Assistants provide statistical consulting support as well as methodological and statistical work with their mentor to gain practical application and methodological development skills on real-world applications of biostatistics in the health sciences.

Year	Fall	Spring	Summer
1	STAT 7110 – Statistical Models and Methods (3) STAT 7520 – Stat Theory I (3) DATS 7510 –Programming for Data Analysis (3) BIOM 8011 – RCR (1)	STAT 7630 – Applied Linear Models (3) STAT 7620 – Stat Theory II (3) Elective (3) Elective (3)	No summer courses are required. Enrolling in Stat 8890 RR Is optional (without summer funding). Year 1: 16 hrs core, 6 hrs elect
2	STAT 9220 Advanced Stat Inference (3) or STAT 9120 – Theory of Linear Models (3) STAT 7640 – Gen Linear Models I (3) STAT 7720 Survival Analysis (3) STAT 7870 – Biostat Consulting Research (3)	STAT 9140 -Gen Linear Models II (3) or STAT 9240 – Bayesian Inference (3) DATS 8170 – Advanced Comp Methods (3) Elective (3) Elective (3)	No summer courses are required. Enrolling in Stat 8890 RR Is optional (without summer funding). Year 2: 18 hrs core, 6 hrs elect
3	STAT 9220 Advanced Stat Inference (3) or STAT 9120 – Theory of Linear Models (3) Elective (3) Electives (3) STAT 8890 – RR (3) 1st attempt Comp Exam: 1st and 2nd wks in fall. 2nd attempt: 2 wks before end of the fall semester.	STAT 9140 – Gen Linear Models II (3) or STAT 9240 – Bayesian Inference (3) Elective (3) STAT 8890 – RR (6)	No summer courses are required. Enrolling in Stat 8890 RR is optional (without summer funding). Year 3: 6 hrs core, 9 hrs. elect, 9 RR
4	STAT 8890 – RR (9-12) Proposal due (1st attempt)	STAT 9300 –Dissertation Res (DS) [Enrollment in 9300 requires a pass of the Proposal] (9) or STAT 8890 RR (9) Proposal due (2nd attempt)	STAT 9300 – DS (12) Year 4: 9 - 21 hrs RR, 12-21 hrs DS
5	STAT 9300 – DS (12)	STAT 9300 – DS (12)	STAT 9300 – DS (12) Year 5: 24 - 36 hrs DS

Notes: 

• The Doctor of Philosophy curriculum is not lock-step; students do not graduate as a class at the end of the specific semester.
• The maximum duration of the program is 7 years.
• STAT 9300 – Dissertation Research must be taken every semester after admission to the candidacy until dissertation requirements are met.
• Funding (GRA) for Biostatistics PhD students is only available for up to 5 years contingent upon students’ performance and availability of funds.

Suggested Elective Courses (21 credit hours with at least 6 credit hours at the 8000-level or above with prefix STAT or DAT)

• STAT 7130 Introduction to Epidemiology 3 CR
• STAT 7240 Introduction to Clinical Trials 3 CR
• STAT 7260 Design and Analysis of Observational Studies 3 CR
• STAT 7350 Epidemic Modeling 3 CR
• STAT 7360 Systematic Reviews 3 CR
• STAT 7370 Intermediate Epidemiology 3 CR
• DATS 7530 Computing for Data Science 3 CR
• STAT 7650 Introduction to Stochastic Processes 3 CR
• STAT 7670 Modern Methods of Multivariate Analysis 3 CR
• STAT 7740 Design & Analysis of Clinical Trials 3 CR
• STAT 7750 Introduction to Genetic Analysis 3 CR
• DATS 7760 Data & Visual Analytics 3 CR
• STAT 7850 Omics Data Analysis 3 CR
• DATS 7860 Statistical and Machine Learning for Big Data 3 CR
• STAT 7880 Special Topics 1-3 CR
• STAT 8150 Advanced Genomic Data Analysis 3 CR
• STAT 8160 Analysis of Clustered and Correlated Data 3 CR
• STAT 8231 Nonparametric & Robust Statistical Methods 3 CR
• STAT 8270 Computational Genomics & Proteomics 3 CR
• STAT 9280 Advanced Special Topics 1-3 CR