In the doctoral program at the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, students are engaged primarily in original, independent research that culminates in the doctoral dissertation. In this School, students can specialize in weather and climate dynamics, atmospheric chemistry and air quality, oceanography, aqueous geochemistry and biogeochemistry, paleoclimatology, atmospheric physics and remote sensing, geophysics, and geohydrology. With approval of the School's faculty, multidisciplinary programs of study are also permitted. In each area of specialization, doctoral students are required to complete a faculty-approved set of core courses and a comprehensive examination. Students are also required to complete nine semester hours of coursework in an academic minor.