Doctor of Philosophy, Ph.D.
The Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology program currently focuses on three broad areas of kinesiology, namely motor control and learning, physiology, and obesity studies.
Program Objectives
The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Kinesiology is designed to provide doctoral level training to prepare a professional with the cognitive and research skills needed to be a productive scholar.
The objectives of the Ph.D. in Kinesiology are:
- To train scholars with the capacity to understand and conduct research in kinesiology.
- To train scholars with the capacity to develop and evaluate programs consistent with national health promotion and disease prevention objectives.
- To train scholars with the capacity to prepare research funding proposals and program development proposals.
- To train individuals with the capacity to be successful in higher education and kinesiological settings in the public and private domains.
The usual time for completion of the Ph.D. (Kinesiology) program is four to five years.
Application Process
Admission to the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree program in the Department of Health and Human Performance requires the completion of the following administrative steps prior to be being considered for entry into the program.
All students must apply on-line through the Online Application. Detailed instruction on filling out the application form can be found on the “Online Application” Web site at http://www.uh.edu/graduate-school/prospective-students/how-to-apply/fall-2015/. Additional admission information is available at http://www.uh.edu/admissions. Please check this website for additional requirements for international students applying to graduate programs at the University of Houston.
This program is only open for fall admission and the application and all supporting materials must be submitted by April 1.
In addition, the following required supporting materials need to be submitted:
- Official transcripts from all institutions previously attended
- Official GRE and TOEFL (if applicable) scores sent to Test Code 6870
- Three letters of recommendation from professional or academic mentors
- Your recommenders will be contacted automatically and asked to evaluate you through an online system. They should be encouraged to provide comments and/or upload a signed letter as well.
- Current resume or curriculum vitae - uploaded to MyUH
- Statement of professional goals and research interests - uploaded to MyUH
- Sample of academic writing - emailed to the Graduate Program Administrator
All applicants should submit official transcripts to:
|
Regular Mail Address
|
Express Mail Address
|
|
University of Houston
Graduate Admissions
P.O. Box 3947
Houston, Texas 77253-3947
|
University of Houston
4800 Calhoun Road
102 E. Cullen Building
Houston, Texas 77204-2012
|
Following submission of application materials, prospective students and their potential faculty advisors with whom they share common scientific interests will discuss matching students to specific advisors. “Matching” with a faculty advisor is a requirement for admission to the Ph.D. program.
Admission Criteria
Acceptance into the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Kinesiology program is by vote of the departmental Graduate Research Degrees (GRD) committee. The GRD committee is responsible for final determination of a graduate application for entry to the Ph.D. (Kinesiology) program. Final acceptance into the program remains pending until an official written notification of acceptance is received by the student from the Chair of the Department of Health and Human Performance.
Admittance to the program will be based on a series of criteria that includes:
- Undergraduate Grade Point Average (GPA): Minimum of 3.3 undergraduate GPA required for entry to the Ph.D. program; most admitted students have a GPA above 3.5.
- Graduate Record Exam (GRE): Most admitted students score above the 60th percentile on the Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning sections and at least 3.5 on the Analytical Writing section.
- Letter of Research Interests with Statement of Professional Goals
- Writing Sample (Examples: thesis, journal articles, professional reports, etc.)
- Standardized Writing Exercise (Details available from the Graduate Advisor)
- Personal Interview with a potential faculty advisor (Note: when possible, this should be an in-person interview; when travel distance is a concern, this may be a telephone or teleconference interview.)
All decisions concerning admissions to the Ph.D. (Kinesiology) program are made by the GRD committee in the department and are arrived at on a competitive applicant pool basis.
Degree Requirements
The Ph.D. in Kinesiology requires a minimum of 66 hours, including 6 hours of required doctoral dissertation hours.
These hours are comprised of the required courses below, HHP Journal Club, course hours for preparing the required Ph.D. Candidacy Project, and designated electives that are pertinent to a student’s course of study. These are to be taken under the direction and approval of the student’s advisor. These electives can be drawn from the designated elective course list and include classes (both scheduled and Special Problems classes) offered within the department, classes offered in other departments within the University of Houston, or classes offered in support areas at other academic institutions. The approved electives will provide the student with an academic foundation in the particular discipline of study within the Ph.D. program.
Students will enter the program in a cohort and are expected to follow the schedule below over their first two years:
| Fall, Year 1 |
Spring, Year 1 |
Fall, Year 2 |
Spring, Year 2 |
| PEP 8306 - Principles of Scientific Inquiry |
PEP 8314 - Doctoral Residency Seminar |
PEP 8334 - Applied Statistical Modeling in Health Research |
PEP 8323 - Programming & Proposal Writing |
| PEP 7397 - HHP Research Seminar |
SOCW 8325 - Applied Multivariate Statistics |
PEP 7397 - Candidacy Project |
PEP 7397 - Candidacy Project |
| PEP 7398 - HHP Journal Club |
PEP 7398 - HHP Journal Club |
PEP 7398 - HHP Journal Club |
PEP 7398 - HHP Journal Club |
In addition, each student will be required to participate in on-going research projects, develop independent research projects, generate research results that form the basis of their candidacy paper and attend research seminars and thesis/dissertation defenses within both the department and the wider scientific research community.
The capstone experience within the Ph.D. (Kinesiology) program is completion of a dissertation research project and dissertation document.
For additional program details and requirements, please visit the program’s website at http://www.uh.edu/class/hhp/graduate-programs/phd-kinesiology/program-details/index.php.
Return to: