Guidelines for Applicants for the Interdisciplinary Doctorate

Introduction:

The Interdisciplinary Doctorate (ID) has been established to accommodate those interested in pursuing doctoral level studies in areas that cannot be accommodated in one of the departmental doctoral programs within Arts and Sciences or Engineering. The graduate school encourages applicants to be familiar with Tufts' graduate level offerings and with its faculty. A standing committee of the graduate school, the Interdisciplinary Doctorate Overseers Committee (IDOC), serves as the admissions committee and will monitor the progress of all students matriculated into the program.

Admission to ID will be highly selective. The applicant must demonstrate the ability to do independent research/scholarship. Normally this will be demonstrated by having completed a master's degree with a thesis requirement at an accredited graduate school, or in some cases by published research. Creative works such as art, musical composition and performance, and performance direction, though laudable, are not acceptable as the sole qualifications for admission into a scholarly doctoral program of study.

Admission to ID will be for only the most qualified applicants, those with demonstrated proficiency in independent study at the graduate level and whose research area is truly interdisciplinary and carefully matched to Tufts human, academic and physical resources.

Admissions Requirements:

A regular Graduate School of Arts and Sciences application form should be submitted with all documents, together with the $65 application fee, transcripts, letters of recommendation, etc. In addition, all ID applicants must submit a proposal containing the following:

• Description of the project, limited to about five single spaced pages.
  
  The description must show how the project will make an original contribution to the field of study. It should also indicate how the research involves methods, techniques or theoretical approaches that are characteristic of two or more disciplines. To qualify for the ID, a study design must realize added value by the very fact of combining two or more disciplinary approaches. It is not sufficient that the subject matter of investigation is discussed in the literature of more than one discipline.
  
  The candidate must provide a strong case that the project would not be appropriate for a single doctoral-granting department at Tufts and that the project would not fit easily within a traditional doctoral program at another institution.
  
  The proposal should show how the major advisor (see below) is engaged actively in scholarly work in the general area of the project and describe more briefly the contributions of the other advisors. The description must also indicate where sufficient resources exist to complete the program.
  
  
• Confirmation of a committee of advisors.
  
  The applicant must assemble an advisory committee consisting normally of at least three faculty members from the Medford campus. Additional members of the advisory committee may be selected from other schools at Tufts or other universities. As a component of the admissions process, IDOC must approve the suitability of the advisory committee. One person, a full time member of the A&S or the Engineering faculty, must agree to serve as chair of the advisory committee, providing major direction for the student's progress through coursework, examinations and the dissertation. That person must be situated in Medford and actively engaged in the field of the proposed research. All members of the academic committee must submit a statement declaring their commitment to the project, and elaborating their specific role and responsibilities.
  
  The advisory committee should have a meeting to review and approve the candidate's ID proposal prior to its submission to IDOC.
  
  IDOC must certify that the criteria for admission entailed by the proposal meet Tufts doctoral standards. If the major advisor is a member of a doctoral granting department, the graduate admissions committee of that department may be consulted in order to clarify whether the proposed program of study is suitable for the doctoral program of that department. In the case where the major advisor is not a member of a doctoral-granting department, it is expected that at least one member of the advisory committee will have mentored doctoral students.
  
  
• Plan of study.
  
  The applicant must compile a list of graduate level courses to be taken for the degree and lay out the schedule in which they will be taken.

When the proposal is presented to IDOC in its capacity as admissions committee, the candidate, the major advisor and at least one other member of the advisory committee must be in attendance. A majority vote of IDOC in favor of the proposal will constitute a recommendation for admission to the Dean.

Program Requirements:

• The requirements for completion of the program should conform to the general requirements of the doctoral degree as stated in the A&S and Engineering Bulletin.
  
  
• The candidate must have at least two semesters of full-time residence on the Medford campus. If the candidate is a teaching assistant, three semesters are required. The normal Graduate School of Arts and Sciences residency requirement will pertain: two full years past the master's level, which means that two full years of tuition will be charged past the master's level. (Some tuition scholarship aid will be available from the graduate school, to be negotiated on an individual basis.)
  
  
• The candidate must meet with his/her advisory committee at least twice a year, and a progress report must be filed with IDOC twice a year. It is the responsibility of the candidate and the major advisor to file the progress report, and failure to do so may result in a recommendation by IDOC for dismissal from the program. Any change in the committee makeup or program of study must receive prior approval by IDOC.
  
  
• The guidelines for qualifying procedures or examinations should follow the major advisor's department's guidelines wherever possible; otherwise they must be approved by the candidate's advisory committee and IDOC before the examination can take place. Both bodies may suggest changes.
  
  
• The dissertation defense committee, which must be approved by IDOC, should consist of at least three members of the student's advisory committee, including the major advisor, and as with other doctoral defenses, contain an additional person from outside of Tufts familiar with the field, who is not a member of the dissertation working committee.