ERG Degree Requirements

Master's Degree
Students who are beginning their graduate study at ERG Fall 2005 or later must follow the current requirements. Students who began graduate study at ERG prior to Fall 2005 can follow either set of requirements, at their discretion.

Current Requirements (effective Fall 2005) and Master's Degree Course of Study Sample and Form

Requirements for the PhD Degree
The course requirement for the PhD is that the totality of the student's coursework after the Bachelor's degree, including courses taken at other universities and inside and outside of ERG at Berkeley, must meet the substantive and unit requirements for the ERG MA or MS degree. Thus a student entering the PhD program from the ERG Master's program will already have met the course requirement for the PhD. Students entering with other Master's degrees invariably need additional coursework at ERG to meet the requirements.

There is no formal language requirement for the PhD degree. However, those students conducting research in a non-English speaking country must demonstrate competency in the language of the country.

After the doctoral student and his or her advisors have agreed on a subject for the dissertation, the student must defend in a three-hour oral examination the suitability of the topic and his/her preparation for attacking it. This exam, called the Qualifying Examination, is conducted by a committee of faculty members [four] chosen by the student, in consultation with his/her's faculty advisor and susbject to the approval of the Graduate Dean.

This examination should be taken at least one year before the expected completion of the dissertation. The final requirement for the PhD is completion of the dissertation to the satisfaction of a committee consisting of three faculty advisors/readers chosen by the student,subject to approval by the Graduate Dean. The "normal" time for completion of a PhD degree in Energy and Resources is three to five years beyond the Master's degree.

The Engineering and Business for Sustainability (EBS) Certificate Program begins this fall and is currently under academic review at UC Berkeley. Read more about it in Engineering News.

PHOTO / R. NORGAARD

Graduate Studies Handbook (pdf)