- Requirements
E-IPER students collaborate on program planning at the annual retreat
Both the PhD and MS are guided by comprehensive Requirements updated at least with faculty and student input and approved by E-IPER's Executive Committee. Current and prospective students are encouraged to read the Stanford Bulletin for the most current Stanford graduate student policies and E-IPER requirements.
PhD
E-IPER's PhD Requirements lay out a scaffold of advising meetings, core courses, program activities, and milestones to guide each student's progress. Each student works with a faculty advising team, comprising at least two faculty from different disciplines, to design a course of study that allows the student to develop and exhibit: a) familiarity with analytical tools and research approaches for interdisciplinary problem solving, and a mastery of those tools and approaches central to the student's thesis work; b) interdisciplinary breadth in each of four focal areas: culture and institutions; economics and policy analysis; engineering and technology; and natural sciences; and c) depth in at least two distinct fields of inquiry.
The average time to complete the E-IPER PhD is five years. A typical E-IPER PhD student's path, including the milestones outlined in the Requirements, is illustrated here.
Joint MS
Students may not apply directly for the MS in Environment and Resources degree. The MS is an option exclusively for students currently enrolled in the joint degree programs with the MBA in the Graduate School of Business or the JD with the Stanford Law School; concurrently pursuing the MD in the School of Medicine; or for E-IPER PhD students who do not continue the PhD.
The MS Requirements guide students and their advising teams in selecting appropriate courses from throughout the university to meet MS level rigor. Depending on their background and interest, MS students focus their coursework in one or two areas, such as renewable energy, climate policy, real estate and land conservation, or marine or freshwater resources, for example, or in one of E-IPER's focal areas.
Due to differences in how units are counted, the Joint MBA-MS in Environment and Resources degree requires one to three additional quarters beyond the two year MBA, while Joint JD-MS in Environment and Resources degree may be completed within the student's three years in law school. For students in the School of Medicine, the MS will require an extra full year beyond the required four years of medical school.