Aerospace Sciences Ph.D. Requirements
Complete these requirements for an Aerospace Sciences Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy in Aerospace Sciences
Admission Requirements
The applicant must meet The School of Graduate Studies’ current minimum general admission requirements as published in the graduate catalog. All elements must be complete by the published application date. The additional requirements for admission to the Aerospace Sciences Ph.D. program are as follows:
- A Master’s or graduate degree from an accredited institution with a GPA of at least 3.25/4.0
- Submission of a statement of personal goals
- Professional resume
- Satisfy the School of Graduate Studies English Language Proficiency requirements as published in the graduate catalog.
- The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Exam (Due to COVID-19 the GRE requirement is waived for all 2020-2021 Ph.D applicants)
- Industry experience preferred
Financial Assistance
Financial aid in the form of teaching, research or service assistantships and tuition waivers are available from a variety of internal and external sources and are awarded on a competitive basis. These appointments are renewable if students are making satisfactory progress toward the degree and their work is satisfactory. Applications for funding opportunities should coincide with the program application date.
Degree Requirements
- Ninety credits beyond a baccalaureate degree. With approval of the Aerospace Sciences Ph.D. Program and the UND School of Graduate Studies, up to thirty credits from a master’s degree from an accredited institution can be applied toward the requirements of the doctoral degree.
- Successful completion of sixty semester credits beyond the master’s degree
- Successful completion of qualifying exam prior to advancement to candidacy
- Twelve to eighteen semester credits of dissertation (AVIT 999 Dissertation or SPST 999 Dissertation) and successful defense of the dissertation
- Required core courses
Course List Code | Title | Credits |
AVIT 501 | General Issues in Aviation/Aerospace | 3 |
SPST 501 | Survey of Space Studies I | 3 |
AVIT 521 | Ethics in Aerospace | 3 |
AVIT 590 & SPST 590 | Aviation Seminar and Space Studies Colloquium | 4 |
- Six to twelve semester credits of Scholarly Tools beyond the Master’s degree requirements
- Remaining coursework from Aviation/Space Studies or other UND approved Graduate Courses
- Residency requirement: as determined by student’s advisor and/or committee, at a minimum the student will be required to be on campus for one week per year.
There are four required core courses, in addition to the Scholarly Tools component. These courses may have been part of the student’s MS program and cannot be counted twice.
Course List Code | Title | Credits |
AVIT 501 | General Issues in Aviation/Aerospace | 3 |
SPST 501 | Survey of Space Studies I | 3 |
AVIT 521 | Ethics in Aerospace | 3 |
AVIT 590 & SPST 590 | Aviation Seminar and Space Studies Colloquium (2 semesters, 2-4 credits total) | 2-4 |
The Scholarly Tools requirement is 6 to 12 semester credits, to be determined by the student’s advisor and/or committee, from the courses listed below. These courses are in addition to what may transfer as part of the student’s Master’s degree program. Therefore, a minimum of six credits will be required as part of the PhD program.
Course List Code | Title | Credits |
AVIT 503 | Statistics (or equivalent) | 3 |
AVIT 504 | Research Methods | 3 |
SPST 504 | Research Methods in Space Studies | 3 |
AVIT 505 | Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research Design | 3 |
AVIT 506 | Quantitative Research Methods | 3 |
AVIT 507 | Advanced Research Methods | 3 |
Course Designations (SPST)
Course List Code | Title | Credits |
| |
SPST 450 | International Space Programs | 3 |
SPST 540 | Space Economics and Commerce | 3 |
SPST 541 | Management of Space Enterprises | 3 |
SPST 545 | Space and the Environment | 3 |
SPST 551 | History of the Space Age | 3 |
SPST 552 | History of Astronomy and Cosmology | 3 |
SPST 555 | Military Space Programs | 3 |
SPST 560 | Space Politics and Policy | 3 |
SPST 561 | Public Administration of Space Technology | 3 |
SPST 565 | Space Law | 3 |
SPST 574 | Remote Sensing in Developing Countries | 3 |
SPST 575 | Remote Sensing Law and Policy | 3 |
SPST 581 | Field Visit to Space Centers | 1-3 |
| |
SPST 405 | Space Mission Design | 3 |
SPST 410 | Life Support Systems | 3 |
SPST 425 | Observational Astronomy | 3 |
SPST 430 | | 3 |
SPST 435 | | 3 |
SPST 460 | Life in the Universe | 3 |
SPST 500 | Introduction to Orbital Mechanics | 3 |
SPST 505 | Spacecraft Systems Engineering | 3 |
SPST 506 | Advanced Orbital Mechanics | 3 |
SPST 512 | Human Performance in Extreme Environments | 3 |
SPST 515 | Human Factors in Space | 3 |
SPST 519 | Closed Ecological Systems for Life Support | 3 |
SPST 520 | Asteroids, Meteorites and Comets | 3 |
SPST 521 | The Planet Mars | 3 |
SPST 522 | | 3 |
SPST 523 | | 3 |
SPST 524 | Current Topics in Astrobiology | 3 |
SPST 525 | Technical Issues in Space | 1-3 |
SPST 526 | Advanced Observational Astronomy | 3 |
SPST 527 | Extraterrestrial Resources | 3 |
SPST 528 | Space Environment and the Sun | 3 |
SPST 570 | Advanced Topics in Space Studies (may count towards either social or technical area depending on the contents.) | 1-3 |
Graduate Admissions Requirements
In addition to meeting these program requirements, you must also meet the UND School
of Graduate Studies admissions requirements to apply for this program.
Graduate Requirements
The requirements on this page are pulled from UND’s academic catalog and may not reflect
future terms. Updates are published annually in April.