Admission Requirements and Program Prerequisites

1. Two areas of concentration are offered: (1) Applied Biomechanics and (2) Applied Physiology and Nutrition.
   Both residential on-ground concentrations are research-intensive and involve close and ongoing interactions between the faculty mentor and student.
2. Applicants to the Ph.D. program are evaluated twice a year. For optimal consideration, completed application packets should be received by April 1 for fall semester admission and October 1 for spring semester admission. Multiple criteria are used when considering applicant admission, including, but not limited to, undergraduate and graduate grade point average, GRE scores (optional), personal goals statement, relevant employment history, letters of recommendation, personal interview (for finalists), and the presence of a willing Full Graduate Faculty mentor in the program of study. After the program admissions committee screens application materials, finalists are interviewed by no fewer than two Graduate Faculty in the program area. The number of students admitted to the Ph.D. program will depend on the availability of appropriate faculty supervision. Admission processes are available via the University of Memphis Graduate School website. The completed application must include:
   • Letters of recommendation from at least three people familiar with the applicant’s academic background and aptitude for graduate work that specify in detail the applicant’s capabilities and disposition for graduate study as well as for future performance and scholarship.
   • A written statement by the prospective candidate of 500-1000 words indicating the intended concentration and area of focus in the Applied Physiology and Neuromechanics (APNM) program, the applicant’s present interests and career goals, research and applied interests, and prior research and applied experiences.
   • Applicants lacking courses considered by the doctoral committee as being foundational or post-master’s applicants from related program areas who lack one or more of the research core courses designated for post-bachelor’s Ph.D. students are required to successfully complete those courses within the first year of their matriculation in the program.  These prerequisite courses may not be used as part of the program of study.
   • English Language Proficiency Requirements: (Applicants for the Ph.D. program must be able to proficiently write and speak English.)
     • Applicants whose native language is other than English and who have earned neither a bachelor’s nor a master’s degree from a college or university in an English-speaking country must have achieved at least one of the following prior to admission:
       • Duolingo English Test - 110 or higher
       • TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) – 550 (paper test) or 80 (internet-based test)
       • IELTS (International English Language Testing System- 6.5 or higher
       • PTE (Pearson Test of English) - 59 or higher

Program Requirements

1. For the Ph.D. degree, a minimum of 72 hours of graduate credit beyond the bachelor’s degree and 36 hours beyond the master’s degree are required. The overall GPA required for graduation, computed on all graduate-level courses completed whether they are listed on the candidacy form, must be no less than 3.00.
2. Graduate courses at the 6000-level may not be applied toward the official doctoral program of study. 
3. Additional coursework beyond the minimum may be required at the discretion of the doctoral advising committee.
4. A minimum of 6 credit hours of dissertation (HMSE 9000) is required. No more than 6 credit hours of the dissertation may be included in the program of study. NOTE: Students should familiarize themselves with the Thesis/Dissertation Preparation Guide before starting to write the dissertation.
5. Residency & Professional Scholarship Requirement:
   • The doctoral candidate must be enrolled for a minimum of 9 credit hours on The University of Memphis main campus for each of two successive semesters.
   • Additional minimum requirements for completion of the residency include one first-author publication in a refereed journal in the discipline, one peer-reviewed first-author presentation at a national/international conference (both from research conducted while the candidate is enrolled in the doctoral program), and enrollment and successful participation in zero (0) credit hours of Seminar (HMSE 8142) each fall and spring semester until the comprehensive exams are passed.
   • Data collection associated with the publication requirement is under the direction of the Major Professor.
   • The official publisher/editor letter of acceptance is sufficient to satisfy the publication requirement.
   • The Thesis, Applied Project, or Dissertation does not satisfy this aspect of the Residency & Professional Scholarship Requirement.
6. Full-time Status (9 credit hours):
   • Graduate students that are in the United States on F-1 and J-1 visas are required to attend classes full-time each semester. If it is necessary for the student to drop below full-time hours, they must complete a Request Authorization for Reduced Course Load form. Any international student that drops below full-time without prior approval will be considered out of status.
   • Doctoral students who have reached the dissertation-only phase of studies are eligible to apply to take a reduced course load while maintaining their full-time enrollment status.
7. Transfer Credit:
   • Students with graduate credits earned at another institution, upon matriculation at The University of Memphis, may petition to have these credits applied toward the total number of hours required to earn their degree at The University of Memphis and to use transfer credits as substitutes for specific courses required for the degree.
   • Decisions about such substitutions for courses in the Applied Physiology and Neuromechanics Ph.D. program are made by the Graduate Coordinator for the respective concentrations. The number of transfer credits accepted as substitutions for specific courses is determined on a case-by-case basis and the maximum possible is set by the Graduate School.
   • Requests for transfer-course substitutions should be completed before the end of the first semester in the program.

Research Core Requirements (18 credit hours)

Concentration Requirements (30 credit hours)

Electives (12 credit hours):

• Post-Bachelor’s Entry (6 credit hours before the master’s degree being awarded): Prescribed by the Major Professor and approved by the Doctoral Advisory Committee.
• Post-Master’s Entry (6 credit hours): Prescribed by the Major Professor and approved by the Doctoral Advisory Committee.

M.S. Degree Award

Students admitted into the Ph.D. concentration in Applied Biomechanics or Applied Physiology and Nutrition without a master’s degree are eligible for the M.S. degree in Health Studies with a concentration in Exercise, Sport and Movement Sciences (ESMS) or the M.S. degree in Nutrition with a concentration in Nutrition Science (NSCI) upon successful completion (minimum overall GPA of 3.00) of the first 36 credit hours of the approved program of study including designated research design and statistics courses, major field courses, elective courses, and Applied Project (ESMS 7950) or Thesis (HMSE 7996).  Students must also pass their master’s comprehensive exam which is the oral defense of the Applied Project or Thesis.

Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam

• The comprehensive exam is to be administered by the Doctoral Advisory Committee (DAC) comprised of three (3) Graduate Faculty members including the Major Professor and at least one of the remaining two members from the concentration area.
• Written and oral portions of the comprehensive exam cover all areas associated with the degree program, including research design/statistics. The remaining test areas are dependent on the program of study and  the student’s dissertation research topic. Area exams address concepts and issues germane to the concentration and are not limited to the content addressed during coursework.
• Exams are taken upon successful completion of the individually prescribed program of study or in the last semester before registering for any dissertation hours.
• The written portion of the exam is administered once per semester at CHS-designated dates and times. The major professor is responsible for setting the dates for the written and oral exams.
• All written exam items must be completed during the same semester during which they were started.
  • For the written exam, each DAC member will assign questions to the doctoral student at a date agreed upon by the committee. The student will have one week to complete the assigned exam from each examiner. The completed exam for each area should be submitted for evaluation before the deadline set a priori.
• Once the entire written portion of the exam has been successfully completed, the oral portion should then be completed before the end of that same semester at the earliest mutual convenience of the 3-person DAC* and the student. The oral exam is not the dissertation prospectus although topics associated with it may be examined by the Committee. The oral comprehensive examination is conducted as a closed meeting.
  • The oral exam will generally consist of three 60-minute sessions, one for each examiner, during which the examiners will question/test the student on their understanding and ability to explain topics related to their written examination. During the oral examination, examiners can address aspects of the written examination that require further attention or revision. If the examiner is not satisfied with certain aspects of the written or oral examinations, the student will be given the opportunity to revise/edit certain aspects of the examinations within a specified timeline.
• If a student fails one or more sections of the written or oral portions of the comprehensive exam, it will be formally reported to the Graduate School. Subsequently, the committee will prescribe remedial interventions that must be completed before the candidate retakes any portion of the exam. The earliest a student may retake a failed written comprehensive exam is the following semester. A failed portion of the oral exam may be taken at the mutual convenience of the 3-person Doctoral Advisory Committee* and the student,  although it should not be taken until the student and major professor agree that appropriate remediation has occurred.
• If a student fails the second administration of any area of the entire comprehensive exam, it will result in the student being dismissed from the program.
• The comprehensive examination is not a course; therefore, the results of it cannot be appealed, nor can it be changed after the form has been filed with the Graduate School.
• The candidate must pass the written and oral portions of all 3 examination areas before presenting the dissertation prospectus for approval to the 4-person (minimum) Dissertation Committee*.
  • Doctoral Advisory (3 people) and Dissertation (4 people) committees may have different memberships.
  • The four-person Dissertation Committee must have at least one Graduate Faculty member from a program area other than the base concentration.

Candidacy

After successful completion of all academic requirements and the doctoral comprehensive examination, a Ph.D. student may apply for candidacy.

Culminating Experience (12 credit hours)

• Post-Bachelor’s Entry (6 credit hours):
  • ESMS 7950  – Applied Project*

*A first-authored (by the student) published refereed journal article, presenting “original research” in the field and not simply a review of literature, together with an oral presentation and defense of it may be used to satisfy requirements for ESMS 7950 with approval by the Doctoral Advisory Committee. Students must also either enroll in six hours of ESMS 7950 or complete the equivalent credit-by-exam in this scenario. This work is in addition to that required for Residency and Professional Scholarship.

or

• HMSE 7996  – Thesis**

**Students should familiarize themselves with the Thesis/Dissertation Preparation Guide before starting to write.

and

• Post-Bachelor’s and Post-Master’s Entry (6 credit hours):
  • HMSE 9000 – Dissertation*

*A dissertation acceptable to the Doctoral Dissertation Committee is a requirement for all doctoral students. This committee is comprised of four Graduate Faculty members, one of which must be from a program area outside the home concentration of the student. Subject recruitment and data collection may not commence until the dissertation prospectus has been approved and any appropriate institutional review board (IRB) or institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) approvals have been obtained. The dissertation must embody the results of an extended research effort that is an original contribution to the existing body of research within the discipline. The dissertation should reflect the candidate’s ability to conduct independent research and logically interpret the facts and phenomena revealed by the research. Upon completion of the written dissertation, each student will orally present and defend the research undertaken. NOTE: All dissertations are written in a journal-ready format approved by the Major Professor except as noted in The University of Memphis Thesis/Dissertation Preparation Guide. Due to page limitations enforced by many scholarly journals, more than one journal paper may be required to cover the breadth of the dissertation research.

Other Requirements

Consult the Graduation Information webpage on the Graduate School website for information about the submission of comprehensive exam results and when to “Apply to Graduate” in the MyMemphis Portal.

Program Retention Policy

• Students who have been admitted to the program on the condition that they complete doctoral-committee-designated prerequisite course work must make satisfactory progress toward this goal each semester of enrollment. Failure to make satisfactory progress may result in dismissal from the program.
• As per Graduate School policy, students are required to maintain an overall grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.00 for all graduate coursework. Failure to maintain the minimum GPA is considered sufficient cause for dismissal from the program. In addition, a student whose GPA falls below 3.00 is ineligible for a graduate (teaching, administrative, or research) assistantship.
• Students are permitted two (2) grades of 2.00 (C) in courses required in the student’s approved program of study. Students are evaluated by Graduate Faculty in the student’s concentration area at the end of the semester in which a third course grade of 2.00 (C) or lower is earned for possible dismissal from the program.