Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

The first two to four years of the doctoral program are typically devoted to course work, including the completion of an Early Research Project (ERP) in the area of concentration selected by the student. For students entering with a M.A./M.S., the ERP occurs early in Stage II and must be completed before the Qualifying Exam. For students entering the Ph.D. program directly from a B.A./B.S. degree, the ERP may be undertaken and completed in Stage I or Stage II.

In the middle of Stage II, students will take a Qualifying Exam. Successful completion of the Qualifying Exam provides evidence of the student’s satisfactory progress toward scholarly independence and indicates the student is then qualified to begin the planning stages of a dissertation proposal.

A preliminary exam on the dissertation proposal occurs at the end of Stage II and marks the transition to Stage III. The doctoral program culminates with a Final Exam/Dissertation Defense and oral examination over a written document.

Admission to the doctoral program requires completion of a bachelor’s degree. Individual programs of study will be tailored to the student’s areas of scholarly and research interests and are planned by the student and the advisor. The program may be planned with specialization in many areas of audiology, speech-language pathology and speech, language or hearing science. The minimum academic course requirements for this degree are 40 graduate hours beyond those required for a master’s degree or equivalent, a qualifying exam and a dissertation.

Every doctoral student is required to submit a self-assessment of annual progress to the department, along with an updated curriculum vitae in December/January of each year. For more information about degree requirements, contact the program director or refer to the university catalog.

Required Courses

• SHS 590 History of Communication Sciences and Disorders
• SHS 592 Proseminar in Speech and Hearing Science
• SHS 594 Early Research Project

Qualifying Exam

The purpose of the qualifying exam (PDF) is to assess the student’s (a) depth of knowledge in a specialty topic area and (b) ability to identify, integrate, synthesize and critically evaluate research in this area. The Qualifying Exam is the second of three research milestones in the SHS Ph.D. program. In-depth knowledge of scholarly topic(s) is necessary for the student: (a) to identify gaps in the knowledge base or significant barriers to scientific progress that future research must address; and (b) to generate innovative solutions to existing problems that may contribute to major advances in the field. The Qualifying Exam will take the form of a critical analysis and original synthesis of the scholarly literature. The student’s paper must address a novel topic and should not be a direct replication or summary of their mentor’s work. Successful completion of the Qualifying Exam provides evidence of the student’s scholarly independence and indicates the student is qualified to begin the planning stages of a dissertation proposal.

Preliminary Examination (Dissertation Prospectus):

In SHS, the dissertation prospectus serves as the preliminary examination and includes both a written and an oral component. The written portion of the exam consists of the pre-results portion of the student’s dissertation. The oral portion of the exam consists of an oral defense of the dissertation prospectus. The preliminary examination marks the end of Stage II.

Final Examination (Dissertation Defense):

During Stage III, the student’s major responsibility will be conducting the dissertation project and writing up and defending the dissertation at an oral defense in front of their final examination committee, which in SHS is the doctoral dissertation committee. Each Ph.D. student is required to present a final defense of the completed dissertation to the dissertation committee. The student must deliver the completed dissertation to each committee member at least ten days prior to the scheduled date of the final examination. As required by the university, the final examination is oral and open to the public, and notice of the upcoming exam must be posted. Normally, the defense will last approximately two hours.

Dissertation Deposit

The student must electronically deposit the dissertation with the Graduate College. Before a dissertation can be deposited, it must undergo a format check in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science. Instructions for electronic submission can be found at www.grad.illinois.edu/thesis-dissertation. One hardbound copy is deposited in the departmental library, one copy is submitted to the dissertation committee chair and the student should keep a final copy.

Applied Psycholinguistics (PDF)

Programs of study focused on the linguistic and psycholinguistic bases of language acquisition and developmental language disorders. Research methods may include psychological experiments, linguistic analyses, single-subject design, intervention design and longitudinal growth modeling.

Autism and Communication Disorders in Childhood (PDF)

Programs of study focused on the cognitive, social and complex communication needs of children with autism and other complex conditions. Research methods may include observational studies, descriptive case studies, single-subject design and intervention design.

Communication Neuroscience (PDF)

Programs of study focused on the neurobiological foundations of normal and disordered language and communication. Research methods may include psychological experiments, communication and linguistic analyses, computational modeling, magnetic resonance imaging and behavioral genetic studies.

Neuromuscular mechanisms of laryngeal aging and vocal exercise (PDF)

Programs of study focused on the laryngeal neuromuscular mechanisms underlying advanced age and vocal exercise. Research methods may include clinical trials, magnetic resonance imaging, clinical voice assessments (including high-speed laryngeal endoscopy), behavioral animal models and wet lab techniques (such as immunohistochemistry and fluorescent confocal microscopy).