PhD in Statistics Handbook

(effective September 2026)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

KEY CONTACTS

In addition to faculty, there are a number of individuals who serve as resources for graduate students.

Department Chair: Prof. Matthew Stephens (chair@statistics.uchicago.edu)

Director of Graduate Studies: Prof. Mary Sara McPeek (mcpeek@uchicago.edu)

Admissions and Student Affairs Specialist: Keisha Prowoznik (kprowoznik@uchicago.edu)

Dean of Students: Bahareh Lampert (blampert1@uchicago.edu)

INTRODUCTION

Dear Students,

We have compiled this manual summarizing all the rules, requirements, and deadlines governing the PhD program in the Statistics Department. We intend this manual to be the primary repository of these policies and we encourage you to refer to it periodically as you progress through our program. Students with questions may contact Mary Sara McPeek, Department Graduate Advisor, Keisha Prowznik, Student Affairs Specialist, Bahareh Lampert, Dean of Students, or Amanda Young, Director, Graduate Student Affairs in UChicagoGRAD.

Good luck with your studies!

INCOMING STUDENTS

  • New Graduate Student Information–UChicago Grad: Information regarding the University of Chicago campus, living in the neighborhood, security, health, and other resources for incoming graduate students can be found here: https://grad.uchicago.edu/life-at-uchicago/admitted-students-welcome/
  • Diagnostic Exam: A diagnostic exam will be emailed to all students the week before orientation to be returned to their advisor by the end of that week in order to help determine which courses to take for the upcoming year.
  • Orientation: This event will take place on the week before classes start where new students will attend meetings throughout campus and the Department to become acclimated with procedures and guidelines for the PhD program. This is also course registration week, where all students will have to meet with their advisor to determine which courses to take during Autumn quarter. Incoming students will meet with the Department Graduate Advisor (DGA) for course registration.

COURSE REGISTRATION

Course registration starts the Monday of the 8th week of every quarter when the Student Affairs Specialist sends out an email to all students with the attached registration form for each student to fill out, and gain consent from their advisor and return back to the Student Affairs Specialist. Students must register themselves and if they cannot, they can seek help from the Student Affairs Specialist. All course registration must be completed the Friday of 9th week by 12:00PM Central Standard Time in order to avoid a late fee.

Add/Drop week will always take place the first week of every quarter and run for three weeks and end on the Friday of third week for all PhD students. This is a time where students are able to drop and/or add courses to their schedule if they do not wish to take the courses they registered for during course registration week. Courses can be changed upon the advisor and instructor’s approval.

FIRST YEAR COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS

First-year students take nine PhD-level courses.

The program offers four core sequences:

  • Probability (STAT 30400, 38100, 38300)
  • Mathematical statistics (STAT 30400, 30100, 30200)
  • Applied statistics (STAT 34300, 34700, 34800 and 34900)
  • Computational sequence (STAT 30900, 31015/31020, 37710).

All students must take the Applied Statistics and Mathematical Statistics sequence. In addition, it is highly recommended that students take a third core sequence based on their interests and in consultation with the Department Graduate Advisor (DGA). All students must participate in one quarter of consulting.

Preliminary exams: At the start of their second year, several weeks before the start of the Fall quarter, the students take two preliminary examinations. The students will be informed by June 15 of the precise dates. All students must take the Applied Statistics Prelim. The prelim is a take-home exam provided online to the students during prelim week. Student written reports are handed in two days later. After the faculty review the reports, each student has a 30-minute oral interview about their report.

For the second prelim, students can choose to take either the Theoretical Statistics or the Probability prelim. Students planning to take the Probability prelim should take the Probability sequence as their third first year course sequence and must receive approval from the DGA to take STAT 38300 in the Spring instead of STAT 348.

A student will not be allowed to take the prelims if they haven't successfully completed a quarter of consulting during their first year.

Incoming first-year students may submit a request to the DGA to take one or both of their preliminary exams. This will only be considered if the students have had extensive training in statistics in their prior studies. If approved, and if the student passes one or more of these, then he/she may be excused from the requirement of taking the first-year courses in that subject.

First year summer reading courses: It is highly recommended for first year students to take a reading course with a faculty member during the summer. This does not require formal registration, only coordination with a faculty member. Such a reading course typically involves reading a number of papers recommended by the faculty member and presenting them during the meetings.

Incoming students are advised by the DGA until they find a faculty advisor for their PhD thesis work.

First year students also share responsibility for organizing lunches with faculty to hear about their research, lunches with visiting seminar speakers, and weekly departmental tea-time.

SECOND YEAR REQUIREMENTS

In their second year, PhD students typically take several advanced topics courses in statistics, probability, computation, and applications. These should be selected with the dual objective of (i) acquiring a broad overview of current research areas, and (ii) settling on a particular research topic and dissertation supervisor. It is recommended that the students take at least one regular class based course each quarter. In addition, students can ask to take reading courses with faculty to learn more in depth about their fields of research. Students have considerable latitude in selecting their second-year courses, but their programs must be approved by the Department Graduate Advisor.  Students are expected to find a dissertation/thesis advisor by the end of the second year and to maintain a thesis advisor for the duration of their studies. The thesis advisor does not need to be a faculty member of the Statistics Department, however the dissertation/thesis committee must include at least two members of the Statistics Department (see below.) All students must successfully complete two quarters of consulting during the second year.

Mini-seminars: During the second half of Spring Quarter second year students are required to give a short 10-12 minute presentation on a paper/papers they have read, followed by a short Q & A period. This provides the students with their first experience giving a presentation and both faculty and other students can provide feedback. The students typically present papers they have read in one of the reading courses they have taken with a faculty member during the second year.

THIRD YEAR REQUIREMENTS

Thesis Advisor and Dissertation Committee

By the end of the third year, each PhD student, after consultation with his or her dissertation advisor, shall establish a committee of at least three members, at least two of whom should be from Statistics. The departmental form listing the committee members, with their signatures, must be filed in the Department office by the end of Spring Quarter of the third year. The composition of the committee may be changed at any time if the student or faculty so choose; however, it must always include the student's dissertation advisor and at least two of the committee members must be regular faculty members from the Department of Statistics. Any such change must be filed as a resubmitted and newly completed and signed form with the Department office. All students must successfully complete one quarter of consulting during the third year.

Interdisciplinary Theses

Many of our students choose to pursue research combining statistics and computation with another area of scientific research, such as genetics, neuroscience, health studies, environmental science, or social science. Students who choose to write an interdisciplinary thesis can work with a thesis advisor from another department as long as the two other committee members are from the Statistics Department.

FOURTH YEAR REQUIREMENTS

Proposal Presentation and Admission to Candidacy

By the end of Autumn Quarter of the fourth year, students should have completed a proposal presentation to their committee. This consists of a written (typically 5-10 page) report on completed and planned research with relevant references and a meeting with the committee discussing the proposed research (format is flexible, but typically a 1.5 hour meeting, with 45 minutes for student presentation and 45 minutes for questions and discussion). The proposal meeting will be scheduled by the student and his or her committee and reported to the Department office. The meeting can be scheduled only if the student has already successfully completed three quarters of consulting. Acceptance of the proposal by the Dissertation Committee is a formal requirement of the Department's PhD program. After a successful proposal presentation, the student will be formally admitted to candidacy for the PhD degree. The dissertation defense cannot occur earlier than 8 months after admission to candidacy, and the student should keep this in mind when scheduling both the proposal presentation and the defense.

Following the fourth year, during each year that the student remains in the program, the student is required to have a meeting with the committee no later than November 30th of Autumn Quarter or defend by that time.

FIFTH YEAR AND BEYOND

The Department goal is for the majority of students to complete and defend their thesis by the end of their 5th year. International students will have their visas extended beyond the fifth year on a quarter-by-quarter basis depending on the decision of the committee.

In the first 4 weeks of the Fall quarter of the 5th year students should convene their Dissertation Committee for an update on their progress. Committee members will confirm satisfactory progress on a form provided by the Department office.

Students who have not completed their thesis by the end of Fifth year must petition their committee and the Department Chair in order to continue in the program into their Sixth year and maintain their primary funding. If their petition is approved, 6th year students who do not hold research assignments or fellowship stipend positions are required to hold 3 teaching assignments each academic year.  Students who are required to hold more than 3 teaching assignments in an academic year will receive additional compensation above their Primary funding amount.

Students who continue to their 6th year should again convene their Dissertation Committee in the first 4 weeks of the Fall quarter of the 6th year, and Committee members will confirm satisfactory progress on a form provided by the Department office.

Students are ordinarily expected to complete their dissertation and defense by the end of their fifth year, and under extraordinary circumstances, by the end of the sixth year at the latest. Students who need additional time may petition the Department to continue in the program. The petition is to be made before the end of Spring Quarter of the student’s sixth year. If the petition is approved, the student will continue to receive primary TA funding and tuition and fee support.

DISSERTATION DEFENSE AND SUBMISSION

The PhD degree will be awarded following a successful defense and the electronic submission of the final version of the dissertation to the University's Dissertation Office. In this process, a number of University and Department deadlines have to be obeyed. The steps are:

a) Submit a Draft of the Dissertation:
No later than the first day of the quarter in which the student will graduate, and at least four weeks before the scheduled defense date, the student must submit a draft of the dissertation to their committee members and to the Department's Student Affairs Specialist.  This step must be completed before the student is permitted to officially schedule the defense.

b) Graduation Processes:
Students in the Statistics PhD program should follow the Divisional processes and policies for graduation in their graduation quarter (Graduation Processes)

c) Scheduling of Defense:
The date of the defense must be at least two weeks before the University's final dissertation deadline for the quarter and at least four weeks after the thesis committee receives the draft of the dissertation.

d) Committee Approval of Scheduled Defense:
By the Wednesday of the second week of the quarter of graduation, the student should obtain the thesis committee's approval, based on the submitted draft, that the student can reasonably expect to defend the thesis by the scheduled date.

e) Submission of Final Draft to Department:
A final draft of the dissertation must be made available to the entire faculty at least 10 days before the defense date.

f) Dissertation Defense:
The thesis defense will be an open seminar announced to the Department. Following the regular question-and-answer session, the committee will remain, together with any interested faculty, and continue questioning the candidate. The decision on the thesis will then be reached in a closed meeting of the dissertation committee.

g) Submission of Final Version of Dissertation:
The deadline is set by the University and is generally on a Friday in the 6th or 7th week of the quarter of graduation. See:

for this deadline as well as guidelines for the formatting of dissertations.

The student must have successfully completed four quarters of consulting to schedule a defense.

These rules delineate the minimum level of involvement of the dissertation committee. We strongly recommend that students set up their committees early and that they interact regularly with the members of their committees once they are established. We strongly recommend that those students wishing to complete all degree requirements, including their defense, by the end of Summer quarter contact their committee to discuss the scheduling of their Summer defense date before Summer Quarter begins, so as to not delay completion of degree requirements into the following quarter.  (Note that the official scheduling of the defense will not be permitted until a draft is received by the committee, which must be at least four weeks in advance of the defense date.  However, the student can still discuss the availability of their committee members for a Summer defense, in advance of submitting the draft.)

CONSULTING PROGRAM

The Department runs a consulting for training purposes, at the same time providing a service for researchers in other departments in the University. Students serve as the consultants, working as the quantitative expert in statistics alongside the researchers. Two faculty members lead the consulting program. The consulting seminar meets once a week for an hour during academic quarters. In these meetings researchers may present a problem, the students may present their projects, or some interesting applied case study may be analyzed. The students rotate weekly through consulting `office hours', which are the times when researchers can approach with their requests. Typically, four to six graduate students work together as a team under the supervision of faculty members to address these requests.  The teams share their experience by presenting their analysis to the seminar. Students are required to register for the consulting program for one quarter in year 1, two quarters in year 2, and one quarter in year 3. Third year students can delay their final consulting quarter to their fourth year.

TRANSITIONAL MS DEGREE

PhD students can petition to earn a transitional MS degree in Statistics. If the petition is granted, the requirements and timeline are the same as for the MS in Statistics.

ACADEMIC YEAR STUDENT SUPPORT AND TEACHING DUTIES

PhD students are guaranteed support for five years and will be supported as teaching assistants (TAs) for two quarters of each year and receive a fellowship stipend in the other quarters. Incoming first year students are all funded via fellowship stipend during the first quarter. TA assignments are determined 3-4 weeks prior to the start of the quarter, at which point the students are required to contact the faculty member teaching the course for instructions on their upcoming duties. Students may request that the DGA assign them to particular courses, or, with at least two months' notice, ask to have a particular quarter without a teaching assignment.  There is no guarantee that these requests will be satisfied, but the DGA does take them into account. 

Students are not allowed to work as TA's for any other University unit during a quarter when they are receiving a fellowship stipend from the Department.  PhD students interested in adding a position beyond their primary TA or RA appointment must speak with the Student Affairs Administrator and Director of Graduate Studies prior to accepting the additional position.  The Physical Sciences Division's residency requirements apply to all PhD students. Students are required to be present on campus and available to perform their TA duties for the entire quarter in which they are assigned to be a TA.  In particular, students must be available in person to perform their TA duties during the first week of the quarter and are also required to be available in person to proctor or grade final exams or other final projects at the end of the quarter.  Remote TA work is not allowed by the university.

During the first five years of our program our PhD students typically serve as TAs for up to 10 quarters, and a student may be required to hold up to 2 quarters of teaching each year to satisfy Primary funding requirements. Students who do not hold research assignments or fellowship stipend positions are required to hold 2 teaching assignments each academic year. Beyond the first five years of our program, students who do not hold research assignments or fellowship stipend positions are required to hold 3 teaching assignments each academic year. Students who are required to hold more than 3 teaching assignments in an academic year will receive additional compensation above their Primary funding amount.

Research Assistants (RAs): Faculty members may decide to support their student from a grant in one or more of the quarters when a student would ordinarily have a teaching assignment. In those quarters the students are not required to perform TA duties. Students can receive RA support from faculty advisors outside the Department.

Instructorship: Some students may be appointed as instructors in introductory Statistics courses, especially during the Spring quarter. The DGA determines which students are suitable for such positions.

Assignment Notification Letters: Students will receive an assignment notification letter no later than two weeks prior to their quarterly position start date.  Students will receive an assignment notification in each quarter they have a teaching assignment and any time a student’s upcoming quarterly assignment differs from the prior quarter’s assignment.

GOOD STANDING AND ACADEMIC PROBATION

To remain in good standing, students must satisfy the following requirements

  • Maintain a GPA of at least B- in all courses, with no grade below a C.
  • Successfully complete a DGA-approved set of nine courses in the first year.
  • Perform satisfactory work in all TA and RA positions assigned by the Department of Statistics.
  • Complete 1 quarter of Consulting by the end of year 1, 3 quarters by the end of year 2, and 4 quarters by the end of year 4.
  • Pass two required Preliminary Exams in September after the first year. If the student does not pass one or both of the prelims at that time, but is otherwise meeting the program expectations, then the department may grant the student a second opportunity, in September after the second year, to take any exam that was not passed the first time. Students granted a second opportunity can remain in good standing in the meantime.
  • Complete the second-year mini-seminar.
  • Find a thesis advisor by the end of the second year.
  • Form a thesis committee by the end of the third year.
  • Complete the thesis proposal presentation and advance to candidacy by the end of the first quarter of the fourth year.

The Physical Science Division's Policy on Academic Probation is applicable to all students in the Statistics PhD program.

SUMMER SUPPORT

Students are provided with summer support during their first 4 years.  To receive funding in the Summer of their fifth year students must petition to continue studies and receive approval from their advisor and the Chair.

Internships: Students can choose to take on internships during the summer, in which case they will forfeit departmental summer primary funding support in an amount equal to the amount paid by the internship (or will forfeit departmental summer primary funding support entirely if the compensation from their internship meets or exceeds the baseline funding amount for that quarter). The decision on whether to take an internship and which ones are appropriate are taken in consultation with the student's thesis advisor. It is not recommended to take internships before finding a thesis advisor.

Similarly, students who serve as a TA or instructor during the summer will also forfeit departmental summer primary funding support in an amount equal to the amount paid by the TA or instructorship (or will forfeit departmental summer primary funding support entirely if the compensation from their TA or instructorship meets or exceeds the baseline funding amount for that quarter).

OFF CAMPUS WORK

Students in a full-time registration status are expected to focus their attention and efforts principally on their academic work and additional employment is secondary to their student status. A domestic student wanting to take off-campus employment will typically need to take a leave of absence from the program. For international PhD students, OIA recently introduced a version of CPT (CPT RCOT) that may allow them to work off-campus outside of summer. [see https://internationalaffairs.uchicago.edu/page/curricular-practical-training-cpt]. However, this requires approval by the PSD Dean of Students, and will involve careful consideration of a number of factors. Moreover, the Dean of Students views this mechanism as intended for only very short-term off-campus work (eg 1 quarter) and not for long term. Repeated enrollment in CPT RCOT will generally not be approved by the Dean of Students. Students who have questions about CPT RCOT should direct them to the PSD Dean of Students.

Note: work at Argonne national labs is excepted from usual "off-campus" regulations due to an agreement between Argonne and UChicago.

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES

During the first week of Fall quarter the PhD students gather to elect a student representative(s), who are responsible for communicating with the DGA and the Chair regarding any issues arising among the student body. They are also asked on occasion to coordinate student social activities such as the annual picnic. The Departmental Student Affairs Specialist assists the student representatives with any administrative tasks associated with their duties.

STUDENT OFFICES

All keys for student offices will be given during orientation week in the Student Affairs office. 1st year PhD students will always have desks in Jones 208, 2nd-4th year students will have desks in Jones 203/204, and 5th and 6th year students will have desks in Jones 209. Students will sign a key check-out form which states they will be responsible for their desk key of $20 and the office key of $30 and if they lose the key they must pay the Department either of the amounts in order to obtain a new key.

DEPARTMENTAL ROOM RESERVATION POLICY

The departmental room reservation policy can be found here: https://stat.uchicago.edu/events/room-reservations/

All room requests for the purposes of administering the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the University and GSU-UE  should be directed through the UChicagoGRAD Room Reservation Form.

EMAIL LISTS

Students may utilize the Department of Statistics listservs for departmental announcements and organizing departmental events. When students use the listhost:

•    Email messages must be related to the business and mission of the Statistics PhD program.
•    Emails of a personal nature, such as notices of items for sale, lost or found items, and solicitation of goods or services are not allowed.
•    Messages that publicize or endorse causes (even a very good cause), such as relief efforts for victims of natural disasters or organizations seeking assistance that are not already associated with the University are not allowed.
•    List-host moderators have the right to withhold any messages that do not meet the guidelines set forth in this policy.

REIMBURSEMENTS

Students who wish to travel throughout the year for conferences that are sponsored on a grant or research funds from their advisor can be reimbursed by the Student Affairs Specialist with detailed receipts and confirmation in advance that this trip has been approved and sponsored by the advisor/faculty member.

In case the advisor is unable to support the student travel but still approves it, the student may petition the Department Chair for up to $1000 of Departmental support.

STUDENT MANUAL

The Student Manual is the official statement of University policies, regulations, and expected standards of student conduct that are applicable to all students. While students should be familiar with the manual as a whole, the following are commonly referenced by graduate students:  Student Life & Conduct, Leaves of Absence, University Grievance Policy for Graduate Students, Policy on Harassment, Discrimination, and Sexual Misconduct, Policy on Title IX Sexual Harassment, Policy on Religious Accommodation for Missed Classes, Assignments, and Exams, Academic Honesty & Plagiarism, Graduate Student Parent Policy, Registration for Students in PhD Programs.

GRADUATE STUDENT UNION

The terms and conditions of employment for certain graduate students at the University of Chicago who are employed to perform instructional or research services will be determined by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the University and Graduate Students United (“GSU-UE”) for the duration of the assignment to perform such services. Students can access the CBA and review frequently asked questions about graduate student unionization on the Provost’s Office website.

DIVISIONAL POLICIES

The Physical Sciences Division’s student policies are applicable to all students in the Statistics PhD program. Students with questions about PSD policies can reach out to their Student Affairs Administrator Keisha Prowoznik (kprowoznik@uchicago.edu)  or the Dean of Students Office.