(approved by the Pro-Vice-President on 17 May 2005. Ref. nr. C2005/604)
(revised 10 January 2014)
1. Goal of the program
The graduate program has for its purpose to give the student
fundamental knowledge within the mathematical statistics, orientation
about current problems and applications, deeper insight into one or
several parts of the subject, and preparation for being able to carry
out research work.
The aim of the program until the licentiate degree
is to give the student the ability to independently take part in
research and development work.
The aim of the program until the
doctoral degree is to give the student the ability to critically and
independently plan, lead, carry through, and present research and
development work.
2. Eligibility conditions and prerequisites
The qualifications needed for being accepted into the graduate
school in mathematical statistics is an undergraduate or Masters degree
in engineering, with suitable courses in mathematical statistics.
Even
people who have acquired the equivalent background in some other way
are eligible.
Student with an undergraduate degree from a Faculty of
Science or its equivalent are eligible to the graduate school.
3. The set up of the program
The doctor education comprises 240 credits (hec) and the licentiate
education 120 credits; one year's full time study should give 60
credits.
The graduate education consists of
- a study course individually decided for each student,
- participation in seminar activities etc., and
- a scientific work leading to a dissertation for the doctoral degree or an essay for the licentiate degree.
Education in the graduate program consists of advising, lectures
and seminars.
Parts of the education may be located to another
university or research institute, domestic or in foreign countries.
Each graduate student is given an adviser (= principal adviser) and at
least one assistant adviser, for scientific advice and support.
An
examiner is selected for each graduate student.
4. Specific directions
Besides Mathematical Statistics in general, the education may be
specifically directed towards Biostatistics or Industrial Statistics.
5. Courses
The study course is determined by the student, adviser and examiner
in consultation. For an education with specific direction it shall, to a
considerable degree, cover topics that are relevant to it.
For the
doctoral degree the course comprises 120 credits; it shall include
courses that cover
- probability theory: basic results and models (30 c) including the Integration Theory course (7,5 c) or an equivalent course
- statistical inference: theory and methods (30 c)
- participation in research seminars (15 c).
For the licentiate degree the study course comprises 60 credits; it
shall include courses that cover the areas I-III to the extent 15, 15,
and 7,5 credits respectively.
The studies begin with a broadening and
deepening in the subject area. Undergraduate courses in mathematical
statistics, which have not been counted in the undergraduate program,
may, after the agreement of the examiner, be included in the study
course.
Advanced courses in other subjects may be included in the
study course.
Up to 15 higher education credits may be counted in the
study course for the participation in statistical consulting, but not as
a part of the item II above.
5.1 Common courses for all graduate students at Chalmers
Doctoral students are required to gain 15 credit points in the
field "Generic and Transferable Skills" during their post-graduate
studies: 9 credit points before their licentiate degree and 6 credit
points after their licentiate degree.
Besides the course package "Generic and Transferable Skills", it is required that the doctoral student should
- participate in the General introduction meeting for doctoral students (prior to the licentiate exam),
- give an oral popular scientific presentation before the defence,
- write a popular scientific description of the content which should be printed on the back cover of the thesis.
6. Seminars
The student shall contribute to the scientific activities by
participating in and taking responsibility for seminars (in particular,
by gaining 15 credits for courses mentioned in the item III of Section 5
above), and taking part of guest lectures even if these have no direct
connection to the study course.
The student should participate in a
number of scientific meetings, such as workshops, summer schools and
conferences.
7. Essay and dissertation
7.1 Licentiate essay
For the licentiate degree, it is required that the student
completes an independent project worth 60 credits, writes an essay on it
and presents it in a seminar. The essay is graded on a pass/fail basis.
7.2 Dissertation
For the doctoral degree, it is required that the student writes and
defends publicly a scientific doctoral dissertation worth 120 credits.
The dissertation should be of such quality that it fulfils the standard
requirements for publication, either in its entirety or in abridged
form, in a scientific journal of good quality. The dissertation is
graded on a pass/fail basis. The grading is based both on the contents
of the dissertation as well as the defence.
8. Requirements for the degrees
8.1 Licentiate degree
For the licentiate degree, the following is required:
- completion of the study course worth 60 credits, and
- completion of the individual project according to 7.1.
8.2 Doctoral degree
For the doctoral degree, the following is required:
- completion of the study course worth 120 credits, and
- completion of the research project according to 7.2.
9. Degree names
The names of the degrees without a specific direction are
Licentiate of Engineering in Mathematical Statistics, and
Doctor of
Philosophy in Mathematical Statistics,
and for education with specific
direction
Licentiate of Engineering in Mathematical Statistics with
Specialization
in Biostatistics/Industrial Statistics, and
Doctor of
Philosophy in Mathematical Statistics with Specialization in
Biostatistics/Industrial Statistics.
For students with a BSc or
equivalent degree, "Engineering" above is
replaced by "Philosophy".
10. Adviser and Examiner
A student that is accepted into the graduate school has the right
to an adviser: four years for full time students for the doctoral
degree, two years for students for the licentiate degree; part time
students receive the proportional amount of advising over the longer
period of time.
The prefect selects an examiner, whose task it is to
approve the study course, decide about higher education credits and
grades for different courses, and confirm that the requirements for
exams are fulfilled.
The adviser and the examiner cannot be the same
person. The examiner, adviser and student work together to form a plan
for the student's progress through the program.
11. Exams
There are exams, either written or oral, for the different courses.
The exams are judged on a pass/fail basis by a course examiner, who
also suggests the point value of a passed course.
Course examination
can also take other form: e.g., by letting the student take
responsibility for one or several seminars.
The grade for the doctoral
dissertation is determined by a grading committee, that is appointed for
each dissertation defence. The grade for the licentiate essay is
decided by the examiner.
12. Further instructions
The student shall at least once a year give an accounting of her/his progress