Degrees Offered
Doctor of Philosophy
The increasing prevalence of chronic disease and obesity worldwide has added urgency to the need for qualified researchers trained in understanding the complex interaction of biology, environment, and personal behavior, as well as skilled in the development of interventions to potentially attenuate the rapidly rising rates of obesity and chronic diseases such as diabetes in both adults and children.
The program prepares scholars to conduct research on the critical issues related to:
• determinants of health behaviors related to nutrition and to physical activity;
• relationships among food and nutrition- related behaviors and health outcomes using techniques of behavioral epidemiology;
• design and implementation of theory-based behavioral nutrition and physical activity interventions
• methodological considerations in the design and evaluation of interventions.
There are three specializations:
Behavioral Nutrition
Nutritional Epidemiology
Nutrition and Physical Activity
The graduates from this program will be leaders who will assume professorial and research roles in universities and colleges within departments of nutrition epidemiology, foods and nutrition, and physical activity, as well as assume research roles in centers for research on behavioral aspects of obesity, chronic disease prevention, and health promotion. Thus, the program aims to prepare researchers with basic and applied behavioral skills within an educational context.
Admission Requirements
Admission to the Ph.D. program involves completing the application form available online or through the Admission Office, including all regular procedures such as transcripts from all institutions attended, 3 letters of recommendations, and writing sample, which can be a thesis, substantial paper, or published article.
The student should have a master’s degree in nutrition or a closely related discipline from
an accredited institution, along with the necessary prerequisite undergraduate courses in general, organic and biochemistry, and human physiology. Admissions will be based on grades, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, personal statement, and an appropriate match between the applicant’s interests, the research work of the Ph.D. faculty, and funding availability. The student should normally have scores of 600 or above on each of the quantitative and verbal components of the general GRE test and 5 or 6 on the analytical component. The student will generally be expected to be full-time and to work on on-going research projects of the faculty.
Program of Study
The general requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy include a minimum of 75 graduate credits, of which at least 45 must be taken under Teachers College registration.
For the Ph.D., total classroom course requirement is 45-51 credits, including prior master’s degree work, and 24-30 credits (advanced topical seminars, research seminar and dissertation advisement) devoted to research-related courses and activities. Students will also be expected to pass a certification examination and an advanced seminar, and to write a dissertation.
Students will be expected to take courses in the following categories:
I. Core courses: 33 points
II. Courses to develop depth within each specialization: 15-21 points
III. Research preparation: 21-27 points
The specific courses selected will depend on the student’s particular background, interests and goals. In consultation with a faculty advisor, students should develop a program plan early in their course of study to provide a rational basis for their course selection.
Research Training and Apprenticeship
The primary modality for training for Ph.D.
students is working with their sponsor in some ongoing research project: Students will work closely with one faculty member on an ongoing research project to gain practical experience in the development of study instruments, intervention protocols, data collection, data management and analysis, manuscript preparation and submission, and presentation of results at relevant scientific meetings. During their first year after completing basic core coursework, students will also participate in two semester-long part-time internships with other Columbia research labs to gain additional research perspectives. (Contact the Program in Nutrition office for more detailed descriptions of the Ph.D. requirements.)
Additional Degree Information
Admission RequirementsAdmission to the PhD program involves completing the application form available online or through the Admission Office, including all regular procedures such as transcripts from all institutions attended, 3 letters of recommendations, and writing sample, which can be a thesis, substantial paper, or published article.
The student should have a master's degree in nutrition or a closely related discipline from an accredited institution, along with the necessary prerequisite undergraduate courses in general, organic and biochemistry, and human physiology. Admissions will be based on grades, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, personal statement, and an appropriate match between the applicant's interests, the research work of the PhD faculty, and funding availability. The student should normally have scores of 600 or above on each of the quantitative and verbal components of the general GRE test and 5 or 6 on the analytical component. The student will generally be expected to be full-time and to work on ongoing research projects of the faculty.
Program of Study
The general requirements for the Doctor of Education include a minimum of 75 graduate credits, of which at least 45 must be taken under Teachers College registration.
For the Ph.D., total classroom course requirement is 45-51 credits, including prior master's degree work, and 24-30 credits (advanced topical seminars, research seminar and dissertation advisement) devoted to research-related courses and activities. Students will also be expected to pass a certification examination and an advanced seminar, and to write a dissertation.
Students will be expected to take courses in the following categories:
I. Core courses: 33 points
II. Courses to develop depth within each specialization: 15- 21 points
III. Research preparation: 21-27 points
The specific courses selected will depend on the student's particular background, interests and goals. In consultation with a faculty advisor, students should develop a program plan early in their course of study to provide a rational basis for their course selection.
Research Training and Apprenticeship. The primary modality for training for Ph.D. students is working with their sponsor in some ongoing research project: Students will work closely with one faculty member on an ongoing research project to gain practical experience in the development of study instruments, intervention protocols, data collection, data management and analysis, manuscript preparation and submission, and presentation of results at relevant scientific meetings. During their first year after completing basic core coursework, students will also participate in two semester-long part-time internships with other Columbia research labs to gain additional research perspectives. (Contact the Nutrition Program office for more detailed descriptions of the Ph.D. requirements.)
