Objective of the Program
The Food and Agricultural Sciences (FDST) Program is part of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences in the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences. The mission of the Food and Agricultural Sciences Doctoral program is to prepare students for successful careers and life‐long learning experiences within the food industry, academia and government. Specifically, the program aims:
- To meet the need for highly trained food scientists, including food safety professionals, by providing a multi‐disciplinary education and intensive research experiences in food science and technology.
- To provide in the Land Grant tradition a national and international Center of Excellence in Food Science and Technology that will be used for teaching, research and outreach to include the education and training of personnel who are or will be involved in the food related sectors of agriculture.
- To create new opportunities and training for UMES students to develop their skills and competencies in problem solving, critical and analytical thinking and communications, with an emphasis on food safety and food quality systems.
Admission Requirements
Regular Admission may be granted to applicants with a baccalaureate and a Master’s degree (thesis option) in either food science or related disciplines (nutrition, microbiology, chemistry, biology, animal and poultry science, environmental science, plant and soil science, veterinary medicine, etc.). GRE scores (General Test) may also be considered.
Applicants may be considered for admission into the Ph.D. program with a minimum of 30 credit hours beyond the B.S. degree, or only the B.S. degree, and may be admitted:
- on a provisional basis with final acceptance to the Ph.D. program contingent upon successful completion of a probationary period, usually the second semester after matriculation, and on the recommendation of the student’s Graduate Committee; or
- admitted to Regular Status based on a high GPA (3.5/4.0), strong background in the food sciences and potential demonstrated in GRE scores (General Test), and strong support of recommenders that the applicant has the ability to complete the Doctoral degree.
Provisional Admission may be granted to applicants with the baccalaureate and the Master’s degree, or the baccalaureate degree, who need prerequisite coursework or are pending award of the Master’s degree (See Graduate School subsection on Provisional Admission Status). International students must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and score a minimum of 80 (web based test). International applicants must also submit documentation that they will be financially able to support their studies.
Additionally, to be admitted to the FDST program, each applicant must submit a brief description of his or her intended dissertation research proposal with the completed application package. If admitted, the student in consultation with his/her academic adviser and Graduate Dissertation Advisory Committee, will decide on the research proposal.
The FDST Executive Committee will subsequently review the dissertation proposal to determine the appropriateness of the intended research for the FDST program.
Application Deadlines
Fall Semester ‐ April 15
Spring Semester ‐ October 30
Summer Sessions ‐ April 15
Program Retention and Graduate Committee Role
The program requires completion of a dissertation as partial fulfillment for the Doctoral degree. Each student is initially assigned a major Advisor who is responsible for advising the student on all aspects of the student’s progress throughout the program.
The major Advisor must be a Regular member of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Graduate Faculty.
The student must have a major professor (Regular Graduate Faculty Status) and select a Graduate Committee no later than the end of the second semester of enrollment. Before the end of the second semester of enrollment, each student’s program of study is planned in consort with the major professor (advisor) and the Graduate Committee, including any transfer credits to be applied to the degree program. The Graduate Committee must have five members, three of whom must hold UMES Regular or Associate Graduate Faculty status membership, and a majority of the Committee must be UMES full‐time faculty in academic departments. The major professor chairs the Committee. Annual student progress reviews will be conducted by the Committee to ensure satisfactory progress of students toward degree completion. All students must maintain a cumulative 3.0 GPA, pass a written comprehensive examination and complete degree requirements, including dissertation within seven years of initial enrollment if full‐time, otherwise nine years if part‐time.
Exit Degree Requirements
The Ph.D. requires a minimum of 36 credits beyond the M.S. level (or 66 credits minimum beyond the baccalaureate degree), with at least 24 credits of course work and 12 credits of dissertation research; those with only a Bachelor’s degree will need additional coursework to meet the 66 credits minimum. Of the minimum 24 credits of course work, there are 9 credit hours of core courses and 15 credit hours of electives. Twelve credits of course work must be at the 600 level or above. Formal application for advancement to candidacy in the Doctoral program requires successful completion of both the comprehensive examination and an oral defense of the dissertation proposal. The Graduate Committee administers the comprehensive examination, defense of the dissertation proposal, oversees the student’s dissertation research, and administers the dissertation seminar and final dissertation defense (see the Graduate School’s Established Procedures for Conduct of the Doctoral Dissertation Defense in this Catalog).
Full‐time students must be advanced to candidacy, i.e., taken and passed the comprehensive examination and dissertation proposal defense, no later than four years after matriculation. Part‐time students follow the Graduate School’s time limits for Doctoral degrees (5 years to Advancement to Candidacy, 4 years to final dissertation submission).
For further information and forms, students should consult the booklet Guidelines for the Graduate Degree Programs in Food and Agricultural Sciences and Food Science & Technology; the Graduate School booklet on Guidelines for Graduate Student Academic Advisement, and the sections in this Catalog on the Graduate School Requirements Applicable to the Ph.D. Degree , the Established Procedures for Conduct of the Doctoral Dissertation Defense , Minimum Registration Requirements , Minimum Registration Requirements for Doctoral Candidates and Dissertation Research .
For information on the FDST program, please contact:
Jurgen Schwarz, Ph.D.
Program Director – FDST Program
Center for Food Science and Technology
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Princess Anne, MD 21853
Email: jschwarz@umes.edu
Phone: 410‐651‐7963
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