All students are advised to consult the SAIS Ph.D. Rules, the Red Book, their faculty advisor and the Office of Academic Affairs for further guidance and information.
Fields of Study
Students should select their courses in consultation with their faculty advisor. Except for two required research methodology courses, there is no minimum number of courses required of students entering the Ph.D. Program.
Courses in Research Methodology
All incoming students are required to take for credit and pass the following two courses in research methodology:
Before enrolling in Quantitative Methods of Political Research, all students are required to take and pass (1) Statistical Methods for Business and Economics and (2) Econometrics for credit or to test out via the SAIS Statistics waiver exam or an Econometrics wavier. The waiver exam is offered only to those who have demonstrated equivalence in coursework at another institution.
International Economics Competence
All Ph.D. candidates must demonstrate competence in international economics. SAIS M.A. degree recipients are accepted as having met this requirement. Non-SAIS M.A. students must do one of the following:
Pass the written comprehensive exam in International Economics as one of their three comprehensive exams
Pass a one-hour oral exam in economics and the candidate’s main field of study.
To prepare for the Ph.D. Oral Exam, the student must take for credit and pass the following classes or pass the waiver exams: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, International Trade Theory, and International Monetary Theory. The waiver exam is offered only to those who have demonstrated equivalence in coursework at another institution.
Comprehensive Exams
All students must select three examination areas from among the following:
Language Requirement
All Ph.D. candidates must demonstrate competence either in two foreign languages or in one foreign language plus quantitative methods of analysis.
Prospectus Requirements
Each candidate will prepare a written prospectus of his or her dissertation and present the prospectus in a defense that is open to members of the JHU faculty and students no later than six months after passing the last comprehensive exam.
Dissertation Requirements
At SAIS, the dissertation must be an original and analytical treatment of a subject of conceptual importance. To conduct the research for, write, and defend the dissertation, a candidate will have a period of five years from the defense of the prospectus. It is understood that in fields with exceptionally difficult languages the process may take longer.