Doctor of Philosophy in Nutrition

Website: https://twu.edu/nutrition-food-sciences/graduate-programs/phd-in-nutrition/

The Ph.D. in Nutrition program offers graduate-level courses in nutrition and human metabolism, clinical nutrition, and applied nutrition or nutrition in the life cycle. A dissertation is required.

The program is offered on our Denton and Houston campuses.

Marketable Skills

Defined by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's 60x30 Strategic Plan as, "Those skills valued by employers that can be applied in a variety of work settings, including interpersonal, cognitive, and applied skills areas. These skills can be either primary or complementary to a major and are acquired by students through education, including curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities."

  1. Understanding the integration of nutrition into specific health benefits or disease conditions.
  2. ​Understanding of experimental methods used to expand knowledge.
  3. Apply knowledge in the development of written and verbal communications.
  4. Interpret scientific literature in the field, and author-written and verbal communications on findings.
  5. Author-written and verbal communications for various audience levels.
  6. Listen to and interpret scientific presentations and publications.
  7. ​The ability to lead a team.

Admissions

All students must meet the University requirements as outlined in the Admission to the TWU Graduate School section of the catalog.

The academic program may have additional admission criteria that must also be completed as outlined on the program's website.

Degree Requirements

Total Semester Credit Hours Required

A minimum of 90 semester credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree including 6 semester credit hours for dissertation. The degree plan must be approved by all members of the advisory committee.

Required Courses

The NFS required courses (13 semester credit hours) for all doctoral degrees include the following:

NFS 5213Human Nutrition and Metabolism: Macronutrients (Usually this requirement is met during the master’s degree by taking a 3-6 hour course in metabolism, macronutrients, or micronutrients.)3
NFS 5223Human Nutrition and Metabolism: Micronutrients (Usually this requirement is met during the master’s degree by taking a 3-6 hour course in metabolism, macronutrients, or micronutrients.)3
NFS 6123Micronutrients in Human Nutrition3
NFS 6124Macronutrients in Human Nutrition4
NFS 6983Dissertation3
NFS 6993Dissertation3
Total SCHs19

Research Tools

Statistics6
HSC 6803Grant Writing3
Other research tools may include foreign language, computer applications, research design, grant writing, laboratory techniques, or electronic information resources3
Total SCHs12

Additional Courses for the Doctor of Philosophy in Nutrition

Additional courses may include:

Upper-Level Nutrition Electives6
Select 4 SCH from the following:4
Seminar in Nutrition
Advanced Seminar in Nutrition
Courses in Minor or Emphasis9
No minor or emphasis - 9 graduate credit hours in a focused area, to be decided in consultation with the advisory committee.
Minor or emphasis in Food Science - 9 graduate credit hours in Flavor Chemistry, to be decided in consultation with the advisory committee
Research in Nutrition and Food Sciences (as needed)
NFS 6921Advanced Research in Nutrition and Food Science1
NFS 6923Advanced Research in Nutrition and Food Science3
NFS 6931Advanced Research in Nutrition1
NFS 6933Advanced Research in Nutrition3
NFS 6941Advanced Research in Food Science1
NFS 6943Advanced Research in Food Science3

Note: Total minimum semester credit hours needed for graduation is 90 semester credit hours. Additional information can be found at the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences website.

Note:  A maximum number of 30 credits will be permitted to transfer from an MS degree and a maximum number of 15 credits from another PhD program can transfer pending approval by Academic Advisory Committee

Research Tools

A doctoral student must complete two research tools. Each research tool must have a minimum of six credit hours. One research tool must be six hours of graduate-level statistics. The other six hours of research tools will be HSC 6803 and an approved course as determined appropriate by the academic advisory committee. This may include, for example, research design courses, research methods courses in qualitative or quantitative methods, or other tools as appropriate.

Residency Requirement

Although there is no residency requirement, at least 50% of all the required semester credit hours for graduation must be earned at Texas Woman’s University.

Qualifying Examination

Current information can be found in the Ph.D. Handbook on the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences website.

Final Examination

The final examination is oral and includes defense of the dissertation and the research on which it is based. The final examination should not exceed three hours, and it may not be taken more than twice. Current information can be found in the Ph.D. Handbook on the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences website.