The ECU Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders offers the PhD degree in Rehabilitation Sciences. The PhD program offers doctoral students an opportunity to engage in breakthroughs in understanding the challenges that individuals with communication and swallowing disorders experience. The PhD program operates on an apprenticeship model whereby students work closely with a faculty members who are dedicated to training academic researchers.<br><br>The PhD program includes several areas of research emphasis in speech, language, and hearing research. Research conducted by speech science faculty include investigations ranging from improving understanding of cleft palate speech to examining acoustic parameters of normal and disordered speech Research faculty interested in issues focus on the interactions among cognition and language processes in children and adults with and without cognitive-linguistic impairments. Audiology faculty conduct research in a wide range of areas including adult and infant electrophysiology, amplification and rehabilitation, and psychoacoustics. Faculty collaborations exist to address complex issues related to literacy, disparities in communication outcomes and the economics of communication and swallowing disorders. CSDI faculty also collaborate with faculty from the ECU Department of Psychology, Brody School of Medicine, School of Dental Medicine, and other researchers and scientists in North Carolina. Students, their major professor, and a dedicated program committee work together to utilize all available resources in the development a comprehensive program of study and major area of research concentration.