生物学博士学位的构成旨在挑战学生发展智力独立性。通过设计和实施一项研究项目就可以证明这一点，该项目需要对生态学或进化论中的一个重要问题进行大量工作，然后以反映学生作为学者的成熟方式进行分析和综合。项目可能包括但不限于人口，社区或生态系统生态学，种群或保护遗传学，系统学，分子进化，生物信息学或系统发育学方面的研究。学生将提出并捍卫一个学位论文项目，其中包括将作为独立手稿在适当的学术期刊上发表的章节。
The PhD degree in biology is structured to challenge students to develop intellectual independence. This is demonstrated by designing and implementing a research project that requires substantial work on an important question in ecological or evolutionary theory, then analyzing and synthesizing results in a way that reflects the student's maturation as a scholar. Projects might include, but are not limited to, studies in population, community, or ecosystem ecology, population or conservation genetics, phylogeography, molecular evolution, bioinformatics, or phylogenetic systematics. Students will present and defend a dissertation project that includes chapters to be published as stand-alone manuscripts in appropriate scholarly journals.