Interdisciplinary Graduate Training

Penn State has been a leader in interdisciplinary research for decades, and that focus—connecting scientists and scholars from different backgrounds to solve critical problems—has tremendous impacts on graduate education. At Penn State, graduate students can pursue interdisciplinary training through many avenues, including:

• Dual-title programs (see below)
• Intercollege Graduate Degree Programs
• Concurrent degrees
• Special seminars, lectures, and conferences that highlight trends in interdisciplinary fields
• Elective courses outside degree that provide interaction with other disciplinary paradigms or approaches
• Postbaccalaureate or graduate certificates
• Graduate minors
• Options of degree programs

Dual-Title Degree Programs

These programs integrate two fields of study into a single research/thesis problem. The dual-title program offers considerable value-added scholarship for students, along with enhanced methodological and analytical skills, and broadens students’ employment/career opportunities.

Among the advantages of the dual-title program are:

• the student is enrolled simultaneously in a primary and dual title program, with each having equal stature and credit;
• the major adviser for the primary and dual title programs is same individual, which ensures both fields are represented in the student’s research and thesis;
• both fields of study are represented/explored in the qualifying, comprehensive and final examinations;
• completion of the program provides a visible credential, i.e., the degree is awarded in both fields of study.