995: Required Candidacy Course

Both the research outcomes and the research skills that characterize a doctor of philosophy are developed through directed dissertation research under the mentorship of one professor or more. At U-M, the credit hours dedicated to these academic objectives are designated by the 995 course, which all dissertating Ph.D. students take each semester that they are enrolled.

While the structures and practices in these courses vary widely across doctoral programs, all Rackham Ph.D. programs utilize this course to advance the learning objectives that distinguish the Ph.D. as a degree. These objectives include the experience of, and capacity for formulating new research questions and lines of inquiry; identifying appropriate evidence, methods, and processes for pursuing a research program in the given discipline; testing hypotheses and assessing outcomes; and articulating the significance and limits of findings in order to advance knowledge and understanding.

Graduate faculty who direct a student in 995 provide guidance in a variety of ways and with varying degrees of frequency: through oral and written direction and feedback, formulating and framing research projects in which graduate students participate, leading group or team discussions of research, and participating in meetings of the dissertation committee. The pedagogy of 995 also recognizes that doctoral students benefit from opportunities to work with a high level of independence. The ability to define and direct one’s own research is a core learning objective of the Ph.D., and independent work is a necessity and an expectation within the framework of directed research, as part of acquiring crucial capacities for creating and conducting original research.

In accordance with its pedagogical objectives, assessment in 995 is based on research progress. This is not necessarily or only witnessed by successful outcomes; instead, 995 assessment focuses primarily on the development of capacities and processes necessary in creating and pursuing original research, which can entail unsuccessful hypotheses and evidence production (experimentation, archival research, etc). Because the success of research outcomes is not the only (or most important) criterion and because doctoral-level research capacities are developed across projects that extend beyond any single semester, 995 is graded on a S/U rather than a letter grade basis.