Sustainability, PhD

Arizona State University - Kaplan International

The Doctor of Philosophy program in sustainability prepares students to become scientists and leaders in research who investigate the urgent sustainability challenges of this century. The flexible, transdisciplinary nature of the program allows students to focus on problems of interest to them, drawing upon relevant knowledge from sustainability science and a variety of disciplines. This full-time program includes a high degree of faculty interaction and collaboration. All sustainability doctoral students gain a better understanding of the need for a transdisciplinary approach to solving sustainability challenges as well as the ability to communicate their research effectively to academic and nonacademic audiences alike. In addition to the common learning outcomes, students are able to conduct research on particular sustainability challenges using theoretical lenses and methods from sustainability science and a range of complementary disciplines. Students learn to translate sustainability challenges to tractable research questions develop a portfolio of quantitative and qualitative research methods to address these research questions formulate and test hypotheses utilize rigorous elicitation methods to gather qualitative and quantitative datasets learn to engage with stakeholders to coproduce knowledge use statistical and other analytic techniques to analyze data and build and apply models of social-ecological systems. They develop expertise in the analysis of institutional policies and regulations, as well as the design of the built environment and technologies, to support sustainable development. They also develop the foundational knowledge of concepts and methods required to conduct interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research and effectively communicate their findings across academic disciplines, as well as to policymakers and the general public.

Arizona State University, Main campus