The mission of the Ocean Sciences (OCE) graduate program is to provide our students with specialized knowledge in important ocean science sub-disciplines as well as a broad understanding of the ocean as a key component of the Earth System. Our students advance the understanding of physical, chemical, and biological processes in the ocean and their interactions. Students learn first-hand about instrumentation and methods to measure the ocean using both in-situ and space-based sensors, and about laboratory, analytical, and numerical models to understand oceanic processes. Our graduates develop into international leaders of ocean research, into teachers and communicators of ocean sciences, and into leaders and advisors of marine education, policy, and conservation.

OCE offers opportunities for students to participate in research cruises and join field campaigns aboard our Research Vessel Walton Smith and aboard other vessels around the world, to perform experiments in our state-of-the-art wind-wave-storm surge simulator (SUSTAIN), and to run ocean and climate model simulations using our supercomputer facility. The OCE faculty excels in a wide range of topics including ocean circulation and climate, ocean carbon cycle, air-sea interaction, remote sensing, and marine ecosystem dynamics. Our waterfront location on Biscayne Bay offers a respite from the hustle and excitement of Miami, one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the US. With first-rate facilities and diverse faculty, there are few places like the Rosenstiel School to study the ocean sciences!

The department is composed of faculty, staff, and students formerly affiliated with the Divisions of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, Marine and Atmospheric Chemistry, and Applied Marine Physics. The new OCE graduate program naturally fosters multidisciplinary research and education in a wide variety of topics at the interfaces between physical, chemical, and biological oceanography. Simultaneously, we have maintained all of our disciplinary strengths. Our Ph.D. students focus in one of four broad research concentrations: Air-Sea Interaction and Remote Sensing; Marine Biogeochemistry; Marine Biophysical Interactions; and Ocean Dynamics. Our Ph.D. students are typically supported for three years as a research assistant on a faculty-led research grant, and for two years as a Rosenstiel School-sponsored teaching assistant. We offer competitive stipends to our students, currently about $29k per year, and we provide health insurance.

Structural components

Thesis/Dissertation

Ship training

Industry partners

Internship/Workplace experience

International component

Practical/Field work

Research Project

Application procedure

Online Application Form and Upload Supporting Documents. Please use the online application which can be found at https://www.applyweb.com/miamigrd/index.html.
- The application will ask you to identify up to 5 faculty with whom you are interested in. See above statement for more details on this.
- Upload PDF of Statement of Purpose identifying your goals and objectives in pursuing a graduate degree. If you have already identified RSMAS faculty you are interested in, please be sure to include this information here as well.
- Upload PDF of unofficial transcripts (for review purposes only). See below statement on transcripts for more details on this.
- Three letters of recommendation from persons well situated to evaluate your qualifications for graduate study. The online application will ask you to enter your recommender's email addresses for the RSMAS recommendation letter form to be sent to them.
- Non-refundable application fee ($85).
Official transcripts of all college and graduate level work are required.
- US Applicants: while the online application will allow you to upload unofficial transcripts for review purposes, RSMAS must receive official transcripts before an offer of admission can be released. You are strongly encouraged to request the registrar of each institution attended to send transcripts directly to the University of Miami, RSMAS, Graduate Studies Office (address below). For any institution allowing electronic transfer of the official transcript, please use gso@rsmas.miami.edu as the delivery address.
- International Applicants:
  - Documents Required: Submit the following educational documents to an approved international credentialing evaluation service for evaluation:
    - Official original diplomas and certificates in the original language
    - Official original transcripts in the original language (names of courses, grades, and hours of instruction) for every year of study.
    - NOTE: Documents in a language other than English must be accompanied by professional, certified English translations. Translations supplement, but do not replace the official documents.
  - Type of Evaluation Required
    - The Rosenstiel School requires international applicants to complete a course-by-course evaluation with GPA.
  - Where to Submit Documents for Evaluation
    - Josef Silney & Associates (JS&A), Inc, International Education Consultants, is the preferred evaluation vendor for international applicants to the University of Miami due to their competitive prices and high-quality service.
    - Please note that international applicants are not required to use the services of JS&A. The international credential evaluation services of any approved vendor may be used.
    - Please be sure the vendor sends your evaluation directly to gso@rsmas.miami.edu.
  - Evaluation Fee
    - Applicants are responsible for the evaluation fee.
  - Please note that failure to comply with these instructions may cause significant delays in the review and processing of your application, and therefore also significant delays in the processing of your I-20.
Official GRE score report.
- An official score of the Graduate Record Examination Test (GRE): http://www.ets.org/gre must be submitted using institution code 7690 (there is no department code). The University of Miami requires a minimum score of 297 (total of verbal + quantitative) for acceptance into any Graduate School program. The Rosenstiel School does not have a minimum score requirement of its own (other than the UM minimum) for the verbal and quantitative sections, but most admitted applicants score approximately in the 80th percentile or better. In addition, applicants must have a minimum of 3.5 on the analytical writing section.
- It is only recommended, not required, that applicants to the Graduate Program in Marine Biology and Ecology submit the score of the Subject Test in Biology.
Official TOEFL or IELTS score report (international applicants only).
- International applicants whose native language is not English must submit official results of the Test of English as a foreign language (TOEFL): http://www.ets.org/toefl/ using institution code 2919 or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) http://www.ielts.org/ using institution code 4862. There is no department code for either score submission.
- An exception to this rule is an international student who will have earned a US degree prior to enrollment at RSMAS.
- A minimum score of 550 (paper-based test), 213 (computer-based test), 80 (iBT), or 6.5 for the IELTS is required for admission.
Ph.D. applicants with a prior Master's degree.
- Students applying to the Ph.D. program with a prior Master’s degree must include with their application an abstract of the thesis or reprints or manuscripts of scientific work. Applicants can email this to gso@rsmas.miami.edu.
Financial Documents
- Applicants who have already secured an external fellowship, scholarship, sponsorship or other funding to finance the degree should email financial documents directly to gso@rsmas.miami.edu.

Grant opportunities

Most of our Ph.D. students are supported by faculty grants as Graduate Research Assistants during their 5-year tenure. Our stipends, tuition, and health insurance are highly competitive. Top students are encouraged to apply for national fellowships and scholarships. Additionally, students can apply or be nominated for University of Miami and Rosenstiel School fellowships and awards.

Learning outcomes

Air-Sea Interaction & Remote Sensing

The focus of this concentration is on sub-millimeter to mesoscale processes at and across the air-sea interface, from the oceanic thermocline to the atmospheric boundary layer. Research topics include surface fluxes and turbulent mixing events, wind-wave-current interactions, hurricane intensity changes, storm surge predictions, coupled tropical dynamics, underwater acoustics, internal and surface gravity waves, and coastal processes. OCE faculty, research staff, and students approach these studies using our unique wind-wave laboratory (SUSTAIN) and satellite-data facilities (CSTARS), and through field experimentation using ship-, buoy-, land-, and aircraft-based instrumentation. Coupled ocean-atmosphere modeling studies provide a framework to understand these observations, where one of the foci is tropical weather and hurricanes. Many of our research efforts have societal relevance in areas such as severe weather and wave forecasting, disaster monitoring and mitigation response, climate change, renewable energy developments, marine transportation and ship tracking, search and rescue, and pollutant dispersion.

Biophysical Interactions

This concentration addresses the study of ocean productivity, the distribution, transport, and behavior of planktonic organisms, and their complex interactions with higher trophic levels. Researchers in OCE take a multi-prong approach, coupling the development of biophysical models with experimental field and laboratory work. OCE scientists develop new techniques and instrumentation to observe and model planktonic organism behavior and their responses to environmental signals. Research topics include the study of harmful algal blooms, plankton distribution and patchiness, trophic interactions, larval dispersal and population connectivity, biological control of physical constraints, microbial dynamics, bioacoustics, and animal navigation.

Marine Biogeochemistry

Studies in this concentration focus on the physical, chemical, biological, and geological processes controlling the oceanic cycling of carbon, macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and silicon), and trace elements (e.g., iron). We conduct our work throughout the global ocean, using advanced analytical and modeling techniques to assess the dynamics of these elements. Research topics include, ocean acidification, nutrient limitation of productivity, global distributions of biogeochemical variables, tracers for time scales of water mass formation and circulation, air-sea exchange of materials, carbon fluxes, microbial processes, and speciation, distribution, and isotopic ratio of dissolved trace metals.

Ocean Dynamics

This concentration covers the study of how the ocean moves on all scales, from turbulence and eddies to ocean gyres and the global thermohaline circulation, and how these motions impact and interact with Earth's climate. Scientists in OCE approach studies of Ocean Dynamics through sea-going experimentation and data analysis, development of conceptual modeling tools, data assimilation, numerical simulations, ocean prediction, and forecasting. Research topics include the dynamics and variability of boundary currents like the Gulf Stream, basin-wide meridional overturning and heat transport, mesoscale and submesoscale dynamics and stirring, turbulence, water mass formation and ventilation, oil spills, and coastal and continental shelf processes.

Prerequisites

The best OCE applicants have a strong foundation in science, with a bachelor’s and/or master’s degree in physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, engineering, geophysics, oceanography, marine science, or a related field. Applicants must take the GRE. Those whose first language is not English must pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with a score of at least 550.