HLA Graduate Program

Graduate Curriculum | Graduate Faculty | Financial Aid |
Application Procedures | Contact Information

The Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture offers the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Master of Science (M.S.), and Master of Agriculture (M.Agr.), a nonthesis degree. Areas of concentration include plant physiology, plant genetics and breeding, cell physiology and molecular biology, environmental and production horticulture, and horticultural marketing. The goal of the graduate program in horticulture at Purdue is to prepare students for professional careers in basic or applied plant science emphasizing food or ornamental crops.

Graduate Curriculum

Students enter the graduate program with different professional objectives and varying academic backgrounds. Therefore, there are few required courses and no fixed credit requirements in our M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs. However, candidates for M.S. degrees usually take at least 24 credits at the graduate level, while Ph.D. students often complete an additional 20 to 24 credit hours. Candidates for the M. Agr. degree must complete at least 33 credit hours of course work. Training in biochemistry, plant physiology, genetics and statistics is required of all Ph.D. students, and course work in computer science, physical chemistry, and molecular genetics is highly recommended. Graduate programs generally include required and elective course work and seminars, written and oral examinations, and original research guided by a major professor. In addition, each student chooses his or her own faculty guidance committee. An increasing number of graduate student research projects are funded by extramural grants, which usually increase the resources available to the student researcher. Participation by graduate researchers at professional society meetings is actively encouraged and financially supported by the department. The duration of graduate programs varies, but the average M.S. program takes two years and one semester and the average Ph.D. program takes three to four years. Postdoctoral opportunities are becoming increasingly available as the amount of extramural funding increases. Students may also enroll in interdepartmental graduate training programs such as the Purdue Plant Biology Program and the Purdue Genetics Program. Many students and faculty within our department participate in these programs.

Graduate Faculty

The Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture has an outstanding faculty representing a broad range of disciplines within horticulture and plant biology. These individuals can provide training opportunities in their areas of specialization. We recommend that potential students identify particular faculty members who share their academic interests and contact these individuals directly.

Graduate Faculty in Horticulture and Area of Specialization

Ray A. Bressan	Stress physiology
Bruce P. Bordelon	Viticulture and small fruits
Michael N. Dana	Native species for the landscape
Jennifer H. Dennis	Specialty Crop Marketing Specialist
Natalia Dudareva	Biochem. & Mol. Bio. of Aromatic Compounds
Avtar K. Handa	Post harvest and molecular biology
Paul M. Hasegawa	Plant cell and tissue culture, stress tolerance
Peter Hirst	Pomology
Jules Janick	Plant genetics and breeding, new crops
Matthew A. Jenks	Plant Environmental Stress
Robert J. Joly	Plant water relations, stress physiology
Roberto G. Lopez	Commercial Floriculture, Greenhouse Production, Sustainability
Michael Mickelbart	Horticulture/Plant Physiology
Cary A. Mitchell	Mech. stress, controlled environment, space bio.
Angus Murphy	Molecular Biology and Physiology
Kathryn Orvis	Horticulture/Youth Education
D Marshall Porterfield	Biological Enginering
K. G. Raghothama	Molecular biology of plant nutrition
David Rhodes	Plant stress physiology, N&S metabolism
David Salt	Plant Molecular Physiology
Burkhard Schulz	Plant Biochemical and Molecular Genetics
Stephen C. Weller	Weed science

Research Facilities

More on Facilities

Modern research laboratories and state-of-the-art analytical equipment are available for graduate student research in the Department of Horticulture, which also maintains greenhouses, controlled environment facilities, and several research farms. The University has extensive computing facilities throughout the campus, and remote terminals to the University's mainframe are located in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. In addition, the university maintains core facilities in: molecular biology including DNA sequencing, oligonucleotide synthesis, peptide synthesis and peptide sequencing; mass spectrometry, and electron microscopy.

Main and specialty branch libraries are available at numerous locations. Horticulture graduate students are provided with office and study space in further support of their research activities.

Financial Aid

Most horticulture graduate students receive a half-time research assistantship to cover living expenses while working on their degree. These assistantships are like fellowships in that students are paid to pursue their own research projects. In 2003-04, half-time assistantships pay $15,900.00, including $400.00 for a travel allowance. Research assistantships may be sponsored by grants or by the department. In addition, half-time teaching assistantships are available within the Department of Horticulture often at a higher stipend than research assistantships.

Application Procedures

Admission criteria and selection for fellowships and assistantships is based upon several criteria. These include: the student's academic background, grade point average, performance on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE General Test), letters of recommendation, relevant experience, a written statement by the applicant, and the availability of a major adviser in an applicant's interest area. Applicants whose native language is not English must take the TOEFL, even if they are already in the United States when they apply. A minimum TOEFL score of 550 is required by the Purdue University Graduate School.

There is now an electronic application available. Other information and application materials can be obtained from .

Contact Information

Colleen Martin
Purdue University
625 Agriculture Mall Dr.
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2010
765-494-1306 (phone)
765-494-0391 (fax)
martinck@purdue.edu (e-mail)

Related Web Sites

• Information on Graduate Programs at Purdue University
• Graduate School Funding Opportunities
• Graduate School Admissions Information
• Graduate School Electronic Application
• Graduate School Publications, Manuals, and Forms
• Purdue University Department of Horticulture
• Purdue University Graduate School
• Deadlines
• Graduate School Calendar of Events
• Purdue University