The Doctor of Philosophy in City and Regional Planning (Ph.D. CRP) is our flagship program, training the next generation of innovative and cutting-edge planning scholars and researchers. We select our Ph.D. students with great care: those who we believe have great promise and are the best match for Cornell’s offerings.
The Ph.D. is an opportunity to conduct original research, contribute to debates in our field, innovatively produce knowledge, and shape cities and regions worldwide.
Most City and Regional Planning Ph.D. students have four years of guaranteed funding, which can be used over five years. Most students receive a combination of fellowship funding (when they work on their research) and teaching assistantships (when they work 15 hours/week helping to teach, lead discussion groups, advise students, and grade papers). Assistantships are important opportunities to gain experience working closely with a faculty member to support a course.
Graduates go on to become leading academics and researchers at prestigious universities across the world and in national and global planning institutions.
Curriculum
Incoming students are matched with a City and Regional Planning advisor and a second CRP faculty member with parallel interests. Once at Cornell, students have the option to select their own Ph.D. advisor in CRP.
CRP offers seminars taught by senior faculty with considerable experience in research and publishing to help Ph.D. students develop a dissertation topic and complete the degree. Students are encouraged to pursue elective coursework and specialization both in CRP and across Cornell University.
CRP Ph.D. students can write a monograph or a three-paper dissertation. This decision is made together with the student’s advisor and doctoral committee, which each doctoral student has the responsibility and opportunity to select to guide their Ph.D. process.
Timeline for successful progress:
- Year 1: Coursework, finalize committee, identify topic
- Year 2: Coursework, write proposal, hold “A” exams, plan for fieldwork
- Year 3: Research and fieldwork, begin writing dissertation
- Year 4/5: Write dissertation, take “B” exams, graduate and look for jobs
For full details on the Ph.D. and its requirements, see the CRP Ph.D. Field Handbook.