PhD in Chemical Engineering
Superior students with MS or BS degrees will
be considered for the doctoral program in chemical engineering. Students joining with a Master’s degree may satisfy up
to 45 credit hours of the PhD course/research credit requirements depending
on the courses taken and/or research carried out in their Master’s programs,
subject to approval by graduate program advisor.
Requirements
The following general requirements must be satisfied in order to complete the PhD in chemical engineering:- 90 credit hours total
- Qualifying exam (first year)
- Establishing a plan of study (first term)
- 18 core credits
- 15 credit hours of specialized plan of study
- 57 credit hours of research
- Candidacy exam (5th term)
- Dissertation/Thesis
- Defense of Dissertation/Thesis
- GPA requirements: 3.0 overall; 3.0 in graduate Chemical Engineering (CHE) courses; 3.0 core graduate courses
Qualifying Exam
The qualifying exam takes place in the first year. The department administers the exam twice a year – in January and June. The objective of the exam is to evaluate proficiency in core undergraduate chemical engineering material. The format is mae up of seven problems, each covering a separate core topic from the undergraduate curriculum, including thermodynamics, heat transfer, mass transfer, fluid mechanics, kinetics, control, and separations. Students must display mastery of five out of the seven topics to pass the qualifying exam. Each student will be given two opportunities to pass the qualifying exam.
Thesis Advisor/Plan of Study
All students must meet with their advisor in their first term to work out a plan of study. |
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| Core Requirements | 18.0 Credits | |||
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| CHE 502 | Mathematical Methods | 3.0 | ||
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| CHE 513 | Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics | 3.0 | ||
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| CHE 525 | Transport Phenomena I | 3.0 | ||
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| CHE 543 | Kinetics and Catalysis I | 3.0 | ||
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| CHE 626 | Transport Phenomena II | 3.0 | ||
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| CHE 800 | Special Topics: Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics II | 3.0 | ||
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| Specialized Plan of Study Courses | 15.0 Credits | |||
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| 15.0 credit hours of courses approved by research advisor. All students are expected to develop competence in their area(s) of specialization. | ||||
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| Research | 57.0 Credits | |||
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| 60.0 credit hours of research (CHE 998), which may include up to 6.0 credit hours of electives. | ||||
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Candidacy Exam
The objective of the candidacy exam is to determine whether the student has the potential to carry out a successful PhD project.The components of the candidacy exam are as follows::
- Proposal Document (Written): The student is required to write a research proposal of about 15 pages, including background, preliminary results, and a research plan (with his/her advisor's input). The proposal must be submitted to each member of the student’s thesis committee and to the Graduate Program Advisor before 5:00 pm on the first day of the student's 5th term.
- Proposal Defense (Oral): The student provides a formal defense of his/her proposal to his/her thesis committee before the end of the student's 5th term.
Thesis /Dissertation and Defense
As the culmination of intensive study and independent research, the doctoral dissertation represents a major scholarly endeavor; accordingly, it is recognized as the most important requirement of the degree. All doctoral candidates must present an acceptable dissertation based on significant work. The dissertation must represent a unique contribution to chemical engineering or biochemical engineering knowledge. A final oral examination is conducted, in part, as a defense of the dissertation.A preliminary exam is targeted for the student's 12th term, with this scheduling subject to the research advisor's discretion. This preliminary exam is to ensure that the student has made adequate progress in his/her project and that s/he has gained skills to write an independent research proposal.
The requirements of the thesis/dissertation and defense include:
- Proposal Document, a.k.a. “Second Proposal”: The student is required to write a research proposal of about 15 pages, including background, summary of results to date, and a plan for completion of the thesis work (with minimal advisor input). The proposal must be submitted to each member of the student’s thesis committee well in advance of the oral exam date.
- Preliminary Defense (Oral Examination): The student must defend the second proposal and the thesis work to-date in an oral examination by his/her thesis committee.
- Manuscript Submission: Before taking the preliminary exam, the student is required to submit at least one paper based on his/her PhD research to a refereed journal. This must be an original article, not a review.
- A copy of the written proposal, together with a copy of the submitted paper with acknowledgment of submission from the journal editor, must be submitted to the Graduate Program Advisor before the Preliminary Defense and at least 6 months before the Thesis Defense.
- The student is responsible for scheduling the Preliminary Defense
- Students should submit a copy of the Preliminary Exam Reporting Form no later than three days after the exam.
For more information, visit the Chemical
and Biological Engineering Department web page.
