MS Course Requirements

MS students must complete the following requirements:

• Core Courses (12 credits)
• Elective Courses (6-12 credits)
• Research/Capstone (Thesis 18 credits, Non-Thesis 12 credits)
• Graduate Seminar (non-credit)
• Winter Enrichment Program (non-credit)

Core and Elective Courses must be technical courses and cannot be substituted with Research, Internship, or Broadening Courses to fulfill degree requirements.

Core Courses (12 credits)

Core Courses provide students with the background needed to establish a solid foundation in the program area. Students must complete 12 credits (4 Core Courses) and be aware that Core Courses may be offered only once per academic year.

EnSE 202	Aquatic Chemistry	3
EnSE 203	Fundamentals of Environmental Microbiology	3
EnSE 205	Principles of Environmental Sustainability	3
STAT 210	Applied Statistics and Data Analysis	3

Elective Courses (6-12 credits)

Elective Courses allow students to tailor their educational experience to meet individual research and educational objectives with the permission of the Academic Advisor. Thesis students must take two (6 credits) Elective Courses and Non-Thesis students must take four (12 credits) Elective Courses.

EnSE 314	Public Health Microbiology	3
EnSE 317	Selected Topics in Green Process Technology	3
EnSE 325	Water Desalination	3
EnSE 341	Processes in Environmental Biotechnology	3
EnSE 344	Modelling Bioprocess & Env. Engineering	3

Graduate Seminars (non-credit)

All students must register for EnSE 398 and receive a Satisfactory grade for two Semesters during their MS.  However, it is recommended students register for Seminars every Semester.  For more details about EnSE Seminars please contact your GPC.

Winter Enrichment Program (non-credit)

All students must register for WE 100 and successfully complete one Winter Enrichment Program (WEP), usually taken in the first year of study.

MS Thesis

Students planning to pursue the thesis option must complete a minimum of 12 credits of Thesis Research (EnSE 297). Students must complete any remaining degree credits through one or a combination of the options listed below:

• Broadening Experience Courses
• Internship: research-based summer internship (EnSE 295) – students can only take one internship
• 300-Level Courses
• Additional Thesis Research

Thesis Application

Students must complete the application and have it approved by the Program Chair no later than the end of week one of their third Semester. The Thesis Advisor must be a full-time program-affiliated Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor at KAUST. The Thesis Advisor can only become project affiliated for the specific thesis project with the Program Chair’s approval. The application must include a Thesis Proposal endorsed by the Thesis Advisor and a timeline for completion.

Students who meet the graduation requirements of the non-thesis track may drop the thesis up until the end of their third Semester. Students not able to complete their thesis after this deadline will face academic dismissal.

Petition to Defend Thesis

Students must submit a petition to defend their Thesis by the deadline published in the Academic Calendar. Students are responsible for scheduling the Thesis Defense Date. All committee members must attend the Defense. Students must defend their Thesis and obtain the final approval of the Defense within their duration of study (4 Semesters).

Thesis Committee Formation

The Thesis Defense Committee, which must be approved by the Dean, must consist of at least three members and typically includes no more than four members. At least two of the required members must be KAUST Faculty. The Chair plus one additional Faculty member must be affiliated with the student's program. This membership can be summarized as follows:

Member	Role	Program Status
1	Chair	Within program
2	Faculty	Within program
3	Faculty	Outside program
4	Additional Faculty or Research Scientist	Inside or outside KAUST

Notes:

•   Members 1-3 are required; Member 4 is optional.

•   Co-Chairs may serve as members 2, 3, or 4 but may not be a Research Scientist.

•   Members 2 and 3 can use alternative program affiliations when serving on thesis committees.

•   Adjunct Professors and Professors Emeriti may retain their roles on current Committees but may not serve as Chair on any new Committees.

•   Professors of Practice and Research Professors may serve as members 2, 3, or 4 depending upon their affiliation with the student's program; they may also serve as Co-Chairs.

•   Visiting Professors may serve as member 4.

View a list of Faculty and their affiliations here.

Thesis Defense

The format of the Oral Defense is left to the discretion of the Thesis Committee. Students defending their thesis receive an outcome of a Pass, Pass with Conditions or Fail, Fail with Retake. A Pass is achieved when the Committee agrees with no more than one dissenting vote; otherwise, the outcome is a Fail. In the case of a Pass, students must send the Thesis Result Form within 2 days of the Thesis Defense to the GPC. In the case of a Fail, the Committee Chair must inform the GPC immediately to take the necessary action. 

Students must submit the Final Approval Form by the deadline published in the Academic Calendar.

Thesis Document

Students must follow the Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines available on the KAUST Library webpage when they write their thesis. Once the thesis is ready to be examined, students must determine the Defense date with the agreement of all members of the Thesis Committee.

Thesis Archiving

Students must archive the Thesis in the KAUST Library two weeks from the  defense date. This must not exceed the duration of study or the deadline published in the Academic Calendar.

MS Non-Thesis

Students wishing to pursue the non-thesis option must complete a total of 12 capstone credits, with a minimum of 6 credits of Directed Research (EnSE 299). Students must complete the remaining 6 credits through one or a combination of the options listed below:

• Broadening Experience Courses
• Internship: Summer internship (EnSE 295) – students can only take one internship.
• 300- Level Courses
• Additional Directed Research (EnSE 299)