PhD Course Requirements

Students entering the PhD Program must complete the requirements below:

• 300-level courses* (6- 12 credits)
• Graduate seminar (non-credit)
• Winter Enrichment Program (non-credit) 

The Academic Advisor may request the completion of additional courses. Courses taken while pursuing the KAUST MS degree cannot be counted towards the PhD course requirements. Courses must be technical courses and cannot be substituted with Research, Internship, or Broadening Courses to fulfill degree requirements.  

*Students with an ERPE MS: at least two 300-level courses. Students with a KAUST MS but not in ERPE or with an MS from another university must take a minimum of four courses, including at least three ERPE courses and one elective, two must be 300-level courses. 

Graduate Seminars (non-credit)

A minimum of five ERPE 398 with Satisfactory grades must be completed within the duration of the PhD degree. Students must attend a minimum of 8 Graduate Seminars to receive a Satisfactory (S) grade. The seminars can be chosen from any Graduate Seminar series offered by the PSE division. Students who fulfill the minimum requirement of  five ERPE 398 do not need to register for additional graduate seminars. However, they are highly encouraged to attend the seminars. Additional information about the seminars can be found here. 

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. Students who completed WEP as part of their KAUST MS must take the program again.

PhD Candidacy

In addition to the coursework requirements, students must successfully complete the required PhD candidacy milestones to progress toward PhD candidate status. These milestones are as follows:

• A subject-based qualifier
• PhD Proposal Defense

Once students have advanced to candidacy, students are designated as PhD or Doctoral Candidates.

Qualifying Exam

The qualifier aims to test the 'students' knowledge in the field of study. Students must pass the qualifier by the end of their third semester.

The subject-based qualifying exam is built on the courses completed by PhD students during their studies at KAUST in the current program they are enrolled in. The exam has a written and an oral component based on three ERPE courses taught by three different Faculty members. Students must select the courses in communication with the Academic Advisor, with at least one being a 300-level course. A relevant course from another program may be substituted for an ERPE course, but only upon approval by the Program Chair. Both the written and oral components of the exam must be completed by the end of the third semester. The oral examination in all three subjects will be held on the same day. 

The qualifying exam is scheduled twice per year. A call for registration will be sent via email to eligible PhD students. The email will include the exam date and instructions to register. 

Dissertation Proposal Defense

The Dissertation Proposal Defense aims to demonstrate the 'students' ability and adequate preparedness to undertake PhD level research in the proposed research area. This includes necessary knowledge of the chosen subject, a review of related literature, and experimental or theoretical work as applicable. Students must pass the Dissertation Proposal Defense by the end of their fifth semester. The student determines the Proposal Defense date with the agreement of all Dissertation Proposal Defense Committee members. 

The Dissertation Proposal Defense includes a written research Proposal and an oral research Proposal Defense. The Dissertation Proposal Defense is not a pre-Defense. The written Proposal should be about ten pages, which include (1) background and motivation; (2) aims and objectives; (3) research plan and methodology; (4) significance and potential impact; and (5) Dissertation structure and time schedule. The oral presentation should be about 30 minutes, followed by a 30-minutes Q&A session. During the Q&A session, the Committee can ask questions about the proposed work's novelty, impact, plan, and feasibility. 

PhD students must request to present the Dissertation Proposal Defense to the Proposal Dissertation Committee at the beginning of the semester that they intend to defend their Proposal. Students must submit the written research Proposal to the Committee at least two weeks before the Defense date. 

The PhD Dissertation Proposal Defense Committee, which must be approved by the Dean, must consist of at least three members and typically includes no more than six members. The chair, plus one additional Faculty member must be affiliated with the ERPE program. The committee is as follows:

Notes:

• Members 1-3 are required; member 4 is optional
• Co-Chairs may serve as members 2 or 3
• 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 1, 2, or 3 depending upon their affiliation with the program; they may also serve as Co-Chairs
• Once constituted, the composition of the Proposal Committee can only be changed with the approval of both the Academic Advisor and the Dean. 

Proposal Defense Results

There are four possible outcomes from this dissertation proposal defense. A pass is achieved when the committee agrees with no more than one dissenting vote. In the instance of a Pass with conditions, the entire committee must agree on the required conditions and if they cannot, the dean decides. The deadline to complete the conditions is one month after the defense date, unless the committee unanimously agrees to change it. In the instance of a Fail without retake, the decision of the committee must be unanimous. Students who Fail without retake or who fail the retake will be dismissed from the University.

Students who successfully pass the Dissertation proposal Defense are deemed PhD Candidates. At the end of the proposal Defense, a PhD Proposal Results Form must be completed and submitted to the GPC. 

Dissertation

The Dissertation is the final milestone of the PhD program. Students must complete the following:

• Petition to Defend Dissertation/ Form Dissertation Defense Committee 
• Defend Dissertation 
• Archive Dissertation

Dissertation Document

Students must follow the Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines available from the KAUST Library when they write their Dissertation.

Petition to Defend Dissertation

Students must determine the Defense date with the agreement of all members of the Dissertation Defense Committee. It is the sole responsibility of students to submit the required documents in consultation with the GPC and the Dissertation Academic Advisor by the deadline published in the Academic Calendar.

Students must defend their Dissertation and obtain the final approval of the Dissertation Defense by the end of their fourth year (8 Semesters and 4 Summer Sessions). Students must follow the Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines available on the KAUST Library webpage when they write their Dissertation.

Formation of Dissertation Defense Committee

The PhD Dissertation Defense Committee, which must be approved by the Dean, must consist of at least four members and typically includes no more than six members. At least three of the required members must be KAUST Faculty, and one must be an external examiner who is external to KAUST. The Chair, plus one additional Faculty member must be affiliated with the student's Program. The external examiner is not required to attend the Defense but must write a report on the Dissertation and may attend the Dissertation Defense at the discretion of the Program.

Notes:

•  Members 1-4 are required. Members 5 and 6 are optional 
• Co-Chairs may serve as either members 2 or 3 
• 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 1, 2, 3 or 5 depending upon their affiliation with the program. They may also serve as Co-Chairs. 
• The only requirement with commonality with the Proposal Committee is the Academic Advisor, although it is expected that other members will carry forward to this Committee. 
• If students have a Co-Academic Advisor, this person can be considered one of the above four members required, provided they come under the categories listed (i.e., meets the position's requirements).

Dissertation committee requires the External Examiner to be at the Associate or Full Professor level. Conflicts of interest precluding role of External Examiner: 

• Relative or previous mentorship relation to PhD candidate
• Co-authorship with PhD candidate
• Current joint grant with PhD supervisor
• Co-authorship or co-supervision with PhD supervisor in past 5 years (dispensation by Dean’s office possible under exceptional circumstances)
• Current negotiation with PhD candidate or KAUST about employment

The Dean can approve exceptions.  

View a list of faculty and their affiliations here.

Dissertation Defense

Students must determine the Defense date with the agreement of all members of the Dissertation Defense Committee. It is the sole responsibility of students to submit the required documents in consultation with the GPC and the Dissertation Advisor by the deadline published in the Academic Calendar and at least 2 months prior to the Defense date. The required documents include: (i) a list of proposed Committee members (including a CV of the external examiner), (ii) a current CV of the student (including a list of publications), (iii) a current transcript, and (iv) the Dissertation. The Dissertation Defense is a public presentation followed by a Q&A and an oral Defense.

A Pass is achieved when the Committee agrees with no more than one dissenting vote. In the case of a Pass, the Dissertation must be archived within 2 weeks. In the instance of a Pass with conditions, the entire Committee must agree on the required conditions and if they cannot, the Dean decides. The deadline to complete the conditions is three month after the defense date, unless the committee unanimously agrees to change it. If the conditions will take more than three months, or more than one member casts a negative vote, one retake of the defense is permitted. The deadline to complete the retake is decided by the Committee with a maximum of six months after the Defense date, unless the Committee unanimously agrees to reduce it. Students who have exceeded their duration of study must apply for an extension as per the Time Limit and Extension Policy. All conditions must be met by the end of the extension period which prevails over the date set by the Committee. In the instance of a Fail without retake, the decision of the Committee must be unanimous. Students who fail without retake or who fail the retake will be dismissed from the University.

The outcome of the Dissertation Defense must be recorded by submitting the Dissertation Defense Evaluation Form within 2 days after the Defense to the Office of the Registrar.

Dissertation Archiving

Students must archive the Dissertation in the KAUST Library two weeks from the final result form. This must not exceed the deadline published in the Academic Calendar. The required form is available from the Office of the Registrar.