Ph.D. Course Requirements

The required coursework varies for students entering the Ph.D. degree with a bachelor’s degree or a relevant master’s degree. Students holding a bachelor’s degree must complete all program core/mandatory courses and elective courses outlined in the master’s degree section and are also required to complete the Ph.D. courses below. Students entering with a bachelor’s degree will qualify to earn a master’s degree by satisfying the master’s degree requirements.

Students entering the Ph.D. degree with a relevant M.Sc. degree must complete the requirements below, though additional courses may be required by the academic advisor.

Ph.D. Courses

• At least four courses of which at least two must be from the AMCS 300 level course list
• Graduate seminar 398 (non-credit) – all students are required to register and receive a satisfactory grade for the first two semesters unless they have fulfilled this requirement during a M.Sc. at KAUST
• Winter Enrichment Program (WEP) – students who completed WEP while earning the M.Sc. are not required to enroll in a full WEP for a second time during the Ph.D.

Academic (Dissertation) Advisor

The selected academic or dissertation advisor must be a full-time program-affiliated assistant, associate or full professor at KAUST. Students may also select an advisor from another program at KAUST. This advisor can only become project-affiliated for the specific dissertation project with program level approval. Project affiliation approval must be completed prior to commencing research.

Ph.D. Candidacy

In addition to the coursework requirements, students must successfully complete the required Ph.D. candidacy milestones to progress towards Ph.D. candidate status. These milestones consist of the subject-based qualifying examination and Ph.D. proposal defense. Once students have advanced to candidacy, students are designated as Ph.D. or doctoral candidates.

Subject-Based Qualifying Examination

The qualifying exam consists of three written subject exams, one in each of the core courses of AM or CSE listed below.

Applied Mathematics (AM) Track

AMCS 231 – Applied Partial Differential Equations

STAT 220 – Probability and Statistics or AMCS 241/STAT 250: Stochastic Processes

AMCS 251 – Numerical Linear Algebra

Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) Track

AMCS 231 – Applied Partial Differential Equations

STAT 220 – Probability and Statistics or AMCS 241/STAT 250: Stochastic Processes

AMCS 251 – Numerical Linear Algebra

The choice of qualifying exams must be approved by the academic advisor and program chair and communicated to the GPC within the first month of the semester in which students intend to complete the requirement. Students have two attempts to take each exam and can pass them in any combination. All students are required to pass all three qualifying exams within one year of entering the program. 

Students in the CSE track can replace one of the three qualifying exams with a CSE-related qualifying exam in another program. If the passing grade in that qualifying exam is determined by the overall grade of a course, the student must score 70% or more in the final exam (in addition to satisfying all other requirements for that program).  The one-year restriction to fulfill the requirement still applies in this case.

The qualifying exam is offered twice a year: during the final exams of the fall semester and immediately after the final exams of the spring semester. The fall semester qualifying exam is the final exam of each of the abovementioned courses given during the fall semester. The spring semester exam is a three-hour exam per subject prepared by the faculty representative. Students are encouraged to take all three qualifiers in their first semester of the Ph.D. program.

Students that are enrolled in 100 level classes during their first semester as Ph.D. students can ask for an extension of a semester to complete the qualifying exams. This extension does not increase the number of attempts. No further extensions will be given except for extenuating circumstances.

Ph.D. Proposal Defense Committee

The Ph.D. 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 student’s program.

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 2 or 3 depending upon their affiliation with the student’s 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.

View a list of faculty and their affiliations here.

Ph.D. Dissertation Proposal Defense

The purpose of the dissertation proposal defense is to demonstrate that students have the ability and are adequately prepared to undertake Ph.D. level research in the proposed area. This preparation includes necessary knowledge of the chosen subject, a review of the literature and preparatory theory or experimentation as applicable. The dissertation proposal defense is the second part of the qualification milestones that must be completed to become a Ph.D. candidate. Ph.D. students are required to complete the dissertation proposal defense within one year after passing the qualifying exam. The dissertation proposal defense includes two aspects: a written research proposal and an oral research proposal defense. Students should discuss with their academic advisor the form and venue of the defense, and whether the proposal discussion will be public or not.

There are four possible outcomes from this dissertation proposal defense:

• Pass
• Pass with conditions
• Retake
• Fail without retake

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 three months 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 Ph.D. candidates. At the end of the proposal defense, a Ph.D. proposal results form must be completed and handed out to the GPC.

Ph.D. Final Defense Committee

The Ph.D. 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, 3 or 6
• 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 6 depending upon their affiliation with the student’s program, they may also serve as co-chairs
• Visiting professors may serve as member 6, but not as the external examiner

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.

Co-supervisors can be considered one of the above four members required, provided they come under the categories listed (i.e. meets the requirements of the position).

View a list of faculty and their affiliations here.