The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree is designed to prepare students for research careers in academia and industry.
There is a minimum residency requirement at KAUST of three and a half years for students entering with a bachelor’s degree and two and a half years for students entering with a master’s degree. A minimum GPA of 3.0 must be achieved to graduate. Individual courses require a minimum of a B- for course credit.
The Ph.D. degree includes the following steps:
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 (in lieu of B 296 Lab Rotation, MS/PHD students may take an additional elective) 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 two 300-level courses
- Graduate seminar 398 (non-credit) – all students are required to register and receive a satisfactory grade for three semesters during their M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees (three seminars in each program)
- 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.
Pre-Proposal Committee Meeting
12 month, 3 member panel
The Pre-Proposal Committee Meeting is a 12 month research update meeting to determine progress and readiness towards the PhD proposal defense (which needs to be undertaken within 2 years of enrollment). Membership of the panel will consist of 2 faculty from within the program (supervisor + 1 other), and 1 from outside of the program. Although not required, the membership of this committee could be retained for the Proposal Defense Committee (see Section 3). The suggested timings are for guidance only, but this should ideally be 45-60 minutes.
Expectations for the Pre-Proposal meeting:
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Student is evaluated on their overall progress during the last 12 months, with a focus on the status of research, research milestones, and plans for the following 12 months. It is expected that a broad topic has been determined by this stage.
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The student will provide a short (<30 minute; 8-12 slides) presentation on the state of their research, i.e., what is the research question they are answering (the knowledge gap), how they will do this (the approach), what remains to be done (the activity).
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The presentation will be followed by a brief Q/A from the committee (10 min).
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The committee will then meet separately with the supervisor (i.e., the student will be excused) to discuss the student’s progress, performance and expectations (optional, 5 min).
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The committee will meet separately with the student (i.e., the supervisor will be excused) to inquire about the relationship between the student and supervisor (project feedback; project support; discussion of expectations; etc.) (optional, 5 min).
In the event that substantial issues are identified, the committee will identify a course of action for the student to follow. This may be placing the student on academic sanction (probation/dismissal) with an associated action plan, or any other recommendation (up to and including that no-action be taken).
Ph.D. Proposal Defense
The proposal defense will be evaluated by a three member panel, consisting of two faculty from within the program (academic advisor and one other), and one outside of the program. The purpose of the Proposal Defense is to establish that students have the required academic and research ability and are adequately prepared to undertake Ph.D. level research in the area proposed.
To advance to candidacy, students must successfully complete the Ph.D. proposal defense. Once students have pass the proposal defense, students are designated as Ph.D. or doctoral candidates.
Students who will not complete their proposal defense after one full year will need to complete a pre-proposal committee review. Students will provide a research update to determine progress and readiness towards the Ph.D. proposal defense. The required contents and deadlines for the committee review will be communicated to students by their GPC.
Expectations for the Proposal Defense:
- The Proposal Defense Committee is dean-approved (via the proposal committee form). Although guided by the academic advisor, students should have a say in committee formation and agree to its final composition (to be confirmed by GPC).
- The written proposal should include: 1) a literature review; 2) a statement of the research problem being addressed and the novelty (i.e. what new contribution will be explored); 3) an outline of the methodology to address these research questions; 4) detail of preliminary results or analysis towards these research objectives; 5) a description of the research plan for future activity, together with a timeline for completion.
- The proposal (less than 30 pages or 12,000 words; excluding references), should be provided to the committee at least 10 days before the scheduled defense date
- Students will prepare a 30 minute presentation that focuses on an introduction to the problem (i.e. research motivation), an elaboration of the research questions (i.e. the novelty and innovation), a description of relevant research activities, preliminary analysis and results (i.e. the research progress) and a description of the remaining research plans and efforts required for completion (i.e. the plan).
- The remaining time will be allocated to questioning students on the contents and scope of their research. In the event of a public defense, the audience will be asked to address their questions to students directly.
- On completion of this round of questioning, the audience will be asked to leave the room and the committee will address their questions to students directly. These can cover all aspects of candidature and should be designed to establish (and test) the knowledge and understanding of the chosen research topic.
- After a period of questioning, students are requested to leave the room, and a deliberation on their performance will be conducted.
- Students will be deemed to have either a) successfully defended and passed their proposal; b) unsuccessfully passed their proposal, but invited to re-sit the defense within a six month period (i.e. retake); unsuccessfully defended their proposal and be given a failing grade (i.e. fail without retake), resulting in the termination of their candidature.
- In the instance of a “fail without retake”, the decision of the committee must be unanimous and endorsed by the dean
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.
| Member |
Role |
Program Status |
| 1 |
First member/Academic Advisor/Chair |
Within program |
| 2 |
KAUST faculty member |
Within program |
| 3 |
KAUST faculty member |
Outside program |
| 4 |
Faculty or approved research scientist |
Inside or outside KAUST |
Notes:
- If you have a co-advisor this person can be considered one of the members, provided they come under the categories listed.
- 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. 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.
| Member |
Role |
Program Status |
| 1 |
Chair |
Within program |
| 2 |
Faculty |
Within program |
| 3 |
Faculty |
Outside program |
| 4 |
External examiner |
Outside KAUST |
| 5 |
Approved research scientist |
Inside KAUST |
| 6 |
Additional faculty |
Inside or outside KAUST |
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.
Ph.D. Dissertation Defense
The Ph.D. Degree requires the passing of the defense and acceptance of the dissertation. The final defense is a public presentation that consists of an oral defense followed by questions and may last a maximum of three hours.
The student must determine the defense date with agreement of all the members of the Dissertation Committee, meet deadlines for submitting graduation forms and inform the committee of his/her progress. It is the responsibility of the student to submit the required documents to the Graduate Program Coordinator at the beginning of the semester they intend to defend. It is also expected that the student submits their written dissertation to the committee at least two months prior to the defense date in order to receive feedback.
The written dissertation is required to comply with the University Formatting Guidelines.
There are four possible outcomes from this Dissertation Final Defense:
- Pass
- Pass with conditions
- Fail with retake
- Fail without retake
A pass is achieved when the committee agrees with no more than one dissenting vote, otherwise the student fails. If more than one member casts a negative vote, one retake of the oral defense is permitted if the entire committee agrees. In the instance of a pass the dissertation must be archived in one month of the result. 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 revisions and archive is up to three months after the defense date, unless the committee unanimously agrees to reduce it. The deadline to complete the retake is as decided by the defense committee with a maximum of six months after the defense date, unless the committee unanimously agrees to reduce it. Students who fail the Dissertation Defense or who fail the retake will be dismissed from the University.
Evaluation of the Ph.D. Dissertation Defense is recorded by submitting the Result of Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Examination form within three days after the Defense to the Registrar’s Office.