Ph.D. Courses

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 and elective course requirements 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 two 300-level courses
• Graduate seminar ECE 398 (non-credit) – all students are required to register and receive a satisfactory grade for the first two semesters; students who completed seminars while earning the M.Sc. are not required to enroll for a second time during the Ph.D.
• 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.

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.

Ph.D. Qualifying Examination

The purpose of the subject-based qualifying exam is to test the student’s knowledge of the subject matter within the field of study. It is offered twice a year. Students have up to two attempts to pass the Ph.D. qualifying exam. All MS/PhD must successfully pass the qualifier exam within 7 semesters of admission (an academic year comprises three semesters Fall, Spring, and Summer). PhD students must successfully pass the qualifier exam within 4 semesters of admission.  Students who fail the subject-based qualifying exam with no retake or fail the retake will be dismissed from the University.

The qualifier is administrated in the form of a written exam and involves 30 questions. These questions cover topics within the core ECE courses taught at KAUST as listed below:

Each student is given 30 questions (2 per topic) at the beginning of the exam. S/he has to return solutions to only 5 of these problems at the end of the exam.

The exams are graded in an anonymous fashion (i.e. the professors grading the exams do not have access to the names of the students, as all students are given unique exam IDs). ECE faculty then evaluate each student’s research potential/progress (as recommended by his/her research/thesis adviser) together with the results of the written exam.

One of the following outcomes is possible:

1. Pass:The student is qualified for the Ph.D. program.
2.  Fail/Retake:The student did not satisfactorily pass the qualifying exam, but is allowed to retake the exam one (1) more time.
3. Fail: The student did not satisfactorily pass the qualifying exam on both written attempts, and the student is not qualified for the Ph.D. program. Students who fail the retake are not permitted to continue and will be dismissed from the Ph.D. program.

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. The committee form must be submitted to the GPC one month before the defense. The committee composition is described below:

Notes:

• The affiliation status of the Within/Outside program refers to the faculty’s primary affiliation.
• 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. Proposal Defense Committee

The purpose of the dissertation proposal defense is to demonstrate that the student has the ability and is 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. MS/PhD students must successfully defend the dissertation proposal within 11 semesters of admission (an academic year comprises three semesters Fall, Spring, and Summer). PhD students must successfully defend the dissertation proposal within 7 semesters of admission. The dissertation proposal defense includes two aspects: a written research proposal and an oral research proposal defense. Ph.D. students must request to present the dissertation proposal defense to the proposal dissertation committee at the beginning of the semester they will defend their proposal.

There are four possible outcomes of this Dissertation Proposal 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. 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. The deadline to complete a retake is six months after the defense date unless the committee unanimously agrees to reduce it.

Students who fail the dissertation proposal defense, or who fail the retake will be dismissed from the University. A student who successfully passes the dissertation proposal defense is deemed a Ph.D. Candidate.

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 may attend the defense (not required), but must write a report on the dissertation. The table below summaries committee composition:

Notes:

• The affiliation status of the Within/Outside program refers to the faculty’s primary affiliation.

• 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.

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 their progress. It is the responsibility of the student to submit the required documents to the GPC no later than nine weeks before the scheduled defense. 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 without retake 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 GPC.