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 STAT 300 level course list. Courses have to be approved by the academic advisor. Core courses, 100-level courses, or courses taken during and used toward the M.Sc. degree cannot be used to fulfill this requirement.
• Graduate seminar 398 (non-credit) – all students are required to register and receive a satisfactory grade for the first two semesters
• 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. 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
• Two members need to have primary affiliation in the CE program
• 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.

Subject-Based Qualifying Examination

The qualifying exam consists of three written subject exams, one in each of the core courses STAT 220, STAT 230, STAT 250. It is given twice per year: during the final exams of the fall semester and immediately after the final exams of the spring semester, or as feasible. The fall semester qualifying exam is the final exam of each of the core courses given during the fall semester. The spring semester exam is a 3-hour exam per subject prepared by the faculty teaching the core courses. The exams are given over the course of a few days in both spring and fall.

Students are encouraged to take all three (3) qualifiers in their first semester of the Ph.D. program. Students have two chances to take each exam and can retake only those exams they did not pass. MS/Ph.D. students are required to pass all three qualifying exams within 7 semesters of entering the program, (an academic year comprises three semesters Fall, Spring, and Summer). PhD students must successfully pass all three qualifier exams within 4 semesters of admission. No extension is given except under extenuating circumstances. Each exam is passed if students obtain a score of at least 70% in that exam. If students at the end of the first year of Ph.D. have only passed 2 out of 3 qualifiers then the case is reviewed by the qualifying exam committee and it is decided if students can proceed with the Ph.D. For more details related to the Ph.D. qualifying exam, contact the STAT program coordinator.

It is the responsibility of students to inform the dissertation defense committee of their progress, deadlines for submitting graduation forms, the defense date, etc. It is required that students submit their dissertation to the STAT program coordinator nine weeks prior to the defense date in order to receive feedback from the committee members in a timely manner.

Note: M.Sc./Ph.D. students who pass the final exam of a qualifying exam course with a score of 70% or higher during their M.Sc. do not have to retake that exam during their Ph.D. as a qualifying exam. Moreover, exams taken during the M.Sc. do not count towards the two attempts, provided these correspond to courses in which students are enrolled. Students can choose to take the final exam for a course in which they are not enrolled. In that case, the exam counts towards the two attempts. The deadline to pass all qualifying exams is unchanged, one year after starting the Ph.D. regardless of the qualifying exams passed during the M.Sc.

PhD 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. MS/PhD students must successfully defend the dissertation proposal within 11 semester of admission (an academic year comprises three semesters Fall, Spring, and Summer). PhD students must successfully 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. 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. meet the requirements of the position).

View a list of faculty and their affiliations here.