Ph.D. Course Requirements

M.Sc./Ph.D. students - students entering the Ph.D. degree with only a Bachelor degree

Ph.D. students - students entering the Ph.D. degree with a relevant Master degree

If not specified, the term “students” is used for both M.Sc./Ph.D. and Ph.D. students.

The required coursework varies for M.Sc./Ph.D. and Ph.D. students. M.Sc./Ph.D. students must complete all the Program core and elective courses outlined in the M.Sc. degree section and are also required to complete the Ph.D. courses below. Ph.D. students must complete the requirements below, though additional courses may be required by the Academic Advisor.

Ph.D. Courses

• At Least Two 300-level Chemistry Courses – 300-level Chemistry Courses can be Core AND/OR Elective Courses: you can select two Core Courses, two Elective Courses, or combination of one Elective and one Core Courses from the Chemistry Program. Please note that only one  300  level contemporary topic class can be counted towards this requirement.
• Doctoral Dissertation Research (Chem 397): register until graduation
• Graduate Seminars (Chem 398, non-credit) – all M.Sc./Ph.D. students are required to register and receive a satisfactory grade for six (6) semesters during their graduate program; all Ph.D. students are required to register and receive a satisfactory grade for four (4) semesters during their graduate program; fourth year M.Sc./Ph.D. and third year Ph.D. students will be asked to present (~20 min) their research as a necessary preparation for the Dissertation Proposal Defense, no publications are required to be eligible to present
• 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. degree

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 Ph.D. Qualifying Exam (milestone_1) and the Ph.D. Dissertation Proposal Defense (milestone_2). Once students have advanced to Candidacy, students are designated as Ph.D. or Doctoral Candidates.

Ph.D. Qualifying Exam

The purpose of the Qualifying Exam (QE) is to test the student's creativity, independence, and knowledge of the subject matter within the field of study. All students entering the Ph.D. program with a Bachelor degree must take this examination within two (2) years of their admission. Students admitted to the program with a Master degree must take this exam within one (1) year. Students may take the exam earlier with Academic Advisor approval. Every student needs to fill out the required QE form (form_4, part_1) and submit the QE proposal (written document, see description below) to the GPSA at least two (2) weeks prior to the QE date. The GPSA will get the signature of the Chemistry Program Chair to proceed.

The QE consists of an oral presentation of an original idea, which is related to the area of research, but not the exact work done in the lab (same approach as a grant application). The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session regarding both the presented project and general chemistry knowledge.

QQE Committee

The QE Committee, which must be approved by the Program Chair, should consist of three members. In addition to the Academic Advisor, two Chemistry Program Faculty members (primary or affiliated) need to serve as Committee Members.

The Committee Members are expected to carry forward to serve on the Dissertation Proposal Committee. Once constituted, the composition of the Committee can be changed with the approval of the Academic Advisor and the Program Chair.

View a full list of the Chemistry Program Faculty here.

Scheduling the Qualifying Exam (QE):

Students must schedule the QE at a time acceptable to the Committee members, who are expected to make every reasonable effort to be available for the QE.

Scheduling the QE

Students must schedule the QE at a time acceptable to the Committee members, who are expected to make every reasonable effort to be available for the QE.

QE Written Proposal

Students should prepare a written document that explains their oral presentation. This is a brief document, modeled after a standard funding agency (example: National Science Foundation, NSF) proposal. It should be no more than 15 pages in length including figures and references. This document should be ready to submit to the QE Committee at least two (2) weeks prior to the QE date. It might be organized as suggested below.

*These are the general guidelines. Longer documents can be permissible with the Academic Advisor approval.

A. Summary

A brief overview of the proposed work with emphasis on the intellectual merit and the broader impacts (1 page).

B. Background and Significance

This section should answer the question: Why is the proposed work important?

Briefly sketch the background to the present proposal, critically evaluate existing knowledge, and identify gaps in our present understanding. This section may need to occupy as many as 3-4 pages.

C. Specific Aims

This section is intended to answer, in very specific terms, the question: What do you propose to do?

No background or other narrative material belongs in this section; it is not meant to stand alone, nor to provide details about the experimental system, but rather to provide a succinct and specific summary of the planned research. It is probably most helpful to write this section after writing the rest of the proposal. It should occupy no more than one page.

D. Experimental Design and Feasibility

This section should parallel the Specific Aims section and should answer the question: How will you do the proposed work?

Describe each experiment you propose to conduct and how you will analyze the data and interpret the results. Provide appropriate calculations or cite literature data to support the feasibility of the experiments you propose. Supporting evidence that comes from unpublished work must be clearly identified as such and specifically attributed. Discuss potential drawbacks of any proposed experiments that lack clear precedent, and propose alternative approaches to achieve the aims. This section may need to occupy as many as 3-4 pages.

E. References

The list of references must include complete citations, including all authors and the titles of research articles or book chapters.

QE Evaluation

Up to 1.5 hours will be allotted for the QE (30 min presentation, 60 min questions). There are four possible outcomes of the QE:

Pass

A pass is achieved when the Committee agrees with no more than one dissenting vote, otherwise the student fails.

Pass with Conditions

In the instance of a Pass with Conditions, the entire Committee must agree on the required conditions and if they cannot, the Associate Dean decides. The deadline to complete the conditions is one (1) month after the QE date, unless the Committee unanimously agrees to change it.

Fail with Retake

In the instance of a Fail with Retake, the decision of the Committee must be unanimous. The deadline to complete the retake is six (6) months after the QE date, unless the Committee unanimously agrees to reduce it.

Fail without Retake

Students who fail the QE, or who Fail without Retake will be dismissed from the University.

After the evaluation and recommendation by the Committee members, the final QE proposal document and QE form (form_4, part_2) must be submitted to the GPSA within 48 hours after the QE, regardless of the exam outcome. The GPSA will collect all required signatures.

Ph.D. Dissertation Proposal Defense

he Dissertation Proposal (DP) Defense is the second part of the qualification milestones that must be completed to become a Ph.D. Candidate. The purpose of the DP 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 experiment as applicable (data presentation).

Every Ph.D. student is required to complete the DP within one (1) year after passing the QE. The DP date will be determined by the student, Academic Advisor, and DP Committee. A Ph.D. student must submit the request (form_5) to form the DP Committee together with the oral presentation to the GPSA at least two (2) weeks prior to the DP date. The GPSA will collect all required signatures and share the oral presentation with your DP Committee at least one (1) week prior to the DP defense.

*A student with two or more first-author (or first co-author) publications (status: published) in highly ranked journals, related to the Ph.D. work, can apply to waive the oral DP presentation. For the application, the student is requested to prepare a single page summary to describe the results of all the published work and submit it together with the request (form_6) and copies of the publications to the GPSA at least two (2) weeks prior to the DP date. The application will be further evaluated by the Program Chair in consultation with the DP Committee. The GPSA will collect all required signatures.

Ph.D. Dissertation Proposal Defense Committee

The DP Committee, which must be approved by the Program Chair and the Associate Dean, must consist of at least three members and typically includes no more than four members. The Chair, plus one Faculty Member must be primary or affiliated to the Chemistry Program.

Notes:

•   Members 1-3 are required, Member 4 is optional

•   Co-Chairs may serve as Member 2 or 3

•   Adjunct Professors and Professors Emeriti may retain their roles on current Committees, but may not serve as Chairs on any new committees

•   Professors of Practice and Research Professors may serve as Member 2 or 3 depending upon their affiliation with the Chemistry Program, they may also serve as Co-Chairs

Once constituted, the composition of the DP Committee can only be changed with the approval of the Academic Advisor, the Program Chair, and the Associate Dean.

View a list of Faculty members and their affiliations here.

Scheduling the DP Defense

Students must schedule the DP Defense at a time acceptable to the Committee members, who are expected to make every reasonable effort to be available for the DP Defense.

DP Evaluation

There are four possible outcomes from the DP Defense:

Pass

A pass is achieved when the Committee agrees with no more than one dissenting vote, otherwise the student fails.

Pass with Conditions

In the instance of a Pass with Conditions, the entire Committee must agree on the required conditions and if they cannot, the Associate Dean decides. The deadline to complete the conditions is one (1) month after the Defense date, unless the Committee unanimously agrees to change it.

Fail with Retake

The deadline to complete the retake is six (6) months after the Defense date, unless the Committee unanimously agrees to reduce it.

Fail without Retake

In the instance of a Fail without Retake, the decision of the Committee must be unanimous. Students who fail the DP Defense will be dismissed from the University.

After the evaluation by the Committee Members, submit the DP Evaluation form (form_7) to the GPSA within 48 hours after the DP Defense, regardless of the DP outcome. The GPSA will collect all required signatures.

Ph.D. Final Defense

The Ph.D. Candidate requires the passing of the Final Defense (FD) and acceptance of the dissertation. The FD is a public presentation that consists of an oral defense followed by questions and may last a maximum of three (3) hours.

Students 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 student’s responsibility to submit the required documents through the online petition form (form_8) at the beginning of the semester they intend to defend.

The required documents include

1. list of proposed FD Committee Members, including the External Committee Member (and CV of the External Committee Member)
2. current CV of the Ph.D. Candidate
3. current transcript of the Ph.D. Candidate
4. list of publications of the Ph.D. Candidate
5. final draft of the Ph.D. Dissertation

Students must submit the written dissertation to the FD Committee one (1) month prior to the Defense date in order to receive feedback.

Ph.D. Final Defense Committee

Associate 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 members and one must be an External Committee Member who is external to KAUST. The Chair, plus one Faculty Member must be primary or affiliated to the Chemistry Program. The External Committee Member is not required to attend the Defense, but must write a report on the dissertation and may attend the FD at the discretion of the Program.

Notes:

• The Chair cannot be the Academic Advisor
• Members 1-4 are required, Members 5 and 6 are optional
• Co-Chairs may serve as either Member 2, 3 or 6
• Adjunct Professors and Professors Emeriti may retain their roles on current Committees, but may not serve as Chairs on any new committees
• Professors of Practice and Research Professors may serve as Member 2, 3 or 6 depending upon their affiliation with the Chemistry Program, they may also serve as Co-Chairs
• Visiting Professor may serve as Member 6, but not as the External Committee Member
• The only requirement with commonality with the DP Committee is the Academic Advisor, although it is expected that other members will carry forward to this Committee.
• Co-Advisors 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 members and their affiliations here.

FD Evaluation

There are four possible outcomes from the FD:

Pass

A pass is achieved when the Committee agrees with no more than one dissenting vote. The deadline to complete to archive is (1) month.

Pass with Conditions

In the instance of a Pass with Conditions, the entire Committee must agree on the required conditions and if they cannot, the Associate Dean decides. The deadline to complete the conditions is three (3) months after the Defense date, unless the Committee unanimously agrees to reduce it.

Fail with Retake

If the conditions will take three months or more, or more than one member casts a negative vote, one retake of the Defense is permitted. The deadline to complete the retake is as decided by the FD Committee with a maximum of six (6) months after the Defense date, unless the Committee unanimously agrees to change it.

Fail without Retake

Students who Fail without Retake will be dismissed from the University.

Evaluation of the Ph.D. Final Defense is recorded by Committee Chair submitting the report and signed form “Results of Ph.D. Dissertation Defense” within three (3) days after the oral defense to the Office of the Registrar.

Final Approval and Dissertation Submission

Once the post-Defense corrections are made, the student must follow the KAUST Repository Guide and do the following:

• Submit the M.Sc. Thesis/Ph.D. Dissertation Final Approval (form_3)
• Create ORCID account, if absent
• Submit Dissertation and all supplemental files
• Add some details like names of Committee Members, Abstract, Keywords and so on
• Confirm the distribution license