PhD Course Requirements

Students on PhD Program must complete the requirements below:

• 300-level courses* (6 credits)
• Dissertation Research (66 credits minimum)
• Graduate Seminar (non-credit
• Winter Enrichment Program (non-credit)

The Academic Advisor may request the completion of additional courses. Courses taken while pursuing the KAUST MS degree cannot be counted towards the PhD course requirements. Courses must be technical courses and cannot be substituted with Research, Internship, or Broadening Courses to fulfill degree requirements. 

*Only one 300-level “Contemporary Topics in Chemistry” course (Chem 394 or Chem 394A) can be counted towards this requirement. 

Graduate Seminars (non-credit)

Students must register for five Chem Graduate Seminar Courses (Chem 398) and receive a Satisfactory (S) grade in all. Students must attend a minimum of 8 Graduate Seminars to receive a Satisfactory (S) grade. The seminars can be chosen from any Graduate Seminar series offered by the PSE division.

Winter Enrichment Program (non-credit)

All students must register for WE 100 and successfully complete one Winter Enrichment Program (WEP), usually taken in the first year of study. Students who completed WEP as part of their KAUST MS must take the program again.

PhD Candidacy

In addition to the coursework requirements, students must successfully complete the required PhD candidacy milestones to progress toward PhD candidate status. These milestones are as follows:

• A subject-based qualifier
• PhD Proposal Defense

Once students have advanced to candidacy, students are designated as PhD or Doctoral Candidates.

Qualifying Exam

The purpose of the qualifier is to test the student's creativity, independence, and knowledge of the subject matter within the field of study. All PhD students must pass their qualifier by the end of their third semester. Students may take the exam earlier with their Academic Advisor’s approval. Every student needs to fill out the required QE form and submit the QE proposal (written document, see description below) to the GPC at least two (2) weeks prior to the QE date. The GPC 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. Students must also submit a written proposal. Click here for more information.

QE 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. 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 exam.

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. 

Qualifying Exam Evaluation  

Up to 1.5 hours will be allotted for the qualifier (30 min presentation, 60 min questions). There are four possible outcomes: 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 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. 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. Students who fail the qualifier, or who Fail without Retake will be dismissed from the University. 

After the evaluation and recommendation by the Committee members, the final proposal document and qualifier result form must be submitted to the GPC within two (2) working days regardless of the exam outcome. The GPC will collect all required signatures. 

Dissertation Proposal Defense

The Dissertation Proposal Defense aims to demonstrate the 'students' ability and adequate preparedness to undertake PhD level research in the proposed research area. This includes necessary knowledge of the chosen subject, a review of related literature, and experimental or theoretical work as applicable. Students must pass the Dissertation Proposal Defense by the end of their fifth semester. The student determines the proposal defense date with the agreement of all Dissertation Proposal Defense Committee members. 

Every PhD student is required to complete the Proposal by the end of their fifth (5) Semester. The Proposal date will be determined by the student, Academic Advisor, and the Proposal Committee. A PhD student must submit the request to form the Dissertation Proposal Committee to the GPC at least two (2) weeks prior to the proposal date. The GPC will collect all required signatures. PhD student must share the oral presentation with the Defense Proposal Committee at least one (1) week prior to the Proposal Defense. 

*A student with two or more first-author (or first co-author) publications (status: published) in highly ranked journals, related to the PhD work, can apply to waive the oral 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 and copies of the publications to the GPC at least two (2) weeks prior to the proposal date. The application will be further evaluated by the Program Chair in consultation with the Dissertation Proposal Committee. The GPC will collect all required signatures. 

The Dissertation Proposal 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:

• If you have a co Academic Academic, 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-Chair.
• Once constituted, the composition of the Proposal Committee can only be changed with the approval of both the Academic Advisor and the Dean.

Scheduling the Proposal Defense 

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

Proposal Defense Format 

• Prepare ONLY an oral presentation (e.g., MS PowerPoint slides).
• Use the same style as for presenting research results during group meetings.
• Proposal should cover classical sequence describing existing problem, current solutions and their drawbacks, your proposal, obtained experimental results with their discussion, and further plan 

Proposal Defense Results

There are four possible outcomes from this dissertation proposal defense. 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 one month after the defense date, unless the committee unanimously agrees to change it. Conditions must be met before the end of the students fifth Semester. 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 PhD Candidates. At the end of the proposal Defense, a PhD Proposal Results Form must be completed and submitted to the GPC. 

Dissertation

The Dissertation is the final milestone of the PhD program. Students must complete the following:

• Petition to Defend Dissertation/ Form Dissertation Defense Committee 
• Defend Dissertation 
• Archive Dissertation

It is the responsibility of students to keep making steady and timely progress towards the dissertation work. Progress is overseen regularly by the Academic Advisor. It is recommended (not required) that students update, typically every semester, the Proposal Committee members concerning their progress. If students have serious problems with Dissertation work and the issues are not resolved by the Academic Advisor, students must inform the GPC and seek help from other members of the Proposal Committee and/or the Associate Dean. 

Petition to Defend Dissertation

Students must determine the Defense date with the agreement of all members of the Dissertation Defense Committee. It is the sole responsibility of students to submit the required documents in consultation with the GPC and the Academic Advisor by the deadline published in the Academic Calendar and at least 2 months prior to the Defense date.

Students must defend their Dissertation and obtain the final approval of the Dissertation Defense by the end of their fourth year (8 Semesters and 4 Summer Sessions). Students must follow the Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines available on the KAUST Library webpage when they write their Dissertation.

The required documents include: A list of proposed Committee Members, including the external committee member (inc. CV of the External Committee Member); the CV of the PhD Candidate; transcript of the PhD Candidate; a list of publications of the PhD Candidate; the final draft of the PhD Dissertation.

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

Formation of Dissertation Defense Committee

The PhD 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 position's requirements).

View a list of faculty and their affiliations here.

Dissertation Defense

The Dissertation Defense is a public presentation followed by a Q&A and an oral Defense. It should last three hours at most consisting of the following:

• Presentation – up to 45 minutes. 
• Questions from the general audience – up to 15 minutes. 
• Break – 5 minutes. 
• Questions from the Committee Members – up to 2 hours. 

A Pass is achieved when the Committee agrees with no more than one dissenting vote. In the case of a Pass, the Dissertation must be archived within 2 weeks. 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. If the conditions will take more than three months, or more than one member casts a negative vote, one retake of the defense is permitted. The deadline to complete the retake is decided by the Committee with a maximum of six months after the Defense date, unless the Committee unanimously agrees to reduce it. Students who have exceeded their duration of study must apply for an extension as per the Time Limit and Extension Policy. All conditions must be met by the end of the extension period which prevails over the date set by the Committee. 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.

The outcome of the Dissertation Defense must be recorded by submitting the Dissertation Defense Evaluation Form within 3 days after the Defense to the Office of the Registrar.

Dissertation Document

Students must follow the Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines available from the KAUST Library when they write their Dissertation.

Dissertation Archiving

Students must archive the Dissertation in the KAUST Library two weeks from the final result form. This must not exceed the deadline published in the Academic Calendar. The required form is available from the Office of the Registrar.