Course Requirements

Students must complete the requirements below:

• 300-level Courses (6 credits) 
• Graduate Seminar (non-credit)
• Winter Enrichment Program (non-credit) 

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

300-level Courses (6 credits)

One of the 300-level Courses must be from the AP Program. The other course must be from the AP, AMCS, Chem, CS, ECE, ME, or MSE programs.

Graduate Seminars (non-credit)

Students must register for 5 AP Graduate Seminar Courses (AP 398) and must receive a Satisfactory (S) grade in all of them. 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)

Students must complete 1 Winter Enrichment Program (WE 100), usually taken in the first year of study. A Winter Enrichment Program taken as part of a KAUST MS degree cannot be counted towards this requirement.

Qualifying Exam

The Qualifying Exam aims to test the students' knowledge in the field of study. To pass the Qualifying Exam, students must achieve in two 300-level Courses (one must be from the AP Program, the other must be from the AP, AMCS, Chem, CS, ECE, ME, or MSE programs) at least a B+ grade. Students must pass the Qualifying Exam by the end of their third semester.

Proposal Defense

The Proposal Defense aims to evaluate 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 Proposal Defense by the end of their fifth semester. 

The Dean must approve the Proposal Committee, which must consist of 3 to 5 members as follows:

Notes:

• Members 1 to 3 are required; members 4 and 5 are optional.
• Co-Advisors may serve as members 3, 4 or 5 depending on their status.
• Instructional, Research, and Visiting Faculty may only serve as members 4 or 5.
• Adjunct Professors and Professors emeriti may retain committee roles. 

Students determine the defense date with the agreement of all members of the Proposal Committee. Students must submit their Proposal to the members of the Proposal Committee 2 weeks prior to the defense date. The required form is available on the AP webpage.

Proposal Results

There are four possible outcomes of the 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 conditions must be fulfilled within 1 month unless the committee agrees to reduce the deadline. The retake must happen within 3 months. 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 pass are deemed PhD Candidates. The Proposal Results Form must be submitted to the GPC within 2 days.

Dissertation

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

• Formation of Dissertation Committee
• Petition to Defend Dissertation
• Dissertation Defense
• Dissertation Archiving

Formation of Dissertation Committee

The Dean must approve the Dissertation Committee, which must consist of 4 to 6 members as follows:

Notes:

• Members 1 to 4 are required; members 5 and 6 are optional. 
• Co-Advisors may serve as members 3, 5 or 6 depending on their status.
• Only internationally leading scientists (comparable to the full professor rank at KAUST) may serve as external examiners. They must not have collaborated with the Dissertation Advisor and Co-Advisors for at least 5 years. The Dean can approve exceptions. 
• Instructional, Research, and Visiting Faculty may only serve as members 5 or 6. 
• Adjunct Professors and Professors emeriti may retain committee roles. 

View a list of faculty and their affiliations here.

Petition to Defend Dissertation

Students must determine the defense date with the agreement of all members of the Dissertation Committee. It is the sole responsibility of students to submit the required documents in consultation with the GPC and Dissertation Advisor by the deadline published in the Academic Calendar and at least 2 months prior to the defense date. The required documents include: (i) a list of the Dissertation Committee members (including a CV of the external examiner), (ii) a current CV of the student (including a list of publications), (iii) a current transcript, and (iv) the Dissertation. Students must follow the Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines available on the KAUST Library webpage when they write their Dissertation. They must defend their Dissertation and obtain the final approval by the end of their fourth year (8 Semesters and 4 Summer Sessions).

Dissertation Defense

The Dissertation Defense is a public presentation followed by Q&A and an oral Defense. It should last three hours at most. There are four possible outcomes of the Dissertation Defense

• Pass
• Pass with conditions
• Retake
• Fail without retake

A pass is achieved when the committee agrees with no more than one dissenting vote. Then 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 conditions must be fulfilled within 3 months unless the committee agrees to reduce the deadline. The retake must happen within 6 months. In the instance of a fail without retake, the decision of the committee must be unanimous. Students who have exceeded their duration of study must apply for an extension as per the Time Limit and Extension Policy. Students who fail without retake or who fail the retake will be dismissed from the University. The Dissertation Results Form must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar within 2 days.

Dissertation Archiving

Students must archive the Dissertation in the KAUST Library within 2 weeks from the final approval of the Dissertation Committee and not later than the deadline published in the Academic Calendar.