PhD Course Requirements

Students must complete the following requirements:

• 200- 300 Level Courses* (9 credits)
• Graduate Seminar (non-credit)
• Winter Enrichment Program (WE 100) (non-credit)

*At least three courses that comprise at least two 300-level courses. At least two courses should be from the ErSE curriculum (including at least one 300-level course) for students coming with a master's from another university or a different KAUST program, and at least one 300-level course from ErSE curriculum for students with MS from KAUST-ErSE. 

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. 

Graduate Seminars (non-credit)

Students must register for ErSE 398 and receive a Satisfactory grade for five Semesters of the program they attend. 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 qualifying exam (QE) aims to test the 'students' knowledge in the field of study and is a subject-based examination – oral and written, must be completed by the end of the third Semester. 

The QE Committee consists of three faculty members. If additional expertise is required, the Committee could be extended. The chair can be any KAUST Faculty member familiar with the program rules. At least two Committee members should be affiliated with the program.

Member	Role	Program Status
1	Chair	Within or outside program
2	KAUST Faculty	Within or outside program
3	KAUST Faculty	Within program

Once students have successfully completed the qualifying exam they work toward the Dissertation Proposal Defense under the supervision of the Dissertation Advisor

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. The Dissertation Proposal Defense is the second part of the qualification milestones that must be completed by the end of the fifth Semester.  

Students have to submit to the PhD Dissertation Proposal Committee a written research proposal and pass an oral research Proposal Defense. 

The Dean must approve the PhD Dissertation Proposal Defense Committee, consisting of three members. The Committee could be extended if additional expertise is required, subject to Dean's approval. The Chair can be any KAUST Faculty member familiar with the program rules. Two Committee members must be KAUST Faculty affiliated with the program and one must be a KAUST Faculty outside the program. 

Member	Role	Program Status
1	Chair	Non-Program-affiliated KAUST faculty
2	Faculty	Within or outside program
3	Faculty	Outside program

Notes:

• 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. 
• This Committee should also be available for subsequent periodic review meetings with students. The composition of the Committee could change over time. 

Proposal Defense Results

A Pass is achieved when the committee agrees with no more than one dissenting vote. In the case 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 Proposal Defense unless the committee unanimously agrees to reduce it. The retake must happen within three months. In the case of a Fail without retake, the committee's decision must be unanimous. Students who Fail without a retake or who Fail the retake will be dismissed from the University. The student must submit the Dissertation Proposal Evaluation form within two days after the defense to the GPSA

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 make steady and timely progress towards the dissertation work. Progress is overseen regularly by the Dissertation Advisor. It is recommended (but 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 Dissertation 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 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 proposed 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 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.

Formation of Dissertation Defense Committee

The PhD Dissertation Defense Committee, which must be approved by the Dean, consists of four mandatory members. If additional expertise is required the Committee could be extended, subject to the Dean's approval. Three of the mandatory members must be KAUST Faculty and one must be a KAUST-external examiner who is external to KAUST. The Chair can be any KAUST Faculty familiar with the program rules. At least two Committee members must be KAUST Faculty affiliated with the program, and one must be a KAUST Faculty outside the program. The external examiner must write a report on the dissertation and attend the dissertation defense either in person or remotely. 

Member	Role	Program Status
1	Chair	Non-Program-affiliated KAUST faculty
2	KAUST Faculty	Within program
3	KAUST Faculty	Within or outside program
4	External examiner	Outside KAUST

Notes:

• Co-Chairs may serve as either 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 upon their affiliation with the student's program, they may also serve as co-chairs  
• Visiting Professors may serve as member 2 or 3 depending upon their affiliation  
• 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. 
• If students have a co-supervisor, this person can be considered one of the four mandatory members required, provided they come under the categories listed (i.e., meets the position's requirements).

Dissertation committee requires the External Examiner to be at the Associate or Full Professor level. Conflicts of interest precluding role of External Examiner:

• Relative or previous mentorship relation to PhD candidate
• Co-authorship with PhD candidate
• Current joint grant with PhD supervisor
• Co-authorship or co-supervision with PhD supervisor in past 5 years (dispensation by Dean’s office possible under exceptional circumstances)
• Current negotiation with PhD candidate or KAUST about employment

The Dean can approve exceptions.  

View a list of faculty and their affiliations here.

Dissertation Document

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

Dissertation Defense

The Dissertation Defense is a public presentation followed by a public Question & Answer session (Q&A) and a closed-door oral Defense with the PhD Dissertation Defense Committee It should last three hours at most. 

A Pass is achieved when the Committee agrees with no more than one dissenting vote. In case of a Pass, the dissertation must be archived within two 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 month 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 first 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 two days after the Defense to the Office of the Registrar.

Dissertation Archiving

Students must archive the Dissertation in the KAUST Library two weeks from the final result form. This must be archived by the deadline published in the Academic Calendar.