Engineering (Chemical Engineering) - Doctor of Philosophy

The program of study leading to the Ph.D. is available to students who have either a BS or MS in chemical engineering. Students with a BS must complete 30 course credits and 24 dissertation credits, for a total of 54 credits, including:

• required core CHME courses (14 credits);
• graduate elective courses (12 credits);
• CHME elective courses (3 credits);
• independent research as CHME 698 Ph.D. Research prior to completion of the comprehensive exam (6 credits);
• dissertation as CHME 700 after completion of the comprehensive exam (18 credits); and
• graduate seminar as CHME 690 Graduate Seminar (1 credit). 

Ph.D. students must pass:

1. a qualifying examination within 24 months of starting their Ph.D. studies;
2. a comprehensive examination completed a minimum of nine months prior to the dissertation defense; and
3. an oral defense of the written dissertation before the dissertation committee.
4. PhD candidates in the College of Engineering, who have successfully completed their PhD Qualifier Examination after January 1, 2018, must satisfy a publication requirement which requires two papers:

Paper #1: An archival paper accepted or published in any journal listed in the source publication list for the Web of Science, or a refereed Journal or Conference Proceeding approved by the student’s doctoral committee and the cognizant Department Head(s), before the Doctorate of Philosophy final examination. The candidate should be listed as the lead author in Paper #1.

Paper #2: An additional archival paper submitted, accepted, or published in any journal listed in the source publication list for the Web of Science. Alternatively, one conference paper accepted or published in a national or international conference proceedings.

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Elective courses are intended to supplement the research work of each graduate student. These courses must be numbered 450 or above and must be approved by the dissertation advisor.

 During the Third Year - Fall semester students may need to take additional coursework that doesn’t contribute to the 54 credit hour total in order to maintain full-time status