phd degree engineering

PhD Admissions

Earn your doctorate at duke.

Completing a PhD program in engineering is hard. Really hard. But after years of preparation, frustration and celebration, a Duke doctorate stands out from the crowd.

Between field-defining faculty and a web of industrial, entrepreneurial and public-policy connections, with a Duke Engineering PhD, you can just about go anywhere and do just about anything your heart desires.

And with Duke’s comprehensive financial and professional support, you won’t take that journey alone.

Duke: The Path to a High-Impact Career

Wherever your path leads you, a Duke PhD will ensure you’ll arrive prepared to make a difference.

Biomedical Engineering

Civil & Environmental Engineering

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science

Guaranteed funding.

Duke provides significant financial support. And that’s just the beginning. There’s mentorship and career exploration support, too.

Generous Stipend

Guaranteed pay, 12 months a year, for the first five years

Paid Tuition

Covered by Duke during the first five years of study

For the first five years, Duke pays all mandatory fees

Insurance Coverage

For six years, Duke pays your health and dental premiums

Applying to Duke

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5 years of stipend—plus six years of health and dental coverage

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See the application calendar for all Duke PhD programs

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Diversity Makes Better Engineers

An optimist sees the glass as half full. A pessimist? Half empty. An engineer sees a glass that’s twice as big as it needs to be. Point is, engineers see things differently. Duke engineers see things very differently. Why use glass at all? Can we create a more efficient material? Ooh, should we include a water quality sensor? Here, we value different backgrounds and ways of thinking—because new approaches generate new solutions.

PhD students

Phd students per tenure-track faculty member, of our phd students received an nsf or other prestigious fellowship, in new research awards won in fy22, best graduate biomedical engineering program.

U.S. News & World Report

Lower cost of living in Durham vs. Boston

Facilities: welcome to wilkinson.

The newest of our buildings is 81,000 square feet of transformational design. Inside Wilkinson are research neighborhoods focused on advances in health, computing and the environment.

Dedicated workspaces for doctoral students feature natural light and campus views.

Durham and Beyond

Location. location. location..

At the north vertex of North Carolina’s famed Research Triangle, the city of Durham is essential to the Duke Engineering experience. Among our neighbors are hundreds of startups and standard bearers both private and public, a growing collection of James Beard Award-winning chefs, and a quickly growing community and skyline. River rafting, trail hiking, mountain climbing and sandy beaches are all just a couple hours’ drive away.

It doesn’t take an advanced degree to see why Durham is the #3 best place to live in America according to U.S. News and World Report, but come get one here anyway.

Interested in joining our community?

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Home  |  Graduate  |  PhD

Dartmouth Engineering PhD Degree Program

Dartmouth engineering PhD students acquire technical depth in their chosen area of concentration while also gaining breadth of knowledge in related fields. Graduates are skilled not only in engineering, but also in problem-solving, communications, risk-taking, leadership and innovation that generates human-centered impact.

In addition to courses in applied mathematics and engineering, PhD students undertake a multi-year research project, usually part of a larger multidisciplinary project. These research projects are negotiated with a faculty mentor who sponsors the student in the program.

PhD Admissions Info

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Areas & options, join our next info session, meet our phd students, prerequisites, courses & requirements, first-year phase, annual advisor meeting, full phd program plan, candidacy phase, funding & expenses.

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How to Apply

Dartmouth offers a diversity of concentrations with collaborative synergies between engineering disciplines. Graduate students are expected to propose a plan of study that supports their interests on a path unconstrained by disciplinary boundaries. At the time of graduation, PhD students may elect one of the six program areas to be reflected as a "concentration" on their transcript, upon verification by the Thayer registrar that they have satisfied the courses for that program area.

PhD students may elect to focus their coursework and research in one or more of the following program areas:

• Biological & Chemical Engineering
• Biomedical Engineering
• Electrical & Computer Engineering
• Energy Engineering
• Materials Science & Engineering
• Mechanical, Operations & Systems Engineering

PhD Industry Research Option

The industry research option is for:

• people working in industry who wish to conduct research at their company while pursuing an engineering PhD with a faculty advisor
• students performing their dissertation research in industry after completing residency requirements at Dartmouth.

Explore the industry research option

"Students in our Innovation Program take classes at Tuck School of Business. They learn about contracts and patents. They attend conferences for entrepreneurs. They start building a professional network while they’re still students."

—Professor Doug Van Citters

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Students interested in entrepreneurship can augment their PhD in engineering with the PhD Innovation Program (PhD-I) , which adds courses in technology business practices and taking research discoveries to market. Students in this program meet all PhD requirements, including passing an oral qualifying exam and defending a thesis proposal, along with additional PhD-I requirements.

Engineering in Medicine

The MD-PhD combines a PhD in engineering sciences with an MD from Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth . Students must apply to the Geisel School as well as to Thayer, indicating their specific interests.

The Medical Physics Education Program is available to PhD students in engineering and the physical sciences. This program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs (CAMPEP) and prepares graduates for a career in clinical medical physics.

Students can take advantage of Tuck School of Business, Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship, and thought leaders and industry contacts within Dartmouth's extensive alumni network.

Engineering Management

PhD students interested in business administration and management may obtain an Engineering Management Certificate by completing any three of the following courses in addition to their PhD requirements:

• ENGM 180.1 : Accounting and Finance
• ENGM 181 : Marketing
• ENGM 183 : Operations Management
• ENGM 185 : Topics in Manufacturing Design and Processes
• ENGM 186 : Technology Project Management
• ENGM 188 : Law for Technology and Entrepreneurship
• ENGM 190 : Platform Design, Management, and Strategy
• ENGM 191 : Product Design and Development

Candidates may enroll in other engineering management courses or, for additional tuition, courses offered by Tuck School of Business .

Interested PhD students may serve as teaching assistants for courses that have a problem session, tutorial, or laboratory component. In special cases, a student may participate in the design and development of a special topics course or laboratory exercises for a lecture course. Students become eligible for these positions following completion of the oral qualifying exam and the completion of ENGG 295 : Undergraduate Teaching. More formalized teacher training, offered through the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning , is also available to engineering PhD students.

Learn how Dartmouth Engineering's graduate programs could be a great fit for you. Connect with faculty, staff, and students, and navigate the application process.

Sign up for an info session today!

Graduate Engineering: The Dartmouth Difference

Scalable production for solar devices.

The foundation for doctoral engineering degree work is undergraduate preparation in science, mathematics, and engineering principles. Applicants must hold a bachelor's or master's degree to be considered for the program. Students admitted to the program who are not prepared to complete the first-year requirements are advised to enter the MS program and petition to be admitted to the PhD program. Students who have prior graduate training may be considered for advancement to candidacy after completing one or two terms of the first-year doctoral program.

Graduate Course Equivalence and Credit form (.pdf)

The PhD program of study is developed based on each student's background and professional interests in consultation with the advisor and first-year advisory committee. Students are required to take 8–10 courses, reflecting the distribution shown below. Up to half these courses may be taken in science departments outside of engineering. Students with prior graduate credits may transfer up to half of their courses to count toward this requirement. In addition to engineering and applied mathematics, PhD students also participate in required seminars and workshops.

Please note: The information below reflects requirements, effective as of Fall 2023 .

Learning Outcomes

• Students will demonstrate a significant contribution to engineering knowledge and professional expertise in the chosen area of study by performing original research.
• Students will demonstrate the ability to effectively communicate their research orally.
• Students will demonstrate the ability to effectively present their research in written form.
• Students will acquire technical depth in their chosen area of concentration while also gaining a breadth of knowledge in related fields.
• Students will acquire the ability to identify, specify, and formulate complex engineering problems beyond those typical of undergraduate academic training, and be able to solve complex engineering problems by using advanced engineering methods and techniques.

Required Coursework

Academic honor.

All PhD students, upon matriculation, are required to attend a series of workshops in ethics and sign a statement that they agree to abide by the honor principles established by Dartmouth. See Graduate Academic and Conduct Regulations for a full statement of academic honor.

Residency & Program Duration

Students in the PhD program are expected to spend at least nine terms in residence, three of which will take place after successfully completing the oral qualifying examination. Students who are registered and enrolled in two or more courses per term are considered full-time and as being "in residence." Students typically take approximately four to five years to complete the requirements for the PhD.

The PhD program can also be undertaken part-time: students interested in this option should contact the Senior Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education .

Additional Requirements for the PhD Innovation Program

See PhD Innovation Program Requirements for details.

During the first year of the PhD program, students prepare for formal candidacy by taking courses and participating in faculty-directed research projects . See notes for new PhD students (.pdf) and the Typical Thayer PhD Process (.pdf) . Each student works with a faculty advisor and two additional engineering faculty members. This group helps each student develop a first-year program of study, which the student emails to the Thayer registrar during the first week of the term. A typical first-year program of study includes:

• Graduate-level courses completed with an average grade of B or higher (can be a combination of Dartmouth courses and courses taken at another institution beyond BS or BE degree requirements) (6 courses)
• ENGG 296 , ENGG 297 , or ENGG 298 : Graduate Research completed with an average grade of B or higher (3 terms)
• ENGG 700 : Responsible & Ethical Conduct of Research (1 term)

At the end of each year, students meet with their faculty advisor to review grades, goals, achievements and future plans in research, formal coursework, and extracurricular activities. This meeting, and a corresponding written report, is required for every year that a student remains registered in the PhD program. Following the first-year meeting, before the fall of second year, the advisor provides the Thayer registrar a written report describing a student's annual performance. Following a positive outcome of this first annual meeting, the student is expected to complete the oral qualifier examination before the end of the Fall term. The second annual meeting should occur at the end of the student's second year, and a successful outcome of this would allow the student to progress to the PhD thesis proposal presentation before the end of the third year. Students who are not progressing in a normal manner are transferred to the MS program with the understanding that they may later request to be reconsidered as PhD candidates.

The remaining PhD program plan includes the rest of the required engineering courses, plus participation in the following seminars and workshops:

• ENGG 195 : Seminar on Science, Technology & Society
• ENGG 197 : PhD Professional Workshops
• ENGG 198 : Research-in-Progress Workshop

Prior to advancement to candidacy, students must:

• Pass the oral qualifying exam (ENGG 194)
• Maintain an average grade of B or higher in both coursework and research
• Receive a letter in support of their candidacy from their research advisor

Once advanced to PhD candidacy, students work with a special advisory committee to make sure that all degree requirements are met.

Technical Proficiency

The oral qualifying exam ( ENGG 194 ), a set of questions put forward by an oral examination committee to the candidate, normally takes place before or during the fifth term of the student's program, or in exceptional circumstances early in the sixth term. The exam is open to the faculty, but not to the general public.

The committee tests the candidate's knowledge of principles and methods underlying the field in which advanced work is to be performed. The exam covers material selected by the candidate's advisor in consultation with the examining committee and includes coverage of mathematical techniques appropriate to the research area. The structure of the preparation for the exam is flexible. The student prepares a description of the planned exam, obtains signatures of the advisor, committee members, and the director of the MS and PhD programs, and submits this to the registrar (103 MacLean or [email protected] ) at least one month prior to the exam date.

The examination committee consists of four members—the chair plus three Dartmouth faculty examiners, with at least two of the examiners from Thayer. A Thayer faculty member other than the student's advisor chairs the committee. This chair is assigned by the director of the MS and PhD programs.

The examination committee gives the student a pass, fail, or conditional pass result. Students who fail may retake the oral examination—one time only—within the following three months. Upon passage of the exam or fulfillment of the conditions of the conditional pass (before the assigned deadline) and with a letter of support from the advisor, the student is admitted to PhD candidacy pending a vote by the Thayer faculty.

• Oral Qualifying Exam Guide (.pdf)
• Oral Qualifying Exam Form (.pdf)

Technical Breadth

The faculty advisor helps the candidate plan a demonstration of technical breadth, which is approved by the Graduate Program Committee. The plan details one of the following options:

• A set of courses, taken for credit, outside or secondary to the candidate's principal area of specialization
• A focused set of courses, taken for credit, which creates a secondary emphasis in specialization and may involve independent study or research
• Presentation of a research proposal or an oral examination in an area outside the main area of specialization: The candidate might present a research seminar on the topic with an examination committee of three faculty members probing the candidate's depth of knowledge of the secondary area. This option may be combined with the ENGG 197: PhD Professional Workshops . Students who do not pass may be permitted to take the oral examination—one time only—within the following three months.
• A creative design project, completed within a time limit of approximately 30 days, in an area outside the main area of specialization: The project is defined and the candidate's performance is evaluated by a committee of three faculty members appointed by the program director. The committee gives the student a statement of need, and the student proposes a means of satisfying that need in an effective, elegant, and economic manner. The project should display the candidate's ability to conceive and evaluate alternative solutions; carry out analytical evaluations at levels of approximation suited to the problem and the time limit; and recognize situations in which experimental work is needed. If the time limit prohibits experimentation, the candidate should devise the appropriate experiments and demonstrate how the expected results would aid in the design. Within the 30-day time limit, the candidate submits a written report plus an executive summary. Following an oral presentation of the project, the committee examines and evaluates the candidate's performance in the project. Students who do not pass may be permitted to revise and resubmit the report—one time only—within the following three months.

Specialization & Thesis Proposal

The candidate demonstrates mastery of an area of specialization by writing and defending a thesis proposal within the first 18 months of candidacy. A thesis committee, approved by the director of the PhD program, advises the candidate on the proposed thesis research and administers the defense of the thesis proposal defense. The PhD examination committee consists of a minimum of three full-time Dartmouth faculty members of which a minimum of two must be from Thayer (including the dissertation advisor) and an external member with a faculty equivalent research appointment outside of Dartmouth. The external member may participate in meetings in person or via video conference. The candidate's proposal—a presentation of the proposed thesis research—explains the scope and importance of the proposed research and plans for its completion. The defense presentation should be understandable, at least in a general way, to students and faculty not in the subject area.

Two weeks before the defense, candidates must:

• submit the thesis proposal in writing to their committee
• submit an electronic copy of the thesis proposal notice to the Thayer registrar for distribution to the faculty and for posting

Students who do not pass may be permitted to present the proposal—one time only—within the following three months.

• Thesis Proposal Form (.pdf)
• Thesis Guidelines (.pdf)

Professional Competence: PhD Professional Workshops

The candidate demonstrates professional competence by completing ENGG 197: PhD Professional Workshops , which is offered each Winter term by the faculty and outside experts. The workshop emphasizes skills in completing competitive proposals, business funding, patenting, research team organization, teaching, résumé and CV creation, and job search techniques. Each candidate completes a competitive research proposal or a business plan for critique by two expert referees selected from among faculty, outside experts, and/or corporate representatives. Candidates who have submitted a competitive research proposal to a funding agency or a business plan to a venture capitalist or financial institution prior to completing the workshop may petition to have the proposal or business plan fulfill this requirement.

Original Research

Candidates demonstrate their significant contribution to engineering knowledge and professional expertise in the chosen area of study by performing original research. The PhD examination committee consists of a minimum of three full-time Dartmouth faculty members of which a minimum of two must be from Thayer (including the dissertation advisor) and an external member with a faculty equivalent research appointment outside of Dartmouth. The external member may participate in meetings in person or via video conference. The research is reviewed through all of the following means:

• Presentation: Demonstrated by the elements of the research presented at a professional meeting with the candidate as first author.
• Dissertation: Demonstrated by a written abstract followed by detailed explanation of the research, approved and signed by the PhD thesis committee. A hard copy and a pdf of the final dissertation must be submitted to the Thayer registrar for archiving. Copyright to the dissertation is held by the Trustees of Dartmouth College.
• Oral Defense: Demonstrated by a presentation of the dissertation in a forum open to the public. The candidate is responsible for giving final, signature-ready copies of the thesis to each committee member to review at least two weeks prior to the defense. The candidate must submit an electronic notice of the defense to the Thayer registrar two weeks in advance for distribution to the faculty and for posting.
• Paper: Demonstrated by the elements of the research accepted for publication with the candidate as first author.

Dissertation Archiving

A hard copy and a pdf of the final dissertation must be submitted to the Thayer Registrar for archiving. Copyright to the dissertation is held by the Trustees of Dartmouth College.

PhD students typically enter with full support from either a Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) or an external fellowship.

Tuition for the academic year is covered by a Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA), which includes instruction, insurance coverage, use of instructional facilities, and healthcare service through the College infirmary.

Students admitted with a GRA receive a monthly stipend. The stipend amount for 23/24 is $3333 per month ($40,000 per year).

Students who obtain an external fellowship that fully funds their PhD—such as from NSF, DOD, NASA, or DOE—will receive an additional yearly stipend from Thayer for the duration of their PhD.

Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA)

PhD students typically enter with full funding support from either a Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) or an external fellowship. GRAs, funded by contract research, are available to well-qualified candidates enrolled in degree programs with thesis requirements. Most PhD funding includes full tuition cost coverage plus a monthly stipend. GRAs also include health care coverage for those who opt for college insurance. As with all graduate students, Thayer's commitment to financial assistance will continue as long as a student remains in good academic standing and is making normal progress in fulfilling degree requirements.

Graduate research assistants are expected to devote 20 hours per week to research when enrolled in two non-research courses, 30 hours per week when enrolled in one, and essentially full time between terms and when enrolled only for research. They are expected to be in residence full time, including between terms.

Since graduate research assistants are not regular employees of Dartmouth, they do not earn vacation time per se. However, College holidays apply to them. In addition, they may anticipate one-half week of time off for each academic term of appointment, to be arranged with their faculty advisor.

Although responsibilities are defined in terms of hours per week, the emphasis is on the quality of the student's performance. Continuation of any appointment into succeeding terms is conditional upon satisfactory performance and progress toward degree requirements.

Students who accept GRAs may not engage in any additional employment without prior approval of the director of the MS and PhD programs. Such employment is usually limited to 10–12 hours per week.

Fellowships & Grants

There are a number of scholarship, fellowship & grant programs offering financial awards that are available to PhD graduate students.

Fellowship & Grant Programs for PhD Students

Engineering and Applied Sciences

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You will work toward a degree in one of six subjects— Applied Mathematics ;  Applied Physics ;  Computational Science & Engineering ;  Computer Science ;  Data Science —and Engineering Sciences, which includes Bioengineering , Electrical Engineering , Environmental Science and Engineering , and Materials Science & Mechanical Engineering . SEAS also offers a master's in design engineering jointly with the Harvard Graduate School of Design* and an MS/MBA: Engineering Sciences program ** jointly with Harvard Business School. PhD, SM, and ME students study primarily with SEAS faculty and are enrolled in and receive their degree from the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

You may also pursue collaborative options through the Medical Engineering and Medical Physics program, which is part of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology , and supplement your studies by cross-registering in other Harvard graduate schools or at MIT.

Graduates of the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have gone on to found their own startups and work at some of the world's largest companies such as Intel, Tesla, Microsoft, Merck, IBM, McKinsey & Company, Amazon, JP Morgan, NASA, Google, and Apple. Others have gone on to academic careers with faculty appointments at MIT, Princeton, Columbia, Yale, Stanford, Imperial College-London, and Harvard.

Additional information on the graduate program is available from the  Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences  (SEAS) and requirements for the degree are detailed in  Policies .

*Prospective students who are interested in the master in design engineering degree program apply through the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

**Prospective students who are interested in the MS/MBA: Engineering Sciences degree program apply through Harvard Business School.​

***Prospective students who are interested in the Quantum Science and Engineering degree apply to Harvard Griffin GSAS through the Quantum Science and Engineering Program. 

Admissions Requirements

Please review the admissions requirements and other information before applying. You can find degree program-specific admissions requirements below and access additional guidance on applying from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS)

Academic Background

Applicants typically have bachelor’s degrees in the natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, or engineering. In the application for admission, select “Engineering and Applied Sciences” as your degree program choice and your degree and area of interest from the “Area of Study“ drop-down. PhD applicants must complete the Supplemental SEAS Application Form as part of the online application process.

Standardized Tests

GRE General: Not Accepted

AB/SM Program

Harvard College students may apply to the AB/SM program , which enables them to earn a master’s degree in applied mathematics, applied physics, computational science and engineering, computer science, or engineering sciences while simultaneously completing their AB degree. Students interested in applying for the AB/SM should contact the Office of Undergraduate Education at Harvard College about eligibility.

Special Instructions for Medical Engineering and Medical Physics

If you are also applying to the Medical Engineering and Medical Physics program, please review their admissions instructions . By December 15, you must send a PDF of your completed Harvard Griffin GSAS application to [email protected] .

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Questions about the program.

Graduate Degree Programs

Main navigation, curricula in the school of engineering.

Our nine departments and the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering (ICME) offer dozens of  graduate programs that align academic course work with research. Related aspects of particular areas of graduate study are commonly covered directly from the department . For further details about the following programs, see the department sections in the Stanford Bulletin .

Stanford undergraduates may also apply to master’s programs as coterminal students; details can be found in the Undergraduate Programs in the School of Engineering  section of the Stanford bulletin.

Fellowships and Assistantships

Departments of the School of Engineering award graduate fellowships, research assistantships and teaching assistantships each year. Visit your department to learn more.

Smart. Open. Grounded. Inventive. Read our Ideas Made to Matter.

Which program is right for you?

Through intellectual rigor and experiential learning, this full-time, two-year MBA program develops leaders who make a difference in the world.

A rigorous, hands-on program that prepares adaptive problem solvers for premier finance careers.

A 12-month program focused on applying the tools of modern data science, optimization and machine learning to solve real-world business problems.

Earn your MBA and SM in engineering with this transformative two-year program.

Combine an international MBA with a deep dive into management science. A special opportunity for partner and affiliate schools only.

A doctoral program that produces outstanding scholars who are leading in their fields of research.

Bring a business perspective to your technical and quantitative expertise with a bachelor’s degree in management, business analytics, or finance.

A joint program for mid-career professionals that integrates engineering and systems thinking. Earn your master’s degree in engineering and management.

An interdisciplinary program that combines engineering, management, and design, leading to a master’s degree in engineering and management.

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A full-time MBA program for mid-career leaders eager to dedicate one year of discovery for a lifetime of impact.

This 20-month MBA program equips experienced executives to enhance their impact on their organizations and the world.

Non-degree programs for senior executives and high-potential managers.

A non-degree, customizable program for mid-career professionals.

PhD Program

Program overview.

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Rigorous, discipline-based research is the hallmark of the MIT Sloan PhD Program. The program is committed to educating scholars who will lead in their fields of research—those with outstanding intellectual skills who will carry forward productive research on the complex organizational, financial, and technological issues that characterize an increasingly competitive and challenging business world.

Start here.

Learn more about the program, how to apply, and find answers to common questions.

Admissions Events

Check out our event schedule, and learn when you can chat with us in person or online.

Start Your Application

Visit this section to find important admissions deadlines, along with a link to our application.

Click here for answers to many of the most frequently asked questions.

PhD studies at MIT Sloan are intense and individual in nature, demanding a great deal of time, initiative, and discipline from every candidate. But the rewards of such rigor are tremendous:  MIT Sloan PhD graduates go on to teach and conduct research at the world's most prestigious universities.

PhD Program curriculum at MIT Sloan is organized under the following three academic areas: Behavior & Policy Sciences; Economics, Finance & Accounting; and Management Science. Our nine research groups correspond with one of the academic areas, as noted below.

MIT Sloan PhD Research Groups

Behavioral & policy sciences.

Economic Sociology

Institute for Work & Employment Research

Organization Studies

Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Strategic Management

Economics, Finance & Accounting

Accounting  

Management Science

Information Technology

System Dynamics  

Those interested in a PhD in Operations Research should visit the Operations Research Center .  

PhD Program Structure

Additional information including coursework and thesis requirements.

MIT Sloan Predoctoral Opportunities

MIT Sloan is eager to provide a diverse group of talented students with early-career exposure to research techniques as well as support in considering research career paths.

Rising Scholars Conference

The fourth annual Rising Scholars Conference on October 25 and 26 gathers diverse PhD students from across the country to present their research.

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The goal of the MIT Sloan PhD Program's admissions process is to select a small number of people who are most likely to successfully complete our rigorous and demanding program and then thrive in academic research careers. The admission selection process is highly competitive; we aim for a class size of nineteen students, admitted from a pool of hundreds of applicants.

What We Seek

• Outstanding intellectual ability
• Excellent academic records
• Previous work in disciplines related to the intended area of concentration
• Strong commitment to a career in research

MIT Sloan PhD Program Admissions Requirements Common Questions

Dates and Deadlines

Admissions for 2024 is closed. The next opportunity to apply will be for 2025 admission. The 2025 application will open in September 2024. 

More information on program requirements and application components

Students in good academic standing in our program receive a funding package that includes tuition, medical insurance, and a fellowship stipend and/or TA/RA salary. We also provide a new laptop computer and a conference travel/research budget.

Funding Information

Throughout the year, we organize events that give you a chance to learn more about the program and determine if a PhD in Management is right for you.

PhD Program Events

May phd program overview.

During this webinar, you will hear from the PhD Program team and have the chance to ask questions about the application and admissions process.

June PhD Program Overview

July phd program overview, august phd program overview.

Complete PhD Admissions Event Calendar

Unlike formulaic approaches to training scholars, the PhD Program at MIT Sloan allows students to choose their own adventure and develop a unique scholarly identity. This can be daunting, but students are given a wide range of support along the way - most notably having access to world class faculty and coursework both at MIT and in the broader academic community around Boston.

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Profiles of our current students

MIT Sloan produces top-notch PhDs in management. Immersed in MIT Sloan's distinctive culture, upcoming graduates are poised to innovate in management research and education. Here are the academic placements for our PhDs graduating in May and September 2024. Our 2024-2025 job market candidates will be posted in early June 2024.

Academic Job Market

Doctoral candidates on the current academic market

Academic Placements

Graduates of the MIT Sloan PhD Program are researching and teaching at top schools around the world.

view recent placements 

MIT Sloan Experience

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The PhD Program is integral to the research of MIT Sloan's world-class faculty. With a reputation as risk-takers who are unafraid to embrace the unconventional, they are engaged in exciting disciplinary and interdisciplinary research that often includes PhD students as key team members.

Research centers across MIT Sloan and MIT provide a rich setting for collaboration and exploration. In addition to exposure to the faculty, PhD students also learn from one another in a creative, supportive research community.

Throughout MIT Sloan's history, our professors have devised theories and fields of study that have had a profound impact on management theory and practice.

From Douglas McGregor's Theory X/Theory Y distinction to Nobel-recognized breakthroughs in finance by Franco Modigliani and in option pricing by Robert Merton and Myron Scholes, MIT Sloan's faculty have been unmatched innovators.

This legacy of innovative thinking and dedication to research impacts every faculty member and filters down to the students who work beside them.

Faculty Links

• Accounting Faculty
• Economic Sociology Faculty
• Finance Faculty
• Information Technology Faculty
• Institute for Work and Employment Research (IWER) Faculty
• Marketing Faculty
• Organization Studies Faculty
• System Dynamics Faculty
• Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management (TIES) Faculty

Student Research

“MIT Sloan PhD training is a transformative experience. The heart of the process is the student’s transition from being a consumer of knowledge to being a producer of knowledge. This involves learning to ask precise, tractable questions and addressing them with creativity and rigor. Hard work is required, but the reward is the incomparable exhilaration one feels from having solved a puzzle that had bedeviled the sharpest minds in the world!” -Ezra Zuckerman Sivan Alvin J. Siteman (1948) Professor of Entrepreneurship

Sample Dissertation Abstracts - These sample Dissertation Abstracts provide examples of the work that our students have chosen to study while in the MIT Sloan PhD Program.

We believe that our doctoral program is the heart of MIT Sloan's research community and that it develops some of the best management researchers in the world. At our annual Doctoral Research Forum, we celebrate the great research that our doctoral students do, and the research community that supports that development process.

The videos of their presentations below showcase the work of our students and will give you insight into the topics they choose to research in the program.

Attention To Retention: The Informativeness of Insiders’ Decision to Retain Shares

2024 PhD Doctoral Research Forum Winner - Gabriel Voelcker

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Online Doctor of Engineering

Dr. Timothy Jacobs  serves as the program's department head and Dr. Chuck Wolf  serves as the program's academic advisor.

Program Information

The Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng.) Program prepares our students to work at the highest levels of the engineering profession. This program emphasizes solving problems that arise in using technologies beneficial to mankind. However, those problems and their solutions frequently affect society in nontechnical ways. Therefore, technological advances implemented through business and industry require direction by persons possessing both high technical competence and professional understanding of the social, political and institutional factors involved. Graduates of the D.Eng. Programs are uniquely qualified to fulfill that important role.

The program prepares individuals for professional engineering careers in business, industry and the public sector. It is not intended as a research degree nor as preparation for a faculty position at a research university. That is the province of the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Degree. The D.Eng. program emphasizes engineering practice, public service and the development of leadership potential, not basic research.

D.Eng. graduates are prepared to move quickly into positions of responsibility and authority. Therefore, students are required to take courses in business and communications, supplemented by elective graduate courses. With this background, professional activities can and often do encompass both technical and nontechnical fields.

Positions of leadership call for interaction between technology and society; communication is required not only with other engineers but with other professionals, laymen and workers. The ability to think and express oneself clearly is essential. These needs are considered in the admission requirements and in the internship.

Admission Requirements

Individuals possessing a minimum of an ABET-accredited bachelor's degree in engineering or the equivalent may apply for program admission. Those persons applying with only a bachelor's degree must have a grade point average of at least 3.0/4.0. Individuals applying with a master's degree in engineering must have a grade point average of at least 3.25 for their overall graduate studies. Since the D.Eng. is a practice-oriented, professional degree, at least five years of fulltime engineering-related practice is an important factor considered for program admission. 

 Please note additional remote engineering fees are added each semester. 

How to apply

• Program Specialist IV, Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering
• Interim Graduate Advisor, Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering
• Office: ETB 1041K
• Phone: 979-845-0528
• Email: [email protected]

Doctorate degrees

You can apply to our PhD program with a master’s or just a bachelor’s degree, and our PhD students receive full funding, which includes a tuition waiver, monthly living stipend, and health insurance. Find out why you should get a PhD at Michigan .

All of our departments offer doctorate degrees, and we also have interdisciplinary PhD programs that help you make the most of broad expertise at the university.

See what we offer in the Engineering Course Guide and Bulletin.

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• New $14.5M center to help US Navy overcome emerging challenges The center will connect faculty, students, postdocs and US Navy engineers, building a community to find cutting-edge solutions to naval and marine engineering issues. The post New $14.5M center to help US […]
• Snowfall and drought: $4.8M field campaign will improve forecasts in western US, led by U-M A mountaintop laboratory and a suite of radar instruments will study winter storms from large-scale cloud movement down to individual snowflakes in an NSF-funded project. The post Snowfall and drought: $4.8M field […]
• New dean at Michigan Engineering takes the helm in August Karen Thole is a mechanical engineer who has advanced sustainable aviation and diversity. The post New dean at Michigan Engineering takes the helm in August appeared first on Michigan Engineering News.

About the degrees

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) : Full-time five-year research-based program. Develops skills that apply to careers both inside and outside academia. We provide all PhD students with a tuition waiver, stipend and health insurance.

Doctor of Engineering in Manufacturing (DEng) : Graduate professional degree for students who have already earned both a bachelor’s degree in engineering and a master’s degree in any engineering or business discipline. Details in Michigan Engineering Course Guide and Bulletin .

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Ph.D. in Engineering

Credit Hours

Conduct Research

50% of assistantship is dedicated to research

Transfer Credits

Transfer in up to 42 credits to Liberty

Scholarly Contributions

Graduate with three original, published articles

Accreditation

Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc (ABET)

• School of Engineering

Additional Navigation

Residential PhD in Engineering

Become a leader in the field of engineering with a Ph.D. in engineering from Liberty University. Prepare for a successful career conducting research, teaching at a high level, or rising up the ranks of management in a technical corporation.

Through the B.S. and M.S. degrees in engineering, students learn how to target analysis, organization, and prioritization. In our Ph.D. program, you’ll learn how to focus on the synthesis of disparate, complex information and then how to communicate the complex results in writing and in oral presentations.

Position yourself as an expert who is sought after in the job market as you master this high-level process of thinking through the Ph.D. program.  The Ph.D. in Engineering combines theory, modeling and simulation, and experimental quantification to calibrate and validate the theory and simulation results.

As a residential student, you’ll be able to work with some of the latest technology and state-of-the-art equipment. Our Ph.D. students work with industrial, national laboratory, and military researchers and have the possibility of working in the summers at these different labs across the country. Funding on a variety of projects is possible as a “Research Fellow” where your tuition is paid, and you garner a yearly stipend.

Learn from qualified faculty members who are grounded in their Christian faith and leaders in their technical field. They share your passion for science and engineering and will closely advise you through the program.

This degree is particularly targeted towards individuals who have an interest in the advanced fields of engineering, high-performance computing, solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, applied physics, materials engineering, materials science, and system design .

Academics: Engineering (PhD)

Program of study (dcp).

• Engineering (Ph.D.)

Admissions Requirements

Find  PhD in Engineering admission requirements

Transfer Credit

Transfer up to 42 credit hours. See catalog for transfer details

Featured Courses in Engineering

• Continuum Mechanics (ENGR 725)
• Inelasticity (ENGR 741)
• Damage and Fracture (ENGR 743)
• Fatigue (ENGR 745)

Career Opportunities with an Engineering Doctorate Degree

• Applications engineer
• Director of engineering
• Engineering manager
• Project engineer
• Project manager

Civil & Environmental Engineering PhD

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Berkeley is a place of intellectual vitality. This vitality is evident in its creative and forward-looking curricula and classroom teaching, its attentive academic mentoring, and the innovative research conducted by students and faculty.

CEE focuses on developing future leaders for the engineering profession, for academia, and for applying engineering methods in the broader societal context. CEE conducts cutting-edge research, defining what constitutes the evolving domain of civil and environmental engineering.

We offer both Master's (the Master of Science and the Master of Engineering ) and Doctoral degree programs. We support seven programs of study for the MS and the PhD, each of which has its own prerequisites for admission and degree requirements. CEE offers two programs of study for the MEng. CEE also offers three concurrent degree programs and two certificate programs.

Master of Engineering (MEng)

This professional degree emphasizes solving technical, sociological, environmental, and economic problems involved in the design, construction, and operation of engineering structures, processes, and equipment. Studies include courses in the engineering sciences necessary to the engineering interpretation of the latest scientific developments. Courses in design, operation, humanities, and economics provide a basis for the analysis and solution of problems in professional engineering.

Students in this degree program select either a concentration in Systems (Civil Systems) or Transportation Engineering (see above descriptions). There are options for either full-time or part-time enrollment.

CEEs MEng program is offered in conjunction with the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership .

Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

These degrees emphasize the application of the natural sciences to the analysis and solution of engineering problems. Advanced courses in mathematics, chemistry, physics, and the life sciences are normally included in a program that incorporates the engineering systems approach for analysis of problems.

Students in these degree programs select one of the following seven concentrations:

1. Construction Systems: Construction is a large, vital, and exciting field now disrupted by deep technology like AI, robotics, embedded sensors and nano-materials. The industry is reshaping itself for example by increased use of modular and off-site production with radically new supply chains, virtualization and development of digital twins, and innovative management thinking such as Lean Construction.This program will educate you to lead tomorrows automation of the construction industry.

You will learn to leverage these disruptions to realize the next generation of adaptable, resilient, sustainable smart buildings and infrastructure. We teach construction systems as a computational and management science, integrating technology with applications for example to realize state-of-the-art structural and geotechnical designs, to launch you as a technologist, entrepreneur, researcher, academic, or management professional geared to drive construction industry transformation.

Our curriculum includes:

Construction viewed as a socio-technical system including its data science, optimization, and simulation aspects,

Construction viewed as a project-based production system including its organizational, financial, planning, control, legal, and contractual aspects,

Integration with structural and geotechnical design,

Technology including the use of robots, cloud computing, machine learning, sensing, scanning, and information modeling such as BIM and VDC,

Large-scale systems thinking including societal-scale mobility, energy flows, and urban forms,

The freedom to take courses in other disciplines.

Our graduates find a wide range of employment opportunities in private industry and in the public sector, for example in tech companies, consulting, design, building, transportation, and industrial construction firms, as well as in public- and private owner organizations, both domestically as well as internationally.

As we are located in the San Francisco Bay Area the center of major local, national, and international construction activity our Program is strongly interlinked with industry. Our class projects and research leverage the ability to go observe as well as study specific local and international projects. We draw on examples from residential-, commercial building-, industrial-, and heavy/civil construction throughout our curriculum. We also invite industry practitioners to present guest lectures describing industry challenges and solutions.

2. Energy, Civil Infrastructure and Climate: Energy, climate, and infrastructure systems are closely tied together, and these connections manifest in many forms. Our society cannot function without energy and infrastructure systems. Energy systems with the lowest possible greenhouse gas footprint are a key to mitigating climate change. Civil infrastructure systems are a backbone of society, and they are also major users of energy that needs to be reduced for a more sustainable development.

The objective of the Energy, Civil Infrastructure and Climate (ECIC) Program is to educate a cadre of professionals who will be able to analyze from engineering, environmental, economic, and management perspectives complex problems such as energy efficiency of buildings, environmentally informed design of transportation systems, embodied energy of construction materials, electricity from renewable sources, and biofuels, and address such overarching societal problems as mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation of infrastructure to a changing climate. ECIC also promotes research at the intersection of energy, infrastructure and climate science.

3. Engineering and Project Management: The Engineering and Project Management (E&PM) Program educates professionals to become leaders in managing projects and companies in Architecture-Engineering-Construction (AEC) and in other industries. E&PM graduates find a wide range of employment opportunities in private industry and in the public sector, for example in engineering consulting-, building-, transportation-, and industrial construction firms, as well as in public- and private owner organizations, both domestically as well as internationally.

As infrastructure systems become more complex, tomorrow's industry leaders must add innovative management thinking to a solid foundation in design and construction. The E&PM Program is uniquely specialized in teaching and researching such new management concepts as Lean Construction, Cost and Schedule Forensics, and Sustainability Engineering. Our teaching and research emphasizes new concepts, technologies, developments, and techniques applicable to both domestic and international project and corporate management. The Program emphasizes the interrelationships of all life-cycle components: planning, design,manufacturing, construction, operation, maintenance, and re-purposing/decommissioning.

As we are located in the San Francisco Bay Area-the center of major local, national, and international project management and construction activity-our Program is strongly interlinked with industry. Our class projects and research leverage the ability to go observe as well as study specific local and international projects. We draw on examples from commercial building-, industrial-, and heavy/civil construction throughout our curriculum. We also invite industry practitioners to present guest lectures describing industry challenges and solutions.

4. Environmental Engineering: Management of environmental resources to protect human health and the systems that support life is one of the biggest challenges facing modern society. In recognition of the interdisciplinary nature of these challenges, Berkeley's Environmental Engineering Program provides you with the education needed to address current and future environmental issues. Graduate coursework and research is focused in three Areas of Emphasis :

• Air Quality Engineering (AQE)
• Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydrology (EFMH)
• Water Quality Engineering (WQE)

You are encouraged to develop a broad set of problem-solving skills through courses and research in related fields such as:

• Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center
• Earth and Planetary Sciences
• Energy & Resources Group
• Environmental Science, Policy & Management
• Integrative Biology
• Mechanical Engineering
• Plant & Microbial Biology
• School of Public Health

5. GeoSystems : The GeoSystems Program encompasses a broad area of teaching and research in geotechnical and geological engineering, environmental geotechnics, and applied geophysics. The focus is on the evaluation of engineering properties of geologic materials and on providing engineering solutions for dealing with geologic environment and processes, and natural hazards.

To this end we pursue studies of the mechanical behavior of soil and rock masses, laboratory and field characterization of material properties, development and application of geophysical techniques for site and subsurface characterization, development of advanced analysis methods, and evaluation of static and dynamic (seismic) performance of soil deposits, earth structures, and underground space.

The GeoSystems graduate program has a long tradition of excellence and its graduates are leaders in the industry and academia. The strength and breadth of Berkeley's GeoSystems is enhanced by close ties with faculty in other areas of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences. Close interaction of the faculty with consulting companies and practitioners also provides opportunity for exposure to the state-of-the-art practice through invited lectures and site visits to ongoing engineering projects in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Due to the broad interdisciplinary nature of the field we welcome students with a wide range of backgrounds in Engineering and Earth Sciences.

6. Structural Engineering, Mechanics, and Materials: CEE's Structural Engineering, Mechanics, and Materials (SEMM) Program has an international reputation for excellence. Many of the fundamental developments underlying the state-of-the-art in structural engineering, mechanics, and materials were pioneered by SEMM faculty and students. This tradition of excellence continues today through vigorous programs of basic and applied research, and careful attention to instruction.

The active involvement of SEMM faculty in the forefront of research projects and in the solution of challenging real world engineering problems results in an instructional program that is up-to-date and relevant. SEMM offers excellent opportunities for study and research leading to advanced degrees in the areas of structural analysis and design, mechanics of structures and solids, and materials in structures and construction.

The curriculum provides a strong basis for advanced professional practice, research, or teaching. Programs of study can be tailored easily to fit individual needs and interests, whether broad-based and multidisciplinary, or narrowly focused and highly technical. Graduates from the SEMM Program have gone on to become world leaders in private practice, government service, education, and research.

7. Systems (Civil Systems): The focus of the Systems Engineering Program (Systems) is understanding complex large-scale systems and developing tools for their design and operation. Such systems encompass built elements in the broad sense (infrastructures transportation, structures, etc.), societal systems (social networks, populations enterprises), and natural systems (land water, air). These systems are at the core of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the 21st Century.

The understanding of how such systems work requires knowledge about the constitutive laws that govern them, such as traffic flow, fluid mechanics, structural mechanics, and smart networks. It also requires an understanding of the theoretical paradigms that are used to model, control and optimize such systems. These include the theories of computation, control theory, optimization, behavioral economics, sensor networks, statistics, and signal processing.

In response to these challenges, the Systems Program provides courses that cover both field knowledge and technical/theoretical tools. This is reflected in the curriculum. We offer masters and doctoral degree programs providing the key skills, e.g., technological, mathematical, or social scientific, as well as the knowledge for a broad range of engineering domains. Our graduates lead the next generation of research, start-ups, industrial corporations, and public-sector organizations.

8. Transportation Engineering: Graduate study in transportation at the University of California, Berkeley prepares you for a professional, teaching, and research career. Emphasis is on the acquisition of advanced knowledge concerning planning, design, operations, maintenance, rehabilitation, performance, and evaluation of transportation systems, including their economic and public policy aspects. The program stresses development of analytic, problem-solving, design, and management skills suitable for public and private sector professional work.

Transportation Engineering faculty with diverse backgrounds and research interests, including emeriti professors, teach transportation courses. In addition, faculty from City and Regional Planning , Economics , Industrial Engineering and Operations Research , Business Administration , Political Science , and other departments offer courses related to transportation.

Students also have the opportunity to work and interact with research staff at the Institute of Transportation Studies .

Students in the PhD program have the option of pursuing a designated emphasis (DE) to supplement their study.

Concurrent Degrees

The concurrent degree program is a formal arrangement of two existing, but separate, master's degree programs, which result in the students earning two masters degrees. CEE offers the following concurrent degree programs:

• Program in Structural Engineering and Architecture (MArch/MS)
• Program in Transportation Engineering and City and Regional Planning (MCP/MS)
• Any CEE graduate program and Public Policy (MPP/MS)

For further information regarding these programs, please see the department's website .

Certificates

Certificate in Engineering and Business for Sustainability: The Engineering and Business for Sustainability (EBS) Certificate Program trains UC Berkeley graduate students to understand the complexity and urgency of their role in engineering, business, and environmental management, and to work across boundaries to achieve sustainable solutions to pressing societal problems. This program allows students to tap into multidisciplinary educational resources from the College of Engineering , Haas School of Business , Energy and Resources Group , Goldman School of Public Policy , College of Natural Resources , and the School of Public Health , to learn how to have a lasting beneficial impact on the global environment. This program is open to all Berkeley graduate students who meet the EBS Certificate course requirements. For further information regarding this program, see the department's website .

Certificate in Intelligent Transportation Systems: Jointly sponsored by CEE, the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering, this program is designed to assist students in studying ITS in a systematic and focused way. Faculty advisers help students design a personalized study program to meet their goals. For more information regarding this program, see the department's website .

Designated Emphasis

Berkeley Ph.D. students are eligible to pursue a Designated Emphasis as part of their doctoral studies. Common Designated Emphases for CEE doctoral students include:

• Computational and Data Science and Engineering
• Global Metropolitan Studies
• Development Engineering

A designated emphasis is a specialization, such as a new method of inquiry or an important field of application, which is relevant to two or more existing doctoral degree programs. You are required to complete the academic work in the area of specialization and all the requirements of the doctoral program. You must be admitted to the DE before taking the qualifying examination. A complete list of Designated Emphases is here .

Contact Info

[email protected]

760 Davis Hall

Berkeley, CA 94720

At a Glance

Department(s)

Civil & Environmental Engineering

Admit Term(s)

Application Deadline

December 11, 2023

Degree Type(s)

Doctoral / PhD

Degree Awarded

GRE Requirements

PhD in Mechanical Engineering

Program sites.

• Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering PhD candidates are leaders in research and education in academia and industry—they carry with them a strong network of peers built during their graduate studies. Students can enter the program directly after completing a bachelors degree, and earn a masters degree along the way or enter after completing a masters degree.

Degree Type

At Boston University, our Mechanical Engineering PhD candidates have the opportunity to study and research in a broad range of areas within the exciting field of mechanical engineering. We challenge our students to reach their potential as they create new knowledge and innovative solutions to pressing societal problems of today (and tomorrow). Our PhD students work closely with our faculty at the forefront of theoretical, computational, or experimental research in Robotics, Mechanics of Bio/Soft Materials, Sustainable Energies, and Space Technologies, among other inspiring areas of research.

EXPLORE OUR MECHANICAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH AREAS

We believe in the importance of strong community and create abundant opportunities for our students to collaborate and socialize with each other beyond the traditional boundaries of research areas and lab groups. Graduate socials, both formal and informal, a college-wide Student Association of Graduate Engineers, and an overarching culture of interdisciplinary research enrich the professional and extracurricular pursuits of our students. Beyond the BU campus, Boston provides a high-tech research community where external collaborations with industry, government and other universities are common. Moreover, the PhD experience also includes opportunities to present your work at conferences around the world, providing opportunities to network with peers around the globe.

VIEW OUR CALENDAR OF UPCOMING MECHANICAL ENGINEERING EVENTS

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

• All PhD students take a course covering basic teaching methods and philosophies and are required to satisfy a teaching practicum for a minimum of two semesters.
• Our post-master’s PhD candidates have no structured course requirements but they are required to complete 32 credits applicable to the degree at a 500 level or higher.
• Post-bachelor’s doctoral students are awarded MS degrees upon completion of the 32 credit hours of structured coursework and the PhD Prospectus Exam.
• PhD students must satisfy a residency requirement of at least two consecutive academic-year semesters of full-time graduate study at Boston University.
• Doctoral students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.00 to remain in good academic standing and to graduate. All graduate courses are counted in the GPA. Only grades of “B-” or better fulfill PhD curricular requirements.

EXTERNAL FELLOWSHIPS

The College of Engineering (ENG) is committed to five full years of financial support for graduate students in the ENG PhD program who maintain satisfactory academic progress. Entering PhD students are fully funded in their first year. During the first year, incoming PhD students must pursue research and funding discussions with the research faculty. At the end of the first academic year, PhD students must move to RA funding, while others continue on their external fellowship if applicable.

The Mechanical Engineering faculty are willing to work with students to develop the necessary research statements for these types of fellowships. Many of these are due in December or January. Thus they are more feasible for students who are already studying in our program.

Specific information for international students

Financing your Education

View the PhD profile here

Please contact us if you have further questions. We would love to hear from you!

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PhD in Computer Engineering

Northeastern’s PhD program in Computer Engineering offers the opportunity to pursue cutting-edge research in the following areas: computer architecture, parallel computing, fault tolerance, performance analysis and modeling, security, embedded systems, VLSI, algorithms, data mining, testing, machine learning, machine vision and software engineering.

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Innovative Curriculum

Northeastern offers a PhD in Computer Engineering that is completely research-based with minimal and flexible course requirements which can be pursued as full-time or part-time. As a computer engineering student at Northeastern, you will study computer architecture, software engineering, computer-aided design (VLSI), microprocessor-based design, and applied algorithms.

In addition to a broad background in mathematics, physics, and chemistry, this curriculum gives you solid foundation in both hardware and software design. RISC microprocessors, object-oriented Java, and cellular networks are just three of the technologies you will encounter in the program.

In the past ten years, the internet has revolutionized all aspects of our lives, from the way we communicate to the way we do business. Wireless communication, online commerce, medicine, and multimedia are examples of new applications that have transformed our world. Computer engineers developed the fundamental technologies that made the web possible, including high-performance microprocessors, gigabit networks, and object-oriented computer languages. Demand for computer engineers has increased dramatically in recent years. Students with a strong background in computer engineering are aggressively recruited by cutting-edge computer companies nationwide.

The ECE department offers a variety of graduate courses giving students the flexibility in planning their course requirements according to their research requirements and personal interests. Many graduate courses are offered in two sections; in-class and streaming video. Part-time students and full-time students who have schedule conflicts can register in the streaming video sections.

• Northeastern ECE is the host or major partner in nine state-of-the-art research centers
• Financial support available
• Internationally-recognized Internships & Co-op opportunities
• Professional Development Workshop Series to complement the research and classroom experiences
• Northeastern ECE is a research powerhouse in the Boston area and beyond
• An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems.
• An ability to explain and apply engineering design principles, as appropriate to the program’s educational objectives.
• An ability to produce solutions that meet specified end-user needs.
• An ability to apply analytical, numerical, and/or experimental methods to analyze and design complex engineering systems, and to identify, formulate, and solve new challenging computer engineering problems.
• An ability to direct independent scientific research in computer engineering and related fields.
• An ability to formulate new research plans and communicate the research outcomes (both oral and written communication of research results).
• Qualifying exam: Students who already hold an MS degree and matriculate in the fall semester must take the qualifying exam in the spring semester of their first year. Students matriculating in spring semester, or students who hold a BS degree and matriculate in the fall semester , can postpone the exam to the second spring semester. Those who fail the exam the first time, have one more chance to take the exam. These students must take the exam the next spring after their first attempt.
• Research Advisor: Students should have a research advisor one year after their matriculation.
• Thesis Committee: The Dissertation Committee must be formed not later than six months after passing the qualifying exam.
• Comprehensive exam: The deadline for comprehensive exam is two years after passing the qualifying exam.
• Dissertation Defense: The dissertation defense should be scheduled at least one year after taking the comprehensive exam.

Dissertation/Thesis Instructions

The Electrical and Computer Engineering department offers a variety of graduate courses giving students flexibility of planning their course requirements according to their research requirements and personal interests. Many of graduate courses are offered in two sections; in-class and streaming video. Part-time students and full-time students who have schedule conflicts can register in the streaming video sections.

Our graduates pursue careers within academia and beyond.

• Lousiana Tech University
• Draper Laboratories
• National Institutes of Health
• The Mathworks
• Rohan Basu Roy, PhD’24
• Yu Yin, PhD'23
• Alek Razdan, PhD'21
• Murphy Wonsick, PhD'20
• Learn more.
• Related Research Centers and Institutes
• Scholarship Report

Experiential Learning

With a large number of high-tech firms in and around Boston, both start-ups and large multinational corporations, many PhD students do an internship during their program while remaining right here in Boston. Often their advisor is instrumental in identifying the internship position, with a funding sponsor or research collaborator, be they in Boston or elsewhere in the United States. Internships can be informally arranged for several months at any time during the calendar year.

PhD students can also take advantage of the more formally arranged co-op program which entails up to 8 months of work experience preceded by several professional development courses to prepare students. The Cooperative Education Program , also known as a “co-op,” is one of the largest and most innovative in the world, and Northeastern is one of only a few that offers a co-op program for graduate students. Through this program, students gain professional experience, employed in their field of interest as part of the academic curriculum.  Northeastern has more than 3,000 co-op employer partners. Another option for PhD students is the university’s Experiential PhD program.

Academic Advising

The Academic Advisors in the Graduate Student Services office can help answer many of your questions and assist with various concerns regarding your program and student record. Use the link below to also determine which questions can be answered by your Faculty Program Advisors and OGS Advisors.

• Graduate Student Services

Admissions & Aid

Ready to take the next step? Review degree requirements to see courses needed to complete this degree. Then, explore ways to fund your education. Finally, review admissions information to see our deadlines and gather the materials you need to Apply.

• Degree Requirements - Advanced Entry

Student News

2024 Lux. Veritas. Virtus. Inductees

Twenty-three engineering graduate students were inducted into the newly established Lux. Veritas. Virtus. society, a prestigious honor that recognizes exceptional graduate students who exemplify the university’s mission, ideals, and values.

COE Research Expo Displays Promising Work of PhD Students

The College of Engineering held a research expo to highlight the work of PhD students. Participants presented their research to a panel of judges and gained critical presentation and communication skills. They also displayed their research during the poster showcase and students were recognized with awards.

Computer Engineering PhD Student Wins ACM/IEEE CS George Michael Memorial HPC Fellowship

Computer engineering graduate student Rohan Basu Roy, PhD’24, won the prestigious ACM/IEEE CS George Michael Memorial HPC Fellowship for developing performance tools that optimize the performance of HPC applications and make them less resource intensive and more environmentally sustainable.

WIoT Team Wins Best Paper Award at IEEE Globecom 2023

Several College of Engineering faculty and students affiliated with the Institute for Wireless Internet of Things, together with the IMDEA Networks Institute of Madrid, received the Best Paper Award at the IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM) 2023.

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Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering

Candidates in this program do classwork and research in aerospace structures, propulsion and aerodynamic systems, and have access to state-of-the-art labs and facilities.

Aerospace Engineering deals with the scientific principles that govern the design of airplanes, spacecraft, and jet engines. The Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering degree program allows highly motivated students with a strong science and engineering background to conduct research and coursework in the areas of aerospace structures, propulsion, and aerodynamic systems, while earning their doctoral degree.

Admission to the program is reserved for candidates at the bachelor and masters levels, with high academic achievement and a desire to advance their career through scientific inquiry and knowledge discovery in areas related to aerospace engineering.

Program coursework focuses on cutting-edge research and development. Students have access to state-of-the-art labs designed specifically for instruction and research in aerodynamics, propulsion, dynamics, control, structures, and materials. 

About Aerospace Engineering at the Daytona Beach, FL Campus

The Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering program at ERAU’s Daytona Beach Campus targets domestic and international students, as well as working professionals with bachelor’s or master's degrees in aerospace engineering (or closely related engineering disciplines), who have exemplary track records of academic achievement in their course work, and demonstrated keen interest and ability for engaging in research and independent inquiry.

Housed in the  Aerospace Engineering Department  of the  College of Engineering , the program features three areas of concentration: Aerodynamics and Propulsion, Structures and Materials, and Dynamics and Control.

Candidates for this degree program can expect areas of research to include:

• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
• Aeroacoustics
• Air-breathing propulsion
• Rocket propulsion
• Experimental thermo-fluid sciences
• Simulation of aerodynamics and propulsion systems
• Health monitoring of aerospace structures
• Smart materials and structures
• Adaptive structures
• Composite materials
• Functionally graded materials
• Dynamics and control of manned and unmanned aircraft
• Parameter identification of aircraft
• Space mission design
• Design and control of spacecraft
• Orbital debris remediation
• Spacecraft rendezvous and proximity operations
• Control of chaotic systems

Being adjacent to Daytona Beach International Airport and the NextGen Test Bed , and just 50 miles north of Kennedy Space Center, ERAU’s Daytona Beach Campus puts students in the middle of the aerospace industry.

Learn More about the Daytona Beach, FL Campus

View the Daytona Beach Catalog Listing

Financial aid is available in the form of teaching and research assistantships. Please contact the program coordinator for more information.

Transfer credit: Up to 2 relevant courses can be transferred from another institution upon approval of the program coordinator.

Students will:

• Analyze and solve engineering problems.
• Conduct independent study.
• Carry out research or special projects.
• Use analytical, computational and experimental techniques.
• Demonstrate critical thinking and problem solving skills.
• Technically communicate their research within the aerospace engineering community.
• Observe ethics in research.

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RELATED DEGREES

You may be interested in the following degrees:

Master of Science in Engineering Physics

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Master of Science in Uncrewed Systems

Best Undergraduate Engineering Program Rankings

The undergraduate engineering program rankings were based solely on peer assessment surveys. To appear on an undergraduate engineering survey, a school must have an undergraduate engineering program accredited by ABET. The programs below are schools whose highest engineering degree offered is a bachelor's or master's. Read the methodology »

To unlock full rankings, SAT/ACT scores and more, sign up for the U.S. News College Compass !

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Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Terre Haute, IN

• #1 in Engineering Programs (no doctorate)

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is a private institution that was founded in 1874. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,169 (fall 2022), and the campus size is 1,300 acres. It utilizes a quarter-based academic calendar. Its tuition and fees are $54,174. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, located in Terre Haute, Ind., offers a number of activities and organizations to help students get involved on campus. There are more than 90 student clubs, ranging from the Rose Rocketry team to the Rose-Hulman Drama Club. Other prominent performance groups include the chorus and jazz band. There is a significant Greek system on campus comprising more than 30 percent of the student body. Rose-Hulman fields a number of NCAA Division III athletic teams, including football, basketball, soccer, and cross country. The Sports and Recreation Center, a state-of-the-art athletic facility, serves as a center of student activity and formerly served as the summer training camp for the NFL Indianapolis Colts. Rose-Hulman provides housing to all students in its residence halls. Rose-Hulman specializes in science, engineering, and mathematics. In addition to its undergraduate programs, RHIT grants master of science degrees in biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, engineering management, environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, and optical engineering. Rose-Hulman Ventures, located on 100 acres in a 35,000 square-foot facility south of the main, gives students the opportunity to work on real-world projects from a variety of technology-based companies. 99% of full-time Rose-Hulman facultyhave Ph.D. or Doctorate degrees, and about 20 percent of students go directly to graduate school after receiving their bachelor’s degree.

(fall 2022)

SAT, GPA and More

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

Needham, MA

• #2 in Engineering Programs (no doctorate)  (tie)

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering is located in Needham, Mass., just 14 miles west of Boston and next to the campus of Babson College. Nearly all students live on campus in either of the two residence halls, which offer housing in traditional doubles or suites. Olin’s "Passionate Pursuits" program enables students to pursue their interests with guidance from a faculty sponsor and funding from the college; some examples include scuba certification, Irish dance, and jazz improvisation. There are also a number of student clubs and organizations ranging from an AntiGravity Club to the Olin Dance Project. Central to Olin’s community of trust is the Honor Code, which dictates that students must act with honor and integrity.

Harvey Mudd College

Claremont, CA

Harvey Mudd College is a private liberal arts school known for its strong programs in math, science, and engineering. Harvey Mudd is located in Claremont, Calif., about 35 miles from downtown Los Angeles.

United States Military Academy at West Point

West Point, NY

• #4 in Engineering Programs (no doctorate)

The United States Military Academy at West Point is the oldest of the country’s five federal service academies. The public school is located in West Point, N.Y., where graduates earn a bachelor of science degree and are commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army.

(out-of-state)

California Polytechnic State University--San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo, CA

• #5 in Engineering Programs (no doctorate)  (tie)

Just a 30-minute drive from the Pacific Ocean, California Polytechnic State University is located 200 miles from both Los Angeles and San Francisco. Although Cal Poly students can choose from nearly 70 degrees, engineering is the most popular major, with 50 student organizations dedicated specifically to that field.

United States Naval Academy

Annapolis, MD

The United States Naval Academy is a public school located in the waterfront town of Annapolis, Maryland. Students, known as midshipmen, are officers in training, and tuition is fully funded by the U.S. Navy in return for active-duty service after graduation.

Bucknell University

Lewisburg, PA

• #7 in Engineering Programs (no doctorate)  (tie)

Bucknell University, located in the small town of Lewisburg, Pa., on the banks of the Susquehanna River, is larger than most liberal arts schools and comprises three colleges: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering, and the Freeman College of Management. Nearly 90% of undergraduates live on campus in traditional residence halls, substance-free housing or small house communities, among other options. With more than 250 clubs and organizations on campus, students can participate in a wide range of activities. There is a sizable Greek community on campus, and about half of sophomores, juniors and seniors belong to fraternities or sororities. The Bucknell Bison, as the school’s athletic teams are called, field more than 25 varsity teams in the NCAA Division I Patriot League. Bucknell’s athletic facilities include an Olympic-sized pool, 18-hole golf course and state-of-the-art fitness center.

United States Air Force Academy

USAF Academy, CO

The United States Air Force Academy, commonly called Air Force, is a military service academy located just outside of Colorado Springs, Colo., about 60 miles from Denver. Students at Air Force, called cadets, adhere to a strict daily schedule that does not allow for much free time, though there are a number of extracurricular clubs and activities. Incoming cadets attend a five-week training program intended to prepare them for military life. Cadets are required to participate in athletics — either intercollegiate or intramural — and must pass a fitness test every semester. The Fighting Falcons, Air Force’s athletic teams, compete in NCAA’s Division I and are known for their traditional rivalries with fellow service academies Army and Navy.

California State Polytechnic University--Pomona

• #9 in Engineering Programs (no doctorate)  (tie)

The official motto of California State Polytechnic University—Pomona translates to “Application of Knowledge,” and students have many opportunities to learn by doing outside of the classroom. Notable alumni include Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, the first Latina to serve in the U.S. cabinet.

Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

New York, NY

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly referred to as Cooper Union, is located in New York's East Village neighborhood. The institution is made up of three schools: the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, the School of Art and the Albert Nerken School of Engineering. All three schools are connected by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, which teaches a core curriculum to all students. Cooper Union has a number of student organizations, ranging from special interest groups, such as the Culinary Society and the Outdoors Club, to religious and performance groups. The school also fields several intercollegiate athletic teams, including men's and women's basketball, soccer and tennis.

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ISE Graduate Handbook 2024-2025: Doctoral Degree Programs

For general guidelines see  Graduate School Handbook

A. Admission Requirements

• Identical to the MS admission requirements; see Section VIII, A, parts 1 and 2 of this Handbook.
• Entrance preference is given to engineering, math and science graduates with a minimum undergraduate point hour ratio of 3.4 and MS with a minimum graduate point hour ratio of 3.5.
• Students who complete the MS program in ISE and wish to continue on to a Ph.D., will need to communicate their intention to ISE Graduate Coordinator and obtain approval via the transition form signed by their advisor.
• If the student is transferring within OSU, the credit transfer will be reviewed by the student’s advisor based on the relationship to the student’s intended program.
•  If the student is applying to the Ph.D. program from outside OSU, the credit transfer will be reviewed by the graduate studies committee

B. Program Requirements

• Minimum of 80 graduate semester credit hours beyond the baccalaureate degree is required. 30 semester hours credit will be granted for an appropriate earned Master’s degree.
• Minimum of 30 semester credit hours of graduate level courses beyond the Master’s degree. The course work requirement consists of one primary area of concentration (15 hours), two secondary areas of concentration (12 hours: 6 hours for each secondary area), and Graduate Research Seminar (3 credits). To achieve the remaining 20 hours (minimum) of graduate credit hours required for the PhD degree (30 for MS + 30 ISE Ph.D. courses + 20 remaining = 80 total), students may enroll for any combination of research credit hours or additional graduate level course hours.
• The primary area of concentration consists of at least 15 semester credit hours of graduate level course work. The primary area of concentration is a coherent theme of inquiry and study in support of the student’s area of dissertation research.
• Each secondary area of concentration consists of at least 6 semester credit hours of graduate level course work. A secondary area is also a coherent theme of inquiry and study. At least one secondary area of concentration must consist of courses taken outside of ISE; however, both secondary areas of concentration may be outside of ISE.
• 3 semester credit hours of ISE Graduate Research Seminar (minimum).
• For students pursing a doctorate in Operations Research, a qualifying exam is required. The full description of this exam process can be found in Appendix B.
• The Doctoral Candidacy Examination is normally administered at the completion of the Ph.D. course work.
• Public presentation of the dissertation research proposal and work completed to-date. This is also commonly called the ISE Dissertation Proposal Colloquium.
• Dissertation and Final Oral Examination.

Note: Students entering the PhD program directly from the BS degree typically (although not necessarily) fulfill the requirements for, and acquire, an ISE MS degree while engaged in accumulating the 30 hours of course work to complete the Ph.D. course requirements.

C. Candidacy Committee:

Upon arrival, each student is assigned to a temporary advisor. The student and the advisor examine the student’s interests, background and goals in order to determine a primary area of concentration, and possible secondary areas of concentration. This effort will determine course work for the first semester. As soon as possible after arrival, the student should identify a faculty member whose teaching and research philosophy and interests coincide with those of the student. That faculty member will become the student’s program advisor.

Ph.D. students can be advised by any tenure or research track faculty members with a formal appointment or formal joint appointment in the Integrated Systems Engineering (ISE) Department that has P status within the department. Ph.D. students can also be co-advised by a tenure or research track faculty outside ISE, who has a courtesy appointment in ISE and category P status within the department, and by an ISE tenure or research track faculty member with P status.

During the student’s coursework, the student and the advisor will identify other potential faculty to serve on the student’s Candidacy Committee. As a minimum, the Advisory Committee should include the advisor (Committee Chair), one additional faculty member representing the student’s primary area of concentration, and one faculty member representing each secondary area of concentration. A minimum of four graduate faculty members are required for the Candidacy committee. A faculty member must have ISE Category P status in the graduate school to serve as the Candidacy Examination Committee Chair. A faculty member must have at least Category P status (any program) in the graduate school to serve as a member of the committee. Those without either of these two qualifications may participate on the committee only with permission of the GSC. At this point a final program plan, which is signed by each committee member, should be submitted to the graduate studies coordinator. The student and his/her advisor must assemble the Candidacy Committee at least one semester prior to that student’s Candidacy Exam.

The responsibilities of this Candidacy Committee are as follows:

• Make recommendations about courses to be taken and assure sufficient depth in the primary and secondary areas of concentration.
• Assist the faculty advisor in evaluating the student’s progress and make recommendations that result from that assessment. (Course work plans may be altered or the program terminated.)

D. Program Plan

The student, with their advisor’s assistance, should create an initial plan of study and complete the plan of study form that is available on the department’s website. This form must be submitted to the graduate coordinator at the end of the student’s second semester.

E. Monitoring of Progress

As the student progresses, the advisor will provide periodic evaluation and, if necessary, make program adjustments.

A Ph.D. student may be denied further registration if they have accumulated at least 100 semester hours of graduate credit and has not taken their Candidacy Examination, or 170 semester hours of graduate credit and has not completed their Final Oral Examination, and it is the judgment of the GSC in its annual evaluation of graduate students that the student is not making reasonable progress.

F. Candidacy Examination

Formal admission to Ph.D. candidacy is achieved through the successful completion of the Candidacy Examination, which is administered by the student’s Candidacy Committee, under the rules of the Graduate School. If at all possible, the Candidacy Examination will not be administered until the student has fulfilled the University’s residency requirements. When a student is ready to take their Candidacy Examination, they should obtain a Notification of Doctoral Candidacy Examination form through Grad Forms. The student should complete the Notification of Doctoral Candidacy Examination form via Grad Forms prior to commencing their Candidacy Examination. No time limit for the initiation of the Candidacy Examination is imposed, but it is recommended that it take place within one semester of the completion of program course work. Admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree occurs at the end of the semester in which the Candidacy Examination is satisfactorily completed.

The Candidacy Examination is comprised of two parts: A written exam and an oral exam. Within ISE, the written exam entails the student receiving a set of questions from the committee members representing the major area and sets of questions covering topics pertaining to each of the secondary areas of concentration. Students have between two and four weeks to complete the written part of the exam, depending on their area within ISE. The two-hour oral component of the exam is scheduled approximately two weeks after the conclusion of the written exam. Attendance at the oral portion of the Candidacy Examination is limited to the student and members of the Candidacy Examination Committee.

Voting Procedures: The examination committee takes one or two secret ballot votes. The first ballot is a straw vote conducted immediately after the student leaves the room and before any discussion of his/her performance takes place. If the decision is not unanimous pass, a second and final ballot is taken after the student’s performance has been discussed. The student is considered to have successfully completed the candidacy examination when there is no vote of unsatisfactory on the second ballot by the examination committee members

Upon successful completion of the Candidacy Examination, the student’s Candidacy Committee is dissolved.

With reference to the Graduate School Handbook regarding Master’s Degree on the Basis of Candidacy Examination, ISE doctoral students not having a Master’s degree in ISE are not automatically granted a Master’s degree in ISE upon completion of the Candidacy Examination.

Upon completion of the Candidacy Examination, the approval of the Candidacy Examination Report is completed by the committee members via Grad Forms.

G. Dissertation Committee

A dissertation committee will be collectively identified by the advisor and the student. This committee is responsible for guiding the preparation of a research proposal, guiding the progress of the dissertation research and conducting the final oral defense of the research. The committee should be identified as soon as there is consensus on the dissertation topic. It will consist of at least three members (one of which is the advisor), at least two of whom should be faculty in the ISE Graduate Program . The committee must be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee. This is accomplished by submitting the dissertation committee approval form (available on the website) to the graduate studies chair. If at least two members of the committee are not from ISE, a request for an exception can made with a cover letter along the form explaining the reason for non-compliance. If at any time a change in dissertation committee membership occurs, including a new advisor, approval of the new dissertation committee needs to be obtained from the Graduate Studies Committee via re-submission of the above mentioned form.

H. Research Proposal

The student and the advisor should utilize the other committee members as resources while the student develops the dissertation research proposal. A final written version of the proposal must be presented to the student’s committee for approval. An accompanying oral presentation to the committee is required so there is discussion regarding any outstanding issues. On the basis of the proposal and any comments or concerns raised, the Dissertation Committee shall : a) approve the proposal, b) recommend revision or additional proposal work, or c) reject the proposal. When the proposal is approved, the committee members sign part “B” of the Dissertation Committee Approval/Research Proposal Colloquium form. The process should follow the general process outlined in figure 1.

I. Colloquium

The student will develop a two-page structured abstract describing their dissertation proposal per the template that accompanies the Proposal Colloquium form . This must be submitted electronically to the graduate studies committee chair along with a hardcopy of the Dissertation Research Proposal Colloquium form, signed by all members of the student’s Dissertation Committee certifying that the proposal is acceptable for presentation (Part “B” of the form). The abstract will be reviewed by the Graduate Studies Committee and modified as necessary to obtain approval. Once the Graduate Studies Committee approves the submitted abstract, a 150-word version of the abstract shall be submitted to the graduate studies coordinator for promotional purposes. The student will present the proposed research in a public forum known as the colloquium presentation. This should occur early in the research process. Usually this occurs within the first two semesters following admission to candidacy. This colloquium serves multiple purposes:

• It provides an opportunity for the student to get feedback on their dissertation plans early in the research process.
• It informs the ISE department and other interested individuals about the research being conducted within the department.
• It communicates to future Ph.D. candidates the scope of dissertation research projects conducted within ISE.
• It provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate their ability to present and discuss research concepts (consistent with program objective number 3).

This colloquium should occur very early in the dissertation work process. Therefore, it must occur at least the semester before, and preferably two semesters before, the final defense. If it does not, a letter requesting an exemption must be submitted and approved by the Graduate Studies Committee.

The graduate studies coordinator will inform the student about potential departmental seminar dates that are available for the student to present their dissertation proposal. There will likely be two or three students presenting during the same departmental seminar session. This means that the total time allocated for each presentation will be 20 to 25 minutes. The student should determine which of the available seminar dates would allow more of their committee members to be in attendance. While it is not required that the student’s committee be in attendance, it is strongly recommended. The student’s advisor or another committee member must attend. Once the best date is determined, the student should confirm the selected date with the graduate studies coordinator.

J. Final Defense

Upon completion of the research and submission of the final draft of the dissertation to the Dissertation Committee, the student will defend his/her dissertation according to the rules of the Graduate School.

The Final Oral Exam is open to students, faculty of this University, and other interested parties. The student’s advisor is expected to post the dissertation topic and the date and time of the exam at least one week prior to the exam. Any such persons in attendance, who are not members of the Final Oral Exam Committee, function as observers only. Observer participation is at the discretion of the advisor.

Voting Procedures: the Examination Committee takes one or two secret ballot votes. The first ballot is a straw vote conducted immediately after the student leaves the room and before any discussion of his/her performance takes place. If the decision is not unanimous pass, a second and final ballot is taken after the student’s performance has been discussed. The student is considered to have successfully completed the Final Oral Examination when there is no vote of unsatisfactory on the second ballot by the Final Oral Examination Committee members, including the Graduate School Representative.

Please note that it is our department’s policy that the student shall not provide food and/or refreshments at their dissertation defense.

K. Time Limits

The Ph.D. degree requirements must be completed within five years after being admitted to candidacy.

L. Graduation Semester Requirements

A student must be registered for three graduate credit hours during the semester of graduation.

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• Northwestern Engineering

Lawrence Chillrud and Essien Taylor Awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

The five-year fellowship is awarded to outstanding students pursuing a graduate degree in stem.

Northwestern Engineering electrical and computer engineering PhD students Lawrence Chillrud and Essien Taylor have been awarded US National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships in recognition of their demonstrated potential for significant research achievements.

The highly selective Graduate Research Fellowship program awards a five-year fellowship to outstanding individuals pursuing a full-time, research-based graduate degree in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The students will receive three years of financial support, including an annual stipend.

Lawrence Chillrud

Chillrud is developing machine learning methods for applications in biomedical imaging. He aims to create robust uncertainty quantification techniques for medical imaging models and to design reliable algorithms that can assist doctors and patients in making informed decisions.

“Knowing when to trust these complex predictive models in high-stakes clinical settings is of critical importance,” Chillrud said. “If a model could reliably estimate its case-by-case uncertainty, clinicians could have a better understanding of how to integrate model predictions in data-driven decision-making, and patients could be better informed and in control of their disease and treatment plan.”

Chillrud is working on two research projects. In his radiological work, he is developing models that seek to predict the presence or absence of important brain tumor biomarkers in a patient’s MRI scan. In pathology, Chillrud is investigating computational techniques to help renal pathologists identify patients most at risk of kidney transplant failure.

Chillrud earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Columbia University in 2020. Prior to joining Northwestern, Chillrud was a senior programmer in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. His research into the development of interpretable machine learning methods for assessing complex mixtures of environmental exposures in epidemiological studies with mentor Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou ignited Chillrud’s passion for research and inspired him to pursue a PhD.

“I feel tremendously lucky to have been awarded the fellowship and believe that it speaks more to the exceptional support and mentorship I have received over the years from advisers, colleagues, teachers, friends, and family, than it does say anything about me personally,” Chillrud said. “I am also hugely grateful to the NSF for their support during this early and exciting stage of my career.

Katsaggelos is the Joseph Cummings Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and (by courtesy) professor of computer Science at Northwestern Engineering and professor of radiology at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine . Cooper is the director of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine’s Center for Computational Imaging and Signal Analytics in Medicine and associate professor of pathology and preventive medicine at Feinberg and (by courtesy) associate professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Essien Taylor

Taylor investigates computer architecture and aims to reduce energy consumption in power-constrained embedded systems, including electronic medical implants and mobile phones.

“Understanding the energy consumption of microprocessors requires detailed models that take a large amount of time and labor to create,” Taylor said. “My current work will generate these complex models in a fraction of the time and effort, allowing us to rapidly explore countless research avenues.”

In 2023, the financial support of his GEM Fellowship afforded Taylor the opportunity to intern with Cadence Design Systems Inc., which aided his approach to electronics design.

Taylor is also a member of the Karsh STEM Scholars Program at Howard University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering. The program provides full scholarships for undergraduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines and support for underrepresented minorities completing graduate programs in STEM.

“My experience as a Karsh STEM Scholar at Howard University was crucial in developing my passion for research,” Taylor said.

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Aerospace Engineering Doctoral Student Awarded School of Engineering Graduate Student Teaching Assistant Award

By Keelin Kelly '24

Ph.D student Jacky Cai is from Shanghai, China, but has been at the University of Dayton since his senior year of undergraduate through an exchange program with Shanghai Normal University. He started at UD in 2016 as a mechanical engineering student but decided to switch to aerospace engineering for his master's degree study. Upon completing his graduate study, he continued to pursue a doctorate degree and continued working with his advisor, Dr. Gunasekaran, in the University of Dayton Low Speed Wind Tunnel  lab. 

“Dr. Gunasekaran has been a great advisor. He is the reason I stayed at UD for my Ph.D,” Cai said. “We have a great facility here and great students in the lab. The idea of community at UD reflects in our lab, and I enjoy working here.”

Cai became a teaching assistant in 2018 and started instructing classes in 2020. In his eight years at UD he has been a teaching assistant for MEE 225, MEE 401, MEE 409, MEE 440, AEE 553 and AEE 590 and an instructor for ENG 103 and MEE 431L-432L. He enjoys teaching project-based classes and helping his students bring their ideas to life. 

“Sometimes you know a student’s idea is too ‘creative’ and difficult to complete, however, you still want to try your best to help them achieve what they want to do anyway,” Cai said. “That’s the fun part of teaching because you really don’t know what problem you are going to solve before you walk in class everyday.”

In addition to conducting his own research on propeller aerodynamics with Dr. Gunasekaran in the UD Low-Speed Wind Tunnel, Cai has helped and mentored more than 10 undergraduate students in aerospace research. Almost all of them have been able to publish papers under his mentorship. 

“The students’ successes in the lab are my biggest achievement, especially because I am trying to move myself forward as an educator, not just a researcher,” Cai said. “I still do research, but what makes me more proud is working with students to achieve their goals.”

Cai was awarded the School of Engineering Graduate Teaching Assistant Award at the Graduate Student Showcase and Awards in April. He accepted a post graduate position as an assistant professor at Wichita State University and will move to Kansas in June. 

“There have always been good friends around me, giving me ideas and providing me with help even if it is outside of their research work,” Cai said. “It’s a good community, and I am going to miss all of the friends I have made here at UD.”

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Prominent scholarship helps NMSU mechanical, aerospace engineering students earn graduate degrees

• Taeya M. Padilla
• 10 May 2024
• By Taeya M. Padilla
• 575-646-3221
• [email protected]
• May 10, 2024

Four New Mexico State University Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering students were recognized as recipients of the Tim Thompson Graduate Scholarship Fund in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Tim Thompson and the 2024-25 scholarship recipients Nicholas Hall, James Flesner, Roman Chavez and Nathan Troutman were honored at a ceremony May 3.

Created in 2023, the Tim Thompson Scholarship supports students pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering through the Master’s Accelerated Program. Preference is given to students who graduated from a New Mexico high school and obtained their undergraduate degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from NMSU.

“The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering thanks Tim Thompson for his generous scholarship awards and his continual support of the MAE Department,” Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department Head Jay Frankel said. “Advanced education provides additional in-depth knowledge of the subject matter, permits job versality, and supports professional mobility.”

Hall, a graduate research assistant, said this scholarship will aid his research and education and will grant him more free time to assist with mentoring younger researchers in the department.

“By being my authentic self, I have created real meaningful connections with colleagues, and they have taught me about my potential,” Hall said. “I believe continuing my education will allow me to continue along this journey so eventually I could end up working at a national laboratory as a full-time researcher pushing the boundaries of the field I have come to love.”

Chavez said this scholarship will provide him the freedom to focus on academics and participation in clubs.

“I plan on continuing to work as an intern for the Air Force Research Laboratories, that would ideally transition into a full-time position,” Chavez said. “I would eventually like to be able to work at Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as a mechanical design engineer.”

Troutman said this scholarship helped bring financial security to his continued education.

“I plan on taking full advantage of research and internship opportunities that come my way,” Troutman said.

Flesner said this scholarship will allow him to focus more on his studies, which includes performing research on an underwater robot.

“I would like to find a job where I can utilize the skills I have learned about design, analysis and fabrication to design and build mechanisms to help improve current processes, while also being environmentally conscious,” Flesner said.

Thompson is a Belen, New Mexico, native and NMSU graduate. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and is a member of NMSU’s Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Academy. The MAE Academy is a traditional and strong supporter of the department by providing awards, industrial insight, encouragement and suggestions for continuous improvement. Thompson established the scholarship to encourage top talent in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering to complete their graduate work at NMSU.

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