Bioscience Program
MS Degree Program
The curriculum provides a strong introduction with courses on the biochemistry and biophysics of living matter. The program comprises a single track of courses consisting of lectures, seminars and laboratory classes. Each course is a self-contained module providing a complete review of the subject concerned.
For students to graduate with an MS degree in Bioscience, they are required to complete 30 credit hours (with the average course worth three credit hours) of coursework and maintain an average GPA of 3.0 (B grade). Students must take two of the three core courses in their first semester. If a grade of B- or less is achieved in a core course, the course must be repeated.
One course (3 credit hours) is required in the general areas of mathematics or statistics. One cognate course is required in addition to the mathematics or statistics course, and can be satisfied by any course outside of Bioscience or Chemical and Biological Engineering.
The remaining course requirements are technical electives, directed research, and/or thesis. At least 24 units of formal coursework, exclusive of directed research or thesis, are required.
Graduate seminars do not carry an award of credit hours and are not evaluated.
Core Courses:
Students are required to select two of the following three courses. Due to the limitation of space in laboratories, students may not get his/her first choice.
If students can provide evidence that a subject has been studied and assessed at a high enough level, they are invited to apply for and may be awarded academic credit for a course.
- B 201 Biophysics
- B 208 Biochemistry
- B 224 Fundamentals of Cell Biology
- B 202 Plant Biology
- B 204 Genomics
- B 205 Protein Structure and Function
- B 206 Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology
- B 207 Physiology and Metabolic Engineering
- B 209 Molecular Genetics
- B 239 Stem Cells
- B 297 Thesis
- B 298 Graduate Seminar
- B 299 Directed Research
There are two general MS degree options: (i) coursework only or (ii) coursework and thesis option.
The coursework-only is set up for completion in 12 months with full-time course loads (12 credit hours per semester or, with advisor approval, a maximum of 15 credit hours) in the Fall and Spring semesters plus up to six units in the Summer. Both options require 24 credit hours of formal coursework (exclusive of directed research). Coursework-only students may take up to six credit hours of directed research or may focus exclusively on formal coursework.
Thesis-option students typically spend their Summer and a second Fall semester working on a research topic. A formal written thesis must be submitted and an oral defense is required, with a committee comprised of the faculty supervisor, plus two other KAUST faculty members. A total of six thesis credit hours must be earned, with the grade assigned being Pass/Fail. In most cases, the research period is an intense final six months (late Summer/Fall semester) without coursework, although the research can potentially be spread over a longer period.
PhD Degree Program
There are three possible entry points into the Bioscience PhD degree program: (i) students possessing a MS degree in Bioscience or related field (the normal entry point); (ii) KAUST students pursuing a seamless Bioscience MS/PhD; (iii) and students possessing a BSc degree (a more rare entry point). The seamless MS/PhD option is intended for MS students who decide, after their arrival at KAUST, to pursue a PhD. This option simply allows a student to begin to satisfy PhD requirements while completing their MS requirements. The only difference between the seamless MS option and the BSc entry is that the latter does not acquire an MS degree on the way to a PhD degree.
PhD students apply for and enter the Bioscience degree program. A Bioscience faculty advisor is either immediately designated (in the case of a student being recruited by a specific faculty member) or temporarily assigned (in the case of KAUST fellowship students); in the latter case, the student is expected to identify a research advisor by (at the latest) the end of the first year.
There are two phases and associated milestones for PhD students: (i) a qualification phase with a candidacy milestone and (ii) a dissertation phase with a final defense milestone. Qualification and advancement to candidacy are contingent upon: (i) successfully passing PhD coursework, (ii) designating a research advisor, and (iii) preparing a written research proposal and orally defending it. The maximum time for advancement to candidacy for a student entering with an MS degree is two years, three years for the BSc-degree entry option.
A minimum of six credit hours of actual PhD coursework (300 level) is required beyond the MS degree. For students who enter with a BSc degree, 24 additional units are required, equivalent to MS degree coursework, excluding a thesis. In the case of the MS degree being from another major/degree program, there may be additional deficiency courses specified by the advisor. Courses designated should be relevant to the dissertation topic, if defined, and/or proposed general area of research. A minimum GPA of 3.0 must be achieved in two 300-level courses to fulfill doctoral coursework requirements.
Besides actual coursework (six or more credit hours), 60 units of dissertation research (B 397 Thesis) credit must be earned during the first and second phases. A full-time workload for PhD students is considered to be 12 credit hours per semester (courses and B 397) and six credit hours in Summer (B 397). There is a minimum residency requirement (enrollment period at KAUST) of 2.5 years for students entering with an MS degree, 3.5 years for a BSc degree. The maximum enrollment period is five years, extendable upon approval of both the faculty research supervisor and division dean.
Achieving candidacy is contingent upon successfully meeting the following requirements. First, the research supervisor must assess and approve of the research proposal. Second, the student must pass an oral examination of the research proposal successfully.
The research proposal committee shall consist of a minimum of three KAUST faculty members, one of whom must be external to the Bioscience degree program. There are four possible outcomes: pass, conditional pass, failure with retake permitted, and failure. The student will have passed if all committee members accept the written research proposal and if the student receives no more than one negative vote from the proposal examination committee. If more than one member casts a negative vote, one retake of the oral defense is permitted if the entire committee agrees. A conditional pass involves conditions (e.g., another course in a perceived area of weakness) imposed by the committee, with the conditional status removed when the conditions have been met. Once constituted, the composition of the proposal examination committee can only be changed upon approval by both the faculty research advisor and the division dean.
The final (dissertation) phase involves acceptance of the written dissertation and an oral defense thereof. The dissertation defense committee shall consist of a minimum of four members, one of whom should be a KAUST faculty member external to the Bioscience degree program and one of whom should be external to KAUST (holding a faculty position or equivalent position at another institution, with approval by both the faculty research advisor and division dean). Passing the dissertation phase is achieved by acceptance of all committee members of the written dissertation, with the student receiving no more than one negative vote from any member of the committee. If more than one member casts a negative vote, one retake of the oral defense is permitted if the entire committee agrees. A fifth non-voting KAUST faculty member, appointed by the division dean, shall serve as a faculty monitor to ensure that the established protocol is followed, and the required forms are completed.
Students transferring from other PhD programs may receive some dissertation research and coursework credit, on a case-by-case basis, for related work performed at their original institution. However, such students must still satisfy the written and oral requirements for a research proposal (if this phase was passed at the original institute, the proposal may be the same, if approved by the research advisor). The minimum residency requirement for enrollment of such students at KAUST is two years.