PhD Program

Overview of Doctoral Requirements:

The doctoral degree (Ph.D.) is conferred by KAUST in recognition of marked ability and scholarship in some relatively broad field of knowledge, plus the demonstrated ability to carry out independent research yielding significant original results.

The doctoral program proceeds in three stages:

  1. Qualification, marked by completion of the Preliminary Exam Part I.
  2. Candidacy, marked by completion of coursework and Preliminary Exam Part II: Research.
  3. Proposing, writing and defending the dissertation, marked by the Thesis Proposal Presentation and the Final Oral Defense.
    • Qualification marks the beginning of the doctoral program;
    • Candidacy signifies that course work is essentially completed and that a specific research area has been selected;
    • Successful definition, completion and defense of the doctoral dissertation in the Final Oral Defense mark the completion of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree.

Doctoral Qualifications:

To qualify for the doctoral program a student must do the following:

  • Satisfactorily complete the doctoral qualification coursework.
  • Initiate and make satisfactory progress in a research-oriented directed study project.
  • Take the doctoral Preliminary Examination Part I; and
  • Be accepted by the Doctoral Qualification Committee as qualified for doctoral study.

Doctoral Qualification Committee

The decision to approve a student for doctoral study is made by the Doctoral Qualification Committee, which meets for this purpose after each offering of the Preliminary Examination Part I. All students who have just taken the examination are considered. The decision is based on the performance in the doctoral qualification coursework, Preliminary Examination Part I, the overall academic record as measured by the graduate’s GPA and English proficiency. For each student the possible outcomes of the decision are:

  • Qualified for the doctoral program (for students with minor deficiencies in English proficiency, there may be a requirement to satisfactorily complete certain English-language courses);
  • Not qualified for the doctoral program, but allowed to retake the Preliminary Examination Part I (the committee will normally encourage or discourage such students);
  • Not qualified for the doctoral program, and not allowed to retake the Preliminary Examination Part I.

A student may take the Preliminary Examination Part I and be considered for acceptance at most twice. It is offered two times per year: in the second and third full weeks of classes in the Fall and Spring semesters.

Students entering the program with a bachelor’s degree are strongly encouraged to take the exam in the last semester of their M.S. degree program, and must qualify for the doctoral program within 25 months of their entry into the graduate program.

Students entering the Ph.D. program with a relevant master’s degree are encouraged to take the Preliminary Examination Part I within thirteen months of their entry and must qualify for the doctoral program within seventeen months.

These time periods include all semesters, and apply regardless of the semester in which graduate study begins.