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The Ohio State University

College of Engineering


The New PhD Core Course Curriculum

Effective Autumn 2008, a new PhD Core Course curriculum will be put in place.

The primary goal of the new core structure is to allow a PhD student to attempt the Candidacy Exam earlier in his/her PhD career. [more]

Ph.D. degree requirements

The doctoral degree program provides students the opportunity to achieve a high level of scholarly competance and develop the capacity to contribute to the knowledge of their field.

Curriculum effective Autumn Quarter 2008
[jump to pre-Autumn 2008 PhD degree requirements]

I 135 total graduate credit hours are required for a PhD degree

The student's advisor is to agree upon all course work taken by the student.

A Of these 135 hours, at least 45 must be graded graduate level courses

  1. Of these 45 hours, 21 credits must come from six of the seven Ph.D. Core Courses. The Core is split in two groups, the Primary Core--MSE 730, 737, 747--and the Secondary Core--MSE 715, 756, 765, and 777.
    • To be eligible to take the PhD Candidacy Exam, a student must take at minimum the three Primary Core Courses--MSE 730, 737, and 747--as well as one Secondary Core Course--MSE 715, 756, 765, or 777. The student may, however, choose to complete all 21 credits of PhD Core course work before taking the Candidacy Exam. This decision is made with the student's advisor.
    • Following completion of the Candidacy Exam, the student is to complete any remaining Secondary Core Courses, if necessary, to bring the total to three Primary Core and three Secondary Core.
    • While students must take Secondary Core Courses MSE 765 and 777, a student may choose between 715 or 756. Thus the minimum number of Secondary Core Courses is three: 765, 777, & 715 or 765, 777, & 756.
  2. Of these 45 hours, a minimum of 12 additional graded graduate level hours at the 600 level or above in MSE.
  3. Of these 45 hours, 12 hours may be any graded graduate credit, in or outside MSE. These courses must meet the following stipulations:
    • MSE courses at the 600 level or above that may be taken for graduate credit.
    • Non-MSE courses at the 500 level or greater in the hard-sciences, math, and engineering that may be taken for graduate credit.
    • The course should relate to the student's field of study unless prior approval for enrollment has been given by the MSE Graduate Studies Committee.

B At least 90 graduate credit hours may come from other courses

Besides those credits listed in A1, 2, & 3, an additional 90 credit hours are to be earned bringing the total graduate credit hours to 135. It is understood that any out-of-department courses are to be graduate level Science, Math, and/or Engineering courses, though other courses may be approved for credit by prior petition of the Graduate Studies Committee (GSC).

  1. Of these 90 hours, no more than 12 credit hours of MSE 795 (Graduate Seminar and Colloquium) may apply towards this 90 hour minimum (registration in MSE 795 is required in every AU, WI, & SP quarter that the student is on campus, regardless of the total number of 795 credits a student has earned).
  2. Of these 90 hours, at least 5 credit hours are to be from MSE 899.01, 899.02, and 899.03 (Instruction in Materials Science and Engineering) earned while assisting faculty with instruction of MSE courses.
  3. Of these 90 hours, at least 15 credit hours are to be from MSE 999 (Research in Materials Science and Engineering). All dissertation work (MSE 999) and research plans are to be approved by the student's advisor.

[Link to more about MSE 795, 899, and 999.]

II Successful completion of the Candidacy Examination

Link to Candidacy Examination procedures.

  • To be eligible to take the PhD Candidacy Exam, a student must take the three Primary Core Courses--MSE 730, 737, and 747--as well as at least one Secondary Core Course--MSE 715, 756, 765, or 777.
  • The Candidacy Examination is to take place within seven academic quarters (i.e., AU, WI, & SP) of the student's arrival in the MSE department.
  • This exam may be preceded by an optional Qualifier Committee exercise (See Candidacy Examination procedures for further details).
  • A student who passes the exam may petition the Graduate Studies Committee for an MS non-Thesis degree. Satisfactory completion of the Candidacy Examination is accepted in place of passing the MS non-thesis Master's Examination. To receive an MS non-thesis degree, students must fulfill all course-related requirements of the degree (i.e., section I, part A 1 and 2 as well as part B 1 of the degree requirements--view MS non-thesis degree requirements).

III Dissertation Overview exercise

Public presentation of the student's research progress to his/her Dissertation Committee. Link to Dissertation Overview instructions.

  • The Dissertation Overview is to occur within six months of the student's successful completion of the Candidacy Exam.
  • This is designed so that the Dissertation Committee will be able to give the student advice throughout the completion of the dissertation.
  • This exercise must take place within six months of successful completion of the Candidacy Exam and at least 12 months before graduation.
  • The Dissertation Overview must be announced to the public at least one week before the Overview takes place.

IV Presentation of an acceptable dissertation

The dissertation is a scholarly contribution to knowledge in the student's area of specialization. Through it, the student is to demonstrate a high level of knowledge and the capacity to function as an independent scholar.

V Successful completion of the Final Oral Exam

The Final Oral Exam tests originality, independence of thought, the ability to synthesize and interpret, and the quality of research presented.

  • The Oral Examination must be announced to the public at least one week before the oral defense is to take place.
  • The student must register for at least 3 graduate credit hours during the quarter in which the Final Oral Exam is taken and be in good academic standing with the Graduate School (see Graduate School Handbook for details).

 

PhD degree requirements prior to Autumn 2008

In Autumn 2008 the PhD degree requirements were updated (see above). The requirements in the section below are provided for reference.

[view PhD requirements prior to Autumn 2008]

I 135 total graduate credit hours are required for a PhD degree

The student's advisor is to agree upon all course work taken by the student.

A Of these 135 hours, at least 45 must be graded graduate level courses

  1. Of these 45 hours, 21 credits must come from the six Ph.D. Core Courses. The Core is made up of MSE 715, 730, 732, 745, 750, 765.
    • Students must earn a 3.0 or greater in these six courses to be eligible to take the Candidacy Exam.
  2. Of these 45 hours, a minimum of 12 additional graded graduate level hours at the 700 level or above in MSE.
  3. Of these 45 hours, 3 credits must come from outside the MSE department at the 700 level or greater.
  4. Of these 45 hours, 9 hours may be any graded graduate credit, in or outside MSE. These courses must meet the following stipulations:
    • MSE courses at the 600 level or above that may be taken for graduate credit.
    • Non-MSE courses at the 500 level or greater in the hard-sciences, math, and engineering that may be taken for graduate credit.
    • The course should relate to the student's field of study unless prior approval for enrollment has been given by the MSE Graduate Studies Committee.

B At least 90 graduate credit hours may come from other courses

Besides those credits listed in A1, 2, & 3, an additional 90 credit hours are to be earned bringing the total graduate credit hours to 135. It is understood that any out-of-department courses are to be graduate level Science, Math, and/or Engineering courses, though other courses may be approved for credit by prior petition of the Graduate Studies Committee (GSC).

  1. Of these 90 hours, at least 15 credit hours are to be from MSE 999 (Research in Materials Science and Engineering). All dissertation work (MSE 999) and research plans are to be approved by the student's advisor.
  2. Of these 90 hours, at least 3 credit hours are to be from MSE 793 (Individual Studies) earned while assisting the undergraduate studies program.
  3. Of these 90 hours, no more than 12 credit hours of MSE 795 (Graduate Seminar and Colloquium) may apply towards this 90 hour minimum (registration in MSE 795 is required in every AU, WI, & SP quarter that the student is on campus, regardless of the total number of 795 credits a student has earned).

II Successful completion of the Candidacy Examination

Link to Candidacy Examination procedures.

  • To be eligible to take the PhD Candidacy Exam, a student must take the three Primary Core Courses--MSE 730, 737, and 747--as well as at least one Secondary Core Course--MSE 715, 756, 765, or 777.
  • The Candidacy Examination is to take place within seven academic quarters (i.e., AU, WI, & SP) of the student's arrival in the MSE department.
  • This exam may be preceded by an optional Qualifier Committee exercise (See Candidacy Examination procedures for further details).
  • A student who passes the exam may petition the Graduate Studies Committee for an MS non-Thesis degree. Satisfactory completion of the Candidacy Examination is accepted in place of passing the MS non-thesis Master's Examination. To receive an MS non-thesis degree, students must fulfill all course-related requirements of the degree (i.e., section I, part A 1 and 2 as well as part B 1 of the degree requirements--view MS non-thesis degree requirements).

III Dissertation Overview exercise

Public presentation of the student's research progress to his/her Dissertation Committee. Link to Dissertation Overview instructions.

  • The Dissertation Overview is to occur within six months of the student's successful completion of the Candidacy Exam.
  • This is designed so that the Dissertation Committee will be able to give the student advice throughout the completion of the dissertation.
  • This exercise must take place within six months of successful completion of the Candidacy Exam and at least 12 months before graduation.
  • The Dissertation Overview must be announced to the public at least one week before the Overview takes place.

IV Presentation of an acceptable dissertation

The dissertation is a scholarly contribution to knowledge in the student's area of specialization. Through it, the student is to demonstrate a high level of knowledge and the capacity to function as an independent scholar.

V Successful completion of the Final Oral Exam

The Final Oral Exam tests originality, independence of thought, the ability to synthesize and interpret, and the quality of research presented.

  • The Oral Examination must be announced to the public at least one week before the oral defense is to take place.
  • The student must register for at least 3 graduate credit hours during the quarter in which the Final Oral Exam is taken and be in good academic standing with the Graduate School (see Graduate School Handbook for details).

 

 

The summaries on this page are intended to convey general information regarding Ph.D. requirements in the department. For further details, please e-mail the MSE Graduate Studies Coordinator and/or see Section II of the Graduate School Handbook (download full Handbook PDF, 1.7 MB).

Updated 9/08
Updated 8/08
Updated 5/08
Updated 9/05
11/99 (no change from 4/96 revision)