kaust phd requirements

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Program Guide 2021-2022

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Earth Science and Engineering Ph.D. Program

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Program Guide 2021-2022 > Division of Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) > Earth Science and Engineering (ErSE) > Earth Science and Engineering Ph.D. Program

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree is designed to prepare students for research careers in academia and industry.

There is a minimum residency requirement at KAUST of three and a half years for students entering with a bachelor’s degree and two and a half years for students entering with a master’s degree. A minimum GPA of 3.0 must be achieved to graduate. Individual courses require a minimum of a B- for course credit.

The Ph.D. degree includes the following steps:

• Securing an academic advisor
• Successful completion of program coursework
• Passing the qualifying examination
• Passing the dissertation proposal defense to obtain candidacy status
• Preparing, submitting and successfully defending a doctoral dissertation

Academic Advisor

The selected academic advisor must be a full-time program-affiliated professor at KAUST. Students may also select an academic advisor from another program at KAUST. The academic advisor can only become project affiliated for the specific dissertation project with program level approval. Project affiliation approval must be completed prior to commencing research.

View a list of faculty and their affiliations here .

Ph.D. Course Requirements

The required coursework varies for students entering the Ph.D. degree with a bachelor’s degree or a relevant master’s degree. Students holding a bachelor’s degree must complete all program core/mandatory courses and elective courses outlined in the master’s degree section and are also required to complete the Ph.D. courses below. Students entering with a bachelor’s degree will qualify to earn a master’s degree by satisfying the master’s degree requirements.

Students entering the Ph.D. degree with a relevant M.Sc. degree must complete the requirements below, though additional courses may be required by the academic advisor. Upon approval of the advisor, Ph.D. students are allowed to choose the relevant courses from the entire ErSE curriculum, as well as from the curriculums of other KAUST programs.

Ph.D. Courses

• At least three courses that comprise at least two 300-level courses, at least two courses should be from the ErSE curriculum for students coming with a master’s from another university or a different KAUST program and at least one 300-level course from ErSE curriculum for students with M.Sc. from KAUST-ErSE
• Graduate seminar 398 (non-credit) – all students are required to register and receive a satisfactory grade for every semester of the program they attend
• Winter Enrichment Program (WEP) – students who completed WEP while earning the M.Sc. are not required to enroll in a full WEP for a second time during the Ph.D.

Ph.D. Candidacy

In addition to the coursework requirements, students must successfully pass the subject-based qualifying examination and Ph.D. proposal defense to progress towards Ph.D. candidacy status.

Ph.D. Qualifying Examination

The Ph.D. qualifying examination (Q.E.) is a subject-based examination – oral and written.

The Q.E. committee consists of three members. If additional expertise is required the committee could be extended. The chair can be any KAUST faculty member familiar with the program rules. At least two committee members should be affiliated with the program.

Once students have successfully completed the qualifying exam, they work towards the dissertation proposal defense under the supervision of the academic advisor.

Ph.D. Dissertation Proposal Defense

The dissertation proposal defense is the second part of the qualification milestones that must be completed within one year after passing the qualifying exam to become a Ph.D. candidate. Students have to submit to the Ph.D. dissertation proposal committee a written research proposal and pass an oral research proposal defense.

The Ph.D. dissertation proposal defense committee, which must be approved by the dean, consists of three members. If additional expertise is required the committee could be extended, subject to dean’s approval. The chair can be any KAUST faculty member familiar with the program rules. Two committee members must be KAUST faculty affiliated with the program and one must be a KAUST faculty outside the program.

• Co-chairs may serve as members 2 or 3
• Adjunct professors and professors emeriti may retain their roles on current committees, but may not serve as chair on any new committees
• Professors of practice and research professors may serve as members 2 or 3 depending upon their affiliation with the student’s program, they may also serve as co-chairs

Once constituted, the composition of the proposal committee can only be changed with the approval of both the academic advisor and the dean.

This committee should also make itself available for subsequent periodic review meetings with students. The composition of the committee could change over time.

Ph.D. Final Defense

To graduate, Ph.D. candidates have to finalize the Ph.D. dissertation, form a Ph.D. dissertation defense committee, and successfully defend a Ph.D. dissertation.

The Ph.D. dissertation defense committee, which must be approved by the dean, consists of four mandatory members. If additional expertise is required the committee could be extended, subject to the dean’s approval. Three of the mandatory members must be KAUST faculty and one must be an external examiner who is external to KAUST. The chair can be any KAUST faculty familiar with the program rules. At least two committee members must be KAUST faculty affiliated with the program, and one must be a KAUST faculty outside the program. The external examiner must write a report on the dissertation and attend the dissertation defense either in person or remotely.

• The chair cannot be the academic advisor
• Co-chairs may serve as either members 2 or 3
• Professors of practice and research professors may serve as members 2 or 3 upon their affiliation with the student’s program, they may also serve as co-chairs
• Visiting professors may serve as member 2 or 3 depending upon their affiliation

The only requirement with commonality with the proposal committee is the academic advisor, although it is expected that other members will carry forward to this committee.

If students have a co-supervisor, this person can be considered one of the four mandatory members required, provided they come under the categories listed (i.e. meets the requirements of the position).

Ph.D. Final Dissertation Defense

The Ph.D. requires the passing of the defense and acceptance of the dissertation. The final defense is a public presentation that consists of an oral defense followed by questions and may last a maximum of three hours.

Students must determine the defense date with agreement of all the members of the dissertation committee, meet deadlines for submitting graduation forms and inform the committee of their progress. It is the students’ responsibility to submit the required documents to the graduate program coordinator (GPC) at the beginning of the semester they intend to defend. The required documents include (i) the list of proposed committee members, including the external examiner (and a CV of the external examiner, (ii) a current CV of the student, (iii) a current transcript, (iv) a list of publications, and (v) a final draft of the Ph.D. dissertation.

Students must submit the written dissertation to the committee one month prior to the defense date in order to receive feedback.

There are four possible outcomes from the dissertation final defense:

• Pass with conditions
• Fail without retake

A pass is achieved when the committee agrees with no more than one dissenting vote. In the instance of a pass with conditions, the entire committee must agree on the required conditions, and if they cannot, the dean decides. The deadline to meet conditions is three months after the defense date, unless the committee unanimously agrees to reduce it. If the conditions will take three months or more, or more than one member casts a negative vote, one retake of the defense is permitted. The deadline to complete the retake is as decided by the defense committee with a maximum of six months after the defense date, unless the committee unanimously agrees to change it. Students who fail without retake or who fail the retake will be dismissed from the University.

Evaluation of the Ph.D. dissertation defense is recorded by submitting the result of the Ph.D. dissertation defense examination form within three days after the defense to the Office of the Registrar.  

​​IDB-KAUST Joint PhD Scholarship Program

About the program, requirements.

• ​A citizen of an IDB member country (visit the IDB Merit Scholarship Program for a full listing of member countries)
• Age not over 35 years
• Engaged in full-time employment in an academic, research or development institute in the home country and the application is nominated by that institution
• Meets the eligibility criteria of the IDB Merit Scholarship Program
• Have a firm admission offer at the KAUST for a PhD program

1. ASK US QUESTIONS

2. apply now, 3. assessment test.

The University has two graduation cycles: one culminating with commencement and one with the spring luncheon. Students will officially graduate during the graduation cycle, in which they complete all the requirements of their degree program. This includes M.Sc./Ph.D. students graduating with their master’s degree.

Graduation is the completion of all degree requirements as recorded on the official transcript. An application to graduate is required to finalize the receipt of a degree (this is not an application to participate in the commencement ceremony). Diplomas are awarded to students on or after the official graduation date.

Graduation is the completion of all degree requirements as recorded on the student's official transcript. A graduation application is needed to finalize the receipt of your degree. This is not an application to participate in the commencement ceremony. 

Students must apply to graduate by the last day to add/drop courses.

Missed Deadline 

Failure to meet the published deadline will delay graduation one semester and may affect the student's participation on the commencement. 

M.Sc. with thesis and Ph.D. students are required to send their thesis/dissertation to  [email protected]  for formatting review by no later than the published deadline in the Academic Calendar . Please visit the theses/dissertations preparation page to learn more. 

Students eligible to graduate will receive one diploma per degree earned, free of charge. 

Commencement is held once a year at the end of the fall semester. It involves activities that span two days and ends with the awarding of degrees and evening reception. Participation in the commencement ceremony is not equivalent to graduation. Graduation becomes official after all grades are completed, and thesis/dissertations are successfully archived.

In order to participate in a fall commencement ceremony, you must: 

Be on the “eligible graduation list” prior to the commencement registration deadline in October. The “eligible graduation list” is managed by the Office of the Registrar, once your graduation application is approved, your name will be added to the graduation candidates list, and the commencement team will be notified. 

Complete the separate commencement registration by the defined deadline.  

The Office of the Registrar notifies the commencement team in early fall of all students who are on the “eligible graduation list.”  All students on this list will receive an email inviting them to register for the commencement ceremony.  Any student who does not complete a commencement registration by the deadline will not participate in commencement.  

All commencement information is sent to the eligible graduate's KAUST email address by the commencement team.  Students will only receive commencement information once a student has applied to graduate with the Office of the Registrar and their application was approved. 

There is no spring commencement ceremony; all spring graduates are invited to participate in the fall ceremony. Students completing their graduation requirements in the winter, spring, or summer will also be invited to participate in the fall commencement ceremony. MS candidates with thesis extensions will have their degrees conferred later. Commencement Eligibility

Participation in Commencement is not limited to those students who have completed their degree requirements or previously graduated. Students meeting any of the categories below may participate in Commencement once per each degree.

• MS or Ph.D. degree candidates who have completed all degree requirements and did not participate in an earlier Commencement for this degree may participate in the Commencement Ceremony.
• MS Thesis candidates who have completed all of the course work for the MS degree, but not the Thesis, may participate in Commencement Ceremony but will not graduate until the Thesis is completed.
• Ph.D. candidates who have completed the defense examination with either a “pass” or “conditional pass” may participate in the Commencement Ceremony. They will officially graduate during the cycle in which they complete their remaining degree requirements.

Graduation or commencement questions?

P lease visit the  FAQs  page

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All admitted students receive the benefits of the KAUST Fellowship which support students for the duration of their graduate studies. The benefits of the KAUST Fellowship include:

• ​Full tuition support
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M.S. Degree

The Master’s Degree (M.S.) is awarded upon successful completion of a minimum of 36 credit hours. A minimum GPA of 3.0 must be achieved to graduate. Individual courses require a minimum of a ‘B' for course credit. Students are expected to complete the M.S. degree in three semesters and one Summer Session. Satisfactory participation in every KAUST's Summer Session is mandatory. Summer Session courses are credit-bearing and apply towards the degree.

M.S. Milestones

Getting started, course work.

3 semesters and 1 summer session

Research for Thesis Option

Placement Exam - To facilitate the design of an individual study plan, all admitted students must take a written assessment test when they arrive on campus. The assessment determines whether students have mastered the prerequisites for undertaking graduate-level courses taught in the program. 

Cultural Orientation - duration 1 week

Academic Orientation - duration 1 week

Course Registration

Course Requirements - 24 Credits. The Students must successfully complete a set of courses specified by the respective academic program guide - total of 24 credits.

Each Program is administered by a Graduate Committee and a Graduate Chair. Courses for each program will be listed at the 100 (non-credit), 200 or 300 Level.

M.S. Thesis option

Students wishing to pursue the thesis option must apply by the ninth week of their second semester for a thesis and must have at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA. A minimum of 12 credits of Thesis Research (297) is required. Students are permitted to register for more than 12 credits of M.S.

M.S. Non-Thesis option

Students must complete a minimum of six credits of Directed Research(299). Students must complete the remaining 6 credits through one or combination of the options: Internship or, Broadening Experience Courses or, PhD courses 

Ph.D Degree

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Degree is designed to prepare students for research careers in academia and industry. It is offered exclusively as a fulltime program. The PhD degree is awarded upon successful completion of a minimum of 72 credits. A minimum GPA of 3.0 must be achieved on all doctoral coursework. Individual courses require a minimum of a ‘B-’ to earn course credit.

Ph.D. Milestones

Securing a dissertation advisor, successful completion of program coursework.

within 2 semesters and 1 summer session

Passing the Qualifying Examination

Passing the dissertation proposal defense to obtain candidacy status.

within the end of the fifth semester

Preparing, submitting and successfully defending a Doctoral Dissertation

within 8 semesters and 4 summer sessions

The selected Dissertation Advisor must be a full time program-affiliated Assistant, Associate or Full Professor at KAUST. The student may also select an advisor from another program at KAUST. This advisor can only become project-affiliated for the specific thesis project with program level approval. Project-affiliation approval must be completed prior to commencing research.

Every PhD student is required to fulfill the criteria set by their respective program, which typically encompass a blend of 300-level Courses (totaling 12 credits), participation in the Graduate Seminar (non-credit), and engagement in the Winter Enrichment Program (non-credit).

In addition to the coursework requirements, the student must successfully complete the required Ph.D. qualification milestones to progress toward Ph.D. candidacy status. These milestones consist of the subject-based qualifying examination and Ph.D. Proposal Defense.

The Dissertation is the final milestone of the PhD program. Students must complete the following:

• Petition to Defend Dissertation/ Form Dissertation Defense Committee 
• Defend Dissertation 
• Archive Dissertation

Top Resources

MS Degre  -   PhD Degree  -   Apply Now -   Addmission FAQs - Academic Affairs 

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Study at kaust:apply, welcome to the bioscience program.

The Bioscience (B) program plays a key role in tackling many of the global challenges being addressed by KAUST, with a general emphasis on ‘adaptive biology’, i.e. the study of the mechanisms that allow organisms to adapt to their environment. Understanding and engineering these complex mechanisms is critical in areas such as global food security or health care, and requires combining in-depth knowledge with advanced methodology and out-of-the-box thinking.

To prepare students to be innovative contributors to life sciences, the Bioscience program comprises courses in cell and molecular biology, biophysics and computer science. Moreover, it interfaces smoothly with bioengineering as well as plant and marine sciences, and allows the choice of electives across all divisions. The program is comprised of two tracks of self- contained courses consisting of lectures, seminars and laboratory classes. Each course provides an in-depth review of the subject and examples of current research in the field. In addition, the Bioscience program provides substantial and versatile hands-on research experience.

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NSF's New Mentoring Requirements for Graduate Students

About this event.

The  Council of Graduate Schools , with support from NSF ( Award # 2413980 ), is hosting a virtual workshop to help principal investigators respond to NSF's new graduate student mentoring plan and graduate student/postdoctoral individual development plan requirements. These requirements, described in the  Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (NSF 24-1) , will be in effect for all NSF proposals submitted on or after May 20, 2024. The workshop will include presentations and panel discussions featuring NSF leadership, graduate deans, and senior research administrators.  Additional details on speakers and registration are available at  https://cgsnet.org/webinar/workshop-nsfs-new-mentoring-requirements-for-graduate-students

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Onrí Jay Benally receives 2024 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Doctoral student Onri Jay Benally is a 2024 recipient of the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Benally is currently pursuing his doctoral research under the guidance of Distinguished McKnight Professor and Robert F. Hartmann chair Jian-Ping Wang exploring the world of quantum computing and spintronic devices. 

A Navaho (Diné) tribesman and carpenter, Benally comes to us from the mountains of Red Valley and Oak Springs, Arizona. After graduating from tribal high school, he found himself building off-road electric vehicles at a Utah State University lab led by Professors Curtiz Frazier and Jared Barrett. Two years later, in 2017, he transferred to the University of Minnesota and accepted a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) through the NSF-funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at the University. During this time, he worked with Professor Vlad Pribiag (School of Physics and Astronomy) building nanoelectronic devices in the cleanroom for Majorana fermion research. The REU was Benally’s first brush with quantum technology exploration. He returned to the MRSEC REU in summer 2018 and this time he worked with Wang on micro and nanoscale magnetic tunnel junctions for classical computer memory and logic applications. He earned his bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies from the University in 2021. 

While Benally was working on his undergraduate degree, he earned an IBM certificate in quantum computation using Qiskit, and began hypothesizing how metallic-based spintronics and new architectures could be used to support the expansion of quantum supercomputing worldwide. The initial hypothesis motivated him to enter ECE’s doctoral program in fall 2022. 

Reflecting on his interest in quantum technology and his skills as a carpenter, Benally says, "Carpentry was my livelihood on the tribe before completing my undergraduate degree. It is a big part of who I am and has indirectly led to my success as a nanofabricator of spintronics and quantum chips." Benally shares that one of his first toys as a kid was a toy hammer. 

Benally’s research interests revolve around the engineering of quantum computing hardware and spintronic devices. An interdisciplinary area, his research involves the nanofabrication of ultrafast nanoscale magnetic tunnel junctions, cryogenic magnetic random-access memory (cryo-MRAM), and hybrid spintronic quantum processing units (QPUs), systems that can form scalable, sustainable quantum hardware architectures. Under the guidance of Wang, Benally designs and fabricates these systems at the Minnesota Nano Center at the University. Benally addressed these new developments in his keynote speech at the Arizona State University-led Quantum Collaborative Summit this past fall in San Antonio, Texas. Over the upcoming summer, Benally will be a graduate intern with IBM Research in Yorktown Heights, New York. As a quantum hardware engineer, he will be working on cutting edge cryogenic electronics for large-scale superconducting quantum computers.

Benally has accepted the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and feels honored to start delivering on his proposed ideas on supporting quantum supercomputing through spintronics and new architectures. 

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program helps “ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States.” Learn about the program and eligibility requirements.

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