Ph.D. Degree Requirements
Comprehensive Examination
A Comprehensive Examination is required of all doctoral candidates by the Graduate School. The department has adopted the following guidelines for this examination: "The candidate can elect to write a research proposal or carry out a research project as partial fulfillment of he requirements for the Comprehensive Examination. In either case, the finished report must be presented in writing to the Doctoral Committee and defended orally after it has been accepted. The following guidelines apply:
- The literature involved in preparation of the proposal or the project must be outside the literature hat the candidate would normally cover in the completion of the Doctoral dissertation.
- A research proposal should be of the same nature and quality as would normally be submitted to a funding agency - i.e., it should review the current literature, define a significant problem, propose methods of investigation, and present arguments for the funding of the proposal.
- A research project should result in a document which provides a critical review of the state-of-the-art or contributes some significant new information, data, or calculation and which could be submitted to research sponsors or for publication in a journal.
The primary objectives of the Comprehensive Examination are to broaden the candidate by requiring that literature outside of the primary area of interest be examined critically and to demonstrate that the candidate has the ability to synthesize ideas and create original objectives. The idea for the comprehensive project should come from the candidate rather than from the thesis advisor or the Committee. The oral defense of the proposal is intended to help the candidate develop better technical communication skills as well as demonstrate his/her knowledge of the area.
Typically, such a project should require less than three months of part-time work to complete and will be less than 20 typewritten, double-spaced pages. After the candidate has completed the written document, copies are to be distributed to the Doctoral Committee for review. After a period of two or three weeks, the candidate will be notified if the project is accepted or rejected. If rejected, the Chair of the Doctoral Committee will inform the student as to the reasons for the rejection and recommend revision of the work or the preparation of another project. If the project is accepted, the candidate will be responsible for arranging a time for an oral defense of the work. This Oral Examination constitutes the official Graduate School Comprehensive Examination, and must be officially scheduled through the Graduate School. Students should note that in order to schedule the Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam, the students must have successfully completed the English Competency requirements. Students will ty pically be asked to give a short update on their Ph.D. research at the start of the Oral Examination.
Students should make every effort to schedule and complete their Comprehensive Examination as early as possible, ideally around the end of the 2nd year of their graduate studies. After a student passes the Comprehensive Exam, generally his/her half time graduate research assistantship stipend is increased. This policy does not apply to students for whom course tuition (excluding Ch E 601/611) must still be paid unless agreed upon by the research advisor. This policy also does not apply to students supported by Teaching Assistantships.
The Chemical Engineering Department is fully committed to recognizing outstanding performance in all of our graduate students. Special Fellowship funds have been set aside to provide cash awards to selected graduate students based on outstanding performance on the Comprehensive Exam. Decisions on the Robb Fellowships will be made by the Department Head in consultation with the faculty
Schedule Comprehensive Examination Form.pdf
Reviewed 11/27/07