Ocean and Resources Engineering, PhD

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Students pursuing a PhD are required to achieve a broad understanding of the principal areas of ocean and resources engineering, as well as a thorough understanding of their research area. Students are expected to have knowledge related to fundamental engineering courses (i.e., MS basic engineering pre-program requirements) as well as the core courses of the ORE MS degree. Doctoral students are also encouraged to take courses relevant to their research interests.

Requirements

The ORE program at the PhD level has the following requirements:

PhD qualifying exam
An advanced mathematics course at the graduate level
ORE 792 - Seminar in Ocean and Resources Engineering Credits: 1
PhD comprehensive exam
PhD dissertation and defense

Additional Information

All intended PhD candidates are expected to take a qualifying examination, preferably before or during the third semester of full-time enrollment. In addition to covering basic undergraduate mathematics and engineering fundamentals, the examination tests the students’ understanding of the core courses of the ORE MS degree. The examination is conducted by ORE’s PhD qualifying exam committee and the outcome is determined by a vote of the departmental faculty. The qualifying examination may be repeated only once.

After passing the qualifying examination and advancing to candidacy, the student forms a dissertation committee and begins preparing their dissertation proposal. Upon completion of their dissertation proposal, the student must take a comprehensive examination which is conducted by the dissertation committee. This is meant to measure the student’s preparation and ability to conduct original research in the area of their proposed dissertation topic. The examination consists of a presentation of the student’s proposed research followed by an oral component in which the student must defend the novelty of their proposed research, address any issues raised by the committee, and demonstrate his/her ability to successfully conduct the proposed research. The comprehensive examination may be repeated only once.

PhD students are expected to publish their research in refereed journals. This provides feedback from the research community while developing a publication track record prior to graduation. The student must present and defend their dissertation at a final examination, which is conducted by the dissertation committee. A student failing the final defense for the first time may repeat it only with approval from both the graduate program and the Graduate Division. A student failing for the second time is dismissed from both the graduate program and the Graduate Division.

Advising

Upon admission, the ORE department chair meets with each incoming student at a preliminary conference to discuss the program requirements. The ORE graduate chair will reconfirm any pre-program deficiencies for students from non-ABET accredited undergraduate programs through evaluation of transcripts and course descriptions.

The ORE graduate chair serves as the advisor to students who do not meet the pre-program requirements. Once pre-program requirements are met, the ORE department chair appoints an academic advisor from the pool of ORE departmental faculty. The academic advisor helps student navigate the program requirements and ensures that all university and department guidelines are met. At the onset of their research, students are paired with a research advisor to guide their research and serve as their committee chair.