Chemical Engineering, Ph.D.

The doctoral program is primarily for students who wish to develop independent research in addition to problem-solving and critical thinking abilities. Research areas must be related to the faculty’s interests.

Admission Requirements

General admission requirements and the application process are presented under Graduate Academic Information .

Doctoral applicants must demonstrate outstanding scholastic achievement and aptitude, provide letters of recommendation from previous professors, a statement of objectives and a résumé/CV.

Degree Requirements

The doctor of philosophy degree is in recognition of one’s independent creative ability to research, delineate and solve novel, significant scientific and/or engineering problems. The results of such work must be publishable in refereed journals. Coursework is also included in support of these objectives.

Each student is expected to complete an approved program of study, pass both oral and written examinations, propose and complete an original research project, and write and defend a dissertation on the research work.

The Ph.D. in chemical engineering requires a minimum of 72 credit hours (42 credit hours after the completion of a master’s degree), including at least 18 credit hours of formal coursework (12 after the master’s degree), of which at least 9 credit hours are in chemical engineering (6 credit hours after the master’s degree) and 3 credit hours are in mathematics or science, and satisfaction of the general doctoral degree requirements presented under Graduate Academic Information . For students admitted to the Ph.D. program without a master’s degree, the required formal coursework in chemical engineering includes CHE 5101 Transport Phenomena 1 , CHE 5110 Equilibrium Thermodynamics , and CHE 5150 Chemical Reactor Design . 

The written examination consists of a comprehensive review of a journal article from the recent literature and a research proposition developed independently by the student to demonstrate the ability to create and develop a research idea. The oral examination includes the presentation and defense of the article review and research proposal. The written and oral examinations are normally taken before the end of the fourth academic semester, counted from the semester of admission to the doctoral program. The dissertation may be theoretical, computational, experimental or a combination of the three.