Program Overview

Introduction to the NanoEngineering Doctoral Degree Program

The Ph.D. Program in NanoEngineering is designed to prepare students for a variety of careers in research and teaching, with an emphasis on research. PhD students, in consultation with their faculty advisors, develop appropriate course programs that will prepare them for the Preliminary Qualifying/Comprehensive, Literature Review, and Advancement/Senate Exams, and for the defense exam of their dissertation research.

Program Requirements

To complete the Ph.D. in NanoEngineering, students must:

• Select a specific focus area: Biomedical Nanotechnology, Molecular and Nanomaterials, or Nanotechnologies for Energy and the Environment
• Successfully complete 10 courses:
  • 5 required core courses
  • 3 electives from the approved courses in the student’s selected focus area
  • 2 electives from the approved courses in any of the two remaining focuses, the ENG-10X courses, or a graduate level course from a department in JSOE engineering, mathematics, or general science (Biology, Physics, Chemistry), with the faculty advisor’s consent
• Meet all the university’s residency and other requirements
• Enroll in NANO 200 every quarter (note: Nano 200 units do not count towards degree units)
• Pass the Literature Review Examination within one year after passing the Comprehensive Examination
• Pass the Ph.D. Advancement to Candidacy or Senate Exam before the Pre-Candidacy Time Limit (PCTL) deadline
• Complete 1 quarter as a Teaching Assistant in a Nano, Ceng, or STEM course prior to the dissertation defense
• Successfully complete and defend a dissertation

Departmental Examinations

All Ph.D. students are required to pass four examinations:

• Comprehensive Exams
• Literature Review Exam
• Ph.D. Senate Exam (often referred to as the Advancement to Candidacy Exam)
• Defend Dissertation

General Exam Timeline for Ph.D. Students

• Comprehensive Exams: completed by the Spring of 1st year
• Literature Review Exam: by the end of the second year
• Ph.D. Senate Exam: in 3rd year, no later than 4th year
• Defend Dissertation: usually by the end of the 5th year

Comprehensive Exam

The Comprehensive Exam will be incorporated directly into the core courses, and instructors will determine how students are tested on the comprehensive exam component.

• The Comprehensive Exam may only be retaken ONCE
• Failure to pass the retest exam component will result in termination from the program
• Transfer to the Thesis Plan is not permitted after failing the retest exam
• If a student fails a core course, they will need to retake the course the next time it is offered, which may be the following year
• If a student passes a core course, but does not pass the comprehensive exam for that course, the student will coordinate with the course instructor to retake the comprehensive exam component no later than the beginning of the following quarter

Literature Review Examination

The Literature Review Examination tests the student's ability to prepare and present a comprehensive overview of a topic based on existing journal literature.

• The topic may be in the general area in which the student plans to pursue their research, or it may be in an unrelated field of Chemical or Nano Engineering
• The topic must also be approved by the faculty member committee (3 members): the student's faculty advisor and 2 other faculty of the department
• The prepared material should be around 40 minutes in length, but students should plan for 90 minutes to ensure adequate time for questions and discussion

Ph.D. Senate Examination

The Ph.D. Senate Exam is often known as the Advancement to Candidacy Exam.

• Prior to taking this exam, the candidate must have completed the Comprehensive Exam, Literature Review Exam, obtained a faculty research advisor, and must have initial progress on a chosen dissertation project
• Each student will be required to take an oral qualifying examination that will advance the student to candidacy in the Ph.D. program
• The Senate Exam must be successfully completed before the Pre-Candidacy Time Limit (PCTL) found on their Student Portal

Teaching Experience

Prior to the dissertation defense, the candidate must have served at least one quarter as a teaching assistant.

Dissertation Defense

The Dissertation Defense is the final Ph.D. examination.

• Upon completion of the dissertation research project, the student writes a dissertation that must be successfully defended in an oral examination and public presentation conducted by the doctoral committee
• The final defense must be open to the public
• A complete copy of the student’s dissertation must be submitted to each member of the doctoral committee four weeks before the defense

Ph.D. Time Limit Policy

• Pre-Candidacy status is limited to four (4) years
• Doctoral students are eligible for university support for six (6) years
• The defense and submission of the doctoral dissertation must be within seven (7) years

Annual Evaluation

During the Spring quarter of each year, the faculty advisor evaluates each doctoral student’s overall performance in course work, research, and prospects for financial support for future years.

• A written assessment is given to the student after the evaluation
• If a student’s work is found to be inadequate, faculty may determine that the student is not fit to continue in the Ph.D. program.