Program Overview

Program Overview

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Chemical Engineering requires 72 semester hours of graduate work, with at least 24 hours of coursework. The program includes a set of required courses, as well as elective courses that complement the student's research interests.

Required Courses

The following Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering courses are required for the Ph.D. degree:

• ChBE 6100: ChE Mathematics (3 credit hours)
• ChBE 6110: Advanced ChE Thermodynamics (3 credit hours)
• ChBE 6120: Applied Chemical Kinetics (3 credit hours)
• ChBE 6200: Transport Phenomena (3 credit hours)
• ChBE 6250: Special Topics: Professional Development (1 credit hour)
• ChBE 8991: Seminar course (required every semester in residence)

Course Schedule

The schedule for completing the required courses is as follows:

• For students with a Chemical Engineering undergraduate degree:
  • Fall Year 1: ChBE 6100, ChBE 6110
  • Spring Year 1: Elective, ChBE 6200, ChBE 6250
  • Fall Year 2: Elective
• For students without a Chemical Engineering undergraduate degree:
  • Fall Year 1: ChBE 6100, ChBE 6110
  • Spring Year 1: ChBE 5300, ChBE 5250, ChBE 6200, ChBE 6250
  • Fall Year 2: ChBE 6120, non-ChBE Elective

Elective Courses

For students with a Chemical Engineering undergraduate degree, a minimum of 11 hours of elective courses must be taken. These elective courses should complement the student's research interests. For students without a Chemical Engineering degree, the courses in italics must be taken in lieu of 6 hours of electives.

Transfer Credits

Up to 36 hours of graduate course work with an equivalent A or B grade may be transferred to Vanderbilt and applied to the Ph.D. However, no more than 12 hours will be counted toward didactic coursework.

Examinations and Candidacy

After the first year in residence, students complete a written and oral departmental examination. Admission to candidacy in the Ph.D. program is based upon this examination, as well as the Ph.D. qualifying examination, which consists of written and oral presentation of a proposal for doctoral research.

Dissertation

Following the examinations and at least 72 semester hours of combined course and dissertation research hours, the student prepares and publicly defends a dissertation, which presents results of original research in chemical engineering.