Chemical Engineering (PHD)

Location(s): Manhattan Campus

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For more information about the Ph.D. program, see the Chemical Engineering section of this catalog.

Doctoral degree requirements

The Ph.D. degree requires 90 credit hours. This is divided among major course work, minor subjects, and research work. Students enrolled in 12 hours per semester during the regular semesters and 3 hours during the summer term would achieve this total in just over 3 years. A diversified and flexible choice of minor subjects and a good selection of research topics are available. Qualified students may bypass the master’s degree and work directly toward the Ph.D. degree. Students already holding an applicable master’s degree upon admission can count 30 credits toward the 90 credits required for the doctorate.

Requirements specific to the Department of Chemical Engineering (please see below) are as follows:

Satisfactory completion of specified coursework.
Satisfactory performance in a qualifying examination covering the field of Chemical Engineering.
Submission of a written thesis proposal and satisfactory oral defense of this proposal.
Submission of an acceptable dissertation, and satisfactory oral defense of this dissertation.
Presentation of research results at a departmental seminar.

Required Courses

Ph.D. students are expected to be well grounded in the fundamentals of Chemical Engineering and must successfully complete the following courses (or their equivalents).

CHE 835 - Chemical Engineering Analysis Credits: 3
CHE 815 - Advanced Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics Credits: 3
CHE 822 - Advanced Chemical Reaction Engineering Credits: 3
CHE 862 - Advanced Transport Phenomena I Credits: 3
CHE 875 - Graduate Seminar in Chemical Engineering Credits: 1

Elective Requirements (18 hours)

Elective Graduate Courses - all students are required to demonstrate a mastery of some body of knowledge in their research field by completing elective courses. At least fifteen hours of work is required in addition to those listed above.

No more than 6 hours of course work at the 500-level are permitted.

Thesis Hours

A Ph.D. must include at least 30 hours of research credits. All students on stipends must be enrolled 9 hours per semester. Students receive research credit for those hours not taken as coursework. Thus, reaching this minimum is not difficult.

Kansas State University