The Ph.D. Program is designed to prepare students for a career in research and/or teaching in their area of specialization. After completing the M.S. Degree (or meeting equivalent requirements) and meeting the minimum standard on the Comprehensive Examination (a written exam for 6 classes that the student has taken during the first year at UCSD) to be admitted to or continue in the Ph.D. program, a student must:
- Meet all the University's residency and other requirements.
- Successfully complete three advanced graduate courses (in addition to those required for the M.S. degree) approved by the student's dissertation advisor.
- Enroll in MS200, as required; see course descriptions for requirements.
- Pass the Literature Review Examination. This requirement must be successfully completed within one year after passing the Comprehensive Examination.
- Pass the Ph.D. Qualifying (Senate) Examination to advance to Ph.D candidacy.
- Successfully complete and defend a dissertation which, in the opinion of the dissertation committee, contains original work that should lead to publication of at least one significant article in an appropriate referred journal.
Comprehensive
Examination
The examination will consist of twelve questions, two from
each of the six core courses. A passing grade is 60% for
the Master's degree, and 70% for the Ph.D. The examination
will not exceed six hours in duration. The examination is
usually administered the second week in January, and a week
after spring quarter finals week in June. Typically,
students take the exam after one year of full-time
enrollment. This exam may only be retaken once before the
end of the second year of study.
Literature Review
Examination
The examination will consist of a presentation by the
student on literature search and interpretations on a
research subject indirectly related to the student’s
thesis topic, in the presence of three professors
(including the student’s thesis advisor). This exam
must occur within one year of the student having passed the
Comprehensive Examination.
Senate
Examination (Qualifying Examination)
The Ph.D. Qualifying Exam is an oral examination of the
student's research proposal. The examining committee may
consist of five faculty members associated with the
Materials Science and Engineering Program, with at least
two departments represented; one member must be tenured and
from a department other than the committee Chair's
department. If your advisor is not part of the Materials
Science and Engineering Program you must have an MSE
professor as a Co-Chair. The student must notify the
graduate office of their committee members two weeks prior
to the exam. A written proposal of the student's research
topic must be submitted to the examining, committee at
least one week before the oral exam. This exam is typically
taken at the end of the third year of study, but not later
than the end of the fourth year.
Thesis 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.