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Ph.D. Degree Requirements

Once advanced to Ph.D. candidacy, the student works with a special advisory committee to make sure that all degree requirements are met. The requirements include:

Technical Proficiency: Oral Qualifying Examination

The oral qualifying exam, a set of questions put forward by an oral examination committee to the candidate, takes place within 6 months of admission to Ph.D. candidacy and is open to the faculty (but not to the general public). The committee tests the candidate's knowledge of principles and methods underlying the field in which advanced work is to be performed. The exam covers 3 areas selected by the candidate in consultation with the advisory committee and approved by the graduate program committee.

The examination committee includes 3 Dartmouth faculty examiners, with at least 2 of them from Thayer School. A Thayer faculty member other than the student's advisor chairs the committee.

The examination committee gives the student a pass or fail result. Students who do not pass may retake the oral examination—one time only—within the following 3 months.

Adobe PDF file icon Oral Qualifying Examination form (PDF)

Technical Breadth

The faculty advisor helps the candidate plan a demonstration of technical breadth, which is approved by the Graduate Program Committee. The plan details one of the following options:

  • A set of courses, taken for credit, outside or secondary to the candidate's principal area of specialization

  • A focused set of courses, taken for credit, which creates a secondary emphasis in specialization and may involve independent study or research

  • Defense of a research proposal OR an oral examination in an area outside the main area of specialization. The candidate might present a research seminar on the topic with an examination committee of 3 faculty members probing the candidate's depth of knowledge of the secondary area. This option may be combined with the ENGG 197 Ph.D. Professional Workshops. Students who do not pass may be permitted to take the oral examination—one time only—within the following 3 months.

  • A creative design project, completed within a time limit of approximately 30 days, in an area outside the main area of specialization. The project is defined and the candidate's performance is evaluated by a committee of 3 faculty members appointed by the program director. The committee gives the student a statement of need, and the student proposes a means of satisfying that need in an effective, elegant, and economic manner. The project should display the candidate's ability to conceive and evaluate alternative solutions; carry out analytical evaluations at levels of approximation suited to the problem and the time limit; and recognize situations in which experimental work is needed. If the time limit prohibits experimentation, the candidate should devise the appropriate experiments and demonstrate how the expected results would aid in the design. Within the 30-day time limit, the candidate submits a written report plus an executive summary. Following an oral presentation of the project, the committee examines and evaluates the candidate's performance in the project. Students who do not pass may be permitted to revise and resubmit the report—one time only—within the following 3 months.

Specialization: Thesis Proposal

The candidate demonstrates mastery of an area of specialization by writing and defending a thesis proposal within the first 18 months of candidacy. A thesis committee, approved by the director of the Ph.D. program, advises the candidate on the proposed thesis research and administers the defense of the thesis proposal.

The thesis committee is chaired by the thesis advisor and includes at least 3 other members. Three committee members (including the chair) must be full-time Dartmouth faculty members; of whom two must be from Thayer School. One of the four should be from outside Thayer School (normally outside of Dartmouth) and a recognized expert in the research area.

The candidate's proposal—a presentation of the proposed thesis research—explains the scope and importance of the proposed research and plans for its completion. The defense presentation should be understandable, at least in a general way, to students and faculty not in the subject area.

Two weeks before the defense, candidates must:

  • submit the thesis proposal in writing to their committee
  • submit an electronic copy of the defense notice to the Thayer registrar for distribution to the faculty and for posting

Students who do not pass may be permitted to defend the proposal—one time only—within the following 3 months.

Adobe PDF file icon Defense of Thesis Proposal form (PDF)

Professional Competence: Ph.D. Professional Workshops

The candidate demonstrates professional competence by completing ENGG 197 Ph.D. Professional Workshops, which is offered each winter term by the faculty and outside experts. The workshop emphasizes skills in completing competitive proposals, business funding, patenting, research team organization, teaching, résumé and CV creation, and job search techniques. The candidate generally completes the workshop in one of the latter years in residence.

Each candidate completes a competitive research proposal or a business plan for critique by 2 expert referees selected from among faculty, outside experts, and/or corporate representatives.

Candidates who have submitted a competitive research proposal to a funding agency or a business plan to a venture capitalist or financial institution prior to completing the workshop may petition to have the proposal or business plan fulfill this requirement.

Original Research

Candidates demonstrate their significant contribution to engineering knowledge and professional expertise in the chosen area of study by performing original research. The thesis committee is chaired by the thesis advisor and includes at least 3 other members. Three committee members (including the chair) must be full-time Dartmouth faculty members; of whom two must be from Thayer School. One of the four should be from outside Thayer School (normally outside of Dartmouth) and a recognized expert in the research area.

The research is reviewed through all of the following means:

  • Presentation: Elements of the research presented at a professional meeting with the candidate as first author
  • Dissertation: Written abstract followed by detailed explanation of the research, approved and signed by the Ph.D. thesis committee (copyright held by the Trustees of Dartmouth College)
  • Oral defense: Presentation of the dissertation in a forum open to the public. A two-week notice of the defense is required. Each student must submit an electronic copy of the notice to the Thayer Registrar for distribution to the faculty and for posting.
  • Paper: Elements of the research accepted for publication with the candidate as first author.

Adobe PDF file icon Thesis Guidelines (PDF)

Additional Requirements for the Innovation Program

See Ph.D. Innovation Program Requirements for details.

Additional Requirements for the IGERT Program in Polar Environmental Change

The Ph.D. program can also be combined with the IGERT program in Polar Environmental Change. Students must fulfill all the requirements listed for first-year Ph.D. students and Ph.D. candidates, plus the additional requirements of the IGERT program.