Qualifying examination
The student is considered to have passed the qualifying examination if he/she has taken at least four courses and has a GPA ≥ 3.5 at the end of his/her fourth semester. At least two courses must be in the MAE department, one of which must be at the 6xxx level.
Comprehensive examination
The comprehensive examination is taken after the student has completed the required coursework for his/her doctoral program and at least six months before his/her dissertation defense. Before taking the comprehensive exam, the graduate advisor must submit the Request for Authorization of Comprehensive Exam to the associate chair for graduate affairs. The examination will be both written and oral; the specific content of which will be determined by the student’s graduate advisor in consultation with the student’s advisory committee. The student’s advisory committee will consist of at least five faculty members, including the graduate advisor. At least four of the members must belong to the graduate faculty and at least one of the members must be from outside of the MAE Department. The chair of the advisory committee is the student’s graduate advisor. If the student fails his/her comprehensive examination, a second comprehensive examination may be scheduled no sooner than twelve weeks after the student’s first comprehensive examination. If the student fails the comprehensive examination a second time, he/she will no longer be eligible to receive a degree from the graduate program. Further information regarding the comprehensive examination is available in the Graduate Catalog.
Dissertation requirements
The dissertation is a document embodying the results of the student’s original investigation under the guidance of his/her advisory committee. It is expected that this document will yield scholarly products, typically one or more articles worthy of publication in high-quality archival journals. The student’s advisory committee will examine the student’s dissertation closely for both scientific content and format, and deem it worthy of acceptance by the Graduate Faculty as meeting the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree. The dissertation must be formatted appropriately. Formatting specifications and further information regarding dissertations are available at Formatting Resources.
Final examination requirements
The final examination is an oral defense of the student’s dissertation and may be attended by any interested person. It may not be scheduled sooner than six months after the completion of the comprehensive examination. Notice of the final examination shall be publicly announced by the Office of Graduate Education at least one week prior to the examination. A candidate will be considered to have passed the final examination if all, or all but one, of the advisory committee vote positively. If the candidate fails the final examination, the advisory committee will recommend suggested work to be completed or other remedial measures to be taken before another examination can be scheduled. Further information regarding the final examination is available in the Graduate Catalog.
Residency requirements
The Ph.D. student will normally complete three years of residency, which is the equivalent of six semesters and a minimum of 72 credit hours of full–time academic work beyond the bachelor’s degree. At least half of those credit hours must be taken at Missouri S&T. For Ph.D. students holding a master’s degree, this three–year residency requirement can be met by completing the equivalent of two years (four semesters) of full–time academic work beyond the master’s degree, including at least two consecutive semesters in residence at Missouri S&T while enrolled in at least nine graduate credit hours per semester. At least fifteen hours of graduate coursework, exclusive of research (ME 6099), special problems, special investigations, and seminars, must be taken on the Missouri S&T campus. The Graduate Catalog contains further information regarding residency requirements and how to calculate residency. The Ph.D. student’s residency requirements are to be included on their Graduate Form 5. For distance Ph.D. students, residency requirements are calculated differently. The associate chair for graduate affairs should be consulted for further details.
Journal article requirements
A Ph.D. student in the MAE department is required to have at least three peer-reviewed journal articles from the Ph.D. work published or accepted as the first author at the time of the dissertation defense. Exceptions require approval from the advisory committee and the notification of the associate chair for graduate affairs.
Seminar requirements
All graduate students are required to attend the department seminar series. More information about these seminars can be found at the following website: https://mae.mst.edu/seminarsandcolloquia/maeseminars/
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