Nuclear Engineering Major, PhD

Students in the field of nuclear engineering desiring to study for the Doctor of Philosophy degree must have a Bachelor of Science or Master of Science from a recognized university with a major in engineering, physics, chemistry, or mathematics. All candidates will be required to demonstrate general competence in a comprehensive examination in the areas of engineering science, mathematics, chemistry, physics, and nuclear engineering.

Requirements

Specific requirements for the PhD with a major in nuclear engineering include the following.

• A minimum of 48 credit hours of graduate course work and 24 credit hours doctoral research (NE 600) beyond the bachelor’s degree. If the student has a master’s degree when entering the PhD program, then a minimum of 24 credit hours of graduate course work beyond all masters is required and 24 credit hours of doctoral research (NE 600).
• A minimum of 30 credit hours in nuclear engineering courses numbered 500 and above (or the equivalent). These are exclusive of thesis, practice project, or dissertation credit.
• A minimum of 18 graduate credit hours of course work in addition to the requirement of 30 credit hours of graduate nuclear engineering course credit hours. The 18 graduate hours are to be related to the student’s research, as approved by the student’s committee. No more than twelve 400-level graduate credit hours may be used to satisfy this requirement.
• A minimum of 6 credit hours of 600-level courses. No more than 3 credit hours of the 600-level course hour requirement may come from a department other than nuclear engineering.

The first part of the comprehensive examination is prepared by the nuclear engineering faculty and consists of 6 credit hours of written examination that is administered over a two-day period. All past written examinations are filed in the library and students are encouraged to review them. Students are invited to take the written examination after completing approximately 30 credit hours of graduate course work. A student who fails the written examination must take and pass the examination the next time it is offered to remain in the PhD program. Registration for NE 600  is not permitted until the written examination is passed. The second part of the comprehensive examination is completed with the successful oral defense of a written dissertation proposal.

A candidate must successfully defend, in an oral examination, all work presented for the degree (all course work and the dissertation).