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Doctor of Philosophy Degree Program

The Texas Tech University Graduate School sets policies and regulations regarding admission, minimum grade requirements, final examinations, and other items of interest to the graduate student. Students should obtain and study the current Graduate Catalog in order to be familiar with these regulations. This Procedures Manual presents information specifically concerning the Doctor of Philosophy in mechanical engineering.

The Ph.D. in mechanical engineering is a graduate degree requiring a minimum of three years of graduate study beyond the undergraduate degree. It is awarded to students who have completed a program of graduate courses, a final examination, and a dissertation. Completion of the Ph.D. normally requires approximately 24 to 36 months beyond the master's degree.

For the Department of Mechanical Engineering policies and graduation requirements for the Ph.D. program, please use the ME Graduate Student Handbook.

Page Contents

Coursework Requirements

The Doctor of Philosophy in mechanical engineering is a graduate degree requiring a minimum of three years of graduate study beyond the undergraduate degree. It is awarded to students who have completed a program of graduate courses, a final examination, and a dissertation.

The doctorate requires at least 60 semester hours of graduate work, exclusive of the dissertation. No more than 30 semester credit hour of an earned master's degree from another institution may be transferred. A student will be required to take two math courses and two other courses from the courses listed below. The remaining 18 hours may consist of ME 7000, ME 6331, or additional graduate courses. A student may not include more than nine hours each of ME 7000 or ME 6331 courses. Each of the ME 7000 and ME 6331 courses should have a unique prefix identifying the class name. The Graduate School's custom and practice is to reject all degree plans when a student is taking more than nine hours with a single professor because this is not consistent with the guidelines of Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

The balance of the graduate courses required for a degree program may be selected from mathematics, science, and engineering with the approval of the faculty advisor and advisory committee. All courses must carry graduate credit. Students should obtain the approval of the offering department when taking courses outside of mechanical engineering to be sure that they have the appropriate prerequisites. All students are required to submit a degree plan during their first semester.

Students enrolled in the Ph.D. program are required to complete two math courses and two core courses from two different groups, totaling four courses, listed below. However, with the approval of his/her advisory committee, core course requirements can be exempted.

Math Course 1

Math Course 2

Course 3

Course 4

Course 5

Course 6

Further details about the various requirements for completing the Ph.D. degree follow. A chronological check sheet is attached for the student's use. In order to avoid delays in graduation students should regularly review this check sheet to be sure that requirements are being met on schedule. For information about degree plans, as well as the form, please click here.

Graduate Seminar

One hour of graduate seminar (ME 5120) is required for all students. Students register for this course in their first full-time graduate semester, but must attend seminars throughout their entire academic career, until completion of the requirement. Students must attend at total of 10 presentations scheduled during their degree program. This may include any of the mechanical engineering departmental seminars, as well as any external seminars approved in advance by the mechanical engineering graduate advisor.

You may find a seminar yourself and bring an abstract to the advising office in advance for approval. In either case, a feedback sheet must be picked up from the Advising Office before attending any external seminars and it must be turned in to the advising office as soon as possible afterwards.

Journal Publication Requirement

The Department of Mechanical Engineering requires, as part of its Ph.D. degree requirements, that all its Ph.D. degree candidates have at least one technical paper submitted to an archival journal relevant to the candidate's field of expertise prior to the defense of their Ph.D. thesis. The individual faculty advisors reserve the right regarding journal publication requirement beyond one paper submitted.

Faculty Advisor and Advisory Committee

When a student first begins a graduate studies program he/she is assigned to the departmental graduate student advisor. During the first semester of attendance, students should seek a faculty advisor. This advisor assists the student with the selection of a dissertation research topic and the courses needed to earn the Ph.D. degree. A faculty advisor should be selected by the student and reported to the department graduate student advisor by the end of the first semester of attendance.

Each student pursuing the Ph.D. program must also have an advisory committee to assist with academic and dissertation matters. This committee is chaired by the faculty advisor and consists of the faculty advisor plus a minimum of four additional graduate faculty members, excluding the graduate dean's representative. Students are strongly encouraged to have at least one member from outside the department. This committee is responsible for the comprehensive examination and approval of the dissertation. This committee should be selected shortly after the student has selected a faculty advisor and prior to the end of the first year of attendance. Committee membership is formalized when the student files for admission to candidacy.

Filing a Degree Plan and the Preliminary Examination

Ph.D. students must submit the "Doctoral Proposal and Report of Preliminary Examination" form to the Graduate School by the end of the first year of attendance. This form is available from the Graduate School. The requirement to pass the preliminary examination can be satisfied in any of the following ways:

The preliminary examination should take place during the student's first year of doctoral study and the doctoral plan should be submitted to the Graduate School before the student begins his second year work.

Once the proposal is approved, the courses listed on this form become the official program of study for the student, and deviations can only be made when properly justified. Students are therefore urged to work closely with their faculty advisor when submitting this form.

The Ph.D. will be awarded once all the requirements of the official degree program have been met. The department is not required to accept any courses taken after the initial semester of attendance unless they have been previously approved as part of the official degree program.

Major and Minor

The doctorate requires at least 60 semester hours of graduate work, exclusive of the dissertation. The mechanical engineering graduate program does not require a formal minor. However, the student may pursue a minor or one may be required by the student's advisory committee or by the program faculty in which the major is taken. If a minor is taken, it must include at least 15 graduate hours in a program outside the student's major. The minor will be declared in the student's "Program for the Doctoral Degree" (see "Filing a Doctoral Degree Plan"). If a minor is taken, the major requires a minimum of 45 semester hours.

Qualifying Examination

The Qualifying Examination for Admission to Candidacy for the doctor's degree is one of the major features of the doctoral program and will be administered in both the major and minor areas of study. A student is eligible to stand for this examination after receiving approval of the doctoral proposal from the dean of the Graduate School and completing most of the course work prescribed by the approved proposal (e.g., the student should be in his/her last semester of coursework). At this point, the student should also provide an abstract of his thesis to the department graduate student advisor.

Following two options are available for a student who is required to take the qualifying exam:

  1. Project-based option
  2. Subject-based option

Project-based option

If a student and his advisor choose this option, then, the student will be examined on a research topic not part of his/her thesis. The examination consists of two parts: (a) written part (b) oral part. In the written portion of the exam, the student will provide a written report on his research topic to the committee. After examining the written part, the committee will examine the student in an oral setting on the chosen research topic. If the committee finds the student's performance is satisfactory in both written and oral parts of the exam, the student will be allowed to proceed to the next stage. If the performance is unsatisfactory, then, the student will be given one more chance to take the examination after four months.

Subject-based option

If a student and his advisor choose this option, the examination is prepared and administered by the candidate's Advisory committee or any other professors the committee may consider necessary. The qualifying examination consists of two parts; (a) written portion and (b) oral part. The committee assigns a topic for each member who will then administer a written examination on that particular topic. Once the doctoral student completes the written examination with each committee member, the committee meets as a group and administers the oral portion of the qualifying examination. The procedure outlined in the Graduate Catalog applies when the examination is satisfactory or not satisfactory. If the student performance is not satisfactory, then the student will be given one more chance to take the examination after four months.

Admission to Candidacy

Authority for admitting an applicant to candidacy for a doctoral degree is vested in the Graduate Council. Once a recommendation is received from the advisory committee, the graduate dean will submit it to the Graduate Council for action. The council may approve the committee's recommendation, or it may, after consultation with the committee, suggest additional requirements for the applicant to satisfy.

A student must be admitted to candidacy for the doctorate at least four months prior to the proposed graduation date.

Dissertation

A dissertation is required of every candidate for a doctoral degree. This requirement is separate and apart from other requirements in doctoral programs; consequently, successful performance in other areas does not necessarily guarantee the acceptance of a dissertation. The dissertation work must earn a grade of at least B in order to qualify the student for graduation.

The doctoral dissertation represents the results of original and significant research work in mechanical engineering conducted by the student under the supervision of the faculty advisor and advisory committee. The dissertation must be prepared in strict conformance with the requirements described in the Graduate School booklet, "Instructions for Preparing and Submitting Reports, Thesis, and Dissertations." As stated in the booklet, it is the student's responsibility to be sure that English usage is proper and that physical form (margins, spacing, etc.) is acceptable. Students who have difficulty with writing proper English are encouraged to employ assistance (typically students majoring in English) in correcting their dissertation or report prior to submittal to their faculty advisor. Students must defend their dissertation to their advisory committee. A draft of the thesis must be provided to the advisory committee three weeks prior to the defense. An announcement of the defense must be given to the department three weeks in advance of the defense.

Academic Regulations

Academic Probation and Suspension of Graduate Students (OP 64.04)

All graduate students at Texas Tech University must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. If a student's cumulative GPA falls below 3.0, he/she is placed on academic probation. At this time, the student has two consecutive semesters to raise his/her cumulative GPA to at least 3.0. If during this two semester period, his/her semester GPA drops below a 3.0, the student is subject to suspension.

A student placed on suspension will be required to remain out of Graduate School for one semester. If a student is suspended two times, he/she will not be allowed to return to Graduate School. Any student who has been suspended must appeal to the Graduate School, according to OP 64.07, if reinstatement is desired. Summer sessions and/or trimester count as one semester.

Departmental Academic Standards

The department will permit only a single grade of C for courses listed on the official degree plan. If a student earns two or more C's or any single grade less than C, he or she must meet with a group consisting of the faculty advisor, advisory committee, and the department graduate advisor. This group will recommend appropriate action, which may include probation or suspension by the department.

Minimum Residence

The minimum residence time for a Ph.D. is one full academic year of graduate study beyond the master's degree or beyond the equivalent of this degree if the student proceeds to doctoral work without getting a master's degree.

Time Limit

All work for the doctorate must be completed within four years after the applicant has been admitted to candidacy. Students whose graduate study is interrupted by military service will be granted an extension of time for the period of their military service, not to exceed five years.

Intent to Graduate

Early in the semester in which the student expects to graduate, the student must submit to the Graduate School a form entitled "Intent to Graduate." The form is available from the Graduate School and is intended as an aid to the University in preparing diplomas, graduation lists, etc.

Grade Requirements

The minimum academic requirement for a doctor's degree is a semester grade‑point average of 3.0. If a student's graduate GPA for a particular semester falls below 3.0, the student will be placed on academic probation. In order to remove probationary status, the student must make a 3.0 GPA or better in the next semester in which he or she is enrolled. Failure to do so, or to maintain a 3.0 current GPA in each succeeding semester, will result in academic suspension from further enrollment as a graduate student or in graduate courses at Texas Tech University. Regulations governing scholastic probation are based on semester grade point averages and will be applied regardless of overall grade‑point average. Any student who has been suspended must appeal to the Graduate School if reinstatement is desired at a later date. The department will only permit a single grade of C for courses listed on the official degree plan. If a student earns two or more C's he/she must meet with a group consisting of the faculty advisor, advisory committee, and departmental graduate advisor. This group will recommend appropriate action, which may include departmental probation or suspension.

Final Examination

A final public oral examination, usually over the general field of the dissertation, is required of every candidate for the doctorate. The oral examination must be scheduled by the student and the advisory committee after the committee has read the completed dissertation and prior to the defense deadline during the semester of graduation. Students should present their dissertation to all committee members at least three weeks before the defense date. In addition, the Graduate School requires three weeks notification prior to the oral examination. The required Defense Notification Form noting the time, place, and other information concerning the examination is available from the Graduate School.

The advisory committee and the graduate dean or a professor designated to act in place of the graduate dean conduct the examination. All members of the committee participate fully in the examination and cast a vote. Professors other than members of the committee, including the graduate dean's representative who is expected to come from outside the academic department, may participate in the examination but have no vote in determining the outcome. At the conclusion of the examination, the chairperson of the advisory committee will send a written notice to the Graduate School giving the result of the examination.