PhD Requirements

The PhD is a research degree for which the thesis is the major requirement.

Students are required to present a research proposal and successfully complete the research proposal course ( CHE 6511 ). Candidates must also pass a comprehensive examination covering the major areas of chemical engineering within the first year of study. Candidates entering on or after Fall 2009 are required to give an oral research proposal within their first year of study to a committee of three reviewers set by their supervisor.  A candidate who has completed their Master's degree at UNB will not be required to complete CHE6511. Normally, candidates for the PhD should hold a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering or in an appropriate related discipline.

PhD candidates are required to take three courses (9ch) at the 5000 or 6000 level in addition to ChE6511 and ChE 6800. The courses must be approved by the students’ supervisor and may include courses outside of Chemical Engineering.

A student who holds a recognized bachelor's degree is generally admitted, initially, to the MScE program. Such a student may transfer directly to the PhD program (without writing the MScE thesis) after successful completion of the MScE course program, the comprehensive examination, and presenting and defending a detailed research proposal for the thesis project.

For the comprehensive examination candidates are required to choose three areas from the following list: heat transfer, mass transfer, reaction engineering, thermodynamics, process dynamics/control, unit operations. Written examinations are set in the same day. Candidates may also be asked to defend their papers orally.

In addition to the university oral, each PhD candidate is required to pass a departmental oral examination. Candidates are examined primarily on areas related to their research but must be prepared also to answer questions of a general nature.