College of Graduate Studies Requirements
Graduates in engineering and science form recognized institutions are eligible to apply for admission to the master’s program as regular students. Applicants holding a master’s degree with a GPA of 3.00 or above from a reputable university equivalent to KFUPM are eligible for admission to the Ph. D. program. All Applicants must satisfy the general Graduate School admission requirements.
Departmental Requirements
Applicants must hold a B.S. degree in electrical engineering or equivalent when applying for the master’s degree or the master’s degree in telecommunication engineering. Applicants for the Ph.D. must hold a master’s degree.
Academic Advisor:
The graduate student will be assigned an academic advisor, who is working in the student's indicated area of interest. The advisor will help the advisee in developing a tentative degree plan and will supervise his academic progress until a thesis advisor is selected. A copy of the tentative degree plan should be submitted to the GPC. The academic advisor will ensure that the student will commit himself to a field of specialization during the first academic year.
Degree Plan:
Within his first semester of stay, a graduate student is required to prepare a degree plan in consultation with his assigned academic advisor. A Ph.D. student must specify in his degree plan his major and minor areas. The degree plan may be modified by the thesis advisor and all modifications must be approved by the GPC, the Department Chairman, and the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that his degree plan is complete.
Admission to Candidacy:
Admission to the Collage does not automatically admit a graduate student to the candidacy for and advanced degree. Admission to candidacy is contingent upon the recommendations of the Graduate Program Committee, and the Chairman of the Department, and upon the approval of the Dean of Graduate Studies. This may be granted only after the completion of all formal requirements. Formal admission to the candidacy is a step in the total process and implies that the graduate student has the intention of qualifying for the degree and has demonstrated sufficient preparation to pursue the graduate study and research required for that degree.
An application for admission to the candidacy for an M.S. degree may be filled after satisfactorily completing at least 50% of the total credit-hours included in the student's approved degree plan. These credit-hours must have been earned at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals. Transferred credit-hours do not apply. Approval for this candidacy must be secured not later than two(2) months before the degree is to be conferred.
Candidacy for the Ph.D. degree will only be granted after the successful completion of the entrance examination and both the written and the oral parts of the comprehensive examination.
Approval of admission to candidacy will generally depend upon the following three elements of record:
- The quality of the applicant's graduate work to date.
- The removal of any special conditions related to admission.
- Formal certification by the Chairman of the Department that the student is well qualified to continue work toward to advance degree and has fulfilled all requirements.
Application forms and instructions may be secured from the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies.
Basic Degree Requirements:
Every candidate for the M.S. and the Ph.D. degrees must successfully meet the following minimum requirements:
- Complete a minimum of twenty-four (24) credit-hours (exclusive of thesis) for the M.S.degree and thirty (30) credit-hours (exclusive of dissertation) for the Ph.D. degree, in a program which has been approved by the student's advisor, the Department chairman, and the Dean of Graduate Studies.
- Maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or better in all graduate work.
- Remove any special conditions and meet any special requirements connected with his admission or with departmental requirements.
- Complete a thesis or dissertation, on an approved topic and based on his original research, which has been supervised by his thesis or dissertation committee.
- Maintain high standards of professional ethics and personal conduct.
- Complete all special requirements of both the college and the department which are approved for that advanced degree.
- In addition, a Ph.D. student must successfully pass a comprehensive examination covering his area of study
Application for the Degree:
Each candidate for the advanced degree must make a formal application for the degree through the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies not later than two (2) months before the end of the semester in which requirements for the degree are expected to be completed. At this time, a primary review of the completion of requirements will be made. Failure to formal application by this date will delay his graduation.
Time Limit and Expiration of Credit:
All requirements for an M.S. degree must be completed during a total elapsed period of three (3) calendar years. However, under exceptional circumstances and upon the recommendation of the student's advisor and the concurrence of the department chairman, a request for an extension will be considered by the Dean of Graduate Studies.
The Ph.D. program is designed for full time participation. The student must engage himself in scholarly work all the time and should not be bound by credits. For a Ph.D. student the maximum and minimum load is twelve and six credit-hours per semester, respectively.
A student must spend at least a year in full-time research at KFUPM for his Ph.D. dissertation. The maximum period allowed for the pursuit of the Doctorate degree is six (6) years.
A minimum of six (6) credit hours of transferred graduate courses may be considered to meet the requirements for and advanced degree in accordance with the regulations of King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals. (See Graduate Bulletin for more details.)
