PhD Degree Requirements
During the First Term of Registration
During first term of registration, the student must submit a Proposed
Program of Study, available from the CEE Graduate Office, to the CEE
Graduate Affairs Assistant for review and approval by the CEE Graduate
Committee. The Proposed Program of Study must indicate the proposed
course selection, thesis topic, and research advisory committee. Failure
to submit a proposed program at the end of the first term of
registration will entail the denial of permission to register in further
courses.
Course Selection
The Ph.D. program is a research degree that requires a thesis and a
minimum of four half courses (or two full courses) for students who hold
a research-based Masters degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering, or
eight half courses (or four full courses) who have not already completed
a Masters degree. Students must claim credit for graduate-level courses
taken as part of their Masters degree at another institution in
accordance with the requirements stated on the Proposed Program of Study
form. Courses taken at Western must not include material similar to that
in courses taken elsewhere for which credit is being claimed. Students
who have taken their M.E.Sc. in Civil & Environmental Engineering at UWO
may request that more than four half courses taken for credit in their
M.E.Sc. program be counted on their Proposed Program of Study form.
Each student shall select a tentative set of courses required for the
Ph.D. program. These courses may include 400 or higher level courses
offered by other Departments in the Faculty of Engineering, or 300 or
higher level courses offered by other Faculties. A majority of the
courses taken for credit should be offered by the Department of Civil &
Environmental Engineering. The Chief Advisor should not be the
Instructor of more than half the courses taken for credit.
The student may also take undergraduate courses, NOT for degree
credit, required to make up deficiencies in the student's preparation
for graduate work in Civil & Environmental Engineering. All such
undergraduate courses must be taken during the first year of
registration.
Should the student wish to take undergraduate courses that are not
required as preparation for graduate work they must submit payment for
these courses along with a completed Undergraduate Course Form to the
CEE Graduate Office. More information regarding the fee amount can be
obtained from the Office of
the Registrar.
Thesis Topic
In addition, the student in consultation with the Chief Advisor shall
select a research topic for the thesis.
Thesis Advisory Committee
The Chief Advisor shall propose members of an Advisory Committee
consisting of at least two members of the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in
addition to the Chief Advisor. It should be remembered that a maximum of
one member of the Advisory Committee may eventually serve on the Thesis
Examination Board.
During Subsequent Terms of Registration
School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies regulations require that the student must
“maintain a cumulative average of at least 70% calculated each term over
all courses taken for credit, with no grade less than 60%” (Graduate
Calendar, Section 3).
Ph.D. students who have not completed their programs after four years of
equivalent full-time registration are ineligible for Teaching
Assistantship support or scholarships, and may be ineligible for
Research Assistantship support.
Progress Review
The Ph.D. candidate with his/her Chief Advisor shall arrange at least
once yearly a meeting with his/her Advisory Committee to review the
student's progress. The student shall submit a written report of the
meeting on a Progress Review Form no later than two months after the
anniversary of his/her initial registration to the CEE Graduate Office
for review and approval by the CEE Graduate Committee. In the event that
the written report indicates unresolved problems, the student, Chief
Advisor, Advisory Committee and CEE Graduate Committee Chair shall adopt
Principle 6 “Importance
of Resolving Conflicts at the Lowest Level Possible” as stated in “Principles
and Guidelines Regarding Graduate Student Supervision.”
Continuous Registration
Students enrolled in the Ph.D. program MUST register in every
term from initial registration until degree requirements are completed.
If unable to register, the student may apply for a Leave of Absence –
please see Section 10.
Part-time Studies
A student may apply for Part-time status – please see Section 11 – but
student must at some time during the course of studies register as a
full-time student for three consecutive terms. Please see also
“Residency Requirements” below. The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will not
normally consider a request to change to part-time status before the
student has completed four years in a Ph.D. program.
Part-time Ph.D. students are NOT eligible for financial support
as Teaching Assistants or Research Assistants.
Residency Requirement
The minimum residency requirement for the Ph.D. is six terms of
full-time registration following completion of a Masters degree or nine
terms of full-time registration if the Ph.D. was entered directly from
the Bachelors degree. A student transferring from the M.E.Sc. to Ph.D.
program is eligible for a maximum of three terms full-time retroactive
residency credit. Students who request retroactive full-time residency
credit must pay the difference, if any, between the fee for registration
in the Masters program and that for registration in the Ph.D. program.
Comprehensive Examination
Students are required to take a
comprehensive examination, which must be set within the first 3
terms of PhD study, and must be passed before the end of the 4th
term of PhD study. The students are required to submit a
written proposal of their PhD research (2500-3500 words, double spaced, up
to 10 figures/tables) one week before the date of their comprehensive
exam. Students are free to
structure their proposal in a way that best suits the nature of the work
they are doing. However it must
include at least the following content/sections:
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A critical review of the key literature relevant to the proposed research, with the emphasis on the strengths and weaknesses of previous research, such that the student may clearly demonstrate the gaps in knowledge that the proposed research will address.
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A detailed discussion of the research tools that the student will be using in his/her research (e.g. experimental, analytical, computational). As appropriate to the student’s field of research, the discussion should show an understanding of the advantages, disadvantages and accuracy of the applicable techniques for the problems being addressed, in relation to any other tools that the student might have used instead.
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A summary of the program of research that will be carried out, including any progress or findings made to date.
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A statement on expected outcomes and the contribution that the student expects to make in advancing their field of research.
Note:
The comprehensive exam is a test on the
background that the student will need to carry out the proposed
research. Hence, the exam will also focus on fundamental
engineering science of relevance to their area of research.
Three months before the date of the oral examination, an examining
committee will be proposed by the candidate’s advisor and will include
a minimum of three members, one of whom could be an extra-departmental
member. At the same time, the advisor in
consultation with the examining committee will specify three subject
areas related to the fundamental aspects of the proposed research for
examination. The materials presented in the
proposal together with those three subject areas will define the scope
of the oral presentation. The candidate must make a
short oral presentation (15 minutes) on the research project at the
beginning of the examination. This will be followed by questions
to the candidate from each member of the committee.
The exam is open.
The results of the examination will be of assistance to the
student and the thesis supervisory committee in recommending a program
of study. The results of the examination shall be stated as:
(i) Passed without condition, or
(ii) Passed with specific conditions to be
satisfied for continued registration, or
(iii) Failed.
A student who has passed with conditions but fails to satisfy
the conditions shall be required to withdraw.
A student who fails the first attempt at the comprehensive
examination shall be required to withdraw unless the examining
committee grants permission for a second attempt. If a second
attempt is granted it will take place within three months of the
original comprehensive exam. A person who fails the second
attempt shall be requested to withdraw.
The supervisor, after consultation with the examiners and
before seeking approval from the Graduate Chair, should set the date
and time of the examination. The Graduate Chair shall appoint a
Chair and arrange a room for the exam.
After the PhD Comprehensive Examination, the
results shall be submitted to the Graduate Chair, who will then
provide a copy to the student.
Examination Committee
A Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination Committee shall normally consist of at
least three members of the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and a Chair
appointed by the CEE Graduate Affairs Assistant. The membership of the
Examining Committee shall be proposed by the Chief Advisor, in
consultation with the CEE Graduate Committee Chair as required, and be
submitted to the CEE Graduate Office for approval by the CEE Graduate
Committee. It has been customary in the Department of Civil &
Environmental Engineering for the Chief Advisor to be a member of the
Examining Committee, but he/she must not be the Chair.
In consideration of the purpose of the Examination the members of the
Committee should be chosen such that:
(a) as a Committee they are competent to examine the candidate in
accordance with the scope and content of the examination topics as will
be approved by the CEE Graduate Committee.
(b) normally at least two of the members will hold Doctoral Supervisory
Membership in the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and have demonstrated
success in supervising Ph.D. students in the general area of the
students proposed research or in a closely related area. Such members
can draw on their experience in making recommendations relevant to the
program of studies to be followed by the student.
(c) normally a majority of the members will be members of the Department
of Civil & Environmental Engineering.
The Chief Advisor shall submit to the CEE Graduate Office a completed
form indicating the proposed examination committee members and the
topics that each will focus their questions on. The Chief Advisor shall
include on the form a date and time when the examiners are available for
the examination.
Before the Examination
After a Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination Committee has been approved, the
CEE Graduate Committee Chair shall inform the student of the composition
of the Examination Committee and the detailed arrangements for the
examination including the scope and content, time, date and location of
the examination using the form letter for that purpose, available from
the CEE Graduate Office. The candidate should contact each examiner to
discuss the scope of the topic that is examinable. The CEE Graduate
Affairs Assistant will appoint a Chair.
Examination Format
The Comprehensive Examination shall consist of an oral examination of at
least one and one-half hours duration. The examination format is
determined by the Examining Committee at the beginning of the
examination in the absence of the candidate: often two rounds of
questions are selected. The candidate may take a five-minute recess
after the first round of questioning if he/she so desires.
The candidate will be expected to be conversant with the fundamentals
covered in the Civil & Environmental Engineering undergraduate program
and with the engineering field in which he/she is working towards their
Ph.D. degree. The Examining Committee members will establish the
boundaries of the candidate’s knowledge by asking some questions that
he/she will be able to answer and others that he/she may not be able to
answer.
Decision by the Examination Committee
After the Comprehensive Examination, the results shall be submitted to
the CEE Graduate Office on the forms provided. These results are
intended to be of assistance to the student, Chief Advisor, and the
Advisory Committee in recommending a Program of Study.
The results of the examination shall be stated as:
a) Passed without condition, or
b) Passed with specific conditions to be satisfied for continued
registration, or
c) Failed.
A student who has passed with conditions but fails to satisfy the
conditions shall be required to withdraw.
Failure to pass the examination will initiate a process that may require
the student to withdraw from the program. The Examination Committee will
recommend that, within a period of three months, either:
(a) the student write an examination prepared by members of the
Examination Committee to further probe the general topic areas covered
in the Oral Examination. Should the student receive a mark of less than
70% on this examination, the Examining Committee shall recommend to the
CEE Graduate Committee that the student be required to withdraw.
(b) the student attempt the Oral Examination again. A student may be
granted permission to reattempt the Oral Exam only once.
Results of the Examination
After a student has passed his/her Comprehensive examination, the Chief
Advisor shall review with the student and the Advisory Committee the
proposed Program of Study as soon as possible. A final program proposal
shall be prepared having due regard for the recommendations of the
Comprehensive Examination Committee. The proposal shall be submitted by
the Chief Advisor to the CEE Graduate Committee for review and approval.
(Note that proposed credit for courses taken previously must be included
in the proposal).
If the student has failed the Comprehensive Examination and subsequently
fails the written examination, the CEE Graduate Committee will meet with
the Chief Advisor and the members of the student’s Advisory Committee to
discuss the Examining Committee’s recommendation that the student be
required to withdraw. Unless the written examination is deemed to be
unfair, the CEE Graduate Committee will recommend to the Dean of the
School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies that the student be required to withdraw.
Request for Extension
All Doctoral degree programs must be completed within a period not
exceeding six calendar years from initial registration. For students who
transfer from a Masters program to a Doctoral program without completing
the Masters program, the maximum allowable time period is extended by
one year to seven years. To extend this period, the student must apply
for a
Request for Extension.
Thesis and Thesis Examination
Section 8.02 of the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Calendar states “Every
candidate for the Doctoral degree must complete a thesis (or
dissertation). The thesis must indicate in what respects the
investigation has increased knowledge of the subject. A candidate may
not submit a thesis that has been previously accepted for a degree, but
may, with the permission of the program's Graduate Committee,
incorporate material included in a previous thesis.”
The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies guideline titled “Thesis
Regulation Guide”, provides detailed instructions concerning thesis
preparation and format, and the procedures to be followed for scheduling
and conducting a Ph.D. Thesis Examination.
The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies website provides
thesis submission deadlines for doctoral theses.
Guideline for Thesis Preparation
The thesis MUST satisfy the requirements of the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies “Thesis Regulation Guide”. Both the monograph and
integrated-article formats (previously known as the “traditional” and
“manuscript” formats, respectively) are approved for use in the Faculty
of Engineering.
Selection of Examining Board
When the Chief Advisor is satisfied that the thesis should go to the
examination and at least eight weeks before the proposed date of the
oral defence of the thesis, he/she shall submit to the CEE Graduate
Committee Chair for review and approval a proposal for the membership of
the Board of Examiners. The submission should include a date and time
for the public lecture and oral examination that is convenient for all
examiners. The membership of the Board of Examiners is normally proposed
by the Chief Advisor and requires the approval of the Chair of the CEE
Graduate Committee and the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Membership of
the Board of Examiners Board, as described in the “Thesis Regulations
Guide”, includes: (1) a non-voting Chair appointed by the Dean of the
School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies; and (2) the following four examiners:
a) two “Program Examiners” who shall normally but not necessarily be
from the candidate's discipline.
b) a third “University Examiner” from outside the candidate's
discipline. This examiner shall be knowledgeable in the general field of
the thesis and may be from this University or any other regional
institution. With the departmentalisation of graduate studies in the
Faculty of Engineering, the University Examiner may be from a different
Engineering Department.
c) a fourth “External Examiner” who shall be from outside the University
of Western Ontario and who shall be competent in the special field of
the thesis. The Chief Advisor may approach the External Examiner only
with respect to establishing willingness to serve on the examining
committee.
The candidate's Chief Advisor, and any members of the Advisory Committee
who have been actively involved in supervision, may not sit on the Board
of Examiners. No more than one member of the Advisory Committee may
serve as a Program Examiner under any circumstances. No Examiner may
have a real or perceived conflict of interest with the candidate or the
outcome of the examination – please refer to the section “Arm’s-Length
of Examiners” in the “Thesis Regulations Guide”
The proposal shall be submitted to the CEE Graduate Office and approved
by the CEE Graduate Committee Chair, who must forward it to the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for final approval at least seven weeks before the
proposed date of the oral defence.
Submission and Reading of Thesis
Not later than six weeks before the projected date of the Oral
Examination, the student should submit five copies (one for Graduate
Studies, four for the examiners) of the thesis, usually together with a
completed Doctoral Thesis Supervisor Approval Form. Once a thesis has
been officially submitted for examination, it cannot be withdrawn and no
changes can be made to it until after it has been examined.
The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies sends three copies of the thesis to the
Program and University Examiners and arranges for delivery of a fourth
copy to the External Examiner. If it is necessary to send the thesis by
courier to the External Examiner, an account to be charged must be
supplied on the Thesis Submission Form. One copy of the thesis is kept
in the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies as a resource in case of questions
from the examiners or in the event of a Re-Submission Hearing Committee.
The Graduate Studies Thesis Coordinator shall give each examiner, with
the copy of the thesis, an Evaluation Form on which to record his/her
evaluation of the thesis, guidelines for thesis evaluation, and, if
applicable, a confidentiality agreement. The completed Evaluation Form
must be returned to the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies not later than five
working days before the scheduled date of the Oral Examination. The
thesis content and form must be both judged “acceptable to proceed” by a
majority of the examiners before the Oral Examination can take place.
The final decisions as to the acceptability of the thesis content and
form will both be determined following the Oral Examination.
There should be no communication between the candidate or Chief Advisor
and any member of the Board of Examiners concerning the thesis or the
examination after copies of the thesis have been submitted to the
School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for reading.
Rarely, and only under extenuating circumstances, a defence may be held
sooner than the stipulated six weeks following submission of the thesis.
In such cases, the candidate’s program should provide to the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in writing an assurance that all of the examiners have
agreed to submit the Thesis Evaluation not later than one week prior to
the examination and that the examiners are available for the defence on
a date and at a time set by the program. If thesis submission is delayed
and preliminary dates are no longer suitable, the Chief Advisor should
arrange for alternative dates with the examiners.
Public Lecture and Oral Examination
Arrangements for the public lecture and oral examination are made by
School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Please consult the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies “Thesis Regulations Guide”. If the decision of the Board of
Examiners is that thesis requires minor revisions, the “Thesis
Regulations Guide” requires the Chair of the Examining Board to request
that the Chief Advisor withhold his/her signature from the Certificate
of Examination until the necessary revisions are made. However the
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering will not adopt this
new provision, but will instead maintain the traditional practice, where
the Chief Advisor or one of the Examiners used to be responsible for
overseeing the revisions, and one of the other Examiners used to
withhold his/her signature on the Certificate of Examination.
The presence of the External Examiner at the Oral Examination may be
waived by the Dean of the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
Decision and Final Submission of the Thesis
The acceptability of the thesis shall be determined in accordance with
criteria provided by the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. If the candidate
has been unsuccessful, the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies shall appoint a
Re-Submission Hearing Committee to determine the course of action to be
taken. If the candidate has been successful, he/she should contact the
Thesis Officer in the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies to set an appointment
for final submission of the thesis. Please refer to the “Thesis
Regulations Guide”.
Clearance Form
All Ph.D. students must complete a “Graduate Student Clearance Form”,
available from the CEE Graduate Office, before departing from the
Faculty of Engineering. This form must be submitted to the Graduate
Affairs Assistant before a “Change of Status” form will be forwarded to
the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies to permit the student to graduate.
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Contact Info
Western Engineering
Spencer Engineering Building (SEB)
Room number 3005
Telephone: (519) 661-2139
Fax: (519) 661-3779
E-mail: civilgrad@uwo.ca
