Graduate Student Info

Ph.D. Graduate Student Requirements

Review the EM Graduate Regulations Manual for additional details about policy and procedures.

1.Ph.D. (90 credit hours)

• 90 total hours beyond the bachelor's degree
• 46 - 35 research and dissertation hours
• 44 - 55 course credit hours
• 3 credit hours of ESM 5014, Intro. to Continuum Mechanics
• 3 credit hours of ESM 5000-6000 level courses in EACH of the THREE areas: solids, fluids, and motion (see Appendix B in Graduate Regulations Manual for approved courses)
• 9 credit hours of 6000-level courses relevant to student's dissertation research (do not have to be ESM courses)
• 6 credit hours of MATH 5000-6000 level course (see Appendix B in Graduate Regulations Manual for approved courses)
• Maximum 9 credit hours at 4000 level approved courses
• Minimum 12 credit hours in coursework beyond the Master's degree or 24 beyond the bachelor's degree
• Maximum 9 credits of Independent Study or Special Study at 5000-6000 level
• Number of course credits transferred cannot exceed the number of course credits taken at Virginia Tech

2.Plan of Study

Your Plan of Study must be submitted BEFORE the end of your first semester, and must total 90 credit hours. Please talk with the ESM Graduate Advising Office (the ESM Graduate Enrollment Specialist or the Chair of the Graduate Committee) to see how many courses you can transfer. Transferred courses do not contribute to your VT GPA.

3.Advisory Committee

Committee must be composed of an ESM tenured or tenure-track faculty member as chairman (ESM Affiliate Faculty members can also serve as chairman), and a minimum of four other Virginia Tech tenure or tenure-track engineering faculty members (three of the five committee members must be in the ESM Department.). See the ESM Graduate Regulations Manual for more details.

- OR -

you can have two Co-chairmen (one of the co-chairmen MUST be an ESM tenured, tenure-track, or Affiliate Faculty member). You must have a minimum of three other Virginia Tech tenure or tenure-track engineering faculty member (three of the five committee members must be in the ESM Department).

4.Final Exam

Request for Final Exam Form must be submitted to the ESM Graduate Advising Office two weeks prior to the exam. The on-line Application for Degree Form is processed electronically thru Hokie SPA. Students must enroll for a minimum of 3 credit hours or defend under the Defending Student Status. If you apply for Defending Student Status, you must defend within the first 21 days of the semester (see the Registrar's deadlines for Commencement and Graduation). If you are completing under the Defending Student Status, you must have submitted the Defending Student Status Form, the Final Examination Form, and the electronic Application for Degree by the first day of class. Also, please keep in mind when you schedule your Proposal, Prelim, or Final Exam that you may also need to schedule the use of a projector or other special equipment to make your presentation.   If so, please contact Mark Warbeck TWO weeks before the date at mwarbeck@vt.edu or 231-7489.   If you do not reserve the equipment, we can't guarantee that it will be available when you need it.