Petroleum Engineering, Ph.D.

Students with a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering

All Petroleum Ph.D. students with a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering must take the following required courses:

Students with an M.S. in Petroleum Engineering

All Petroleum Ph.D. students with an M.S. in Petroleum Engineering from UW must take the following required courses:

Students with an M.S. in Petroleum Engineering

All Petroleum Ph.D. students with an M.S. in Petroleum Engineering from another institution must take the following required courses:

Students with an M.S. Degree in a Geoscience

All Petroleum Ph.D. students with an M.S. degree in a geoscience from another accredited institution must take the following required courses:

Graduate Seminar Requirements

All petroleum engineering graduate students must enroll in PETE 5890 - Petroleum Engineering Graduate Seminar , every semester. All seminars, including the required presentations described below, must be scheduled by the seminar coordinator. Graduate students enrolled in continuous registration are exempt from having to enroll in PETE 5890  in their final semester. 

Graduate Teaching Requirement

All Petroleum Engineering graduate students must complete at least one semester as a teaching assistant within the Petroleum Engineering curriculum. Students receiving a state-funded graduate assistantship will be required to serve as a teaching assistant every semester of their award. Students funded by a faculty mentor will work with their mentor to determine an appropriate time to complete this requirement. 

Program of Study Requirement

All Petroleum Engineering graduate students must complete their Program of Study worksheet at the beginning of their second academic year of study or 3rd semester of enrollment, and PhD students must submit it prior to their preliminary examination.

Ph.D. Preliminary Examination

Candidacy in the doctorate occurs upon certification of successful completion of the preliminary examination. The preliminary examination will be held at least 15 weeks prior to the final examination. The preliminary examination may not be given before: (a) the research tool requirements, if any, have been met and certification approved; (b) at least 30 hours of coursework have been completed; and (c) the doctoral program of study has been approved.

The goal of the preliminary exam is for the student to present the research proposition that is being investigated and will lead to the final dissertation, and demonstrate progress to-date. The preliminary exam consists of three components:

• a written document provided to each member of the student’s graduate committee at least three weeks prior to the oral presentation;
• a public oral presentation; and
• a private examination by the student’s graduate committee immediately following the oral presentation.

The written document may be in any format but must concisely provide a survey of the relevant literature, a summary of the student’s progress to-date, and a clear, detailed plan for the successful completion of the proposed work. The preliminary exam oral presentation should be consistent with the written document. It should provide an appropriate literature background, demonstrate proficiency with proposed experimental/computational techniques, identify details of the experiments to be performed, and provide a timeline to final defense.

The student’s committee will pass or fail the student on the strength of the preliminary examination, with an option to conditionally pass the student while requiring an interim committee meeting prior to the final Ph.D. examination. The Report on Preliminary Examination for Admission to Candidacy form sent to the Office of the Registrar reports the results of the examination.

M.S. and Ph.D. Final Examination (Thesis or Dissertation Defense)

All M.S. and Ph.D. students must orally defend their final report, thesis, or dissertation at a public final examination. If, for any reason, a student’s Ph.D. research goals are substantially changed after successful completion of the preliminary examination, the student must arrange a subsequent meeting to provide their committee with an accurate and current overview of their proposed work. The final examination consists of a public defense in oral presentation format. At least three weeks before the examination, the student must provide each member of the graduate committee with a copy of the written thesis or dissertation and provide the department an announcement of their defense for public advertisement. The results of the defense are reported by the committee on the Report of Final Examination form. Often, graduate committee members request changes in the final thesis or dissertation, and they may postpone signing this form until they are satisfied that those changes have been made.

Publication of Thesis or Dissertation

After the defense, an electronic copy (in PDF format) of the thesis or dissertation must be uploaded in accordance with the directions provided on the Registrar’s web site. This copy will be rejected if the format standards specified by the Thesis or Dissertation Format Guide are not met. This guide allows for a publication-ready format. An electronic copy must also be submitted to the department for the departmental library. Most students will want copies for their own use. Students should consult with their chair to determine if they also want a copy of the final paper or other research documentation.