Harvard University: Arts & Sciences: School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Category Art and Social Sciences, Doctoral, Engineering, Harvard University, USATags Applied, Arts, Engineering, Harvard University, Sciences
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
The PhD requires a minimum academic residency of two years beyond the bachelor’s degree. Programs are individually tailored and approved by a committee on higher degrees. Normally, students spend one-and-one-half to two years on coursework—12 half-courses, with at least six but no more than eight in a major field and at least four but no more than six in adjacent areas. Wide latitude is allowed in the selection of adjacent areas in order to promote diversification of academic interest. Depth and breadth of knowledge are important guiding principles in the PhD program.
The first year is ordinarily spent principally on coursework, although some students may begin research. The second year is usually divided between coursework and research, with coursework completed during the third year if necessary. As soon as coursework is completed, students conduct research full time. Original research culminating in the dissertation is usually completed in the fourth or fifth year. No foreign language is required.
Oral Qualifying Examination: Preparation in the major field is evaluated in an oral examination by a qualifying committee. The examination has the dual purpose of verifying the adequacy of the student’s preparation for undertaking research in a chosen field and of assessing the student’s ability to synthesize knowledge already acquired.
Dissertation: Upon successful completion of the qualifying examination, a committee chaired by the research supervisor is constituted to oversee the dissertation research. The dissertation must, in the judgment of the research committee, meet the standards of significant and original research.
Final Oral Examination: This public examination devoted to the field of the dissertation is conducted by the student’s research committee. It includes, but is not restricted to, a defense of the dissertation itself.
Engineering and Physical Biology PhD Track
Students admitted to the EPB program through the SEAS will have somewhat different degree requirements than those described above. During the first year, an EPB student will take three courses (equivalent to five half-courses) specifically designed for this program plus an EPB-specific summer tutorial in computation. Three other half-courses taken in the first year and four half-courses taken in the second year must include one half-course in bio-engineering, bio-materials or bio-physics, and six half-courses drawn from offerings in Applied Mathematics, Applied Physics, and Engineering Sciences. Within these guidelines, the individual program of coursework will be developed by the student in consultation with an EPB Mentoring Committee and representatives of the SEAS. Students will also be speakers each year in an annual one-day EPB/daVinci symposium.
Each student in the EPB program will be required to be a teaching fellow in two approved half-courses, with this requirement to be fulfilled by the end of the third year.
Oral Qualifying Examination: Suitability for PhD dissertation research will be determined by a qualifying examination to be taken in the spring of the second year. This oral examination will be conducted by faculty representing biology, biochemistry, engineering and physics and will require the student to respond to questions regarding subject, experimental approaches and conclusions in abstracts of four scientific papers, one from each of the above areas.
Dissertation: Research may begin as early as the end of the first year or as late as the end of the second year and may be undertaken in the laboratory of any member of the daVinci Group which supports this program, or with another member of the FAS science faculty. Dissertation research will normally be completed in five or six years from matriculation.
Admission
Students with bachelor’s degrees in science, mathematics, or engineering are invited to apply for admission. Since the undergraduate programs of entering students are diverse, the courses students must take to round out their training are extremely varied, and a committee on higher degrees helps students design appropriate plans of study. Many students embark on programs that lead to careers only peripherally related to their undergraduate majors.
Students begin graduate study only in the fall term. Completed applications should
be returned as early as possible in the fall of the preceding academic year. We will begin processing and reviewing applications in mid-January. Our preferred deadline is December 15. Submitting your application and supporting materials to us by December 15 will expedite the processing and review of your application. Our final deadline is January 2. Applications for the fall term received after January 2 may not receive full consideration for admission and financial aid. Applications for admission for the spring term are not ordinarily accepted.
Applicants must take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general test. Although the GRE Subject Test is not required, performance on the relevant GRE Subject Test will be considered if it is available. Our experience indicates that the results of this test can be especially helpful in the case of foreign applicants. Students whose native language is not English and who do not have a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) from an institution where English is the language of instruction must submit, as part of their application, the results of the test of English as a foreign language, administered by the Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey.
Applications from minorities and women are particularly welcome. We encourage online submission of the application. See www.gsas.harvard.edu. Application forms may also be requested from the website, or by e-mailing admiss@fas.harvard.edu, or by writing: Admissions Office, Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Holyoke Center, 3rd floor, 1350 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Financial Aid
Candidates for master’s degrees are not eligible for financial aid. Students are expected to complete their PhD requirements in four to six years. Typically all students admitted to the PhD program in the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences receive full financial support, comprising tuition, fees, and a cost-of-living stipend ($2,300 per month before taxes in 2007-08), independent of need as long as they are in good academic standing and making satisfactory progress toward their PhD degree. All students who receive financial support from the division participate in the division’s educational program for about ten hours a week for one term—usually as quarter time teaching fellows or in a similar capacity, during their second year of study.
To provide full support throughout the program for all PhD candidates, the SEAS anticipates that a certain number of entering students will gain support from sources outside Harvard. Applicants are therefore expected to apply for all non-Harvard scholarships for which they are eligible, especially those offered by the National Science Foundation.
Because bringing in external fellowship support helps us support more students with internal funds, NSF fellows will receive a supplemental fellowship to bring their stipends up to $3,000 above the standard SEAS amount in the first year, and will be eligible for supplemental research assistantships in subsequent years. Recipients of other external awards made on the basis of open competition receive similar considerations on a pro-rated basis.
Financial support takes several forms: grants-in-aid (fellowships), teaching fellowships, and research assistantships. Ordinarily, first-year PhD students are supported with full fellowships so that they may devote all their time to coursework. Beyond the first year, when students are in a better position to teach and assist in research, support is ordinarily provided through research assistantships, or a combination of a teaching fellowship and a research assistantship.
Candidates for PhD and master’s degrees can occasionally be employed as technical assistants on one of the numerous research projects in the SEAS or in a similar capacity in other parts of the University. During the academic year, full-time students may not accept employment inside or outside the University, other than teaching fellowships or research assistantships, that involves a commitment of more than ten hours per week, without special permission.
Part-Time Master’s Program
The SEAS admits a limited number of part-time students as candidates for the SM degree to study at a rate of one or two half-courses per term. Under unusual circumstances, full-time candidates for graduate degrees may petition for permission to study part-time, ordinarily at a rate of two half-courses per term. Similarly, candidates for the master’s degree who need fewer than four half-courses to complete the requirements for the degree can arrange to be charged tuition on a per course basis. Visa regulations prohibit foreign nationals who are not permanent residents of the US from registering for part-time study.
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