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Basic Core Curriculum   

PhD students spend about half of their first year of study taking a common core of six IE/MS courses that provide fundamental knowledge:

Additional first-year courses may be chosen from relevant graduate-level offerings throughout the University in such areas as mathematics, economics, engineering, management, and the social sciences. At the end of the first year, PhD students must take a two-day core exam that tests their ability to understand, apply, and integrate concepts from the basic core curriculum. Students who demonstrate satisfactory performance in 12 courses and the core exam are eligible to receive the master of science degree in industrial engineering and management sciences, if they do not already hold an MS degree in a similar discipline. Thus PhD students taking the normal first-year load of 4 courses per quarter can receive an MS degree after the first year.

Printable Curriculum Planning Worksheet for both the MS and PhD degrees (.pdf)

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Advanced Study   

Students whose performance in first-year courses and the core exam demonstrates a strong potential for success in research are invited to continue to study for the PhD degree. The program has three additional required courses, which can be taken in either the first or second year:

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Minors   

In their initial three years, PhD students also complete a 4-course major and two 2-course minors consisting of graduate level courses from IEMS and other selected engineering departments. Majors and minors may be chosen from the following areas:

Representative courses in these areas are listed in the Ph.D. Major and Minor Areas Document. Students also may petition to substitute a major or minor area of their own design with approval from their adviser and the Graduate Committee.

After consulting with their advisers, students may enroll in additional advanced courses, from a variety of departments, appropriate to their backgrounds, objectives, and research interests. Students typically complete advanced lecture courses during their third year, while filling out their schedule with one or more units of 499 Projects arranged with their advisers.

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Candidacy Exam (Core Exam)   

All MS and PhD students who wish to continue beyond the first year for the PhD must take a candidacy exam that tests their ability to understand, apply, and integrate material from their first year of study.  The candidacy exam is offered in June of each year.  A student must take the exam no later than his/her first opportunity after completing the six required first-year PhD core courses.  (For most students, this would mean June of their first year.  However, transfer or part-time students have the option of delaying the exam until they complete these six core courses.)

Format of Exams

The candidacy exam is a one-hour oral exam administered to individual students by committees of at least three IEMS faculty members.  The exam is based on the student's review and presentation of one of a selection of papers provided by IEMS faculty.  A student is also required to submit to his/her committee a short written report on the paper prior to the oral examination. Guidelines for the oral presentation and written report are communicated  in advance.  In the above, the phrase "IEMS faculty member" means any faculty member with at least a 20% appointment in IEMS. 

Time of Exams

The Candidacy Exams take place following final exam week during the week of Commencement.  The times and dates are subject to change but dates will be announced at least one month before they are scheduled to occur.

Evaluation of Exams

Following the student's exam, committee members each confidentially submit a grade evaluation to the IEMS Graduate Committee.  This grade evaluation is incorporated into the Graduate Committee's evaluation of all first-year students for the purpose of deciding continuation towards the PhD and the awarding of the MS degree.  This evaluation is based on exam performance, overall course performance, faculty evaluation of research ability, and other criteria.

There are three decisions that can be made during this evaluation:

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Dissertation   

A student's dissertation committee is chaired or co-chaired by the student's advisor. Two or more additional committee members are chosen by the adviser in consultation with the student. At least two committee members, including the chair or a co-chair, must be full or joint IEMS faculty. The committee must include at least one member who has primary affiliation outside the department.

Formal admission to candidacy for the PhD is accomplished by submitting a dissertation proposal and passing an oral candidacy examination. The degree is awarded following an oral final examination and submission of the completed dissertation. The entire PhD program is usually completed
in four or five years.

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