Doctor of Philosophy
The Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering requires 72 semester hours of graduate work, at least 24 of which must be coursework. The following Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering courses are required for the Ph.D. degree.
| Course Number | Course Name | Credit Hours |
|
ChBE 6100 |
ChE Mathematics |
3 |
|
ChBE 6110 |
Advanced ChE Thermodynamics |
3 |
|
ChBE 6120 |
Applied Chemical Kinetics |
3 |
|
ChBE 6200 |
Transport Phenomena |
3 |
|
ChBE 6250 |
Special Topics: Professional Development |
1 |
All students are also required to sign up for seminar (ChBE 8991) every semester in residence. The schedule below outlines when these required courses should generally be taken. For highly qualified non-ChBE undergraduates with strong backgrounds in chemistry and mathematics, we also offer a program of courses that, over a two-year period, fills in the student’s knowledge in essential undergraduate chemical engineering courses as well as the core graduate courses. The schedule for students with and without Chemical Engineering undergraduate degrees is shown below.
|
|
ChE BS degree |
Non-ChE BS Degree |
|
Fall Yr 1 |
ChBE 6100 |
ChBE 5300 |
|
|
ChBE 6110 |
ChBE 5200 |
|
|
ChBE 6120 |
ChBE 6100 |
|
Spring Yr 1 |
Elective |
ChBE 5250 |
|
|
Elective |
ChBE 6200 |
|
|
ChBE 6200 |
non-ChBE Elective |
|
|
ChBE 6250 |
ChBE 6250 |
|
Fall Yr 2 |
Elective |
ChBE 6110 |
|
|
non-ChBE Elective |
ChBE 6120 |
For students with Chemical Engineering undergraduate degrees, a minimum of 12 hours of elective courses must be taken. These elective courses should complement the student’s research interests. For students without Chemical Engineering undergraduate degrees, the undergraduate courses in italics must be taken in lieu of 9 hours of electives. These classes constitute the minimum courses needed for a non-chemical engineer to have sufficient background to be able to be successful in the ChBE graduate program.
All courses are to be selected with the approval of the student’s dissertation advisor and Continuing Committee. The course load is designed to allow students to spend the majority of their studies on original research; however, course work may extend beyond the 24 required hours on the recommendation of the student’s dissertation advisor and Continuing Committee. Up to 24 hours of graduate course work with an equivalent A or B grade may be transferred to Vanderbilt and applied to the Ph.D.
After the first year in residence, students complete a written and oral departmental examination. Admission to candidacy in the Ph.D. program is based upon this examination, as well as the Ph.D. qualifying examination, which consists of written and oral presentation of a proposal for doctoral research.
Following the examinations and at least 72 semester hours of combined course and dissertation research hours, the student prepares and publicly defends a dissertation, which presents results of original research in chemical engineering.
Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Jamey Young
Director of Graduate Studies
Vanderbilt University School of Engineering
Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
PMB 351604
Nashville, TN 37235-1604
j.d.young@vanderbilt.edu