The Grainger College of Engineering
Aerospace Engineering

PhD Exams

PhD Exams 

Here's everything you need to know about qualifying, preliminary and final exams as you move through your PhD program at Illinois.

 

Graduate students who seek admission to PhD Candidacy must take the Qualifying Examination (QE) by the second offering after two semesters of study after their enrollment as a PhD student, or by the third offering for direct PhD students, but students may also take the exam as an MS student. The QE shall be offered in January and August and will be limited to the student’s primary discipline (PD). 

The PDs are:

Three months prior to the exam, the student candidate will select a primary discipline (PD), and present to the Head the name of the Ph.D. advisor(s) and a list of graduate courses taken. The Head shall assign the student a Test Number, and forward the list of graduate courses to the chair of the PD Examination Committee.

Primary Discipline Examination Committee

The PD Examination Committees are appointed by the Head and shall include the AE tenured or tenure-track faculty in the PD. Emeritus faculty, faculty affiliates and faculty from outside the department may serve; however the committee must have a majority of AE tenure or tenure-track faculty. 

At least two months prior to the exam, the PD Examination Committee will provide the student candidate with a list of core topics in the PD on which questions will be based. In addition, a file of previous QE questions is available for reading online.  The PD Examination Committee shall conduct the QE and evaluate the student's performance and ability to complete the Ph.D. degree. Students who fail the exam for the first time will be allowed one retest in the same PD at the immediate next offering.

The Preliminary Examination for the PhD degree is an oral examination administered by the candidate's doctoral committee.

Submitting a Request to Appoint a Preliminary or Final Exam Committee

  • The first stage of the PhD degree program must have been completed, which consists of completion of the MS degree and passing the Qualifying Examination, before the Preliminary Examination can be taken.
  • The Preliminary examination must be taken between nine months and five years before the Final Examination.
  • Also, the examination may be taken no earlier than the semester in which the candidate completes the 24th hour of coursework required in the second stage of the PhD program.
  • The candidate must submit the thesis proposal to the doctoral committee at least two weeks prior to the Preliminary Examination. The thesis proposal must be no longer than 23 pages (references not included in the page count), 11 pt font (minimum), and single-spaced with 1 inch margins. The proposal must outline the problem to be studied for the PhD degree, the procedures to be used in attacking the problem, work already completed on the chosen problem, and the additional work proposed to be completed. The proposal also must include a tentative title for the thesis.

The Preliminary Examination is intended to test the validity of the thesis proposal and the candidate's fitness to carry out the research work proposed. Typically, it begins with a short presentation by the candidate, outlining the problem chosen, the procedures and methods to be used, the work already completed, and the additional work proposed to be completed for the PhD degree. The committee then questions the candidate regarding the problem, the preliminary results, and the proposed work. The candidate may be asked to clarify matters in the thesis proposal and to defend various aspects of the work already completed or the work being proposed. The committee may suggest alternative methods of attacking the problem or suggest different aspects of the problem as suitable areas for exploration. The committee also may ask questions of a more general nature in order to test the adequacy of the candidate's preparation for the proposed research.

At the conclusion of the examination, the committee deliberates privately, and the chairperson of the committee informs the candidate of one of four possible decisions:

  • The candidate passed the Preliminary Examination and may proceed to independent study and research for the doctoral degree.
  • The examination is temporarily adjourned, and the candidate must revise the thesis proposal and be examined again within six months.
  • The candidate failed, but may submit a new thesis proposal and take another Preliminary Examination after completing additional coursework, independent study, or research;
  • The candidate failed and will not be admitted to another examination.

During the final stages of the dissertation research when the dissertation is nearing completion, the candidate makes arrangements for a suitable time and place for the Final Examination which is also administered by the candidate's doctoral committee. The candidate must submit the proposed committee list and information about the time and place for the examination to the AE Department Office at least two weeks prior to the date chosen for the Final Examination. At the same time, the candidate submits the dissertation to the members of the doctoral committee and deposits a copy in the department office for review by all faculty members.

The Final Examination for the PhD degree is a public oral examination administered by the candidate's doctoral committee. It must take place at least nine months (but no later than five years) after the Preliminary Examination. The examination is composed of two distinct parts:

  1. The PhD candidate presents a formal one-hour departmental seminar (including some time for questions from the audience) during which the student summarizes the results of his or her research efforts. Since the presentation is aimed at a fairly general audience, this first part of the defense should focus on the motivations, importance, methodology, and main results of the research work, leaving the more advanced concepts and technical details for the second part of the Final Examination.
  2. This part, which is also public, consists of a less formal session during which the candidate may be asked to clarify matters in the thesis and to defend various aspects of the work. Errors and ambiguities in the thesis may be brought to the candidate's attention by the members of the thesis committee. If needed, the student may choose to give an additional presentation on topics not covered, or covered superficially, in the first part of the examination. This second part of the Final Examination takes place immediately after the general seminar, or at a later date agreed upon by the doctoral committee.

At the conclusion of both parts of the Final Examination the committee deliberates privately, and the chairperson of the committee informs the candidate of one of five possible decisions:

  1. The candidate passed the Final Examination and the thesis is accepted as submitted; the thesis certificate of approval is signed by all the members of the committee.
  2. The candidate passed the Final Examination but the thesis will be accepted and signed by the committee after various specified corrections and revisions have been made; the candidate must make the necessary changes and submit the thesis to the committee members for their signatures;
  3. The examination is temporarily adjourned, and the candidate must revise the thesis and be examined again within the next six months;
  4. The candidate failed, but may rewrite the thesis and take another Final Examination after completing additional independent study and research;
  5. The candidate failed and will not be admitted to another examination.