About the Program
The School of Nuclear Engineering at Purdue University is where future leaders of the global nuclear engineering community are cultivated. The school educates ethical nuclear engineers to provide technical expertise to the nuclear engineering communities around the world, expand the frontier of knowledge through cutting-edge and innovative research in all areas of nuclear engineering, and dynamically engage with the global society through strong partnerships.
Students come from a variety of undergraduate preparations which include other branches of engineering, various fields of science, and mathematics. Likewise, the program’s faculty members represent a broad range of academic disciplines. This diversity enables the program to accommodate the interests of graduate students in exploring new opportunities and challenges in the rapidly broadening field of nuclear engineering.
Program Website
Additional Information
Qualifying Examination: The PhD qualifying examination helps determine whether a student has the capability and background to conduct the original, independent research that is required in the PhD program. Students should take the qualifying examination within 2 semesters of completing the MS in nuclear engineering or within 2 semesters of completing the BS degree for those students who are in the direct PhD program.
Students entering the Nuclear Engineering graduate program with an MS in a field other than nuclear engineering should take the qualifying examination within 4 semesters after enrolling in the nuclear engineering program. The examination is administered by the faculty once a year, in the spring semester, with the Graduate Chairperson serving as the coordinator. The exam will consist of (1) a written
portion testing the student’s general knowledge of fundamental nuclear engineering concepts and (2) a combined research assessment paper and oral examination covering the student’s selected
area of specialization.
Direct to PhD Program: The Direct PhD Program is available for students with outstanding academic records. This program enables students entering with a bachelor’s degree to obtain the PhD degree without investing time in preparing a formal master’s degree thesis. It also allows greater flexibility in course selection and research planning. The direct PhD student can apply for the non-thesis MSNE degree while working towards the PhD. The master’s degree will be conferred to students in this program upon successful completion of the PhD preliminary examination and submission of an acceptable Master’s Plan of Study, submitted in the semester prior to the preliminary examination. Students will receive the degree at the end of the semester in which the preliminary examination is taken.
Preliminary Examination: The preliminary examination establishes that students defined a suitable research topic adequately prepared to embark on the research. The examination consists of a written research proposal and a 2-hour oral examination. The research proposal should clearly explain the objectives to be accomplished, how such objectives relate to previous work in the area, the significance of the proposed work, and the approach to be followed. The proposal should also include the results of an extensive literature survey. The depth and clarity of the presentation should give evidence of a reasonable degree of maturity in the student’s knowledge of the field.
Final Examination: When the student and faculty advisor agree that the dissertation is complete, a final examination will be held by the advisory committee at a time acceptable to all committee
members. A final dissertation draft copy of “original” quality, suitable for publication must be distributed to the examining committee a minimum of 14 days prior to the scheduled final examination.
The final examination is scheduled for 2 hours. The student will make a formal presentation of about 45 minutes on his or her dissertation. The oral presentation by the candidate conveys the nature of the research work and the accomplishments. Anyone is welcome to attend the presentation and will have an opportunity to ask questions during the first hour. The second hour of the examination is closed door with only the student and examining committee present. The second hour is typically devoted to discussion and questioning by the members of the examination committee. The student’s task is to defend the methods, results, and conclusions as valid. In addition, the committee should be convinced that the student has made an original and significant contribution.
GPA Requirements
A grade of B or better (B- is not sufficient) is required for each course appearing on the POS as a primary course. In addition, residency requirements must be met (see the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars’ Policy and Procedures Manual) and a minimum final grade point average of 3.0 is required. The student’s faculty advisor routinely reviews each student’s academic performance and will advise the student on performance not meeting the required standards.
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