Guide to the
Doctor of Philosophy Degree for Nuclear Engineering

Mission, Roles, and Goals

The Nuclear Engineering Program (NEP) follows the University of Utah's mission to provide excellence and equal opportunity in the areas of education, research, and public service. The NEP is nested within the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department of the University, but maintains its own administrative office where NEP admissions, graduate student records, and other program business is processed. The NEP is an independent program that draws students from a wide variety of academic backgrounds, and utilizes the resources and expertise of engineering faculty from all of the following areas to meet the academic and research needs of Nuclear Engineering graduate students:

• Chemical Engineering (CHEN)
• Civil & Environmental Engineering (CVEEN)
• Mechanical Engineering (ME EN)
• Electrical Engineering (EEN)
• Bioengineering (BIOEN)

Degrees Offered

The NEP at the University of Utah administers the following engineering degrees:   Master of Science (M.S.), Master of Engineering (M.E.), and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Admission Requirements and Procedures

Individuals holding either a Bachelor of Science or a Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering or in an allied field may apply to Graduate School to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Nuclear Engineering. Students who hold only a B.S. must first be accepted as a Master's candidate in the Graduate School. An M.S. degree allows the faculty to evaluate a student's potential for independent, original research in the Doctoral program. Upon admission to the Graduate School, students are required to follow all guidelines set forth by the Graduate School, which include maintaining at least minimum continuous registration, taking examinations, and completing coursework. Candidates must also fulfill any additional department-level requirements.

Applicants who hold an M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Utah must complete a "Recommendation for Change of Graduate Classification" Form and request that their M.S. Supervisory Committee process it with the Graduate School. If the Supervisory Committee recommends the student for continued graduate study in Nuclear Engineering, the Graduate School will admit the candidate to the Ph.D. program without undergoing the application process described below.  Some modifications to the program of study outlined in this guide may be allowed after consultation with the student and his/her Supervisory Committee as well. 

Students who earned their M.S. degree from a university other than the University of Utah as well as students who hold a B.S. degree and intend to pursue the Doctoral program must begin the application process by completing and submitting an "Application for Admission to the Graduate School" Form to Graduate School Admissions. Designate "Nuclear Engineering" as the academic department (see Graduate School Application Item 2) and also as the intended major (see Graduate Application Item 1). This ensures that the application to Graduate School is then properly forwarded to the NEP Office for review and a departmental recommendation. Application deadlines are listed on the application form. NEP deadlines for admission are identical to Graduate School deadlines. Applicants with an M.S. degree from a university other than the University of Utah must also provide at least two (2) Letters of Recommendation to accompany their application to Graduate School.

The NEP Director and NEP faculty have determined that applicants who hold only a B.S. degree will no longer be accepted directly into the Doctoral program, but first must be accepted into Graduate School in the Master of Science program. Then, once NEP faculty have had an opportunity to assess a candidate's performance under the Master's program, the student may petition the Director and Graduate School for admission directly into the Doctoral program. Such a Letter of Petition to the NEP Director must also be accompanied by two (2) Letters of Recommendation. The NEP faculty will review the candidate's petition and recommendation letters, and the student will be notified in writing of their decision. The Letter of Petition must be submitted after acceptance to the Graduate School and after the first year of graduate study under the Master's program, and the petition process must be completed before a student may register to take the Qualifying Examination.

To be admitted to the Graduate School, all prospective candidates must demonstrate competency at the undergraduate level in basic engineering and science subjects (see following list).  Passing the Fundamentals of Engineering examination (previously known as the EIT) that is administered by the ECEES may be used to satisfy this requirement:

• Mathematics (through partial differential equations)
• Basic Engineering Physics
• College Chemistry
• Computer Programming
• Electrical Engineering
• Engineering Materials and Processes
• Basic Engineering Thermodynamics
• Fluid Mechanics
• Heat Transfer

A student who shows deficiencies in these or any other areas will be required to take appropriate fundamental courses as remedial-level coursework, which must be completed satisfactorily either before admission to the graduate program of study or concurrently with the program, as determined by the Graduate School.
In addition to the above requirements, an applicant to Graduate School is required to have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.00 on a 4.00 scale. Non-Matriculated Status: U.S. citizens who do not meet this specific GPA may be conditionally admitted into the graduate program with a "non-matriculated" status. This designation allows students to demonstrate their ability by completing twelve (12) hours of approved graduate-level coursework. If students achieve at least a B grade point average (3.00 on a 4.00 scale) in their non-matriculated coursework, they may then apply for admission status as a fully matriculated graduate student.
If you are an International Student...

International students are required to take both the TOEFL and GRE examinations and provide official copies of their scores along with submission of an International Student Application Form to the Graduate School. International students must achieve a minimum TOEFL score of 580 and a GRE Quantitative score in the upper 30% to be considered for admission to the Graduate School. International students are not eligible for non-matriculated status.

Transfer Credit/Non-Matriculated Credit

Pending the approval of your Supervisory Committee, a maximum of six semester credit hours or nine quarter credit hours may be transferred from a different institution and applied towards a graduate degree in Nuclear Engineering at the University of Utah. The candidate must have sealed, official copies of transcripts sent directly to the Graduate Admissions Office in order for them to be accepted. The candidate should also submit a letter from his/her Supervisory Committee Chairperson indicating that the transferred courses may count towards completion of his/her program. Credit hours earned by a student with non-matriculated status may or may not be added to the course of study depending upon the decision of the student's Supervisory Committee. The maximum number of non-matriculated credits that may be applied towards a graduate degree in Nuclear Engineering is 6 semester credit hours or 12 quarter credit hours.

Forming a Supervisory Committee and Program of Study

Students should establish their Supervisory Committee as early as possible in the first or second semester of their first year by filing a "Request for Supervisory Committee" Form with the NEP Office. For the Doctoral degree, a Supervisory Committee consists of five (5) voting members, one of whom agrees to serve as Chairperson. Additional faculty may participate as non-voting members.

After consultation with the Chairperson of his/her Supervisory Committee, a student must file his/her proposed "Program of Study for the Doctoral Degree" Form (part1, part2). This form lists all individual coursework proposed for the candidate's Doctoral degree and must be approved by the student's Supervisory Committee, the NEP Director, and the Dean of the Graduate School before filing it with the NEP Office. All graduate program forms must be completed, signed, and submitted to the NEP Office no later than one semester prior to anticipated graduation at the latest. However, it is highly recommended that candidate complete his/her Program of Study form shortly after establishing the Supervisory Committee. Later modifications to an individual's program may readily be made by filing an "Amendment to Planned Program of Study" Form with the NEP Office.

Doctor of Philosophy Program

Requirements for the Doctoral degree include:

• 65 semester credit hours of approved graduate course work (see course requirements listed in the following section). A maximum total of six (6) semester credit hours of Independent Study may be applied toward a doctoral degree.
• Successful completion of the NEP Qualifying Examination.
• Successful completion of the Research Comprehensive Examination.
• The filing of a Doctoral dissertation that represents at least 14 semester credit hours of research (CVEEN 7970).
• Successful defense of the Doctoral dissertation before the Supervisory Committee.  

The following program assumes either an M.S. degree or a B.S. degree in a field allied with Nuclear Engineering. Graduate students planning to enter the Master's program and subsequently to petition for admission to the Doctoral program are required to complete the 65 semester credit hours of approved graduate-level coursework.

All Ph.D. candidates must complete the core courses listed below. An exception may be made for students who have already completed an M.S. in Nuclear Engineering and are able to demonstrate to their Supervisory Committee the prior completion of equivalent coursework. Students who have completed an M.S. in a field other than Nuclear Engineering must also meet all the following requirements unless they are able to demonstrate prior completion of equivalent coursework. The Supervisory Committee shall determine if a student's previous coursework is equivalent to University of Utah NEP courses. Technical elective courses are selected by the graduate student, but must be approved by the student's Supervisory Committee. If any variations or additions to the following program of study are necessary, such changes will be determined jointly by the student and his/her Supervisory Committee before the student may take the NEP Qualifying Examination.

Fundamental Engineering Core
(Select one course each from three of the first five categories or one course each from two of the first five categories and at least three credits in the final category)

FLUID MECHANICS

• CHEN 6353 Fluid Mechanics  (3 credit hours)
• CHEN 6355 / MEEN 6720 Computation Fluid Dynamics (3 credit hours)
• MEEN 6700 Experimental and Computational Methods in Fluid Dynamics (3 credit hours)
• MEEN 7700  Fluid Mechanics I (3 credit hours)
• MEEN 7710  Fluid Mechanics II (3 credit hours)
• MEEN 7720  Turbulent Flows and Mixing (3 credit hours)

HEAT TRANSFER

• CHEN 6453 Heat Transfer  (3 credit hours)
• MEEN 7650  Advanced Conduction Heat Transfer (3 credit hours)
• MEEN 7660  Advanced Convection Heat Transfer (3 credit hours)
• MEEN 7670  Advanced Radiation Heat Transfer (3 credit hours)

CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING

• CHEN 6553 Chemical Reaction Engineering (3 credit hours)
• CHEN 6555 Introduction to Catalysis (3 credit hours)
• CHEN 6103 / CVEEN 6603 Biochemical Engineering (3 credit hours)
• MET E 7460  Advanced Fluid-Solid Reaction Engineering (3 credit hours)

MULTICOMPONENT MASS TRANSFER

• CHEN 6603 Multicomponent Mass Transfer  (3 credit hours)
• MEEN 6510  Introduction to Finite Elements (3 credit hours)
• MET E 6700  Hydrometallurgy (3 credit hours)
  

THERMODYNAMICS

• CHEN 6853 Thermodynamics  (3 credit hours)
• MEEN 6600  Statistical Thermodynamics (3 credit hours)
• MEEN 6810  Thermal System Design (3 credit hours)
• MEEN 7610  Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics (3 credit hours)
• MET E 6500  Advanced Thermodynamics and Modeling of Chemical Systems (3 credit hours)

MIXTURE

• GEO 6690 Aqueous Geochemistry for Engineers and Scientists (3 credit hours)

OR

• MET E 6250  Fundamentals of Engineering Analysis (2 credit hours)

AND

• MET E 6350  Transport Phenomena (2 credit hours)
  
  Fundamental Nuclear Engineering Core
  (Both courses are required)
• CHEN 6657 / CVEEN 6700 Nuclear Engineering II  (4 credit hours)
• CVEEN 6710 Applied Nuclear Engineering II  (4 credit hours)

Applied Nuclear Engineering Core
(Select four of five)

• CVEEN 6720 Nuclear Reactor Physics  (4 credit hours)
• CVEEN 6730 HP and Radiation Protection  (4 credit hours)
• CVEEN 6740 Nuclear Environmental Engineering  (4 credit hours)
• CVEEN 6750 Nuclear Chemical Engineering  (4 credit hours)
• CVEEN 6760 Linear Accelerator Physics  (4 credit hours)

Advanced Applied Nuclear Engineering Core
(Both courses are required)

• CVEEN 7710 Advanced Nuclear Engineering Design  (3 credit hours)
• CVEEN 7720 Advanced Nuclear Phenomena  (3 credit hours)
  
  

Doctoral Examinations

The principle examinations that must be successfully passed by a candidate for a Ph.D. degree in Nuclear Engineering are described below. Doctoral examinations may be readministered only once in accordance with the policy of the University of Utah Graduate School.

(1) NEP Qualifying Examination

Candidates seeking the Doctoral degree must pass the NEP Qualifying Examination in order to be officially admitted to the Doctor of Philosophy program. Qualifying exam questions are designed to measure a graduate student's understanding of and ability to apply essential fundamentals of engineering, assess capacity for independent thought, and demonstrate academic potential to complete an accredited Doctor of Philosophy program. The exam encompasses both written and oral components. The written portion is "open book." Written questions are provided by NEP Exam Committee members in appropriate subject areas, and each Exam Committee member is responsible for constructing three (3) hours of the examination (approximately 15 hours total). The test is scheduled and administered in a specific room over a period of three (3) days from 9:00am to 4:00pm to allow adequate time for completion of the written exam. The oral exam is held at the discretion of the Exam Committee. When necessary, examinees will schedule a meeting with members of the Exam Committee to take the oral exam. Students who do not pass the NEP Qualifying Exam the first time are allowed to take the exam a second time at the next regularly scheduled examination.

(2) Research Comprehensive Examination

The Research Comprehensive Examination is taken before the Ph.D. research program is begun and typically is given within a year of passing the NEP Qualifying Examination. The purpose of the Research Comprehensive Examination is to assess a candidate's ability to perform original and innovative research. The student submits a written research proposal to his/her Supervisory Committee and defends the proposal in a formal oral presentation. The proposal must follow standard Department of Energy (DOE) format as described in 10 CFR 605 (under the section titled, "Special Research Grant Program"). The proposal must adhere to the DOE Guide's page limit and include the preparation of a budget and time table. The proposal is scored by the examinee's Supervisory Committee.

(3) Final Dissertation Examination

The Ph.D. candidate must defend the significant contents, results, and conclusions of his/her Doctoral research before the entire Supervisory Committee at an open, public defense. An acceptable draft or final version of the dissertation will serve as the written basis for the oral presentation. The candidate's Supervisory Committee will examine in detail the contents, results, conclusions, and contributions made by the student's research and written dissertation. It is expected that the dissertation should provide a "contribution to knowledge" in a student's area of research and be "acceptable for publication" in a peer-reviewed journal appropriate to the research area. After the student has completed the oral defense, the student and all other visitors are dismissed from the room so that the Supervisory Committee may continue the evaluation of the candidate's work.  The Supervisory Committee then will vote on the acceptability of the research effort, content, and conclusions of the dissertation, and on the student's oral defense. The Supervisory Committee decides on one of four outcomes: 1) pass, 2) pass with modifications, 3) fail with an opportunity to repeat the defense, or 4) fail without an opportunity to repeat the defense. The Supervisory Committee Chairperson then meets with the Ph.D. candidate to inform the student of the Supervisory Committee's decision.

Residency Requirement

At least one (1) academic year (for example, two consecutive semesters) of each candidate's Doctoral program must be spent in full-time academic work on-site at the University of Utah. Enrollment for a continuous minimum of nine (9) credit hours per semester is considered full-time graduate study.

Continuous Minimum Registration

All graduate students are required to maintain continuous registration from the time of formal admission as a graduate student to the Graduate School through completion of all requirements for the degree they seek, with the exception of an official Leave of Absence granted by a requesting student's Supervisory Committee Chairperson (see details on Leave of Absence in next section). Continuous registration requirements are not applicable for the summer semester. Students may maintain continuous minimum registration by registering and paying normal tuition and fees for at least three (3) credit hours per semester. Doctoral students who have not taken the NEP Qualifying Examination may use Faculty Consultation (CVEEN 7980) to fulfill this requirement. Doctoral students who have (a) passed the NEP Qualifying Examination, (b) been admitted to candidacy, and used University facilities or faculty time should designate Faculty Consultation (CVEEN 7980) or Thesis Research (CVEEN 7970) to fulfill this requirement. Doctoral students not using University facilities or faculty time should register for Continuing Registration (CVEEN 7990) to fulfill this requirement. If graduate students do not maintain continuous minimum registration, the Registrar's Office will deactivate student files and candidates will be required to reapply for admission to the Graduate School and once again pay associated application fees.

Leave of Absence

If a graduate student intends or is caused by circumstances to be absent for one or more semesters, the student should complete an official "Leave of Absence" Form in advance, have it signed by the student's Supervisory Committee Chairperson, and submit it to the Graduate School for approval. If the candidate fails to do this, his/her graduate student status will be cancelled and the student will be required to reapply for admission to the Graduate School and once again pay associated application fees.

Time Limits for Degrees 

A maximum of seven (7) years beginning from the date of acceptance into Graduate School is allowed for the completion of the Doctor of Philosophy degree. If a graduate student requires more time to complete his/her degree, the student needs to write a letter to his/her Chairperson of the Supervisory Committee to request additional time, explaining the delay and providing plans for completion of the degree, and obtain the signature of the Chairperson. The Chairperson then must forward the signed letter directly to the Graduate School for approval. A minimum of three years (or six semesters) of approved graduate work (for example, courses numbering 6000 and above) is normally required for completion of the Ph.D. degree.

Dissertation Guidelines

Ph.D. candidates are required to write a dissertation in partial fulfillment of a Doctor of Philosophy degree. Guidelines for writing and formatting a Ph.D. dissertation are available from the NEP Office or from the Thesis Editor in the Graduate School. Students are expected to follow these standard style and format guidelines when composing their dissertation for their degree.

Other Requirements and Guidelines

The NEP follows guidelines laid out for all departments and academic programs by the Graduate School Bulletin and Graduate Student Handbook. Copies are available from the Graduate School, University Bookstore, or NEP Office. All current students of the NEP should read and familiarize themselves with University of Utah policies pertaining to graduate study and research and prospective students are encouraged to do so. In many cases, the NEP will have more specific requirements than those outlined by the Graduate School, so it is vital that you know these policies and ask questions of the NEP as well as the Graduate School if you have questions or concerns.