Princeton University - The Graduate School

The Department of Chemical Engineering offers programs of graduate study leading to the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Master of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.), and Master of Engineering (M.Eng.). All three programs are based on the principles of chemical engineering, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and related science and engineering disciplines.

Further information may be obtained from the Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544-5263, or via the web.

Master of Engineering
Candidates for the M.Eng. degree must successfully complete at least eight graduate-level courses and, if enrolled full time, will normally satisfy that requirement in one 10-month academic year. No research or thesis is required, and financial support is normally not offered. A minimum of six of these eight courses must be technical, having their primary listing in a department or a program within the natural sciences or engineering. A minimum of four of these six courses must be chosen from graduate offerings in the Department of Chemical Engineering; options include any of the five core courses for the Ph.D. degree (CHE 501, 502, 503, 504, 505), as well as numerous graduate-level chemical engineering electives chosen according to the student’s area of interest. To complete the set of eight courses, students with an interest in economics, entrepreneurship, finance, or public policy may choose up to two graduate-level courses from the Department of Economics or the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Students must have a “B” (3.0) average or better at the time they complete the program requirements in order to receive the degree.

Students are encouraged, although not required, to focus their course choices so as to develop significant expertise in a particular area. Possible specializations, and some courses that fall within each area, include: (1) materials, CHE 522, 531, 532, 541, 543, 544; MSE 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 515, 519, 531; MAE 562, 563, 564; ELE 541, 549, 551; CHM 507, 511, 522; PHY 525, 526; GEO 501; (2) environmental engineering, CHE 522, 546; CEE 571, 576, 581, 582, 586, 587; MAE 571; GEO 524, 526, 537; WWS 582b, 584, 585b, 586c; (3) systems engineering, CHE 521, 527, 528, 530, 554; MAE 541, 545, 546, 548; ELE 521; ORF 522, 526, 562; COS 525; and (4) bioengineering, APC 514; CHE 532, 533; CHM 515, 516, 543, 544, 550; MOL 504, 505, 506, 507, 551, 558; WWS 586a. Any of the core chemical engineering courses (CHE 501, 502, 503, 504, and 505) can be used to complement selections from any of these areas.

Master of Science in Engineering
Candidates for the M.S.E. degree normally require from one-and-one-half to two years (three to four academic terms and the summer in between) to complete the degree. The student must successfully complete a minimum of six graduate-level courses from either the chemical engineering curriculum, or approved technical electives. The student must present his/her work in an open seminar in the department, not necessarily as part of a standing seminar series. There is no formal thesis defense. Candidates must prepare and submit an original thesis as well as present an open seminar on the research.

Doctor of Philosophy
The program leading to the Ph.D. degree involves advanced studies in engineering and science. Formal study in courses, coupled with independent study and research, prepares the student for research, teaching, and professional leadership in industry, academia, and government. To be considered for admission to the program, the applicant should normally have completed, with distinction, in an institution of recognized standing, a broad undergraduate program of study in chemical engineering or a related field.

Research in the field of engineering or related applied sciences is the central requirement of the doctoral program. Each student is also required to spend one term assisting in instruction in the department, normally during the second year of residence, and to present a departmental seminar on his or her research.

For Ph.D. students whose native language is not English and who have not earned a bachelor’s degree in the United States, proficiency in spoken English is evaluated as required by the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Students must pass the Princeton Oral Proficiency Test, or be exempted from taking it, by May of their second year of enrollment in order to continue as Ph.D. candidates. Those who do not will be recommended to take the M.S.E. degree as their final degree.

Satisfactory completion of 12 courses for the core course requirement is required for this degree, including five departmental core courses (CHE 501, 502, 503, 504, and 505). Among the remaining seven courses, a minimum of four are required to be technical graduate-level courses. Exemptions from certain of the core courses may be granted for students who have completed a similar course at another institution; exemptions should be sought in writing from the director of graduate studies.

The general examination has two components. The first is mastery of graduate-level chemical engineering material, which will be considered to have been demonstrated by a grade of B- or above in each of the five departmental core courses. A grade of C+ and lower means that the doctoral candidate will have to retake the corresponding course (not for credit), possibly after auditing a relevant undergraduate course. Course materials of students repeating a core course will be made available by the course instructor to a committee of faculty, who make a recommendation to the faculty as a whole as to whether or not the student has mastered the subject matter. The second component is the first proposition defense, which is a written document outlining plans for dissertation research, including progress already made. This document is submitted in the fall of the second year of residence and is defended orally before a committee of faculty members. Satisfactory completion of the core course requirements and the first proposition defense is required to achieve post-generals degree candidacy. Both must be passed no later than May of the second year of residence.

Each student must also submit a second research proposition, which is an original proposal within the broad area of chemical engineering, but on a topic not directly related to the dissertation. The second proposition is conceived of and written entirely by the student. This document must be submitted by the beginning of the fourth year of study, and it is reviewed and must be approved by a knowledgeable member of the faculty.

Departmental Seminar
Each student must give a standard (45 minutes or so) seminar on his/her work in one of the department’s standing seminar series (currently the Wednesday Chemical Engineering seminars or the Monday Graduate Student seminars). This seminar should be delivered six to 12 months before the anticipated date of completing the dissertation research, so that useful comments from the audience can be factored into the student’s last stages of research—it is not intended to be a sort of “thesis defense.” It is scheduled in consultation with the student's adviser.

The doctoral dissertation must demonstrate the student’s independent research and mastery of the field and must extend existing knowledge or present a significant new interpretation of known phenomena. The dissertation must be approved by the student’s research adviser and a knowledgeable second reader.

The final public oral examination culminates the student’s graduate studies. A faculty committee examines the student’s technical mastery of the material in the dissertation and the second proposition. Typically, five years are required from matriculation to the final public oral examination.

Students with a strong interest in materials science and engineering may elect to pursue the Ph.D. in chemical and materials engineering. This degree option is conducted jointly with the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials (PRISM) through its graduate program. Students on this degree track must demonstrate mastery of core areas in both chemical engineering and materials science, and produce original research at the nexus between these two fields. Most of the requirements and procedures for this degree are identical to those for the Ph.D. in chemical engineering, but three key differences exist. First, students pursuing the Ph.D. in the chemical and materials engineering program must be pursuing a materials-related thesis. Second, while satisfactory completion of 12 courses is also required, the detailed requirements differ. Students must satisfactorily complete CHE 501, 502, 503, 504, and 505; MSE 502; either MSE 501, 503, 504, or 505; and a third 500-level MSE course, for a total of eight required courses in chemical engineering and materials. Two additional technical courses at the graduate level are required; these may be in chemical engineering, materials, or any other department or program in the natural sciences or engineering. Third, there is an additional component to the general examination, in materials; this examination has both written and oral parts.

All Ph.D. students enter declared for the Ph.D. in chemical engineering, and advance to post-generals status once all parts of the general examination are satisfactorily completed. Students may move onto the track for the Ph.D. in chemical and materials engineering at any point prior to their final public oral examination by completing the course requirements and the materials component of the general examination.

Fellowships and Assistantships
All first-year Ph.D. students are supported by University fellowships, consisting of full tuition and fees, and a competitive stipend.Assistantships in research are available for continuing Ph.D. students; the work carried out is the basis for the dissertation. Assistantships in instruction are also available for continuing students. Departmental doctoral students must fulfill a teaching requirement of six hours, or the equivalent of one full term of teaching. Salaries for assistantships are fixed. Additional awards are available to graduate students for the summer months.

All financial aid is normally renewable for up to five years of residence on the basis of the student’s satisfactory academic performance.