Research Project Allocation and Advisor Appointment for PhD students

The appropriate Department Chair (or nominee) will serve as the academic advisor for all newly admitted graduate students and will guide the students’ course selection in their first semester of study. By the end of the first semester, full-time students will have an opportunity to nominate their preferred research project and research advisor. For part-time students, this is normally completed in the second semester of study.

The Graduate Studies Office will instruct eligible students on the research project selection process and appropriate timelines. Generally, students are asked to select from a list of research projects available in the present semester. Each project outline will specify the problem statement, desirable outcomes, tentative thesis title, as well as the advisory team made up of KU faculty and industry experts (if appropriate). The research project will form the student’s thesis/dissertation work, therefore each student must ensure that he/she contacts the Main Advisor of each project they are interested in to discuss objectives and requirements before making the final selection.

Each student must submit his/her project nominations by the specified deadline. In cases where a student does not make a selection, a project will be allocated based on the recommendation of the student’s academic department.

The final allocation of a research project to each graduate student will be made by a committee and approved by the relevant Department Chair, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and the AVP of Graduate Studies. Once the allocation is confirmed, the faculty member listed as the Main Advisor (this may or may not be the project Principal Investigator) will take the leading role in guiding the student in course selection and supervising his/her research work until graduation. The following guidelines apply:

• The Main Advisor must be a faculty member from the student’s home department. An exception to this requirement may be made for multidisciplinary fields such as Robotics and programs that have cross-departmental support.
• In addition to the Main Advisor, the student must have at least one Co-Advisor to provide support to the research supervision process and guidance of the student. The Co-Advisor does not necessarily have to be from the student’s home department.
• The Main Advisor and Co-Advisor must be full-time members of KU faculty with professorial rank appointments (Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor). Subject to approval, additional co-advisors may be selected from adjunct professors and on/off-campus experts from industry or academia.
• At least one of the Advisors must have prior experience in supervising a graduate research thesis or dissertation.

Students who are sponsored by organizations external to KU must have their sponsor’s approval before a research project can be allocated.