Program Structure and Requirements (with only B.Sc. Degree)
Overall Program Structure
The PhD ROBO consists of a minimum of 72 credit hours, distributed as follows: 12 credit hours of Program Core courses, 24 credit hours of Program Technical Elective courses, 36 credit hours of Dissertation research and two zero-credit PhD Research Seminar courses. The student’s technical background will be assessed by a Written Qualifying Examination (WQE), followed by a Research Proposal Examination (RPE), which the student must successfully complete in order to progress further in the program. The components of the PhD program are summarized in the table below.
| Category |
Credit Hours |
| Core Courses |
12 |
| Technical Electives |
24 |
| ROBO 703 PhD Research Seminar I |
0 |
| ROBO 704 PhD Research Seminar II |
0 |
| ROBO 795 PhD Written Qualifying Exam |
0 |
| ROBO 796 PhD Research Proposal Exam |
0 |
| PhD Research Dissertation |
36 |
| Total |
72 |
All the courses that the students will take are at the PhD level. Students will only be able to attempt ROBO 795 PhD Written Qualifying Exam (WQE) after successfully completing a minimum of 27 credits of formal coursework.
Program Requirements
Students seeking a PhD degree in Robotics must successfully complete a minimum of 72 credit hours as specified in the program requirements detailed below, with a minimum CGPA of 3.0. Course selection should be made in consultation with the student’s Main Advisor and must be aligned with the chosen area(s) of research. All courses have a credit rating of three credits each, except the PhD Research Seminar, Written Qualifying Exam, Research Proposal Exam, and the PhD Dissertation.
Program Core (12 credit hours)
Students must complete four of the core courses listed below. The ENGR 701 must be one of the four selected courses.
Robotics - Core Courses
Concentration Core Courses
Program Electives (24 credit hours)
Students must complete a minimum of eight technical elective courses from the list below. Subject to the approval of the dissertation Main Advisor, up to two elective courses (6 credit hours) can be taken from another relevant PhD program in KU.
Electives
Electives
PhD Research Dissertation (minimum 36 credit hours)
Students must complete a PhD Research Dissertation that involves novel, creative, research-oriented work under the direct supervision of at least one full-time faculty advisor from the College, and at least one other full-time faculty member who acts as a co-advisor. The Main Advisor of a student who opts for a PhD must be a faculty member in the Department offering that particular program. The outcome of research should demonstrate the synthesis of information into knowledge in a form that may be used by others. The research findings must be documented in a formal Dissertation and defended successfully in a viva voce examination. Furthermore, the research must lead to publishable quality scholarly journal articles.
Dissertation
Total Credit Hours: 72