The Fiber and Polymer Science Ph.D. requires 72 credits for graduation. Full details are provided in Section II: Program Structure. All students are required to take FPS 770 Introduction to Polymer Science and TMS762 Physical Properties of Fiber Forming Polymers and two semesters of FPS 801 along with two additional courses from the list given in the Appendix. Students must also successfully defend a critical literature review and research proposal and a final dissertation defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take FPS770 (Fall) or TMS762 (Spring), FPS801, and one or two additional courses from the list given in the Appendix. Find a research advisor from program faculty and a research project in consultation with research advisor. Program faculty can be found in the Fields of Graduate Instruction<\/a> under FPS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take TMS762 (Spring) or FPS770 (Fall), FPS 801, and, if qualifier courses have not been completed, take one or two of the courses from the list given in the Appendix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Complete required coursework (minimum of six 3-credit courses) and create Plan of Work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Defend prelim exam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perform research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Defend dissertation and get dissertation approved by ETD.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n The Ph.D. degree symbolizes the ability of the recipient to undertake original and scholarly work at the highest levels without supervision. The degree is, therefore, not granted simply upon the completion of a stated amount of course work but rather upon demonstration by the student of a comprehensive knowledge base and high attainment in scholarship. The student demonstrates this ability by passing a series of courses, creating a written critical literature review and original research proposal, defending an oral preliminary examination, writing a dissertation reporting the results of an original investigation, and making a final oral defense of the research before the student\u2019s advisory committee and other interested members of the university community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A minimum of 72 credit hours is required of students entering the program with a B.S. degree, or a minimum of 54 credit hours beyond the M.S. degree is required. (Students, who enter the Ph.D. program directly upon completion of an M.S. at NC State, may be allowed credit for up to 30 hours of their M.S. and thus would require 42 additional credit hours to complete the Ph.D.) Most of these credit hours are expected to be research credits (FPS 893 or FPS 895). The student generally selects courses, in consultation with their advisory committee, so as to prepare for admission to candidacy for the degree and to carry out their proposed research. (Students are admitted to candidacy after meeting the course requirements and passing the preliminary oral examination.) The Fiber and Polymer Science program requires successful completion of a specific set of four qualifying courses plus a minimum of 2 additional graduate courses plus two semesters of FPS 801 (which may be waived for students who have taken TC, TE or TMT 601). These additional courses (which should be selected with input from the advisory committee) can be part of an \u201cofficial minor\u201d, which will require approval from the Minor Director of Graduate Programs, or can be courses chosen to provide a better foundation for the research work. The coursework must be followed by the successful defense of a research proposal, after which the student is a candidate for the Ph.D. degree. The student must subsequently submit and successfully defend a dissertation, based on a body of their original research. Upon successful completion of the above requirements, the committee can recommend that the doctorate be awarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The anticipated time for completion of the Ph.D. program is four years for a student entering from a B.S. degree and three years for entry from an M.S. degree. The minimum time required (in exceptional cases) is two years beyond entry if the student obtained an M.S. degree from NC State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students are expected to comply with the university guidelines on course load unless special justification for an exception has been made and approved by the Graduate Program Director and approved by the Dean of the Graduate School in advance. Such exceptions will normally not be allowed to extend beyond one semester. A maximum of 15 credit hours per semester is allowed if the student is self-funded and 12 credit hours if the student is funded. A maximum of 9 credit hours for any combination of FPS 893, 895, 899, and 830 are permitted in any single semester. At least 18 credit hours of research are required and more are expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a complete summary of procedures governing the Ph.D. degree, see the appropriate sections of the Graduate Catalog <\/strong>and The Graduate Handbook<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n The program contains \u201cmilestones\u201d that shall be met by the student. These consist of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Guidance in the planning of these activities will be given by the student\u2019s chair and committee and will form the basis of the \u201cstudent plan of work\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All students must<\/strong> take:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plus two additional courses selected from the list given in Appendix 1 with guidance from their advisor (committee chair).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every student must obtain a grade of B or better in each<\/strong> of these four courses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The list has four focus areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Courses on the prescribed list will be offered annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All students are expected to complete the \u201cqualifying course\u201d requirement by the end of the third<\/strong> semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students who have successfully passed all 4 qualifying courses will proceed to produce a scholarly, in-depth, critical review of the existing knowledge in the field of specialization in which the student hopes to base their dissertation proposal. The review should be of \u201cpublishable quality\u201d and must be submitted to the student\u2019s committee along with an original research proposal. The proposal should include the motivation for the work, the literature review, preliminary methods and procedures, and preliminary results along with the measurable goals of the research. It should include a projected timeline (e.g. Gantt chart) for completion of the student\u2019s studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the chair of the committee has agreed that the written critical review and proposal are acceptable, the student is expected to present and defend the literature review and research proposal. The literature review and proposal shall be provided to the committee at least 17 days prior to the exam with a copy to the Director of Doctoral Graduate Programs. The exam form must be submitted online at least 17 days prior to the defense date. (View Form<\/a>). The presentation will be made to an examining committee consisting of the student\u2019s advisory committee. The presentation will also be open to interested faculty, staff and students. After the presentation the student will be orally examined by the examining committee, to test their ability to relate factual knowledge to specific circumstances, to use knowledge with accuracy and promptness, and to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the field of specialization and related areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Upon satisfactory completion of the oral examination, the student is admitted to candidacy for the degree. The student must complete the preliminary exam by the end of their 4th semester. In the event of a \u201cConditional Pass\u201d, the terms specified in the conditions must be satisfied before the end of the 5th semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the advisement of their chair and committee, the student will write a dissertation covering the original research they have carried out. The committee decides on the format of the dissertation, which can be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Either \u201dtraditional\u201d (consisting of various chapters, such as \u2013 Introduction and Motivation, Literature Review, Experimental Design and Methodologies, Trials,\u2026..Conclusions, etc).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or<\/strong> a collection of papers that have either been submitted or are ready for submission to a refereed journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dissertation will follow the guidelines set by Graduate School (ETD Guide<\/strong>) and shall be distributed to the members of the examining committee with a copy to the Director of Doctoral Graduate Programs at least 17 days before the final oral examination is scheduled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The final examination is an oral exam where the student presents and defends their research procedures, results and conclusions. The presentation will be made to an examining committee consisting of the student\u2019s advisory committee and is open to interested faculty, staff and students. After the presentation the student will be orally examined by the examining committee. The final oral examination can be scheduled once all coursework requirements have been fulfilled and the committee is satisfied that the dissertation is complete, but not earlier than one semester after admission to candidacy. The exam must be scheduled no later than 17 days prior to the proposed examination date and the final dissertation must be provided to the committee at least 17 days prior to the exam date. Failure to meet this deadline will result in the exam being cancelled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After successfully defending the dissertation, the student shall provide a copy to ETD within 24 hours of the end of the exam. Additional details are provided in the Graduate Catalog<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Changes in degree objectives, committee composition, and Plan of Work should be requested as the need arises. Handling these matters at the time of scheduling examinations will create delays<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deadline to graduate during the current semester: The student must have passed the oral examination \u201cunconditionally\u201d or have passed \u201cconditionally\u201d and have cleared all conditions while being registered for the semester he\/she is graduating in; and dissertation submitted online to ETD for the initial review by four weeks before the last day of class<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deadline to graduate, but not register for the current semester: The student must have passed oral examination \u201cunconditionally\u201d, or passed \u201cconditionally\u201d and have cleared all conditions; and dissertation submitted online to ETD for initial ETD review by the last working day before the first day of classes for that semester<\/strong>. The student must also have been registered in the semester preceding the one he\/she plans on graduating in. It is not necessary to turn in the final dissertation by that date, just to have had the review. (For example, to graduate in the Fall semester but not register for the Fall semester, the student must satisfy these conditions prior to the first day of classes for the Fall semester.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n When all changes have been made, the thesis editor will accept the ETD in the system. (Once the ETD has been accepted there can be no further changes.) An automatic email will be sent to the student and the advisor notifying them that the ETD has been accepted. The URL will be noted on the email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There will be no paper copies issued by the Graduate School. It is the student’s responsibility to determine if anyone requires a paper copy and to provide it to them. See the ETD Guide <\/strong>for further details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The student should also fill out the S<\/a>urvey of Earned Doctorate Form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The student must<\/strong> submit the Doctoral Dissertation Agreement Form<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\nSemester 2<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Semester 3<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Semester 4<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Semester 4 \u2192 graduation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Last Semester<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I. Program Introduction<\/h2><\/a>
II. Program Structure<\/h2><\/a>
II. A. Overview<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
II. B. Qualifying Courses<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
II. C. Critical Review of Literature and Research Proposal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
II. D. Preliminary Oral Examination for Admission to Candidacy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
II. E. Preparation of Dissertation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
II. F. Final Examination<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
II. G. Changes in Degree Objectives, Committee Composition and Plan of Work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
II. H. Deadlines for Submission of Dissertations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Checklist for Ph.D. Students<\/h2><\/a>
\n