In the Ph. D. program in Chemical Engineering, students will work side-by-side with world-renowned experts to make novel and significant contributions to addressing global challenges using chemical engineering principles. Our program equips students with a diverse skill set essential for the next generation of chemical engineering leaders in academia and industry. Our students are involved in a wide range of innovative research areas, including advanced polymeric materials, bioanalytical devices, biomedical science and engineering, systems biology, synthetic biology, and biomanufacturing.
Opportunities for collaboration with many other departments across the University are abundant, including departments in the Colleges of Engineering, Natural Sciences, and Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and beyond.
Students interested in graduate work should refer to the Graduate and Professional Bulletin.
Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion, students will be able to:
- Demonstrate technical mastery of the core chemical engineering disciplines of thermodynamics, transport phenomena, and chemical reaction engineering.
- Advance the theory and practice of chemical engineering by making original research contributions that are both novel and significant.
- Maintain high standards of scholarly excellence and responsible research conduct.
- Demonstrate competency at assimilating information from other related fields of science and engineering to inform their intellectual pursuits and to expand the areas of application of their chemical engineering expertise.
- Effectively and professionally disseminate their research in the primary peer-reviewed and patent literature, and through technical conferences and symposia.
Effective Fall 2025
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses: | 8-13 | |
| Research Conduct and Practices | ||
| Option (1): chemical engineering principles and mathematical modeling | 12 | |
| Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics | ||
| Advanced Reactor Design | ||
| Transport Phenomena Fundamentals | ||
| Mathematical Modeling for Chemical Engineers | ||
| OR Option (2): chemical and biological engineering principles 1 | 7 | |
| Chem & Biological Engineering Fundamentals | ||
| Fundamentals of Biochemical Engineering | ||
| Advanced Mathematics, Statistics, and Data Science | 3 | |
| Select 3 credits in the category of Advanced Mathematics: | 3 | |
| Foundations of Applied Mathematics | ||
| Dynamical Systems | ||
| Partial Differential Equations I | ||
| Partial Differential Equations II | ||
| Numerical Methods in Science and Engineering | ||
| Mathematical Methods for Physics I | ||
| Mathematical Methods for Physics II | ||
| OR 3 credits in Advance Statistics, Data Science, or Modeling. Examples: | 3 | |
| Quantitative Systems and Synthetic Biology | ||
| Biological Physics | ||
| Biomedical Signal Processing | ||
| Bioengineering | ||
| Quantitative Systems Physiology | ||
| Theory of Population and Evolutionary Ecology | ||
| Computational Approaches in Molecular Ecology | ||
| Embedded Systems and Machine Learning | ||
| Big Data | ||
| Artificial Intelligence | ||
| Machine Learning | ||
| Statistical Machine Learning | ||
| Genomics Data Analysis in Python | ||
| RNA-Sequencing Data Analysis | ||
| Applied Engineering Data Analytics | ||
| R Programming for Research | ||
| Mass Spectrometry Omics-Methods and Analysis | ||
| Microbial Metagenomics/Genomics Data Analysis | ||
| Functional Genomics | ||
| Current Methods in Microbial Genomics | ||
| Design and Data Analysis for Researchers I | ||
| Design and Data Analysis for Researchers II | ||
| Introduction to Probability Theory | ||
| Data Analysis and Regression | ||
| Biostatistical Methods for Quantitative Data | ||
| Statistics for Environmental Monitoring | ||
| Applied Multivariate Analysis | ||
| Engineering Data Design and Visualization | ||
| Biomolecular Engineering Electives 1 | 0-6 | |
| Bioseparation Processes | ||
| Bioremediation | ||
| Advanced Biological Wastewater Processing | ||
| Engineering of Protein Expression Systems | ||
| Biomolecular Engineering/Synthetic Biology | ||
| Biomolecular Engineering Laboratory 1 | 0-1 | |
| Biochemical Engineering Laboratory | ||
| Electives: 5XX - 7XX courses with the course following prefixes: CBE, BIOM, MSE, CIVE, ECE, MECH, SYSE, ENGR, AB, AHS, ANEQ, BC, BMS, BTEC, BZ, CM, CHEM, CS, DSCI, ECOL, ESS, ERHS, FSHN, FTEC, GEOL, GES, GRAD, HORT, LIFE, MATH, MIP, NB, PH, SOCR, STAR, STAA, STAT 2 | 10-12 | |
| Dissertation (maximum) 3 | 44 | |
| Dissertation | ||
| Program Total Credits | 72 | |
A minimum of 72 credits are required to complete this program.
- 1
Students who choose option (2) in the core courses must take 6 credits in Biomolecular Engineering Electives and 1 credit in Biomolecular Engineering Laboratory
- 2
For students who choose option (1) in the core courses, take 12 credits of electives, including any additional courses in the categories listed above.
For students who choose option (2) in the core courses, take 10 credits of electives, including any additional courses in the categories listed above
Any elective courses with prefixes other than those listed above must be approved by the advisor and the PhD committee of the student.
- 3
A maximum of 44 dissertation research credits (CBE 799) may be counted toward the degree requirements.
Credit and Coursework Requirements
A minimum of 40 semester credits beyond the bachelor's degree must be at or above the 500 level.
Department Seminar Attendance
Ph. D. Students are also required to attend the department seminars whenever they are held as a condition of making satisfactory progress towards their degree, except when regular coursework conflicts with the time.
Examinations and Dissertation
All CBE Ph.D. students must pass a preliminary examination as a requirement for continuing in the program. This should be completed no later than the student’s third semester. At the end of the Ph.D. program, an acceptable dissertation must be submitted to and approved by the student’s graduate committee. Satisfactory performance on a final oral examination, which includes a defense of the dissertation, is required. The oral presentation is open to the public. It is expected that the student's Ph.D. research will result in at least two refereed publications or other high-caliber technical publications.
For more information, please visit Requirements for All Graduate Degrees in the Graduate and Professional Bulletin.
Summary of Procedures for the Master's and Doctoral Degrees
NOTE: Each semester the Graduate School publishes a schedule of deadlines. Deadlines are available on the Graduate School website. Students should consult this schedule whenever they approach important steps in their careers.
Forms are available online.
| Step | Due Date |
|---|---|
| 1. Application for admission (online) | Six months before first registration |
| 2. Diagnostic examination when required | Before first registration |
| 3. Appointment of advisor | Before first registration |
| 4. Selection of graduate committee | Before the time of fourth regular semester registration |
| 5. Filing of program of study (GS Form 6) | Before the time of fourth regular semester registration |
| 6. Preliminary examination (Ph.D. and PD) | Two terms prior to final examination |
| 7. Report of preliminary examination (GS Form 16) - (Ph.D. and PD) | Within two working days after results are known |
| 8. Changes in committee (GS Form 9A) | When change is made |
| 9. Application for Graduation (GS Form 25) | Refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School Website |
| 9a. Reapplication for Graduation (online) | Failure to graduate requires Reapplication for Graduation (online) for the next time term for which you are applying |
| 10. Submit thesis or dissertation to committee | At least two weeks prior to the examination or at the discretion of the graduate committee |
| 11. Final examination | Refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School Website |
| 12. Report of final examination (GS Form 24) | Within two working days after results are known; refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School website |
| 13. Submit a signed Thesis/Dissertation Submission Form (GS Form 30) to the Graduate School and Submit the Survey of Earned Doctorates (Ph.D. only) prior to submitting the electronic thesis/dissertation | Refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School website. |
| 14. Submit the thesis/dissertation electronically | Refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School website |
| 15. Graduation | Ceremony information is available from the Graduate School website |