Admission and Program Requirements

In addition to the admission requirements specified by the Deanship of Graduate Studies, the minimum admission qualifications for admission to the PhD. and Direct PhD programs in Computer Engineering are:

  1. A Bachelor's degree (for Direct PhD) or Master's degree (for Ph.D.) in a COE-related engineering or science discipline with a minimum GPA of 3.0 out of 4.0 from an institute with a BS or MS program equivalent to KFUPM's.
  2. A minimum TOEFL score of 560 (PBT), 215(CBT), or 80 (IBT) or other equivalent English tests. Scores should not be more than two years old.
  3. Three letters of recommendation (at least two from instructors or current supervisors) addressing the applicant's academic achievements and professional accomplishments.
  4. A statement of purpose, where the students should elaborate on their general area of research and Ph.D. research plans at KFUPM (approximately 1000 words).

Students enrolled in this program are required to complete 30 graduate credit hours of courses (excluding the dissertation). These courses should be selected from a program of study approved by the student's Graduate Committee, the Department Chairman, and the Dean of Graduate Studies.

The Ph.D. program in Computer Engineering provides specialization in three areas of competency. These areas are chosen to provide coverage of well-recognized, established areas of COE and, at the same time, allow for coverage of anticipated future progress in the discipline. Each student must select one of the following as his major area and another as his minor area:

Sr. Areas
1 Computer Networks and Cybersecurity
2 Digital Systems and High-Performance Computing
3 Computing Systems and Applications

 

Study Plan Structure:

Program Structure No. of Courses Credit Hours
Required 7 21
Elective  3 9
Thesis  12
Total 10 42

 

Program Courses:

 
Level
   		Semester  Course Code Course Title Required or Elective Credit Hours 
 Level 1  First     
  COE 5xx/6xx Depth* course-I Required 3
  COE 5xx/6xx   Breadth** course-I  Required 3
  COE 5xx/6xx   Breadth** course-II  Required 3
 Second     
  XXX 5xx/6xx Depth* course-II Required 3
  COE 5xx/6xx   Depth* course-III  Required 3
  COE 5xx/6xx   Breadth** course-III  Required 3
Level 2  Third     
  XXX 5xx/6xx Depth* course-IV Required 3
  XXX 5xx/6xx  Elective*** course-I  Elective 3
  XXX 5xx/6xx   Elective*** course-II  Elective 3
   COE 699   Seminar   0
 Fourth     
  XXX 5xx/6xx Elective*** course-III Elective 3
  COE 711  Ph.D. Pre-Dissertation  Required 3
Level 3
   		Fifth COE 712  Ph.D. Dissertation  Required IP
 Sixth COE 712 Ph.D. Dissertation Required 9

* From the same major area. A designated list of courses for each COE major area will be provided. These lists will include courses from the COE and other related departments.

** From the other major areas.

 ***  COE 701, COE 702, or latter-grade courses from COE, ICS, EE, SE, or MATH.

*** One elective course can be taken from other departments, provided it is needed for the thesis research and is approved by the thesis advisor.

 

Note: At least 50% of the letter-grade courses (or 4 courses) in a degree plan must be COE courses.