Mechanical Engineering

Ph.D Degree Requirements and Procedures

Quick Links
Home
  • Supervisory Committee. A graduate student is not considered a doctoral student until a Supervisory Committee has been appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School. The Supervisory Committee must be established as soon as possible after receiving approval to continue in the program. This committee must be established before the end of the second year of PhD study and no less than four months prior to scheduling the General Examination. This committee replaces the first-year Advisory Committee.
    1. The Supervisory Committee consists of a minimum of four members, three of whom must be from the Graduate Faculty, including the Chair and the Graduate School Representative. The Department further requires that at least three members of the committee must be Mechanical Engineering faculty, two of whom must be core faculty.1
    2. The student and advisor nominate the Graduate School Representative (GSR) to the committee, who will represent the Graduate School at all examinations and committee meetings. The GSR must be from outside the student's department and must hold no joint appointments in the student's program or with the Supervisory Committee Chair. It is very important that the student contact the GSR as soon as possible after the appointment to acquaint him or her with the work in progress.
    3. To request formation of this committee, the student composes an email that identifies the Supervisory Committee Chair (or Co-Chairs) and the remaining members of the Committee, except the GSR. The student must have contacted each of the proposed members and secured their consent to serve on the Committee. This email must be sent to ME Student Services (megrad@u.washington.edu).
    4. The ME Student Services Office submits the proposed Committee to the Graduate School. Once the Graduate School has accepted the appointment, an email formalizing the Committee is sent to the student and all members. The Registrar's Office is also notified and student's graduate status is changed to doctoral pre-candidate.
  • Dissertation Proposal. A dissertation proposal is prepared after the student has conducted one or two quarters of in-depth research, during which time he or she should meet frequently with the Committee Chair. The proposal must be approved by the Committee members before being able to schedule the General Exam.



    1 Core faculty comprise Mechanical Engineering Faculty in all ranks with tenure or tenure-track appointments, and research, emeritus, and joint appointments. Faculty with adjunct and affiliate ranks are not included.