THE PH.D. PROGRAM

The formal parts of the Ph. D. qualifying examination and the general examination are administered by the Polymer Education Committee of the Center for Polymer Science and Engineering, with the help of the associated faculty.

Qualifying Examination

The Ph. D. Qualifying Examination in Polymer Science and Engineering is given twice a year, in August and in January. The student is required to take the examination after being at Lehigh University for one academic year, and having successfully completed at least the 393 (343) - 394 - 388 one-year sequence (or its equivalent). Not taking the examination for trivial reasons shall count as a failure. The objective is to insure that students are qualified early in their career. A student is permitted to take the examination twice.

The qualifying examination consists of a three hour examination on all aspects of basic polymer science, at the level of the 393 (343) - 394 - 388 sequence, questions not necessarily drawn from those courses.

All graduate students intending to take the Qualifying Examination must request so in writing to the Chairman of the Polymer Education Committee (currently Dr. Sperling) one full month before the examination.

Part time students should take the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination after completing 20 hours of course work and/or research beyond the B.S. degree.

Please note that old examinations are usually available through Dr. Sperling's office one month before the examination.

Upon passing the qualifying examination, the student should form a doctoral committee. This committee shall consist of three faculty from the Center of Polymer Science and Engineering, one outside member, and preferably one additional member at large. After preparing a proposal for the doctoral research program, the student shall meet with the committee and submit the formal application for doctoral candidacy to the Graduate School.

THE GENERAL EXAMINATION

The General Examination shall be based on some current field of interest in polymers. This student is provided with a written description of the problem with one or more recent references. The student has a four-week period to search and study the literature, and should make an oral presentation (overheads recommended) to the faculty answering two questions: (a) What is the current status of the field, and (b) What would the student propose to do in research if the student were to enter the field tomorrow. These two points will be graded equally.

The General Examination problems will be distributed with each student receiving a different problem at random. The general examination problems will all be heard in a single day, with a list of selected Polymer Science and Engineering faculty (three or more) judging the results. The students will have 30 minutes for the presentation, and there will be 20 minutes for questions. With ten minutes for faculty analysis and break time, this means one examination an hour.

The General Examination will normally be taken in September after the student has completed four semesters of graduate study and passed the Ph. D. Qualifying Examination in Polymer Science and Engineering. The examination will also be given in February. The student will have two opportunities to pass the examination. Not taking the examination for trivial reasons shall count as a failure. If the results of the second examination are unsatisfactory, no additional examination is scheduled. A student intending to get a Ph. D. degree in Polymer Science and Engineering and not completing the General Examination by the end of the fifth semester of regular full-time (or Lehigh's half-time RA and TA program) without a good reason will risk loosing his/her good standing in the degree program. Part time students shall take the Ph.D. General Examination after completing 40 hours of courses and/or research beyond the B.S. degree.

Students intending to take the General Examination in Polymer Science and Engineering are required to write a letter stating this to the Chairman of the Polymer Education Committee (currently Dr. L. H. Sperling) one full month before the announced examination date.

GRANDFATHER CLAUSE

Students completing the petition process to join the Polymer Science and Engineering degree program before November 1, 1995 will have a choice of the new or old General Examination procedure. (See the June, 1995 Rules and Regulations or earlier.)

THE DISSERTATION AND DEFENSE

The last step in the Ph. D. program is the preparation and defense of the dissertation (thesis). A rough draft of the dissertation, containing all of the words, figures, tables, equations, etc., signed by the research advisor, is submitted to either the Dean of Engineering or the Dean of Arts and Science (depending on the student's home department) and may be the basis for the defense. The dissertation research must make a significant contribution to knowledge. (The dissertation will contain information for one or more original papers; indeed, the student usually will be expected to have submitted and/or published one or more papers before the defense.)

Respectfully submitted,

L. H. Sperling