ISE Department at Lehigh University

PhD Program Requirements

A student graduates with a degree in doctoral of philosophy (Ph.D.) from the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) are subject to the following requirements:

Complete a formal end-of-year review for first year students.
Complete a set of core courses.
Declare a primary and a secondary field of study within ISE and complete the associated core requirements.
Declare a minor field of study and complete at least two 400-level courses outside of the ISE department.
Satisfy the Ph.D. degree requirements of the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science (refer to Lehigh University Catalog)

I. End-of-Year Review for First Year Ph.D. Students

Upon entering the Ph.D. program, the students are recommended the following schedule:

Fall Semester
Math 301 Principles of Analysis I
IE 406 Introduction to Mathematical Programming
One more course

Spring Semester
IE 339 Stochastic Models
Math 338/ECO 416 Regression
One more course

Qualifier Exam (Taken in your primary field of study over Spring Break)

Every Ph.D. student would undergo a first-year end of year review consisting of:

Evaluation of grades.
Evaluation of qualifier exam.
Other input as deemed necessary by the faculty.

This will occur at the end of the second full semester in the program. The faculty will vote as to whether the student passes the end-of-year review. If a student passes, they may stay in the Ph.D. program. At this point in time, they should begin to form a dissertation committee and prepare a proposal.

If a student fails the end-of-year review, they will be dismissed from the Ph.D. program. At this point in time, the student may petition to transfer to an M.S. degree program to receive a degree before leaving the department.

A student may conditionally pass. Common outcomes from this situation are:

1. Student must re-take (and pass) the qualifier exam.
2. Student must take a number of pre-specified courses and achieve a pre-specified GPA in those courses.
3. A combination of 1 and 2.

The faculty will revisit the student’s case (to continue in the program) with a vote upon the completion of the conditional requirements.

NOTE: A student entering the Ph.D. program with only a B.S. degree may petition to delay their first qualifier exam until their third semester of study. This does not exempt them from a first year review.

II. Declaration of Fields and Course Requirements

Further details concerning the Ph.D. course requirements, the declaration of a primary and a secondary field of study, and the declaration of a minor field are described in this section.

1. The general core set of courses for all Ph.D. graduates is:

Math 301 Principles of Analysis I
Math 338/ECO 416 Regression Analysis
IE 339 Stochastic Models
IE 406 Introduction to Mathematical Programming

2. A student must declare a primary and a secondary field of study in the following areas:

Financial Engineering
Information Systems
Manufacturing, Production and Logistics
Optimization
Stochastic Processes and Applied Statistics

Core requirements for each field of study are located on the following pages, each area is defined by a set of core courses. A student must take at least four courses in his/her declared primary field, and at least two in his/her declared secondary field.

3. A student may declare a minor field of study outside the ISE department. Subject to approval, the minor fields of study may include Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Economics, Finance, Marketing, Materials Science, Mathematics, and Mechanical Engineering. At least two 400-level courses in the minor department are required to satisfy the minor requirement (may be included in primary/secondary core).

To satisfy the Ph.D. course requirements, a student must take:

             The general core courses (4)
             Core courses in the primary field of study (4)
             Courses in the secondary field of study (2)

As an additional requirement, at least two courses must be taken outside of the ISE department at the 400 level (may be included in core). The minimal Ph.D. course requirements total 10 courses (30 credits). For students that enter Lehigh with an M.S. degree, completion of the degree requires an additional 18 credits (via courses or dissertation), totaling 48 credit hours. For those entering with a B.S. degree, they need to complete an additional 42 credits, totaling 72 credit hours.

The following lists define the core courses for each major field of study and faculty interested in the area. Regardless of the field of study, at least two courses from the major field must be in IE.