The Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree is awarded upon successful completion of a minimum of 36 credit hours with a minimum of 3.0 cumulative GPA. Individual courses require a minimum of a B- for course credit. Students are expected to complete the M.Sc. degree in four semesters. Satisfactory participation in every KAUST summer semester is mandatory.
It is the sole responsibility of students to plan their graduate program in consultation with their academic advisor. Students should be aware that most core courses are offered only once per year.
Before students start creating their study plan, they will be required to take the program assessment test.
M.Sc. Degree Requirements
The M.Sc. degree has the following components:
- Core courses (12 credits)
- Elective courses (12 credits)
- Graduate seminar (AP 398) (non-credit)
- Completion of one Winter Enrichment Program (WEP)
- Research/capstone experience (12 credits)
Core Courses (12 credits)
The AP core courses are designed to provide students with the background needed to establish a solid foundation in the program area. M.Sc. students are required to complete 12 credits (four courses) to fulfill the core requirements. Students must take the following four courses:
AP Core Courses
| AP 220 | Statistical Physics | 3 |
| AP 228 | Advanced Quantum Mechanics | 3 |
| ECE 221 | Electromagnetic Theory | 3 |
| MSE 225 | Electronic Properties of Materials | 3 |
Elective Courses (12 credits)
The elective courses are designed to allow students to tailor their educational experience to meet individual research and educational objectives with the permission of the academic advisor. Electives can be selected from either AP or any other related program.
The following list of courses contains those courses most appropriate to complete the AP degree, organized by themes. Students may select four courses from any 200 or 300 level courses. Research credits, internship credits, and IED courses will not count toward electives.
Fundamentals in Physics
| AP 230 | Condensed Matter Physics | 3 |
| ME 308 | Introduction to Plasma Physics and Magneto-hydrodynamics | 3 |
| MSE 226 | Thermodynamics of Materials | 3 |
| MSE 227 | Applied Quantum Mechanics | 3 |
Experimental Techniques and Characterization
| ECE 203 | Solid-State Devices Fabrication | 3 |
| AP 210 | Spectroscopy of Solids | 3 |
| ME 348 | Introduction to Spectroscopy and Laser Diagnostics | 3 |
| MSE 307 | Materials Characterization | 3 |
Materials
| ME 317 | Mechanics of Composite Materials and Structures | 3 |
| MSE 229 | Polymeric Materials | 3 |
| MSE 310 | Energy Storage Materials | 3 |
| MSE 318 | Nanomaterials | 3 |
| MSE 320 | Materials and Devices for Energy Conversion | 3 |
| MSE 322 | Semiconductor Materials | 3 |
| MSE 324 | Photophysics of Organic Semiconductors | 3 |
Device Physics
| AP 320 | Introduction to Nanoelectronics | 3 |
| ECE 206 | Device Physics | 3 |
| ECE 306 | Electronic and Optical Properties of Semiconductors | 3 |
Optoelectronics and Photonics
| ECE 208 | Semiconductor Optoelectronic Devices | 3 |
| ECE 231 | Principles of Optics | 3 |
| ECE 332 | Optical Waves in Crystals | 3 |
Theoretical and Computational Physics
| AMCS 201 | Applied Mathematics I | 3 |
| AMCS 202 | Applied Mathematics II | 3 |
| AMCS 231 | Applied Partial Differential Equations I | 3 |
| AMCS 252 | Numerical Analysis of Differential Equations | 3 |
| AMCS 255 | Advanced Computational Physics | 3 |
| AMCS 331 | Applied Partial Differential Equations II | 3 |
| AMCS 353 | Advanced Topics in Wave Propagation | 3 |
| AP 330 | Many-Body Theory in Condensed Matter | 3 |
| CS 229 | Machine Learning | 3 |
| ME 305A | Computational Fluid Dynamics | 3 |
| ME 305B | Computational Fluid Dynamics | 3 |
| ME 319 | Computational Solid Mechanics | 3 |
| MSE 314 | Ab-Initio Computational Methods | 3 |
Graduate Seminar (AP 398)
M.Sc. students are required to register in three AP graduate seminars and receive a satisfactory grade to fulfill the seminar requirements for M.Sc. degree.
Winter Enrichment Program
Students are required to satisfactorily complete at least one full Winter Enrichment Program (WEP).
Research/Capstone Experience (12 credits)
Designation of Academic Advisor
The first step for students applying for thesis is to identify an M.Sc. academic (thesis) advisor. Students are required to select a faculty member affiliated with the program to supervise the thesis research. The list of AP-affiliated faculty members is available on the Applied Physics program main page, click here.
Students may choose to conduct thesis research with a non-affiliated faculty member. The potential non-affiliated academic (thesis) advisor must request the program’s approval to become a project-affiliated advisor for the specific thesis project before commencing the research work.
Thesis Credits Registration
Students are required to complete a minimum of 12 credits of thesis research (AP 297). Students are permitted to register for more than 12 credits of M.Sc. thesis research as necessary and with the permission of the academic (thesis) advisor.
M.Sc. Thesis Timeline and Extension
M.Sc. students and their academic advisors need to define the thesis timeline at the time the thesis application is submitted. Students are expected to complete the M.Sc. thesis degree requirements by the end of their second fall semester (third semester).
M.Sc. students may apply to extend into the spring semester (fourth semester) by submitting the request for extension to complete the M.Sc. thesis.
Thesis Defense and Submission
M.Sc. students are expected to form a thesis examination committee, submit a written thesis document, and defend their thesis to complete the thesis research requirements.
M.Sc. Thesis Committee Formation
Once the thesis is ready to be examined/defended, students have to form the thesis examination committee and set the date for the oral defense.
Students are required to submit the thesis formation committee form at the beginning of the semester in which they intend to defend their thesis.
Thesis Committee Members Selection Criteria
The thesis defense committee must consist of at least three members and typically includes no more than four members as:
| Member |
Role |
Program Status |
| 1 |
Committee Chair |
Affiliated faculty member |
| 2 |
KAUST faculty |
Affiliated faculty member |
| 3 |
KAUST faculty |
Non-affiliated faculty member |
| 4 |
Additional faculty or research scientist |
Inside or outside KAUST |
Notes:
- Members 1-3 are required, member 4 is optional
- Member 1: committee chair must be an AP faculty member or a KAUST faculty member affiliated with AP program
- Member 2: must be an AP faculty member
- Member 3: KAUST faculty member not affiliated with the program
- Co-chairs may serve as member 2, 3, or 4, but may not be a research scientist
- Adjunct professors and professors emeriti may retain their roles on current committees, but may not serve as chair on any new committees
- Professors of practice and research professors may serve as members 2, 3 or 4 depending upon their affiliation with the student’s program, they may also serve as co-chairs
- Visiting professors may serve as member 4
Thesis Defense
An oral defense of the M.Sc. thesis is required, although it may be waived by the dean’s office under exceptional circumstances. Public presentation and all other details related to the format of the oral defense are left to the discretion of the thesis committee.
The oral thesis defense must be completed two weeks before the last day of classes of the graduating semester. Students must set the date of the thesis defense with the committee members by the time students submit their thesis committee formation form.
Thesis Document
Students must follow the KAUST Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines available on the KAUST Library website when they write their thesis.
The division urges students to submit the thesis to the examining committee no later than two weeks prior to the defense. However, the committee chair sets the final requirement for the submission timeline.
Thesis Defense Evaluation
Students defending their thesis will receive one of these two outcomes, pass or fail. A pass is achieved when the committee agrees with no more than one dissenting vote, otherwise the outcome is a fail.
In case of a pass, students are required to send a copy of the M.Sc. thesis approval form within two days after the thesis defense to the GPC.
In the case of a fail, the academic (thesis) advisor must inform the GPC immediately to take the necessary action.