PhD Course Requirements

Students who entered program ON OR AFTER September 1, 2019:

Students who entered program BEFORE May 1, 2016:

The PhD program is a research degree that requires a thesis and a minimum of 8 courses.  In consultation with the Chief Advisor, each student shall select a set of courses required for the PhD program. 

  •  A maximum of four (4) graduate Engineering courses taken previously at another institution can be transferred to fulfill the requirement if the grade is equivalent to an “A” based on the UWO scale.  At least half of the courses taken at Western must be stand-alone graduate courses to fulfill course requirements. Students must claim credit for these graduate-level courses in accordance with the requirements stated on the Proposed Program of Study form, including an official course outline and other documentation.

  •  Of the required 8 courses, each student is required to take at least 3 stand-alone graduate core courses.  A maximum of one (1) graduate Engineering courses taken previously at another institution can be transferred to fulfill the core course requirement if the grade is equivalent to an “A” based on the UWO scale.  There is no limit to the number of core graduate courses taken at Western in CBE with an “A” grade (or equivalent) that may be taken into account when counting the core course requirements.  Core courses are not required to be taken before the Comprehensive Examination.

PhD Course Requirements for students registered BEFORE January 1, 2007

  • minimum of four full or eight half courses
  • Up to one full course at the 300 or 400 level in another Faculty and/or at the 400 level in another department within the Faculty of Engineering may be used in partial fulfillment of the MESc course requirements. Approval by the Graduate Associate Chair must be obtained prior to enrolment. Exceptions are subject to the approval of the Graduate Associate Chair.

Additional Information

Additional information about graduate programs may be obtained from the SGPS website.
For information on the Faculty of Engineering graduate course exemption policy please see their website here.