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Doctoral qualifying examination

The purpose of the Doctoral Qualifying Examination is to evaluate students’ overall academic preparation for the Ph.D. program as well as their readiness to engage in independent research and to complete the Ph.D. program. This includes, in particular:

  • Understanding of and ability to apply fundamental concepts of the discipline;
  • Capacity for independent thought, critical analysis, and creative problem solving;
  • Ability to communicate orally including responding to questions and comments.

Timeline & eligibility

Students are expected to take the Qualifying Exam at the latest during their second year in the Ph.D. program, and to complete both the Written and Oral portions of the exam within the same academic quarter. Doctoral students who do not pass the Qualifying Exam by the end of their third year of Ph.D. graduate study may be subject to established Department Unsatisfactory Progress Policies. Taking the Qualifying Exam does not preclude a Direct-to-Ph.D. student from completing an MSAA en route to the PhD.

Doctoral Qualifying Examinations are held three times per academic year, during the Autumn, Winter, and Spring Quarters. To be eligible to take the Qualifying Exam, a student must:

  • Be enrolled in the Ph.D. program;
  • Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.4;
  • Have passed (3.4 or above) at least one “Core Course”* or “Selective Course”*, from a disciplinary research track in the department other than the research area of the student, and,
  • Have identified a faculty member who has agreed to serve as their doctoral supervisor.

Continuing to Ph.D. from MSAA

Students admitted to the MSAA program are eligible to take the qualifying exam only after completing the MSAA and meeting all other eligibility requirements. MSAA students seeking to continue toward the PhD are expected to take the qualifying exam during the first examination cycle following completion of the MSAA.

* Exceptions must be pre-approved by the AA Graduate Committee.

Examination committee

  • A Qualifying Exam Committee includes at least three members of the UW Graduate Faculty.
  • The student’s faculty advisor should serve as Co-Chair alongside a second AA Faculty Member.
  • At least two members of the committee must hold an appointment in the Aeronautics & Astronautics Department.
  • It is the student’s responsibility to identify all committee members in consultation with their faculty advisor. Students will submit their full committee membership when they submit their request to take the exam.

Examination format

The Qualifying Exam consists of two parts – written and oral.

Written exam

On the second Friday of the quarter, the Exam Committee will assign the student one journal article1. The student has four weeks (plus one additional weekend) to analyze and respond to the article, including additional literature review. Students must work entirely independently during the written portion of the exam.

On the fifth Monday following the delivery of the written assignment, the student must submit a written report approximately 7-10 pages in length. The report will be submitted electronically to the entire committee and cc’d to the staff Graduate Adviser.

Reports will be assessed on the demonstration of technical knowledge, critical analysis, and the quality of the writing – all of which should convey consistently high-quality graduate-level work. A complete report will demonstrate the student’s understanding of the article’s content and its relevance to the broader field. This includes:

  • A literature review on the topic covered in the article;
  • A brief summary of the article;
  • A discussion on the relevance and impact of the article’s findings;
  • A discussion of potential future directions; and
  • Any appropriate criticism.

1 Tutorial or review articles should not be assigned for the written exam. Additionally, to avoid any conflict of interest, no one on the student’s committee shall have authored or co-authored the research reported in the assigned article. The selected article should be a seminal/foundational/“classic”/breakthrough paper within the discipline.

Within two weeks (14 days) the Committee Chairs will notify the student of the outcome of the written exam. There are three possible outcomes to the written exam:

  • Pass Student proceeds to Oral Exam
  • Revise: Student has ten days to revise and resubmit the written exam in response to committee feedback.
  • Reexamine:Student may not proceed to oral exam. The student is advised to retake the exam, beginning with the written exam, during the next examination cycle. Reexamination follows the same format as the first exam.

    Only one reexamination may occur without a petition to the AA Graduate Committee. If a third examination is requested or if a student wants to appeal a decision by the committee, a petition to the graduate committee should be submitted. Petitions must be submitted in writing and must include a formal letter of support from the student’s faculty adviser.

    If a student fails to pass the written exam within the limit on the number of written exams allowed, the outcome of the written exam will be considered: NOT PASS.

Oral exam

After successfully passing the written exam, students must proceed to the oral exam. In preparation for the oral portion of the exam, the student will be provided the list of “Core” and “Selective” courses that are integrated into the MSAA degree requirements within their respective disciplinary research track. These “Core” and “Selective” courses are the basis for the topics to be covered by the committee in the oral examination.

The committee will be provided the transcript for the student taking the exam. Based on the “Core” and “Selective” courses above, the committee members will coordinate amongst themselves the specific areas of inquiry for the exam. This will ensure adequate questioning and coverage of the “Core” and “Selective” topics. Specific questions will not be provided to the student in advance of the oral exam and only broadly identified and arranged amongst committee members in advance.

Oral examinations should be completed before the last day of the academic quarter (no later than the last day of finals week). It is the student’s responsibility to identify a time/date for the exam and submit that information to the Graduate Program Adviser. All members of the Exam Committee are expected to attend the oral exam. Oral Exams are open to all members of the Aeronautics & Astronautics faculty.

Unlike the written portion of the exam, students are permitted to prepare for the oral examination collaboratively with other students. This may include practice presentations as well as practice Q&A sessions with peers.

Oral exams last no more than two hours. This includes:

  • An opening Presentation by the student on the assigned journal article and written report (20 minutes maximum, open to all AA faculty)
  • Committee questions based on assigned journal article and oral presentation (10 minutes maximum, open to all AA Faculty)
  • Committee questions based on “Fundamental/Core Area” topics (60 minutes maximum, open to all AA Faculty). The student will be expected to respond to these questions orally and use the board or a tablet as needed. The time will be divided equally between the participating committee members.
  • Faculty deliberation (15 minutes, open only to committee members) in which the committee will assess the student’s exam performance and their readiness for continued doctoral study.
  • Discussion and Feedback (15 minutes, open only to committee and student being examined) in which the committee will provide direct and constructive feedback to the student about their overall exam performance, areas of strength, and areas of opportunity for growth.

The time allocations for each part of the exam will be strictly followed. To ensure time limits are observed, one member of the committee must be designated as the Timekeeper for the various portions of the exam.

Students will be evaluated on:

  • Overall quality of the written report and oral presentation of the report;
  • Command of disciplinary fundamentals;
  • Ability to communicate clearly when presenting technical content and responding to questions;
  • Ability to establish context and connections to developments in the area and in other discipline areas.

The committee will notify the student of the outcome of the oral exam immediately following its discussion. There are three possible outcomes following the oral exam.

  • Pass: Student may proceed with doctoral studies, including the formation of a Doctoral Supervisory Committee. Students are expected to form the Doctoral Supervisory Committee within six months of passing the qualifying exam.
  • Reexamine: Student may retake the oral portion of the qualifying exam during the next exam cycle. Reexamination follows the same format as the first exam, including the opening presentation. Only one reexamination may occur without a petition*.
  • Not pass: If the Exam Committee returns a “not pass” outcome, the student will not be eligible to continue in the doctoral program*. Students who do not pass the qualifying exam and who do not have a masters degree already are eligible to complete an MSAA, in which case the student will be formally transferred to the MSAA program.

*A student may appeal to either take the exam a third time or appeal a “not pass” outcome. Petitions must be submitted in writing and must include a formal letter of support from the student’s faculty adviser. The Graduate Committee will review and take final action on petitions.