Doctorate Program (Ph.D)

Overview

Students can register in the PhD Program at either Blacksburg or Greater Washington DC Area Campus. For a quick review of the PhD Program, click here.

The target population of incoming direct PhD students is expected to be from undergraduate nuclear engineering programs as well as the general undergraduate engineering and physics pool. However, the target population for Master's to Ph.D. will be from Master's level nuclear engineering programs. Recruitment efforts will also focus on having the best M.S. nuclear engineering students at Virginia Tech continue on to obtain their Ph.D. Emphasis will be placed on recruiting a well-qualified, diverse background (gender, race, disabled, etc.) of students into the nuclear engineering program.

In the process of earning his/her degree, a Ph.D. student gains a deep knowledge of the nuclear engineering subject matter and independently carries out a comprehensive research project. Accordingly, each student's curriculum will be specifically tailored by his/her Advisory Committee within the requirements listed below.

Earning a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering requires the completion of a minimum 90-credit-hour program. A cumulative GPA of 3.0 ("A" = 4.0) is required for all coursework taken at the University. This policy is consistent with Mechanical Engineering department policy and University policy. No grade below B is allowed for any Ph.D. core course. Failure to earn a grade of B in a Ph.D. core course requires retaking the course.

The 90 credit-hours are made up of (1) 30 graded credit-hours of coursework consisting of Master's-level core courses and required Ph.D. core courses (see Sample Plan of Study), (2) 30 credit-hours of research, and (3) 30 credit-hours of enhancement courses which may consist of either research credits or graduate-level courses taken from any unit of the University.

Degree Requirements

1. 1. Master's-level and Ph.D. core courses

   A minimum of 30 graded credit-hours of courses must be taken as follows:

   -NSEG 5124 Nuclear Reactor Analysis (3 cr)
   -NSEG 5204 Nuclear Fuel Cycle (3 cr)
   -NSEG 5424 Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (3 cr)
   -NSEG 5604 Radiation Detection and Shielding (3 cr)
   -Mathematics course from Appendix A (3 cr)

   Students with a M.S. degree in Nuclear Engineering from another institution or those with a M.S. degree in another discipline who are accepted into the Ph.D. program will undergo an evaluation of their graded course work from their Master's degree to determine whether the courses which have been taken satisfy the above requirements. If not satisfied, the missing courses must be taken in their Ph.D. program at Virginia Tech.

   Not more than 15 credit-hours of graded coursework may be transferred from another institution. These transfer credits may be applied to the Master's core course requirement above, the Ph.D. core course requirement below, or the enhancement requirement as approved by the student's Advisory Committee. All transferred course credits must have the grade of "B" or higher and have been earned while enrolled as a graduate student. All transfer credits must be accompanied by transcripts which verify the grades earned. Course syllabi might also be required.

   In addition, all doctoral students will complete the following five Ph.D. core courses (15 credit hours):
   -MSE 5384G Advanced Nuclear Materials (3 cr)
   -NSEG 5134 Monte Carlo Methods for Particle Transport (3 cr)
   -NSEG 6124 Advanced Nuclear Reactor Analysis (3 cr)
   -NSEG 6334 Nuclear Reactor Safety Analysis (3 cr)
   -Mathematics course from Appendix A (3 cr)*

   *The "Mathematics course from Appendix A (3 cr)" represents 3 graded credit hours of mathematics or statistics courses beyond the Master's level coursework math requirement listed above. Appropriate input is provided by the Advisor to determine which mathematics/statistics course(s) is/are to be taken by the student in support of their dissertation.

2. 2. Research Requirement

   A minimum of 30 credit-hours of research (NSEG 7994 Research and Dissertation (variable; up to 12 credits per semester)).

3. 3. Enhancement Requirement

   A minimum of 30 additional credit-hours consisting of a combination of either graduate coursework (5000-level or higher) from any unit of the University and/or research and dissertation credits (NSEG 7994), as approved by the student's Advisory Committee. These credits are tailored for the specific research topic and background of the student. Additional in-depth courses related to the student's research area, if applicable, would be included under this requirement. Moreover, students who plan to enter academia after completion of their PhD are encouraged to take electives such as GRAD 5104 Preparing the Future Professoriate and ENGE 5014 Foundations of Engineering Education. Those planning to enter industry are encouraged to take electives such as GRAD 5314 Future Industrial Professional in Science and Engineering. These electives satisfy part of the 30 credit-hours enhancement requirement.

4. 4. Seminar Program

   All Ph.D. graduate students must participate in the nuclear engineering program seminar series. No course credit-hours will be given for this requirement. The seminars will consist of periodic presentations by on- and off-campus speakers to address technical issues, policy issues and professional growth issues. Policy issues should address public concerns and controversies of nuclear energy and science, nuclear weapons proliferation, national energy policy, nuclear security, public education on radiation, cybersecurity, etc. One purpose of the seminars is to broaden student interest in the policy arena and encourage them to take elective policy courses outside the nuclear engineering discipline such as in international policy, nuclear security, science and technology in society, political science, etc. In addition, seminars/workshops will be conducted on technical communication skills involving both oral and written communications. All Ph.D. students must present one technical seminar before graduating.

5. 5. Residency Experience

   The nuclear engineering degree follows the Ph.D. residency requirement as set forth by the University. The purpose of the residency requirement is to ensure immersion in scholarship, research, and professional development. This will be satisfied through full-time enrollment for two consecutive semesters.

   The residency requirement applies to students and not to specific campuses. The students located in Northern Virginia will meet the residency requirement by enrolling full-time for two consecutive semesters at the Virginia Tech Northern Virginia Center in Falls Church, VA.

6. 6. Formation of Advisory Committee

   Before registration for the second semester of study, each graduate student must confer with the members of the faculty and obtain the agreement of one to serve as the student's advisor. Students are expected to take the initiative in selecting their advisor. Advisors are not assigned to students; rather, they are determined by mutual agreement between individual students and professors. A student's advisor provides guidance in many areas including defining a plan of study and monitoring the student's progress toward his or her degree.

   The Ph.D. student and his or her advisor, jointly select the other members of the Advisory Committee. The student is responsible for obtaining, from those selected, their agreement to serve on the Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee for a Ph.D. candidate consists of a minimum of five faculty members, neither more than four nor less than three of who are in the Mechanical Engineering Department. The advisor or a co-Advisor must be a faculty member in the Nuclear Engineering Program. Exception to these norms may be considered in cases where outside people of comparable credentials are involved in the research. The Ph.D. student and his or her advisor are responsible for arranging meetings of the Advisory Committee at appropriate times. It is strongly recommended that the Advisory Committee meets when the student is starting his or her research to discuss the undertaking. As a minimum, each student should arrange a meeting with his or her Advisory Committee at least once per semester. Each student is expected to meet with the advisor regularly, usually weekly to biweekly, to discuss the status of the research progress towards degree.

7. 7. Admission for Candidacy for Ph.D. Degree

   Before admission to candidacy for the Ph.D., all doctoral students must satisfactorily complete the following:

   1. Qualifying Examination - used to evaluate the student's mastery of the subject, to determine deficiencies, and to formulate judgments on whether the student should be encouraged to pursue Ph.D. studies. The Qualifying Examination is designed and administered by a Committee consisting of at least three nuclear engineering faculty members. The examination will be offered at least once per year, and may be offered more frequently if student demand warrants. The examination will consist of two 3-hour written tests given on the same day. The morning exam will involve solving problems in mathematics and physics. The afternoon exam will cover core nuclear engineering courses. The examination will ensure the student is properly prepared to conduct Ph.D. level research. Ph.D. students must take the qualifying examination within their first three semesters of study if they have an M.S. in nuclear engineering, or four semesters otherwise, and are given two opportunities for success.

   2. Preliminary Doctoral Examination - an oral presentation given before the student's Advisory Committee. The student prepares a written description of his or her proposed dissertation research in the form of a prospectus and distributes it to the members of the committee one week in advance of the examination. The purpose is to determine if the student is prepared to undertake the proposed research. This examination is held after the student has passed the Qualifying Examination and has completed all of the required coursework and before the student has made significant progress on the dissertation research. The Preliminary Examination must be passed at least 6 months before the Final Examination. Students are given two opportunities for success.

8. 8. Copies of the previous PhD Qualifying Exams

   2016 Fall Semester
   2017 Spring Semester
   2017 Fall Semester
   2018 Spring Semester
   2018 Fall Semester
   2019 Fall Semester
   2020 Fall Semester

9. 9. Final Examination

   The final examination comprises a written dissertation and an oral defense centered on the dissertation. This exam is advertised in advance, and all professorial rank faculty members are invited to attend. All members of a student's Advisory Committee are required to participate in that student's final examination. If suitable communication resources are available, committee members may participate from a remote location. In accordance with University policy, all graduate examinations are open to the faculty and faculty members are encouraged to attend and participate in such meetings. The examination is oral in nature, during which the candidate gives a brief review of his or her work, and answers questions on that work. To pass the final examination, a student is allowed at most one Unsatisfactory vote from a program committee member. If a student fails an examination, one full semester (a minimum of 15 weeks) must elapse before the second examination is scheduled. Not more than two opportunities to pass the final examination are allowed. A student failing the final examination two times will be dismissed from the program.

Admission Requirements

1. 1. Program Requirements

   In general, the Nuclear Engineering Program requires that applicants:

   -Have a minimum TARGET grade point average of 3.2/4.0, or better for either the B.S. degree program or in the last 60 hours of course work
   -Have GRE TARGET scores of 150 verbal, 155 quantitative, and 4.5 analytical
   -Students whose native language is not English, must also take the internet-based TOEFL, IELTS, or have COMPLETED a degree from an English speaking institution. Minimum TARGET scores 105 total, 26 reading and speaking areas.

   Final admissions decisions are made based on a holistic evaluation of a candidate's application materials; research experience and the three letters of recommendation are a significant part of the evaluation of the application.

   The Nuclear Engineering Program and the Department of Mechanical Engineering process applications on a rolling basis. However, to be given full consideration for admission and assistantships/fellowships, complete application materials must be received by:

   -January 15th, for the Fall Term
   -October 1st, for the Spring Term

   All application materials should be received by the deadlines for admission. Please be aware that the Graduate School has different application deadlines. Refer to their website for those deadlines and submit your application to meet the earlier of the deadlines. The online application and additional information about requirements and how to apply may be found on the Graduate School website and on the Mechanical Engineering website.

   Applicants are encouraged to contact faculty members whose research areas most interests them by sending a resume and a cover letter via e-mail.

   Depending on desired degree path, there may be different requirements. See below for additional information:

   Direct Ph.D

   For those students possessing a Bachelor's degree (but not an advanced degree), graduation from an accredited college or university or its equivalent, with an undergraduate overall grade point average (GPA) exceeding 3.5 ("A" = 4.0) is required. It is expected that exceptional undergraduate students would have a higher success rate in completing the Ph.D. program. If an undergraduate student has a GPA lower than 3.5, that student should apply instead to the Master's degree program. This 3.5 GPA requirement exceeds the Mechanical Engineering department requirement of a 3.2 GPA and the University requirement of a 3.0 GPA. In addition, the most competitive applicants will have an undergraduate degree in nuclear engineering, or have an emphasis or minor in nuclear engineering. However, other relevant science and engineering disciplines will also be considered.

   Master' to Ph.D

   For those students already possessing a Master's degree, a graduate-level grade point average of at least 3.2 is required. This is consistent with the Mechanical Engineering department policy, but exceeds the University requirement of a 3.0 GPA. In addition, the most competitive applicants will have a Master's degree in nuclear engineering, or have a graduate certificate or significant course work in nuclear engineering. However, other relevant science and engineering disciplines will be considered for top applicants with the understanding that it may take an extra year to complete the Ph.D. degree requirements to make up for the missing core background.

2. 2. Application Package Requirements

   If all materials submitted with the online application are clearly legible, the Nuclear Engineering Protram does not require hard copy materials. It is highly recommended that you keep hard copies of all materials that you have submitted, since applications and supplemental information cannot be retrieved or altered once they are submitted.

   Complete departmental applications consist of:

   • Undergraduate Transcripts - Front and back scans of official transcripts are required. Once the application is complete, a final official transcript should be mailed directly to the Graduate School in a sealed envelope.
     -Graduate Transcripts - If applicable, front and back scans of official transcripts are required. Once the application is complete, a final official graduate transcript should be mailed directly to the Mechanical Engineering Department in a sealed envelope.
     -Letters of Reference - Three letters of reference are required. On-line references are preferred; however, if the online reference form is not used, references should be mailed in sealed envelopes directly to the Mechanical Engineering Department.
     -GRE/TOEFL Scores - Self reported scores can be used for the evaluation process until official scores arrive to the Graduate School from the Educational Testing Service. GRE scores should be less than two years old. Please see the Graduate School website for information on how to report scores to Virginia Tech.

   After filling out the online application, hard copy references should be sent in one large envelope to:

   Nuclear Engineering Program
   Department of Mechanical Engineering, MC 0238
   Graduate Coordinator
   100A Randolph Hall
   Blacksburg, VA 24061

   Online Supplemental Materials

   -Resume - 1 page preferred
   -Statement of Purpose - 2 pages, maximum
   -Publications - if applicable

   Additional Application Notes

   Please do not send e-mails requesting advice on your chances of acceptance, as we do not have the staff to review these requests. Out of professional courtesy to other universities, we do not accept mid-program transfers without a letter of release from the current advisor and or department head. You will be able to view the status of your application on the Banner website. For your protection, information on application status cannot be release by telephone or to third parties. The ME Department and the NEP can only recommend admission. Official notification from the Graduate School will be sent by postal mail. Estimated date for decisions to be posted for applicants in the US is March 15th for complete applications received by January 15th. Estimated date for decisions to be posted for applicants outside the US is May 15th for complete applications received by January 15th. Please be aware that the online status only indicates if the application is complete at the VT Graduate School, not necessarily with the Department or Program.

   This list of frequently asked questions may prove useful.

Courses

Basic particle transport concepts. Random processes, random number generation techniques, fundamental formulation of Monte Carlo, sampling procedures, and fundamentals of probability and statistics. Monte Carlo algorithms for particle transport, non-analog Monte Carlo method

core

• NSEG 5124

  Nuclear Reactor Analysis

  3cr

  spring

  Nuclear reactions and fission process. The fission chain reaction. Neutron diffusion and moderation. One-speed diffusion model of a nuclear reactor. Neutron slowing and multigroup diffusion theory. Nuclear reactor kinetics. Introduction to reactor core physics design.

• NSEG 5134

  Monte Carlo Methods for Particle Transport

  3cr

  fall, summer*

  Basic particle transport concepts. Random processes, random number generation techniques, fundamental formulation of Monte Carlo, sampling procedures, and fundamentals of probability and statistics. Monte Carlo algorithms for particle transport, non-analog Monte Carlo method, formulations for different variance reduction techniques, and tallying procedures. Methodologies for parallelization and vectorization of the Monte Carlo methods, and examples of the Monte Carlo method for simulation of various real-life applications.

• NSEG 5204

  Nuclear Fuel Cycle

  3cr

  spring

  Uranium nuclear fuel cycle: mining, conversion, enrichment, fuel manufacturing, in-core fuel management and refueling, spent fuel storage, reprocessing/recycling and final disposition as waste in a geologic repository. Introduction to nuclear safeguards and nonproliferation as applied to each step of the cycle.

• MSE 5384G

  Advanced Nuclear Materials

  Either

  3cr

  fall, summer*

  Materials for nuclear applications with emphasis on fission reactors. Fundamental radiation effects on materials; material properties relevant to structural, moderator, reflector, blanket, coolant, control related structural systems. Pre-requisite: Graduate Standing required

• NSEG 5424

  Reactor Thermal Hydraulics

  Either

  3cr

  fall

  Fundamental processes of hear generation and transport in nuclear reactors. Heat generation by fission and radiation interactions; spatial distribution of heat generation; heat transport by conduction and convection. Effects of boiling and critical heat flux. Fundamentals of reactor thermal and hydraulic design.

• NSEG 5604

  Radiation Detection & Shielding

  3cr

  spring

  Radioactive decay, interaction of charged particles and photons with matter, methods of radiation detection and radiation dosimetry, counting statistics, external radiation protection using time, distance and shielding.

• NSEG 6124

  Particle Transport Theory Methods and Application

  3cr

  spring, summer*

  Neutron transport theory. Neutron slowing down and resonance absorption. Neutron thermalization. Perturbation and variational methods. Homogenization theory. Space-time neutron kinetics.

• NSEG 6334

  Nuclear Reactor Safety

  3cr

  spring

  Hazards of nuclear reactors; analysis of hypothetical design basis accidents; engineered safeguards and safety design principles; nuclear criticality safety; reactor containment; reactor safety codes; and probabilistic risk assessment.

elective

• NSEG 5114

  Nuclear Engineering Fundamentals

  3cr

  fall, summer*

  A foundation course in nuclear engineering. Neutron physics, reactor theory and kinetics, basic reactor design and operation, and overall power plant operation. Pre-requisite: Graduate Standing required.

• NSEG 5214

  Nuclear Plant Systems & Ops

  3cr

  spring

  Pressurized and boiling water reactors, detailed system functions and operation, reactor plant startup and shutdown procedures, reactor trip and casualty procedures, reactor transient response analysis, reactor plant licensing, ethics and integrity in the nuclear industry.

• NSEG 5284

  Nuclear Nonproliferation, Safeguards, and Security

  3cr

  spring

  Technical essentials, policy analysis, theoretical perspectives of nuclear energy and nuclear nonproliferation. Fundamentals of the nuclear fuel cycle, management of international safeguards, threat of nuclear terrorism, and challenges for global nuclear industry.

• NSEG 5504

  Radiation Effects on Metals and Alloys

  3cr

  spring

  Radiation effects on metals and alloys. Interaction between particles and atoms, radiation damage, displacement of atoms, diffusion of point defects, radiation-induced segregation, phase instability, transmutation products, irradiated material mechanical properties.

• NSEG 6134

  Advanced Reactor Physics

  3cr

  spring

  This course discusses different advanced concepts including neutron spectra, multigroup cross-sections and resonance treatment and related issues, fuel depletion, theory of SCALE6 code system and its limitations, fuel-cell homogenization and issues, method of characteristics and fuel cell homogenization, application of perturbation theory and variational methods, finite-difference and nodal diffusion methods, advanced methods and parallel computing.

*check with the instructor for availability

More Information

Contact: Ms. Allison Jones (Program Coordinator) arjones@vt.edu, or
Prof. Alireza Haghighat (Program Director) haghighat@vt.edu

Do you want to apply?
Fill-out the on-line application.