Major Sheet

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

1.

a)

b)

c)

2.

Course-Work (Minimum of 18 credits)

The student must complete a course-work in accordance to the scheme described in (a), (b), and (c) below. The minimum number of combined credits is 18.

Basic Courses*: (0-6 credits)

The student must take each of the six courses listed below (each course is three credits), and pass each with a grade of B or better provided such a course or its equivalent had not been taken before to complete a Master or an undergraduate degree requirements.

    • If a student needs to take more than two courses from the list above, then only 6 credit hours will be awarded toward the fulfillment of the course-work requirement.

    • If a student has already taken all the courses listed above to complete a Master’s or an undergraduate degree requirements, then the student may include in the program of study 500-Level mathematics courses other than those listed above. However, the student must pass any such course with a grade of B or better in order to count toward the course-work requirements; and the maximum number of credits awarded shall not exceed six.

600-Level Courses: (9 credits or more)

The student must take at least three (3) of the 600-Level courses listed below (each course is three credits) that are offered by the department of Mathematics and Computer Science.

3.

4.

Graduate Courses from Outside Mathematics Graduate Program: (0-6credits)

With the consent and encouragement of the program committee, a student may include in the program of study up to 6 credit hours from 500 or 600-Level courses offered by other graduate programs within Kuwait University.

Qualifying Examination

The student must submit to the College of Graduate Studies a request to sit the Ph.D. qualifying examination. The request must be made just before or soon after the student completed the course-work requirement with a GPA not less than 3.00 out of scale A = 4.00.

The qualifying examination structure for the Ph.D. program comprises three written examinations that are administered on three consecutive workweeks. Each examination is four-hour long and covers a specific area of mathematics. The student must choose the three area from the following four areas:

1. Algebra

2. Real Analysis

3. Differential Equations

4. Numerical Analysis

The student passes the qualifying examination by passing all three examinations. Each exam will be graded in two categories, Ph.D. Level Pass, Ph.D. Level Fail. The student must achieve Ph.D. Level Pass on each examination in order to remain in the Ph.D. program.

The examinations will cover materials specified in the existing syllabi that are available with the Director of the Graduate Studies Programs of the department of Mathematics and Computer Science. Should the student fail any examination, there will be only one additional chance to pass that examination, which the student must take in the same subject area. The student should make the second attempt no later than the next regular semester.

Major Topic

After the approval of the Ph.D. dissertation proposal, the academic supervisor will decide on a topic in the general field in which the student is writing a dissertation. The topic is referred to as "Major Topic." The Major Topic may be supportive of the planned dissertation topic, but should not have a narrow focus. The specific and exact goal of the Major Topic is to provide the student with a good understanding of how his or her work fits into a larger picture. Therefore, one expects the student to have an overview of the Major Topic's subject and his or her area of study and become familiar with all important work that has been done in both, and identify the particular problem(s) he or she proposes to work on.

Within one year of the selection of the Major Topic the student must submit a written report and give an oral presentation. The graduate program committee will form acommittee of at least three members with the academic supervisor as the chair. This committee is in charge of studying the written report and coordinating the oral presentation. The written report should include

    1. A discussion of the relevant literature,

    2. The common or the critical methodology involved in the subject of the Major Topic, and

    3. A clear explanation of how the planed dissertation fits into the subject of the major topic.

The oral presentation is public and should emphasize

    1. Particular problems the student attacked in relation to the dissertation, and some partial results, and

    2. How the dissertation will relate to the Major Topic's subject.

Questions and suggestions from the committee will follow the presentation. In order to pass, the committee must be convinced that the topic is genuine and the student is engaged in a meaningful research that is going to lead to a Ph.D. dissertation. Should the student fail, there will be one additional chance only to pass, otherwise the student is removed from the Ph.D. program. The second attempt must be made within a period of six months.

Oral Defense of the Dissertation

After the student had completed the course-work requirement, passed the qualifying examination, completed the Major Topic and had written the dissertation, the advisor should notify the program committee that the student is ready for the final oral defense. The College of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the Program Committee and the supervisor will select a suitable external examiner. Copies of the dissertation will be sent to the external examiner at least one month before the scheduled date of the final oral defense. If the report of the external examiner is positive then the final oral defense proceeds as scheduled.