Marine Science

Entry requirements

Admission to the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program requires the satisfactory completion of an undergraduate or master's degree in science in a relevant or related area, such as Engineering, Mathematics or the Physical, Chemical and Biological Sciences.

There are three phases and associated milestones for Ph.D. students:

• ​Passing a qualifying exam
• Passing an oral defense of the dissertation proposal
• Dissertation phase with a final defense milestone

Months of entry

September

Course content

The Marine Science (MarS) program takes advantage of KAUST’s location on the Red Sea, a living laboratory with great potential for exciting science. The program addresses the biology and ecology of the multitude of marine life forms. There is an intentional focus on the local Red Sea system, both as a primary study system and as a system with which general concepts from other marine systems can be compared.

The goal of the Marine Science program is to develop an integrated understanding of the Red Sea’s ecosystem as well as marine ecosystems in general, including fundamental biology at the molecular and genomic levels, symbiosis with algae and prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea), associated communities of fish and corals and the physical and chemical environment that impacts and shapes them. This understanding could have an impact on global carbon cycling, endangered species and how we manage the harvesting of resources from the oceans.

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree is designed to prepare students for research careers in academia and industry. 


There is a minimum residency requirement at KAUST of three and a half years for students entering with a bachelor’s degree and two and a half years for students entering with a master’s degree. A minimum GPA of 3.0 must be achieved to graduate. Individual courses require a minimum of a B- for course credit. 


The Ph.D. degree includes the following steps:

• Securing a Dissertation Advisor
• Successful completion of program coursework
• Passing the Dissertation Proposal Defense to obtain candidacy status
• Preparing, submitting and successfully defending a Doctoral dissertation​​​​​

Fees and funding

See University website