Plant 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 goal of the Plant Science (PS) program is to develop a thorough understanding of plant growth and function under challenging environmental conditions, such as those found in Saudi Arabia. The fundamental biology of plants is studied at a range of levels (e.g. genomic, proteomic, metabolomics), and the interactions of plants with their environment, both abiotic (heat, salt and drought) and biotic (pathogens and symbionts) are investigated. Application of this knowledge will allow development of plants with enhanced tolerance to environmental stresses and help to establish sustainable agriculture systems in arid regions of the world.

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 Qualifying Examination
• Passing the Dissertation Proposal Defense to obtain candidacy status
• Preparing, submitting and successfully defending a Doctoral dissertation​​

Fees and funding

See University website