Doctor of Philosophy

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree is conferred in recognition of high attainment and productive scholarship.

• Two-step Admission Process
• Acoustics Ph.D. Qualifying Exam
• English Competency
• Residency Requirements for the Ph.D.
• Course Requirements for the Ph.D.
• Ph.D. Committee
• Comprehensive Examination (Revised 2013)
• Continuous Registration
• Written Dissertation and Final Oral Exam
• Time to Completion for Ph.D.

Two-step Admission Process

Admission to the Ph.D. program is a two-step process. First, the candidate must apply to the Graduate Program in Acoustics for admission as a Ph.D. student. Admission to the program will permit the student to begin taking classes and working toward a doctor’s degree. However, the student is not a doctoral candidate until he or she has completed the second step and passed the Acoustics Ph.D. candidacy examination.

Admission to Candidacy will be based on: the academic record of the student, the results of a candidacy examination, and the opinion of the graduate faculty of the program and the program director regarding the student’s overall fitness for candidacy.

Acoustics Ph.D. Qualifying Exam

All students wishing to pursue a doctoral degree at Penn State must pass a qualifying examination. The purpose of the qualifying examination is to assess whether or not the student is well grounded in the fundamental knowledge of acoustics and has demonstrated evidence of critical thinking skills necessary to be a successful doctoral researcher. The student is expected to demonstrate sufficient intellectual capacity and maturity to progress successfully through the course work and other organized aspects of the Ph.D. program. 

The Acoustics Ph.D. Qualifying Exam is offered twice a year. Students must make their first attempt to pass the Qualifying exam within the first three semesters of entry into the doctoral program.

In order to sit for the Acoustics Qualifying Exam, the student must:

• have been admitted to the Acoustics program as a Ph.D. student
• have completed at least 18 credits in courses eligible to be counted toward the graduate degree (these may be graduate credits earned at other recognized institutions from which transfer crediits would be accepted) or the equivalent upon approval of the program
• have maintained a grade-point average of 3.00 or greater for work done at Penn State while a graduate student
• have no incomplete or deferred grades

Students who do not pass the qualifying exam on their first attempt may be given a second opportunity to take the exam; the decision to offer a student a second opportunity to take the exam will be at the discretion of the faculty committee evaluating the exam. Any student taking the qualifying exam for the second time must take the exam the next time the exam is offered. A student will be allowed only two opportunities to pass the qualifying exam. A student who fails the qualifying exam on the second attempt will not be allowed to continue pursuing a Ph.D. in Acoustics at Penn State. The student may be allowed to complete a M.S. thesis, at the discretion of the student’s advisor.

Evaluation:

The student will be evaluated on all three parts of the exam by the committee using an established rubric (pre-defined by the committee and shared with the students) to determine whether the student:

1) Passes the exam with no further follow-up;

2) Provisionally passes the exam provided they:

• Re-do parts of the written exam – Part 2
• Other (at the discretion of the committee); or

3) Fails the exam for which the committee decides whether a re-take option is provided or whether the student is terminated from the PhD program.

• Appeals allowed per Graduate School Policy

Timeline:

The Qualifying Exam will be offered in May/June each year for students taking the exam for the first time. Students who fail the exam on the first attempt and who have been granted an opportunity to re-take the exam, should expect the re-take attempt to occur in August of the same year. No students will be allowed to take the exam for the first time in August. This exam format (see table above) will be enacted for the Fall 2024 cohort.

The Qualifying examination is supervised by the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam committee, which is composed of four faculty members from the Acoustics Program. For the 2024-2025 cycle, the Qualifying Exam committee is comprised of Dr. Yun Jing (chair), Dr. Victor Sparrow, Dr. Robert Smith, and Dr. Amanda Hanford. Upon completion of the written and oral portions of the exam, the committee will notify students in writing whether or not they have passed the exam; the outcome will also be reported to the Program Office and to the Graduate School.

English Competency

English competence has been formally designated as part of the Ph.D. candidacy requirements as outlined in the Graduate Bulletin. This requirement applies to all entering Ph.D. students. The Graduate Program in Acoustics and advisers will identify any deficiencies before or at the Candidacy Examination and direct affected students into appropriate remedial activities. Both domestic and international candidates must meet the English Competency Requirements set down in this policy statement before they are accepted into the Ph.D. Program.

If a non-native speaker fails the verbal part of the exam, the candidate will be required to take (and pass with a B or higher grade) SPCOM 115G (English as a Second Language: Speaking/Listening). If a native candidate fails the verbal test, then he/she will be required to take (and pass with a B or higher grade) either SPCOM 100A (Effective Speech, Public Speaking) or SPCOM 312 (Informative Technical and Presentational Speaking). For failures in the written part English competency, native candidates must complete successfully (B or higher grade) ENG 198G (Writing in the Disciplines); for the non-native failures, SPCOM 116G (English as a Second Language: Reading/Writing).

Residency Requirements for the Ph.D.

All Ph.D. students must satisfy the University residency requirement. Between admission into the Ph.D. program and completion of the degree, the candidate must physically spending two consecutive semesters (Fall and Spring) as a registered full-time student engaged in academic work at the University Park campus. 601 courses (thesis research) may not be used to meet the full-time residence requirement.

Course Requirements for the Ph.D.

For students entering the program before Fall 2025: Ph.D. students are required to take 21 credits of 500-level Acoustics core courses, but the student’s Ph.D. committee may require the doctoral candidate to take specific additional courses they deem relevant to the specific research topic.

For students entering the program in Fall 2025

The Ph.D. in Acoustics requires a minimum of 36 course credits. Students admitted to the Ph.D. in Acoustics may satisfy the course credit requirements in two ways.

1. A student admitted to the Ph.D. program upon completion of a bachelor’s degree must complete a minimum of 36 course credits as follows. The student must complete 21 credits of required acoustics courses, 3 credits of mathematics from an approved list of math courses, and 12 course credits from electives at the 400, 500, and 800 level (with no more than 6 credits at the 400 level and at least 6 credits at the 500 level). The student’s doctoral committee may require the student to take specific additional courses beyond the 36-credit minimum, as deemed relevant to the student’s research topic.

2. A student admitted to the Ph.D. program upon completion of a master’s degree must satisfy a minimum of 36 course credits as follows. The student may satisfy some or all of the 21 credits of required core acoustics courses or mathematic course either by having previously completed those courses during the M.Eng. or M.S. at Penn State or by obtaining a waiver from the Acoustics Program Director for having completed equivalent courses from another institution. The student must also complete 12 additional course credits of electives at the 400, 500, and 800 level (with no more than 6 credits at the 400 level and at least 6 credits at the 500 level) along with any required acoustics or math courses not satisfied by prior completion or waiver. The student’s doctoral committee may require the student to take specific additional courses beyond these requirements, as deemed relevant to the student’s research topic. In addition to these course credit requirements, a Ph.D. student may also take 600-level research credits. However, a maximum of 12 credits of 600-level research may be taken for a grade, and research credits may not be counted toward course credit requirements. Additional 600-level research credits may be taken as needed to maintain full-time status, but all research credits beyond 12 will be assigned an “R”.

	Admitted with B.S.	Admitted with M.S.
Credits from required core courses	21	21*
Credits from approved math courses	3	3*
Credits from electives	12	12
Maximum research credits for grade	12	12

 * May be satisfied through completion of M.S. degree at Penn State or waived upon approval by the Acoustics Program Director for equivalent courses taken during M.S. degree at another institution.

List of Required courses for the Ph.D. in Acoustics (21 credits)

• ACS 501, Elements of Acoustics and Vibration
• ACS 502, Elements of (sound) Waves in Fluids
• ACS 503, Signal Analysis for Acoustics and Vibration
• ACS 505, Experimental Techniques in Acoustics (2 credits)
• ACS 514, Electrostatic Transducers
• ACS 515, Acoustics in Fluid Media
• ACS 523, Advanced Signal Analysis II
• ACS 590, Colloquium (1 credit)

List of Approved Math Courses for the Ph.D. in Acoustics (3 credits) *

• EMCH 524A, Engineering Mathematics I
• EMCH 524B, Engineering Mathematics II
• ME 544, Engineering Mathematics
• STAT 500, Applied Statistics, or equivalent (there are 400-level stat courses that cover similar content)
• STAT 501, Regression Methods
• STAT 502, Analysis of Variance and Design of Experiments
• STAT 505, Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis
• MATH 405, Advanced Calculus for Engineers and Scientists I
• MATH 411, Ordinary Differential Equations
• MATH 412, Fourier Series and Partial Differential Equations
• MATH 421, Complex Analysis l
• MATH 513, Partial Differential Equations I

* Approval may be requested from the Acoustics Program Director to substitute a different math.

Ph.D. Committee

A Ph.D. student’s Doctoral Committee must be formed within 12 months of passing the Acoustics Ph.D. Qualifying Exam. The candidate and the candidate’s research advisor should discuss possible committee members. The student’s advisor must propose the committee make up to the Acoustics Program Director for approval, before inviting faculty members to serve. The committee must have a minimum of four members. Three of these must be members of the Acoustics Faculty and one must be from a department other than Acoustics (and preferably from a designated related area that the student will pursue). In special situations, a member of the Acoustics faculty who is also a member of the faculty in another department at the University may be approved as the outside member. All members of the doctoral committee must be members of the Graduate Faculty. The specific rules for forming a doctoral committee are outlined in policy GCAC-602. The Program Office will supply a Graduate Student Committee Policies and Procedures and Committee Appointment Signature Form which must be signed and dated by the student, the committee chair, members of the committee, and the Acoustics Program Director. This form then gets turned in to the Program Office and will be sent to the Fox Graduate School for approval. After the Graduate School approves the committee, the committee assumes the function of providing guidance for the remainder of the student’s program.

The chairperson of the doctoral committee is responsible for the administrative aspects of the doctoral program such as coordinating the committee’s activities and convening meetings of the committee. In most cases, the chairperson is also the research adviser. The research adviser has the following responsibilities:

• Serves on the student’s doctoral committee.
• Directs the research program.
• Assists the student in selecting courses.
• Supervises preparation of documents such as research proposal, draft of thesis, and final copy of thesis submitted to the Graduate School.

Immediately after the doctoral committee is formed, a planning meeting must be scheduled with these objectives:

• Review of student’s academic record as well as work and educational experiences.
• Presentation of research proposal by the student.
• Identify courses relevant to the research program that the student should take, in addition to the core courses.
• Approve a tentative time schedule for the student’s program and taking the comprehensive examination.

The doctoral committee chairperson will provide a written record of the planning meeting to the Acoustics Program Office for inclusion in the student’s file.

The doctoral committee should meet regularly (at least once a year) to review the status of the student’s program of study and research. The committee may meet at any other time the adviser feels the objective or character of the research has changed significantly. The results and recommendations of the meeting should be communicated in writing by the Committee Chairperson to the Acoustics Program Chair for review and inclusion in the student’s file.

Comprehensive Examination

The purpose of the comprehensive examination is to evaluate the candidate’s mastery of acoustics and assess a student’s general preparedness to do research in his/her chosen research area. The examination is not intended to be only a defense of a specific research topic, because that topic may change during the Ph.D. research. The comprehensive exam consists of two parts which can be taken in any order determined by the Doctoral Committee. However, while Part I and Part II may be completed in any sequence approved by the Doctoral Committee, both parts must be passed before notification of passage is communicated to the Fox Graduate School.

The first part of the comprehensive examination (Part I) cannot be attempted until after the student has substantially completed all the courses required by the Doctoral Committee. However, Part I must be passed no later than 24 months after the completion of the candidacy examination unless a delay is approved by at least two-thirds of the Doctoral Committee because of special circumstances. The student must be registered as a full-time or part-time student for the semester in which the comprehensive examination is taken. A minimum grade point average of 3.00 for work done at the University is required for admission to the comprehensive examination and for graduation.

Part I of the comprehensive exam is a written and oral examination, which is administered and evaluated by the student’s Doctoral Committee. A favorable vote of at least two-thirds of the members of the Doctoral Committee is required for passing. In case of failure, the Doctoral Committee will determine whether the candidate will be permitted to take another comprehensive examination. The examination will consist of a written part to be administered first and then an oral part to be administered within two weeks of the written part. The written part may be either open book or closed book, at the discretion of the Doctoral Committee. The written examination primarily covers material related to the thesis research area, and it is posed and evaluated by the Doctoral Committee members; at least one question from every Doctoral Committee member is included in the examination. The written examination will last no longer than two consecutive days. The Doctoral Committee chairperson requests the Program Office to contact the Fox Graduate School to schedule the oral portion of Part I and to notify the Doctoral Committee members of the time and place of the examination. At least two-thirds of the Doctoral Committee must vote in favor of passing for the student to have passed the examination.

Part II of the comprehensive exam is the Thesis/Dissertation. Instructions for the content of this Proposal (e.g., Title, Problem Statement, Justification and Significance, Methodology, Resource Requirements and Literature Search), and its oral defense, must be followed.

Once a student has passed both parts of the comprehensive examination, the doctoral program must be completed within six years or a second comprehensive examination is required. After passing the comprehensive examination, a student usually registers for the noncredit course ACS 601 (Thesis Preparation, full time) or ACS 611 (Thesis Preparation, part-time). Under University rules, students registered in ACS 601 may also take 3 credits (maximum) of course work for audit at no additional fee while students registered in ACS 601 may take 3 credits (maximum) of course work for credit by paying an additional flat fee.

Continuous Registration

All students who have passed their comprehensive exam and who have satisfied the two-semester full-time residence requirement must register each fall and spring semester until graduation, with one exception. Summer session registration is required if either the Comprehensive or Final Oral Exam is taken after the first six-week summer session has begun. However, summer session registration is not required if the Final Oral Exam is taken prior to the first day of classes for the first six-week summer session. Also, a student must be registered in the semester that the Candidacy Exam is taken.

If, for compelling reasons, a Ph.D. student will not be in residence for an extended period then the senior associate dean of the Graduate School will consider a petition for a waiver of the continuous registration requirement. This petition must come from the doctoral committee chairperson and must carry the endorsement of the Program Chair.

Written Dissertation and Final Oral Exam

All Ph.D. candidates must write a dissertation. The topic of the study must be original and must be developed in large part by the student. Thus, the purpose of writing the dissertation is for the student to demonstrate the ability to pose a new relevant problem, conduct the necessary research, and summarize the results in a well organized written form. The dissertation should be completed within three to four years after a student has been admitted to Ph.D. candidacy. Further information on the required format of the dissertation can be obtained from the Thesis Guide published by the Fox Graduate School.

Once completed in manuscript form and approved by the research adviser, the dissertation is given to the student’s Doctoral Committee whose members read it and then administer a Final Oral Exam, or Defense. A clean draft copy of the thesis should be provided to the student’s Doctoral Committee at least 2 weeks prior to the oral exam (defnse). This final oral exam is scheduled by the Fox Graduate School in the same way that the Comprehensive Exam was scheduled; as with the other exams, the student must be registered and the current tuition bill must have been paid in order to take the exam. The final oral examination consists of an oral presentation of the dissertation by the student and a period of question and responses. This phase of the final oral exam is open to the public. Following the presentation and question and response phase, the public is excused and the student meets with his or her doctoral committee. The committee members may continue the questioning. Although the questions should relate in large part to the dissertation, they may cover the student’s whole program of study, since one of the purposes of the examination is to assess the general scholarly attainments of the student.

The Program Office should be notified at least two weeks prior to the scheduled dissertation defense so that announcements of the defense can be circulated to faculty and students. The committee decides whether a student passes the exam; as with the Comprehensive Exam, at least two-thirds of the committee must vote in favor of passing the student for the student to have passed the exam.

When the final oral examination has been passed and the dissertation accepted (after incorporating the changes made by the committee), it should be submitted in final form to the Fox Graduate School (see the Thesis Guide, which can be obtained from the Fox Graduate School Thesis Office). The unbound master copy of the thesis is required by the Fox Graduate School and one (1) bound copy is to be presented to the Acoustics Program Office. An additional bound copy may be required by the thesis adviser. Traditionally, committee members are presented with bound copies as well. The costs of dissertation preparation, copying, and binding are the responsibilities of the student.

Time to Completion for Ph.D.

Penn State’s Fox Graduate School allows 8 years after successful completion of the candidacy exam for completion of a doctoral degree. The Acoustics Program anticipates a student will complete the doctoral degree in approximately 3 years beyond the completion of a Master’s degree, or 5 years without a Master’s degree.