Doctor of Philosophy in Aeronautics and Astronautics Fields

Source: https://catalog.mit.edu/degree-charts/phd-aeronautics-astronautics/ Parent: https://catalog.mit.edu/schools/

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Program Requirements


16.987	First-Year Graduate Student Seminar	2
Major Field of Study		60
At least five subjects in a proposed field of study
Minor Program of Study		30
Technical subjects (usually three) related to AeroAstro and sufficiently different from the major field
Math Requirement		24
Two graduate-level Department of Mathematics subjects, or subjects from the approved math requirements list 1
Research and Thesis
16.995	Doctoral Research and Communication Seminar	3
16.THG	Graduate Thesis 2	168
Total Units		287

Note: Students in this program can choose to receive the Doctor of Philosophy or the Doctor of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics or in another departmental field of specialization. Students receiving veterans benefits must select the degree they wish to receive prior to program certification with the Veterans Administration.


1	Students should consult the department's list of subjects that fulfill the math requirement, which is updated annually. The subjects used to fulfill the math requirement can also be part of the major or minor field of study, but must total 24 units.
2	Students must register for thesis units every semester they are in the program as they complete appropriate milestones, including passing the doctoral qualifying process, forming a doctoral committee, writing and successfully defending a thesis proposal, writing and successfully defending the thesis, and submission of a final, approved thesis document. The units listed here represent an average number taken during the 3–4 year duration of the doctoral program.

Students should consult the department's list of subjects that fulfill the math requirement, which is updated annually. The subjects used to fulfill the math requirement can also be part of the major or minor field of study, but must total 24 units.

Students must register for thesis units every semester they are in the program as they complete appropriate milestones, including passing the doctoral qualifying process, forming a doctoral committee, writing and successfully defending a thesis proposal, writing and successfully defending the thesis, and submission of a final, approved thesis document. The units listed here represent an average number taken during the 3–4 year duration of the doctoral program.