Below are the most commonly requested forms by PhD students. If the form you need is not listed below, please visit the document finder page on TGS website.
Milestone Exams
PhD students are required to complete a course-based and research based exam. Each of these exams are outlined below.
Preliminary Exam
View the Guidelines for the Preliminary Exam for a description of the exam. The Guidelines for Prelim Committee Composition explain how to select committee members.
The Preliminary Exam should be passed before the end of exams in the spring of the student’s second year in the program. The time required for the Preliminary exam is two hours.
Required forms:
- Committee Approval Form to be submitted to the Graduate School at least 40 days before the milestone exam.
- MEMS Preliminary Exam Approval Form to be submitted to the DGSA at least 30 days before the Preliminary Exam.
- The Electronic Milestone Exam Certificate will be pre-populated for each student by Graduate School staff and emailed directly from The Graduate School to each dissertation or thesis committee Chair and DGSA.
Research Proposal Defense
Review the Guidelines for the Research Proposal Defense and the Pass Fail Guidelines. The Research Proposal Defense should be passed before the end of exams in the spring of the student’s third year in the program.
Once your committee selection has been determined, provide the names and date of the exam to the DGSA, Michell Tampe, in an email for final approval.
The Research Proposal Defense rubric will be sent in survey form to the committee chair during the exam and submitted to the DGSA.
The Graduate School deadlines for graduation can be found here. Review the full Guide for the Electronic Submission of Theses and Dissertations and the Exam Card Procedure.
PhD Dissertation Defense
When preparing for your PhD dissertation, it is very important that you follow all of The Graduate School’s policies and procedures to ensure that the publication of your research adheres to Duke University guidelines.
- Apply for graduation in DukeHub at least one month prior to the defense OR by the semester’s deadline for graduation, whichever comes first. (Note you need to know your dissertation title to complete this step.)
- If your committee is different from your Prelim exam, you must submit another Committee Approval Form.
- If your committee is the same as your Prelim exam, an email is sent gradacademics@duke.edu to confirm this.
- Your department must issue the Departmental Defense Announcement and your PhD advisor must send the Ready to Graduate letter to gradacademics@duke.edu.
- Submit the initial, complete draft of your dissertation to Schedule Exam Card Appointment at the Graduate School to receive your exam card and review your dissertation formatting.
- The Graduate School will generate your final examination certificate and email it to the chair/co-chair(s) of your examination committee and the DGSA of your department.
- Defend your dissertation before the final deadline.
- As soon as possible after your defense, submit to gradacademics@duke.edu the Non-Exclusive Distribution License and Thesis/Dissertation Availability Agreement (embargo agreement) signed by yourself and your thesis/dissertation advisor.
- Within 30 days after your successful defense, or by the established final submission deadline (whichever is first): Submit the final copy of your dissertation to ProQuest by the final deadline.
Further information regarding the submission of your dissertation can be found here.
Doctoral students enrolled at Duke University can pursue one master’s degree en route to the PhD, without paying for an additional 30 units of graduate credit. This includes master’s degrees in the same department as the PhD, or in a different department. Note that PhD students who wish to receive a second master’s degree en route to the PhD will be charged tuition for the additional 30 course credits required.
MS en Route within same discipline:
- Students must apply for the master’s in DukeHub.
- Students must meet minimum master’s requirements
- Completion of a master’s examination; prelim can count but…
- A non-thesis master’s exam committee (same as prelim) must be approved.
- A signed non-thesis master’s exam certificate must be submitted.
Concurrent Master’s en Route in a different discipline:
- Requires submission of two-part application found on here.
- Part I submitted 1-2 years prior to expected PhD completion.
- Include student justification letter and faculty support letters from both programs.
- Part II submitted at start of semester student will graduate with BOTH degrees.
- Include copy of transcript highlighting course taken to meet master’s requirements.
- Both degrees MUST be received in the same term.
- Students must meet minimum master’s requirements to receive the en route master’s.
- Part I submitted 1-2 years prior to expected PhD completion.
The following certificates are available to students pursuing Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science.
Aerospace Research (SOAR) – Learn more »
Photonics – Learn more »
Payroll, Purchasing, Reimbursements
Questions about payroll? Check the Payroll Info Packet.
Students are strongly discouraged from using personal funds to purchase items for laboratories and classrooms for which they will seek reimbursement. They should consult with their program coordinator or director for advice. We understand that purchases may arise that students have to pay for items and seek reimbursement.
In the event that a purchase is made using student funds, reimbursements can only be made if a reimbursement request form is submitted to the MEMS Office no later than two weeks after the item purchased has been received. If the item is purchased less than two weeks before the end of the fiscal year and has yet to be received, it will be reimbursed during the current fiscal year. Absolutely no reimbursements can be made across fiscal years (e.g. you cannot be reimbursed for an item in FY2021 for a purchase made/received in FY2020).
Teaching Assistant Positions
Along with research, assisting a faculty member in teaching a course is a rewarding part of graduate school. PhD students are required to TA two classes to graduate. TA’ing is optional for MS students. Available positions are emailed to all graduate students during registration period for the following semester. You should review the TA training resource here in advance of applying to be a TA in order to understand the expectations of the position. In order to streamline the matching process, TA assignments are performed centrally at the MEMS Department level and not by faculty. More details here:
- Faculty request TAs for their courses through a survey that is distributed after course assignments are made for the upcoming semester.
- Students complete a survey that is sent during registration to list their 1st and 2nd choices for TA positions.
- The MEMS Department then performs the assignments, processes payroll paperwork, and carries out the evaluations.
IMPORTANT: TA Guidelines and Policies from the Graduate School can be found here.
Graduating?
Congratulations! Thank you for all your hard work and your many contributions to our community. Our commitment to you goes beyond your time on campus.
We encourage you to broaden your connections to your alma mater by joining the Duke MEMS Graduate Alumni Group on LinkedIn!
After graduating, you can find the expiry dates for your NetID, student email, and other Duke accounts here.
