Students are admitted to KAUST from a wide variety of programs and backgrounds. In order to facilitate the design of an appropriate study plan for each individual student, all incoming students will be required to take an assessment during orientation week. There is no grade for the assessment. ​

The purpose of the assessment is to determine whether students have mastered the prerequisites for undertaking graduate level courses taught in the program. 

The Advisor uses the results of the assessments to design, if necessary, a remedial study plan with a list of courses aimed at addressing content areas that may impede a student from successful completion of the degree requirements. 
Students are encouraged to prepare for the assessment by refreshing the general knowledge gained from their undergraduate education before arriving at KAUST. 

The remedial study plan requirements must be satisfactorily completed, in addition to the University degree requirements. ​​​​

​​CE Assessment Test Subjects

CE students will be tested on the following subjects:

1. Basic Principles of General Chemistry​
Topics students are expected to know:

M.S. Thesis

A minimum of 12 credits of Thesis Research (297) is required. Students are permitted to register for more than 12 credits of M.S. Thesis Research as necessary and with the permission of the thesis advisor. The selected thesis advisor must be a fulltime program-affiliated Assistant, Associate or Full Professor at KAUST. This advisor can only become project-affiliated for the specific thesis project upon program level approval. Project-affiliation approval must be completed prior to commencing research.

M.S. Thesis Defense Requirements
An oral defense of the M.S. Thesis is required, although it may be waived by the Dean's Office under exceptional circumstances. A requirement of a public presentation and all other details are left to the discretion of the thesis committee.
A written thesis is required. It is advisable that the student submits a final copy of the thesis to the Thesis Committee Members at least two weeks prior to the defense date

• Students are required to comply with the university formatting guidelines provided by the library CLICK HERE​
  
• Students are responsible for scheduling the thesis defense date with his/her thesis committee
  
• A pass is achieved when the committee agrees with no more than one dissenting vote, otherwise the student fails. The final approval must be submitted at the latest two weeks before the end of the semester.
  

M.S. Thesis Defense Committee

The M.S. Thesis Defense Committee, which must be approved by the student's Dean, must consist of at least three members and typically includes no more than four members. At least two of the required members must be KAUST Faculty. The Chair plus one additional Faculty Member must be affiliated with the student's program. This membership can be summarized as:​

CE 201 Chemical Thermodynamics (3-0-3)
Prerequisites: Undergraduate thermodynamics course.
The primary goal of chemical thermodynamics is the physical explanation of the fundamental principles governing the variety of chemical phenomena taking place in the world around us. The goal of this course is to give students a conceptual understanding of the main principles of thermodynamics. Topics include: the concept of entropy; the Clausius, Gibbs, Boltzmann and Shannon definition of entropy; entropy and information; Maxwells demon; the Boltzmann distribution law; the Maxwell-Boltzmann speed distribution; Gibbs and Helmholtz free energy; the chemical potential; Gibbs-Duhem and Euler equation; the Gibbs phase rule; entropy of mixing and Gibbs paradox; phase diagrams, the Flory-Huggins phase diagram; spontaneous and non-spontaneous processes; thermodynamics of chemical reactions; thermodynamics of osmosis and reverse osmosis, entropy and irreversible phase transitions; introduction in thermodynamics of irreversible processes; introduction in statistical thermodynamics. 

CE 202 Advanced Transport Phenomena (3-0-3)
Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of fluid mechanics, heat & mass transfer, vector analysis, and differential equations
The aim of this course is to enable students to i) derive appropriate differential balances for specific material properties, including momentum, thermal energy, and mass species, accounting appropriately for property flux by convective and diffusive (molecular-scale) processes, along with property generation or loss in the material continua; ii) write the Thermal Energy Equation, the Species Continuity Equation, and the NavierStokes Equations and pose (simplify) them appropriately for specific transport problems; iii) know appropriate boundary conditions that can be applied to specific transport problems; iv) conduct scale or dimensional analyses of transport problems, using the analyses to help simplify or enhance understanding of underlying transport processes; v) solve and physically interpret one (1)-dimensional steady state conduction and species diffusion problems in rectangular, cylindrical, and spherical geometries, with and without zero-order and first-order generation/ loss; vi) use separation of variables technique to solve and physically interpret two (2)-dimensional steady-state conduction and species diffusion problems; vii) use similarity methods to solve and physically interpret unsteady state conduction and diffusion problems in unbounded material regions; viii) use the finite Fourier transform method to solve and interpret unsteady state conduction and diffusion problems in bounded material regions; ix) solve and physically interpret unidirectional steady and unsteady viscous flows in unbounded regions and in bounded regions (i.e. flow conduits or ducts); and x) solve and physically interpret simultaneous convection and diffusion (conduction) problems involving the interaction of thermal or concentration boundary layers with developing or developed velocity profiles.

CE 203 Advanced Reaction Engineering (3-0-3)
The objective of this course is to impart and to continue the rigorous study of reaction engineering. In this course, particular emphasis will be given to chemical kinetics and transport phenomena, review of elements of reaction kinetics, rate processes in heterogeneous reacting systems, design of fluid-fluid and fluid-solid reactors, scale-up and stability of chemical reactors and residence time analysis of heterogeneous chemical reactors.

CE 206 Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology (2-1-3)
Introduction to genetic circuits in natural systems; engineering principles in biology; BioBricks and standardization of biological components; numerical methods for systems analysis and design; fabrication of genetic systems in theory and practice; transformation and characterization; examples of engineered systems; hands-on experiments.

CE 208 Plant Biology (3-0-3)
Review of cellular structure function, diffusion and active transport limitations and benefits on plant cell systems. Membrane structures translocation and transport. Energy and primary metabolism, secondary metabolism in microbes and plants.

CE 209 Genomics (3-0-3)
Prokaryotic versus eukaryotic genome structure, conservation (gene order/sequence/ structure, regulatory sequences), approaches to mapping/sequencing genomes, DNA sequencing, DNA sequencing technologies, approaches to genome annotation, SNPs, microarray technology, gene expression microarrays, antibodies, chromatin immuno¬purification, high throughput perturbation studies. Problem-solving/data-handling/ critical thinking/journal-club sessions. Possible interactions with Genomics Research Core facility.

CE 210 Materials Chemistry I (3-0-3)
A presentation of present fundamental concepts in materials chemistry. The main topics to be covered include structure and characterization, macroscopic properties and synthesis and processing.

CE 221 Biophysics (3-0-3)
Conservation of mass and momentum, physiological mass transport, membrane structure, carrier proteins and active membrane transport, ion channels, intracellular vesicular transport, diffusion in reacting systems, heat and mass transfer in bioreactors, culture aeration. Lectures and laboratory. 

CE 222 Bioprocess Fundamentals (3-0-3)
Genetic recombination, expression systems, principles of fermentation processes, bioreactor types and operation modes, process scale-up, separation and recovery of biological products. Industrially relevant applications, such as microbial systems, mammalian systems, stem cell systems. Lectures, case studies and laboratory.

CE 223 Introduction to Statistics and Bio-Statistics (3-0-3)
Probability: random variables, independence, and conditional probability; discrete and continuous distributions, moments, distributions of several random variables. Topics in mathematical statistics: random sampling, point estimation, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, nonparametric tests, regression and correlation analyses. Applications in engineering, industrial manufacturing, medicine, biology, and other fields.

CE 224 The Cell: Structure, Development and Physiology I(3-0-3)
Types of microorganisms (e.g., viruses, microbes, yeast, mammalian and stem cells); cell physiology, structure and function; gene expression and protein synthesis; protein folding; post-translational modification; cell cycle; molecular biology techniques. 

CE 225 Materials Chemistry II (3-0-3)
An introduction to electron microscopy based techniques: Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Electron diffraction (ED), Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), Energy-filtered TEM (EFTEM), Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), and Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). On-site demonstration of the electron microscope will be given. Nano porous materials including zeolites and mesoporous materials will be another topic of this course.

CE 226 Process Modeling and Control (3-0-3)
This course aims at building knowledge in process systems modeling/control. This unit will also enable you to develop a systematic approach to process modeling, control design and controller development and analysis. The course aims at: developing an appreciation for the importance of process models and process control in a chemical plant/process, to see the significance of these in real life and to relate the theory learnt to practice; developing an appreciation for the importance of process models in the development of control theory and practice.

CE 230/330 Physical Chemistry of Macromolecules (3-0-3)
Conformation and configuration; Solution Thermodynamics; Phase separation (theory and experimental aspects), polymer fractionation; Mechanisms and kinetics of phase separation; Miscibility of polymer blends and compatibilization; Micro phase separation and self-assembly; Rheology of polymer solutions; Viscosity of diluted and concentrated solutions, polymer gels; Rheology of polymer melts and composites, relevance for polymer processing; Amorphous state, glass-rubber transition, plasticizers; Elasticity and Viscoelasticity; Thermal analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis; Crystalline state, liquid-crystalline state; Mechanical properties.

CE 239 Stem Cells (3-0-3)
Stem cell biology and therapeutics. It is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of current understanding of embryonic and adult stem cells, including their basic properties and interactions within organisms. Stem cell isolation methods, experimental models and potential biomedical therapeutic applications will be encountered through research of literature. It is a graduate level course that requires a basic background in biology.

CE 295 Internship (6 credit)
Master-level supervised research.

CE 297 MS Thesis Research (variable credit)
Master-level supervised research.

CE 298 Graduate Seminar
Master-level seminar focuses on special topics within the field.

CE 299 Directed Research (variable credit)
Master-level supervised research.

CE 301 Computational Biology (3-0-3)
Computational Biology is an advance and practical course, hands-on approach to the field of computational biology. The course is recommended for both molecular biologists and computer scientists desiring to understand the major issues concerning analysis of genomes, sequences and learns large scale modeling of complex systems. Various existing methods will be critically described and the strengths and limitations of each will be discussed. There will be practical assignments utilizing the tools described. Prerequisites include genomics I (B204/CBE209) and genomics II (B204). A final paper will be required for the course that critically and constructively analyzes any area of computational molecular biology, bioinformatics or genomics. The final project may also present a novel application of existing tools or the development of some new or improved method.

CE 305 Sustainable Engineering (3-0-3)
Engineers face growing pressure to incorporate sustainability objectives into their practice. In comparing two (2) products/ designs it is often not apparent which one (1) is more sustainable. The course introduces concepts and method for determining the net environmental, economic, and social impacts of an engineering technology or process. Specific topics include life cycle assessment, cost/benefits analysis, energy auditing, materials accounting, and environmental assessment. These methods are examined and applied to current engineering issues such as global climate change, alternative-fueled vehicles, water and wastewater treatment, urban development, renewable energy (solar, wind, and biomass), and waste mitigation. Each student will be required to apply tools learned to assess the sustainability of a specific engineering system. This is a research-based course and is suitable for students interested in researching in-depth a particular topic. By the end of the course, students will have an awareness of analytical tools/resources for evaluating sustainability employing a systems perspective.

CE 317 Clean Fossil Fuels and Biofuels (3-0-3)
The different types of biofuels will be presented and discussed in this course. Topics include biomass feedstocks, first, second and third generation of biofuels, fuel from cellulose, catalytic conversion of biomass to liquid, energy balance of biofuels, biological production of hydrogen, biodiesel, microbial fuel cells. The Clean Fossil Fuel part of this course deals with gasification processes including ICCG power plants, Fischer Tropsch synthesis, clean coal technologies, desulfurization and carbon dioxide capture and storage.

CE 319 Bioinorganic Chemistry (3-0-3)
Chemistry as it is provided by any undergraduate chemistry, biochemistry, biotechnology or chemical engineering education. The more advanced chemical and biochemical aspects and methods are all developed during the course. The course will provide students with a general overview of the many very fundamental tasks performed by inorganic elements in living organisms as well as the related methods and theories with particular emphasis on enzymatic conversions and electron transfer. This goes along with the elucidation of model systems and technical applications of both, concepts learned from nature as well as biological systems.

CE 326 Bio catalysis (3-0-3)
Application of Bio catalysis has a long tradition. Starting out from basic food-processing fermentations e.g. related to bread baking or cheese making, today the result emerging from this discipline influence all areas of modern daily life. Developments in Pharmacy, medicine, nutrition, analytics, environmental technology, Revised 11 June 2017 Page 13 fine chemical synthesis and others are based on the progress in Bio catalysis research. Enzymes as nature's catalysts set the benchmarks for artificial systems in terms of activity and selectivity. Correspondingly, Bio catalysis has evolved into one (1) of the pillars of biotechnology and chemical industry. This course aims to provide an understanding of fundamental aspects of bio catalysis, while the general focus is set on current applications of bio catalytic systems. It targets Students enrolled in chemical sciences, chemical engineering and biological engineering.

CE 336 Membrane Science and Membrane Separation Processes (3-0-3)
Formulation and solution of engineering problems involving design of membrane systems for gas separation, reverse osmosis, filtration, dialysis, pervaporation and gas absorption/stripping processes. Membrane selection, fabrication and preparation. Membrane transport: gas permeation and reverse osmosis. Polarization and fouling, membrane module design.

CE 390 Special Topics: Chemical Kinetic Modelling and Simulation
Prerequisite: Advanced Reaction Engineering (CBE203), Advanced Transport Process (CBE202), Chemical Thermodynamics (CBE 201) or similar courses in other programs.
Understanding the oxidation and pyrolysis chemistry of hydrocarbons can aid in developing thermal conversion processes and in improving combustion applications. Optimization of engine performance requires an understanding of how a fuel's molecular structure affects important combustion properties. The course presents the current state-of-the-art in comprehensive chemical kinetic modeling for gas-phase and liquid- phase reacting flows. The course will cover the development of large databases of chemical reaction pathways with associated kinetic rate parameters, as well as thermochemical and transport properties for all reactant, intermediate, and product species. First, the mapping out of detailed reaction pathways at the temperatures and pressures relevant to chemical reactors and combustion applications will be discussed. Next the art of assigning rate constants using chemical intuition and quantum chemical modeling will be covered. The determination of thermochemical and transport properties is achieved using both molecular modeling tools and empirical methods. The comprehensive models are then validated against data from well-defined experimental configurations using zero-dimensional and one-dimensional reacting flows whose physics can be simulated exactly. These models are finally employed to determine the thermal degradation and oxidation pathways relevant to the prediction of combustion performance in practical applications.

CE 397 Ph.D. Dissertation Research (variable credits)
Ph.D-level research. Leading to a formal written dissertation and oral defense.

CE 398 Graduate Seminar
Doctoral-level seminar focuses on special topics within the field.

CE 399 Directed Research (variable credits)
Doctoral-level supervised research