Online Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Engineering

The Interdisciplinary Engineering (ITDE) Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program allows students to develop unique expertise in emerging areas that may not be covered by traditional departmental degree programs and provides a path for those whose research interests cross engineering disciplines and/or college lines. Graduates with interdisciplinary engineering skill sets are highly sought after by employers, and the Doctor of Philosophy in interdisciplinary engineering poises graduates to become leaders in academic organizations, government and industry. Examples of previously awarded interdisciplinary topics include environmental engineering and public policy; and engineering and education.

About the program

The College of Engineering at Texas A&M University offers a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary engineering degree online, which delivers the same quality and outcomes as the on-campus program. All distance learning students take the same classes, have the same faculty and complete the same course work and exams as those on campus.

This program depends on students being in an environment that enables them to conduct their research remotely.

A suitable environment could include the following non-comprehensive list:

• Staff/research engineers at a national laboratory (such as Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico) who, as part of their routine work function, ordinarily conduct research and engineering activities from which a scholarly activity can be used to support Ph.D. level research and dissertation
• Staff/research engineers in industry who, as part of their routine work function, ordinarily conduct research or technology development from which a scholarly activity can be used to support Ph.D. level research and dissertation.

Distance Ph.D. students are required to conduct the same level of scholarly research as on-campus students. This requirement can only be met by a student who is already immersed in research as part of their employment at a national laboratory or industry research development center, for example. In all cases, the research scope, access to resources (experimental or computational facilities, software, literature/library resources and technical advisement resources), and the faculty committee chair (ideally the entire thesis committee) will all be planned and agreed upon prior to the student’s admission.

Research advising will be conducted by the faculty chair/co-chair via face-to-face meetings and through emails and web-conference meetings. If there is an on-site committee member (for example, the student’s employer), regular research advising will take place face-to-face.

Online Ph.D. students must make at least one annual visit to campus to interact with other students, including those in other doctoral programs. This can occur in the following ways:

• Visit College Station for a period of time to engage other students in the research group on campus
• Attend a conference/workshop where other students are presenting or attending.

 Please note additional remote engineering fees are added each semester. 

Degree Requirements

How to Apply

All applicants should apply here through EngineeringCAS.

Tuition Calculator

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