Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

A PhD is the highest qualification offered by the Wellington Faculty of Engineering—find out about supervision, entry requirements, and how to apply.

A PhD is an advanced research degree carried out under academic supervision, taking at least three years of study. It is the highest qualification offered by the Wellington Faculty of Engineering.

The PhD thesis is a major piece of original research that demonstrates your ability to carry out independent research and constitutes a significant and original contribution to knowledge or understanding in a field of study. As well as intelligence and an aptitude for research, you will need considerable dedication and tenacity.

Specific entry requirements

You will normally need to have either an Honours or Master’s degree in Engineering or Computer Science (or a closely related discipline) with at least Second Class (First Division) Honours to be considered for the Faculty of Engineering's PhD programme.

Admission is subject to the availability of a suitable supervisor, and requires the approval of the Faculty's Associate Dean for Postgraduate Research. A number of factors will be considered, including your previous qualifications and experience, the suitability of your topic for PhD studies, and our capacity to supervise you and your chosen research project.

In some circumstances, you may be able to begin a Master of Engineering by thesis or Master of Science by thesis degree and later upgrade to a PhD.

Research supervision

As part of the application process, you will need to propose (in general terms) a topic for your independent research. This topic will need to be one that can be supervised by a Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington staff member.

We expect that preparing a good research proposal will require you to do background reading. You should also engage in discussion with prospective supervisors.

In the Faculty of Engineering, your PhD may be supervised by researchers in the:

Contact

Wellington Faculty of Graduate Research

The Wellington Faculty of Graduate Research oversees all doctoral degrees across the different faculties, schools, and centres of the University and manages the application and enrolment processes. Visit their website for a step-by-step ‘how to apply’ guide and to launch the online application system.