Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering

Programme outline

The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is a programme of advanced, independent and original research that is carried out under qualified supervision.

Students are directed and supported by an appointed supervisor while engaged in independent research.

The results are presented in a thesis describing a coherent piece of research work carried out over the period of registration, which must be an original contribution to intellectual knowledge of the field and meet recognised international standards.

The Doctor of Philosophy is a programme of advanced research that typically takes three to four years to complete.

Subject areas

• Bioengineering
• Chemical and Materials Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Computer Systems Engineering
• Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Engineering Science
• Mechanical Engineering 
• Mechatronics Engineering
• Operations Research

Entry requirements

The PhD can be taken either after bachelor or a masters degree awarded with First Class Honours or Second Class (Division 1) at the University of Auckland or an equivalent qualification.

Students should refer to the PhD statute before applying.

English language requirements for 2017

• IELTS (Academic): Overall score of 6.5 and all bands 6.0 or better
• Internet-based TOEFL (iBT): Overall score of 90 plus a written score of 21
• Paper-based TOEFL: Overall score of 575 plus Essay (TWE) of 4.5
• Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) and Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE): Overall score of 176 and all bands 169 or better
• Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic: Overall score of 58 and no PTE communicative skills score below 50. 
• Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB): 85

There are several types of postgraduate scholarships: 

• University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarships
• Van-Thanh Nguyen Postgraduate Engineering Scholarship
• University of Auckland Marsden Grant PhD Scholarship in Imaging Coronary Anatomy
• University of Auckland Marsden Grant PhD Scholarship in Computational Modelling of Coronary Blood Flow