Postgraduates at the top departments are of high quality. The recruitment process is competitive, and students enter a department without being assigned a project or advisor.
Universities will not, in general, take their own graduates onto a Ph.D. programme.
Students are required to take about 1˝ years-full time of high level courses over the period of their Ph.D, including courses outside of chemical engineering. The total duration of their Ph.D. averages 5.0±
0.5 years. Non chemical engineers will stay in their home department, but will take non-core chemical engineering courses, and may have joint advisors (one in their home department and one from chemical engineering).
At approximately $15,000 per year, stipends, which are uniform across disciplines, are comparable to UK CASE awards. Their advisors’ research grants (or student fellowships) pay for all costs, including fees, which range from around $2,300 p.a. for state schools to $23,000 for private schools (such as MIT and Caltech). Supporting a stable of 6-8 graduate students is a major continuing burden on staff. Departmental support is often available to bridge grants and to cover the initial semester. Sometimes Teaching Assistantships can be used for this purpose.
Upon graduation, a Ph.D. can expect to attain a salary equivalent to having spent the five years in industry.