Last Updated: 08/07/2025 | All information is accurate and up-to-date

Outstanding students like you pursue a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering to focus on independent study and advanced research. This program includes both high-level coursework and original research beyond the master’s degree. Additionally, you must pass a written and oral comprehensive preliminary examination to advance. Furthermore, you must write a dissertation and successfully defend it in a final oral exam. As a result, this program fully prepares you for advanced research positions in academia, government or industry.

To earn this degree, you must meet several important requirements:

• Complete your coursework. You must complete at least 72 credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree, or 54 if you already hold a master’s degree from another institution.
• Pass the written qualifying exam. An Operations Research (OR) faculty member, appointed by the OR program director, will administer this exam annually.
• Pass the oral preliminary exam. Your Academic Advisory Committee will schedule and conduct this exam separately from the written one.
• Write and defend your dissertation. You must prepare an original dissertation and successfully defend it before your Academic Advisory Committee.

Ultimately, this rigorous process ensures that you are ready to lead research in the field of industrial engineering.

Ph.D. in Operations Research Course Requirements

• To earn your Ph.D., you must first satisfy the course requirements for the MSOR degree.
• Additionally, you need a minimum of 72 credit hours to complete the doctoral program.
• At least 42 of those hours must come from letter-graded coursework.
• If you earned your M.S. at NC State, you may transfer up to 36 credit hours toward your Ph.D.
• However, if you completed your M.S. at another institution, you may transfer up to 18 credit hours.
• These transfer credits help reduce your course load and allow you to focus more on research and specialization.
• Overall, meeting these credit requirements ensures a strong academic foundation for your doctoral studies.

OR Seminar

You are expected to attend the OR 801 Seminar in Operations Research every semester during your Ph.D. program. Additionally, you must register for the seminar for at least two semesters. If you registered for OR 601 as a master’s student, that counts as one of your two required semesters. Therefore, you only need to register for one more semester of OR 801 if you already took OR 601. Attending regularly helps you stay connected to current research and academic discussions in the field.

Written Qualifying Examination

Objective

The qualifying examination verifies your potential for high-quality, independent research early in your graduate studies.

Content

The OR Ph.D. qualifying exam has two written core exams in Linear Programming and Stochastic Modeling plus one area-specific requirement.

Core Exam I  –  Linear Programming (based on OR 505 course)

Core Exam II  – Applied Stochastic Models in Industrial Engineering (based on OR 760)

Area-Specific Requirement – The student should satisfy one of the area-specific requirements given below

Advanced OR Area

Choose one of the following exams (Not all classes are offered every year)

• Dynamic Programming (based on OR 709)
• Nonlinear Programming (based on OR 706) 
• Network Flows (based on OR 766)
• Stochastic Simulation (based on OR 762)

Mathematics Area

Available through August 2026 *: Choose and complete one of these sequences, then take the single exam for that sequence.

• Numerical Analysis (MA 580 Numerical Analysis I and MA 780 Numerical Analysis II)
• Applied Matrix Theory (MA 523 Linear Transformations and Matrix Theory and MA 723 Theory of Matrices with Applications)
• Analysis (MA 515 Analysis I and MA 715 Analysis II)

Available beginning August 2026 *: Choose one of the following exams

• Introduction to Analysis (currently offered as MA 591-001 in Fall 2025, be expanded as MA 512 in Spring 2026)
•  Functional Analysis (MA 515)
• Linear Algebra (MA 520)
•  Numerical Analysis I: Discrete Approximations (MA 780)

OR PRO TIP: Please note availability dates. Students entering Fall 2025 have both options

Industrial and Systems Engineering Area

Choose one of the following ISE SAO/SCL exams:

• Statistical Models for Systems Analytics in Industrial Engineering (based on ISE 537) 
• Production Planning, Scheduling and Inventory Control (based on ISE 723) 
• Logistics Engineering (based on ISE 754) 

Operations and Supply Chain Management Area (Poole College of Management)

Take all BUS 740 and BUS 790 doctoral seminar courses offered by the operations and supply chain faculty in the academic year before the examination. The exam is a single take-home exam.

Preliminary Examination and Ph.D. Candidacy

After passing the qualifying exam, you will formally organize your Ph.D. Advisory Committee. Then, submit a committee-approved Plan of Graduate Work to the Graduate School. The Advisory Committee will recommend specific courses in your specialization areas and conduct a preliminary oral examination.

You achieve “Ph.D. Candidacy” after passing all recommended courses and the preliminary oral exam. This exam assesses your knowledge of your research subject. Failure to pass may lead to termination from the Ph.D. Program, at the discretion of your Advisory Committee.

Final Oral Defense and Dissertation

Final Defense

You will earn your Ph.D. once you complete all required program milestones.

• First, you must pass all required courses for graduation.
• Next, you must write a satisfactory Ph.D. dissertation that meets scholarly and originality standards.
• Then, you must pass a final oral examination—your dissertation “Defense”—conducted by your Advisory Committee.
• Additionally, you must fulfill all remaining Graduate School requirements before receiving your degree.

To pass your final oral exam, you must earn unanimous approval from your Advisory Committee. Moreover, the committee may require additional work before giving final approval. If you fail the examination, your graduate study ends unless the committee recommends a re-examination. Only one re-examination is allowed.

Furthermore, at least one semester must pass before a re-examination takes place. This process ensures you meet the highest academic and research standards for the Ph.D. degree.

Submission of Dissertation

After you pass your Ph.D. final oral examination, each committee member must approve your dissertation. Additionally, you must submit the approved dissertation to the Graduate School’s thesis editor. Moreover, your submission must follow all formatting rules listed on the Graduate School’s Electronic Theses and Dissertation (ETD) website. Following these steps ensures your dissertation meets university standards and becomes part of NC State’s academic record.

OR Theses and Dissertations

Request for Ph.D. in Operations Research Diploma

If you expect to complete all degree requirements by the end of the semester or summer session, submit a Request for Diploma. Do this within the first three weeks of classes in the semester or first summer session. You can get the necessary forms from the Graduate School.