Industrial Engineering (PhD)

Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial Engineering
Unit: Speed School of Engineering (GS)
Department: Industrial Engineering
Academic Plan Code(s): IE_ _PHD

Program Information

General Information

The PhD degree program is intended for persons having an accredited baccalaureate degree in Industrial Engineering, but is available to those with other backgrounds. Applicants with other backgrounds should plan on taking some undergraduate background coursework. Students interested in the PhD degree program should consult the Director of the PhD program in the Department of Industrial Engineering. The University of Louisville is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award doctoral degrees.

Degree Requirements

The award of a Doctor of Philosophy degree indicates that a student has attained mastery of a field and has demonstrated the capacity to perform independent scholarly research. Candidates for the Doctor of Philosophy degree must have a minimum final cumulative grade point average of 3.00 for all academic coursework approved in their flight plan for the doctoral program.

The requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree are explained in more detail in the Degree Requirements section of this catalog.

Admission Standards

The admission standards for the PhD program in industrial engineering are as follows:

1. All admission applications for the program shall include:
   1. A completed graduate application for the Graduate School
   2. An application fee
   3. Results from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
   4. At least two letters of recommendation
   5. Statement of Purpose (include intended area of study and/or research interests)
   6. Resume 
   7. Official transcript(s) for all previous post-secondary coursework. All transcripts not in English must be certified as authentic and translated verbatim into English.
2. The minimum requirement for admission is the baccalaureate degree or its equivalent from an accredited institution.
3. The successful applicant will typically have an undergraduate grade point average of 3.00 or above (on a 4.00 scale).
4. International students whose primary language is not English must show English language proficiency by either TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo score or demonstration of a degree awarded from an acceptable English language institution.  The successful applicant will typically have a TOEFL score of 80 or higher or overall IELTS score of 6.5 or higher or a Duolingo score of 105 or higher.

Program Requirements

Normally, it is expected that the student would have completed a master's degree before being admitted to the PhD Program. However, qualified applicants may be admitted directly to the doctoral program after receiving a baccalaureate degree. Such post-baccalaureate degree students will be required to complete an additional 30 credit hours of graduate coursework approved by the department's Director of PhD program. Also, remedial work may be specified for those applicants who, in the opinion of the faculty, do not have a sufficient background.

The PhD program has three different focus areas available: Data Analytics & Operations Research (DA-OR), Human Factors (HF), and Advanced Manufacturing (AM). The minimum curricular requirements for each focus area in the doctoral program are:

Focus Areas

Data Analytics & Operations Research 

Human Factors 

Advanced Manufacturing