- Area-specific requirements:
- Coursework
- Qualifying Examination
- Preliminary Examination
- Dissertation Thesis Proposal Examination
- Final Dissertation Defense Examination
1. Area-specific Requirements
a. Coursework
Coursework is tailored to each student’s background and interests and typically extends over two to two-and-a-half years. Some of the courses may be offered by different departments at Duke University and even neighboring universities, such as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and North Carolina State University (NCSU). Travel is required when taking courses on other campuses; the other campuses are about 30 minutes from Duke.
In the first year, students often take graduate-level courses in operations research, economics, and mathematics. Every first-year student must observe the Operations Management (OM) core course taught in the Daytime MBA program. Students are required to choose one of the sections of the core to sit in, inform the corresponding instructor, and attend all class sessions.
In the second year, the coursework often extends to advanced courses in operations research and economics, doctoral seminars, and elective courses offered by other areas. Coursework may extend to the first semester of the third year, depending on the relevance of the work to the student’s intended dissertation topic(s).
Students are expected to maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 throughout their PhD. A student who receives an “F” or does not attain a 3.0 average by the end of the first year may be subject to dismissal.
Fuqua OM Course: There is typically one PhD course offered by Fuqua OM faculty each semester. The faculty teaching this course and the content vary from year to year. In the first and second years of the PhD program, students should take all Fuqua OM courses that are offered.
Required Courses: In the first year of the doctoral program, it is important to build a strong background in the tools and research methods commonly used in the field of OM. As such, in addition to the offered Fuqua OM courses, students are required to take at least one course in each of the following categories:
- Basic Optimization (e.g., STOR614 Linear Programming at UNC)
- Advanced Optimization (e.g., BA911 Convex Optimization or BA912 Dynamic Programming)
- Microeconomics (e.g., ECON701 Microeconomic Analysis I)
- Stochastic Models (e.g., BA915 Stochastic Models)
These requirements are flexible and could be filled by many different courses; the course numbers listed above are merely examples of satisfactory options. Students should consult with the OM area PhD coordinator to discuss whether a particular course satisfies the requirement. If a course or topic is not offered in a given year, the OM area PhD coordinator may change the requirements. A first-year student who achieves an A in a master’s level or higher course in a particular topic may take a more advanced course or be exempted from the requirement at the PhD coordinator’s discretion.
Elective Courses: Students in the OM PhD program frequently take electives in computer science, decision sciences, economics, econometrics, marketing, mathematics, probability, and statistics. Electives should be tailored to the student’s research interests in consultation with the student’s advisor.
Students who do not have a strong undergraduate background in probability and statistics are encouraged to take such courses as a part of their doctoral coursework.
b. Qualifying Examination
The qualifying examination in OM has two components: a written examination and a research project.
In the second year, a written examination covering the topics in the required courses will be administered.
Students are required to take a written qualifying exam; in most cases, the students will take the exam in the spring semester of the second year. The exam will cover some subset of the topics covered in the required courses, possibly including material from basic optimization, advanced optimization, microeconomics, stochastic models, and the Fuqua OM course material. The precise topics are determined by the OM faculty in response to the needs of each student, and the students will be notified in advance of the topics to be covered. Satisfactory performance on the written exam is required; poor performance may lead the faculty to require additional coursework, to retake the exam, or to leave the program.
In addition, in the fall semester of the second year, the student will submit a research paper. The minimum requirement for this paper is a detailed literature review of a proposed research topic. The review must be at least 10 pages (double spaced, 12-point font), and should include the history of developments in the proposed area of study, recent advances on the topic, a proposal of a specific research question, and an initial model formulation or plan of research; however, many students go further than this and submit a full research paper including analysis and results. This paper should be completed under the supervision of a faculty member chosen by the student at the start of the summer between years 1 and 2. During the fall semester of the second-year, the student will submit the completed paper and also present the work to the OM faculty.
A brief proposal (no more than two pages) for this research project is submitted to the PhD coordinator at the end of the spring semester of the first year. The research paper itself will be read by the doctoral committee, who will offer comments on the quality of the work as well as the potential of the research opportunities identified in the literature review. The doctoral committee will also review the student’s first year course grades, paying particular attention to essential courses in OM, and the student’s performance on the written examination (if applicable) and oral presentation of the research project, to assess the student’s overall performance in the doctoral program.
c. Teaching Apprenticeship and Research Assistant Work
A critical part of the program is forming professional relationships with faculty members as well as learning about the research and teaching processes. Teaching apprenticeship assignments are made by the PhD coordinator in consultation with area faculty. A student who has completed his/her teaching apprenticeship hours may be eligible for additional compensation at the school’s pre-set hourly rate.
Students are encouraged to seek research opportunities with faculty with whom they wish to form closer professional relationships.
2. Preliminary Examination
The preliminary examination in the OM PhD program takes place in the third year. At this time, the student will submit a completed research paper that is, at minimum, 25 pages in length (double spaced, 12-point font). This paper should be written in a style suitable for submission to a journal (i.e., with an introduction, literature review, model and analysis, and conclusion). The paper should be completed under the supervision of a faculty member chosen by the student and need not be a continuation of the literature review submitted the previous year (although we expect that most students will continue with the same topic).
A brief proposal (no more than two pages) for this research paper is submitted to the PhD coordinator at the end of the spring semester of the second year. The student will present the completed paper to a committee of at least four faculty members, consisting of the student’s advisor, two additional OM faculty members, and one faculty member from outside the OM area. The committee will offer comments on the quality of the work as well as the potential of the research to be published in a top journal. In addition, they will review the student’s second year course grades, paying particular attention to essential courses in OM, and assess the student’s overall performance in the doctoral program, taking all this information into account when determining whether the student passes the preliminary examination.
If the committee determines that the student has not shown sufficient potential to succeed in research based on the student’s grades and the research project, they may give the student a failing grade on the preliminary examination, ask the student to take additional courses, or ask the student to repeat the requirement by the end of the student’s third year in the program (i.e., to submit a revised paper and make a second presentation). To proceed to the dissertation phase of the doctoral program, the student must successfully pass this preliminary examination.
3. Dissertation Proposal
The dissertation proposal is a comprehensive presentation of the student’s existing work toward his or her dissertation, as well as a proposal of the remaining steps to complete the dissertation, and is typically made in the student’s fourth year. At this stage, the OM faculty assess whether the student has shown satisfactory progress toward completing the dissertation and whether the topic of the dissertation shows sufficient promise. Faculty may make suggestions for improvement in the dissertation topic or methods during this stage.
4. Final Dissertation Defense Examination
The dissertation defense (also known as the “final examination”) is a comprehensive presentation of the student’s dissertation, typically made in the spring semester of the student’s fifth year. At this stage, faculty assess whether the student has shown sufficient mastery of methodology and research to submit their dissertation and be granted a PhD from Duke University. The dissertation defense and subsequent submission of the dissertation are the final stages in the doctoral program.
Operations Management Area Sample Program Schedule
| Year | Fall | Spring | Summer |
| 1 | Coursework | Coursework | Research – Qualifying Exam Paper |
| 2 | Coursework Research Qualifying Exam -Research Paper -Oral Presentation -Written Exam | Coursework Research | Research – Preliminary Exam Paper |
| 3 | Coursework (Optional) Research Preliminary Exam -Research Paper Oral Presentation | Coursework (Optional) Research | Research |
| 4 | Research Dissertation Proposal | Research | Research |
| 5 | Research | Research Dissertation Defense |