PhD thesis in Saudi Arabia: admission, regulations, scholarships and the defense

A Saudi doctorate follows a national regulation, and every public university applies it with its own additions. You complete coursework, pass a comprehensive exam, secure approval for a research plan under a supervisor, write the thesis or dissertation and defend it. KAUST, a research university with its own structure, differs in several ways, and Saudi citizens who study abroad on government scholarships follow the host country's system instead. This guide covers all three routes.

The national framework

Graduate study in Saudi universities is governed by a regulation issued by the Council of Universities' Affairs in 2022, which replaced the earlier Unified Regulations for Postgraduate Studies of 2009. Universities publish implementing rules under it. Faculty guides still cite the older article numbers, so you will see both. Read your own university's version, because it decides the details that follow.

The doctorate takes no fewer than three years. The degree is awarded after the coursework phase, the comprehensive exam and an approved thesis. Some universities and the Islamic University's guidelines call the doctoral document a dissertation, and the national regulation treats the thesis at master's and doctoral level together. The regulation notes that a comprehensive exam can serve as the final qualifier for some master's and diploma degrees, but the PhD always requires the dissertation.

Admission

Admission rules differ by university and department, and the published conditions have a common core:

• A master's degree. Applicants hold a master's or equivalent in the same or a related field, as defined by the Saudi classification of educational levels and specializations. Several universities require a grade of at least "Very Good" in the master's. King Saud University's nursing department, for example, states a minimum of 3.75 out of 5. Some universities accept a graduation statement if you have passed your master's thesis defense and are waiting for the certificate.
• Full-time study. Doctoral programs require full-time enrolment under the national rules, according to the guides some universities publish.
• Citizenship or scholarship. Several universities state that applicants must be Saudi, or non-Saudi and on an official scholarship. Non-Saudi residents inside the Kingdom have separate conditions, so read the university's page for your status.
• English. Accepted tests include IELTS, TOEFL and the Saudi STEP exam. Minimums vary widely. Alfaisal University asks for IELTS 6.5, TOEFL 80 or STEP 97 for its PhD programs, while other universities set lower levels or different scores by department. Tests are valid for limited periods, three years at both Alfaisal and Umm Al-Qura University.
• A departmental exam or interview. Umm Al-Qura requires a written departmental admission test for doctoral programs, and Alfaisal interviews every PhD applicant.

King Saud University has also run an initiative that admits talented graduate students from Saudi Arabia and abroad into selected PhD programs aligned with university research priorities. Its requirements and benefits differ from the regular cycles, so read its conditions separately.

The stages

1. Coursework, set by the program.
2. Comprehensive exam. It tests the knowledge and skills needed for the degree.
3. Research plan and supervisor. The regulation requires you to nominate a supervisor and submit a research plan. At several universities a thesis advisory committee reviews and approves the proposal before research begins.
4. Research and writing.
5. Thesis (dissertation) defense before an examination committee.

Check your university's implementing rules for the maximum period of study, the language of the thesis and any publication requirement before a defense committee is formed. The Islamic University, for example, publishes guidelines for submitting a publication-accepted paper to form a doctoral defense committee.

KAUST

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology teaches in English and offers PhDs in science and engineering. Admitted students receive the KAUST Fellowship, which covers tuition and supports them throughout graduate study. The doctoral path has two milestones before the dissertation. A subject-based qualifying exam, where students have up to two attempts and sit it in their first year according to several program guides, is followed by a dissertation proposal defense that earns candidacy. Some programs set a time limit measured in semesters, and missing it can lead to probation or dismissal. The final defense has a committee, and an external examiner writes a report on the dissertation. Details vary by program, so use the program guide for your department.

Studying abroad on Saudi sponsorship

Many Saudi doctoral candidates study overseas under the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Scholarship Program, which the Ministry of Education runs. The program began in 2005, and in 2022 the Crown Prince launched a new strategy for it. It operates through several tracks, and some admit all fields while others cover specified fields. Saudi public and private sector employees can apply, and so can Saudi students already abroad at their own expense, under the program's conditions.

Rules that shape your applications:

• The ministry publishes approved universities and approved specializations. Students pursuing a degree outside those lists risk not being funded.
• The Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission in your host country administers the scholarship, supports you academically and handles the communication with your university. The mission operates in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia, among other countries.
• A degree from a non-Saudi university needs certificate equivalence from the ministry, and you submit a copy of your transcript in Arabic.
• Application windows are announced yearly on the ministry's portal. The 2023/2024 round ran from December 2022 to May 2023, for example. Watch the current announcements and conditions.

Your admission to the foreign university is a separate application, and the mission needs your offer. Follow the steps in how Gulf and Turkish students apply for a PhD in the US or UK, and read the US and UK guides to know what you are entering. For a wider view, see PhD systems compared.

Before you apply, check

• The language of instruction and of the dissertation in your department.
• The required English test and score, and whether it is still valid on your application date.
• Your master's grade against the department's minimum.
• Whether your chosen program is open to you as a non-Saudi.
• The scholarship's approved universities and fields, if you plan to study abroad.

Writing the thesis or dissertation

Doctoral candidates in Saudi Arabia and Saudi scholars abroad often write in English as an additional language, and the weak points are predictable: sentence structure, article use, paragraph shape and inconsistent citation. TDM's editing for Saudi Arabian students corrects those and leaves your argument and findings alone. Our formatting service brings the document into your university's template, and the 12 common defense questions prepare you for the examination.