PhD in Interdisciplinary Engineering
PhD in Interdisciplinary Engineering
Overview
The College of Engineering offers an interdisciplinary engineering Doctor of Philosophy degree involving substantial work in two or more academic departments or disciplines. This is an individually designed program for the student who wishes to pursue graduate studies in an area that substantially overlaps two or more units. In such cases, that student may design, in consultation with their faculty advisor(s), an interdisciplinary program. The program will correspond in scope and depth to Northeastern University’s established degree standards but need not agree exactly with the regulations of individual units. Individually designed interdisciplinary degree programs must be approved by the appropriate graduate office(s).
Curriculum
In order to pursue an individually designed interdisciplinary engineering graduate program, a student must have been accepted into an approved graduate program that will serve as the administrative home unit for the interdisciplinary engineering program.
The interdisciplinary engineering program admits applicants into the PhD program either directly after earning a suitable bachelor’s degree (i.e., direct entry) or after earning a suitable master’s degree (i.e., advanced entry). Upon acceptance into the program, an applicant is designated as a doctoral student. This designation is changed to doctoral candidate upon successful completion of the doctoral qualifying requirements as well as all the required coursework.
Learning Outcomes
The Interdisciplinary Engineering PhD programs’ student learning outcomes are:
- An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems
- An ability to explain and apply engineering design principles, as appropriate to the program’s educational objectives
- An ability to produce solutions that meet specified end-user needs with consideration of economic factors, and, where relevant, factors related to public policy, safety, and the environment
Experiential Learning
Northeastern combines rigorous academics with experiential learning and research to prepare students for real-world engineering challenges including industry experience as part of the co-op program or an internship. The Cooperative Education Program, also known as a “co-op,” is one of the largest and most innovative in the world, and Northeastern is one of only a few that offers a Co-op Program for graduate students. Through this program, students gain professional experience employed in their field of interest as part of the academic curriculum. Northeastern has over 3,000 co-op employer partners in a wide variety of organizations, from large companies to entrepreneurial start-ups. Students can also participate in the university’s Experiential PhD program.
Academic Advising
The Academic Advisors in the Graduate Student Services office can help answer many of your questions and assist with various concerns regarding your program and student record. Use the link below to also determine which questions can be answered by your Faculty Program Advisors and OGS Advisors.
Admissions & Aid
Ready to take the next step? Review degree requirements to see courses needed to complete this degree. Then, explore ways to fund your education. Finally, review admissions information to see our deadlines and gather the materials you need to Apply.
Student News
First Cohort of NSF NRT Student Trainees Share Value of Interdisciplinary Research
The first cohort of trainees of the NSF NRT Platforms for Exchange and Allocation of Resources grant share the value of the program’s interdisciplinary research, stipends, curriculum, seminars, and faculty mentorship. Applications are now open to be a trainee for the fall 2025 semester.
PhD Student Receives Best Paper Finalist Award at 2025 AIAA SciTech
Negar Asadi, PhD ’26, interdisciplinary engineering, under the supervision of CEE/Khoury Assistant Professor Fatemeh Ghoreishi, received the Best Paper Finalist Award at the 2025 AIAA SciTech Forum.
Ghoreishi and Asadi Received the Conference Best Paper Award at MECC 2024
CEE/Khoury Assistant Professor Fatemeh Ghoreishi and her interdisciplinary PhD student, Negar Asadi, PhD’27, received the Conference Best Paper Award at the 2024 Modeling, Estimation, and Control Conference (MECC 2024) for their paper, “Active Learning for Efficient Data Acquisition in Coupled Multidisciplinary Systems.”
Predicting Rainfall With Artificial Intelligence
A research model that uses AI to quickly and accurately predict weather forecasts will be tested by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The model was created by Puja Das, PhD’27, interdisciplinary engineering, who is supervised by CEE Distinguished Professor Auroop Ganguly.