A student must complete a minimum of 36 credit hours of PhD Research Dissertation that involves novel, creative, research-oriented work under the direct supervision of at least one full-time faculty advisor from the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. The main research advisor must be a full-time faculty member in the department offering the particular major. The outcome of research should demonstrate the synthesis of information into knowledge in a form that may be used by others. The research findings must be documented in a formal dissertation and defended successfully in a viva voce Dissertation Defense examination.