Basic and applied Science Entrance Exams

Students are required to pass successfully an entrance examination that focuses on the students’ academic background in the related program and on their analytical abilities.

Entrance exam will include two parts, one hour each. The first part is a general graduate examination and the second is a technical examination.

The first part is general Exam:

The general examination part (one hour exam) will mainly focus on assessing the student's creativity required for him/her to make a transition to being a distinguished independent researcher; the exam would include both multiple-choice and essay writing questions to access the student's ability to think outside of the box (lateral thinking), how well he/she can analyse ideas (mainly analytical and mathematical ability), and finally how practical he/she is to transform ideas into research/artefacts (logical reasoning and scientific arguing abilities).

The second part (Subject Exam):

The technical examination part (one-hour exam) assess the student's basic scientific background in the following specialization for each department as follows:

1. Nanoscience Entrance Exam:

• General chemistry
• Physics
• Materials physics and chemistry
• Materials analysis
• Macromolecules and their composites
• Spectroscopy
  2. Biotechnology Entrance Exam:

• Biochemistry
• Cell biology
• Molecular biology
• Genetics
• Analytical methods and applications

3. Applied and Computational Mathematics Entrance Exam:

• Differential Equations (ODEs and PDEs)
• Numerical Analysis
• Probability and statistics
• Fractional Calculus
• Linear Algebra

4. Energy Materials Entrance Exam:

• General Physics ad basic Chemistry
• Semiconductors
• Magnetism
• Physical Electronics
• Electronics
  5. Space Environment Entrance Exam:
• General Physics
• Solar Physics
• Space Weather
• Earth's Atmosphere
• Elementary Particles

Personal Interview and Research Proposal Presentation Assessment Criteria

For M.Sc. candidates:

1. Research ability and potential
   • Knowledge of basics principles in the field
   • Potential for conducting independent experiments/surveys
2. Presentation skills
   • Originality of the presentation (Percentage taken from web sites, borrowed material)
   • Logic and clearness to expose ideas (looking to audience)
   • Answering questions logic, and consistently
   • Clear and concise spoken English
3. Personal Character
   • Motivation and neatness
4. Awards and publication
   • Awards

For PhD candidates:

1. Research ability and potential
   • Experience in conducting independent experiments/surveys
   • Knowledge of the basics and advances in the major field
   • Capability to develop research tools (programming, software)
   • Clear plan & strategy
2. Presentation skills
   • Originality of the presentation (Percentage taken from web sites, borrowed material)
   • Clear and concise spoken English
3. Publications

• Peer review journal (International)
• Conference Proc.

4. Personal Character
   • Team work capability (tracked cooperation)
   • Studying abroad (exchange program)
   • Motivation and neatness

The candidate conducts a 15-minute presentation by PPT (Power Point Presentation) for his/her research proposal in front of an evaluation committee. The presentation is followed by 15-minute discussion with the candidate to evaluate the main points given in the research proposal and to evaluate the candidate’s research potential.

Applicants are required to provide a copy of the research proposal report and a “six slides per page” handout on a white background for the Power Point presentation

1. General Guidelines

• The maximum period that applicant might be put on the waiting list is one year only (two semesters); and two years (four semesters) for private applicants who fulfilled all the admission requirements but have no financial fund

(Note: the waiting list period does not include the semester the applicant applied for).

• If the accepted applicant for M.Sc. degree requested to transfer his application from M.Sc. to Ph.D. after passing M.Sc. entrance examination, technical and personal interview, he/she should reapply on the website by filling new application then pass all the admission procedures for the Ph.D. degree.

• If any applicant would like to transfer from a department to another during the interview; the applicant should fill and sign a “Transfer Form” to the admission office approved by the dean of the school and the chairperson of the department he/she wishes to transfer from and the dean of the school and the chairperson of the department he/she wishes to transfer to, in addition the applicant should obtain the subject exam of the new department.

• If any applicant would like to transfer from department to another after being accepted and admitted in that department, the applicant should reapply from the beginning by filling a new application and go through all the admission procedures.

• If any student would like to postpone his/her enrolment, the deadline is the second week from the beginning of the semester, otherwise he/she is considered as withdraw and/she he should re-apply from the beginning.