Program Features
The Program has an estimated duration of 8 semesters and includes the following curriculum structure (192 credits):
- Common required courses (30 credits)
- Emphasis-area required courses (24 credits) depend on students' research area of choice and on their previous training. Students choose from a set of courses in the mining area.
- Elective courses (18 credits) defined within the areas of specialization.
- A Qualifying exam, according to the modalities defined in the General Regulations of Postgraduate Studies of the Universidad de Chile.
- A thesis (120 credits) that must be an original, creative and relevant contribution to Mining Engineering or related Engineering Sciences, and the topic of which must be approved by the Academic Committee of the Program and by the Graduate School.
The Academic Committee may accept transfer credits for one or more of these courses, according to the background of each student.
Courses
Required Courses
All students are required to complete the following required courses (30 credits):
- MI8130 (6 credits) - Data Analysis in Mining Engineering
- MI8131 (6 credits) - PhD Thesis Seminar
- MI8132 (12 credits) - Research Unit
- MI8133 (6 credits) - Special Topics in Mining
To these courses, required emphasis-area courses are added (24 credits), which will be defined according to the thesis advisor with the approval of the Academic Committee, among the following:
- MI5021 (6 credits) - Mineral Processing Engineering
- MI5022 (6 credits) - Analysis and Simulation of Mineral Processing
- MI5041 (6 credits) – Evaluation of Mineral Resources
- MI5051 (6 credits) - Sustainability in Mining
- MI5071 (6 credits) - Mining Systems
- MI5072 (6 credits) - Simulation of Mining Processes
- MI5073 (6 credits) - Mine Planning
- MI5081 (6 credits) - Mineral Economics
- MI6041 (6 credits) - Geostatistical Simulation
- MI6061 (6 credits) - Numerical Modeling in Rocks Mechanics
- MI6071 (6 credits) - Blasting y Excavation
- MI6072 (6 credits) - Mine Design
Students with training equivalent to Civil Engineering in Mining can obtain transfer credits from these courses. Acceptance of transfer credits is subject to the decision of the Academic Committee after review of the applicant's program of study.
Elective courses
- Students must complete their coursework with 18 credits of electives. These courses can be chosen according to the emphasis area of each student. Courses can be selected from the postgraduate courses offered by the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, all of which are potentially eligible.
Qualifying exam
The qualifying exam requires completion of course MI8131 – PhD Thesis Seminar. As part of this course, students should formulate their research proposal, complete a state-of-the-art review, and obtain some preliminary results at the conceptual level.
The thesis topic must be presented to the Program's Academic Committee. If the topic is considered suitable for a Doctoral Thesis, the committee will define the participants of the qualification committee and the exam date.
The Qualifying exam is oral and is completed before a committee of three professors. In this exam, the committee evaluates the depth of the student’s knowledge regarding the area in which the thesis topic will be developed. The student must demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the mining systems and processes that are carried out in that area and display a broad understanding of the tools that will be needed to obtain a novel solution to the problem proposed. The committee will evaluate whether the student has the vision and the analysis tools necessary to carry out the thesis and is able to propose original solutions through the development and implementation of a high-level independent research project.
Thesis
This central activity of the Program consists of individual research, which must represent an original, creative, and relevant contribution to Mining Engineering or the Science of Engineering and preferably is framed in one of the research lines suggested by the Program. For the approval of the Thesis topic, a Thesis Advisor will be appointed and a Thesis Review Commission will be established, which will approve the candidate's thesis topic. The same Thesis Review Commission may then correspond to the Thesis Defense Committee.
The work leading to the Thesis begins upon passing the Qualifying exam and must be completed within a maximum period of seven semesters from the date of acceptance of the topic. Once this maximum time period passes, the registration of the Thesis topic will no longer be valid. In particular cases, the Graduate School, when given a favorable report from the Doctoral Committee of the Department, may authorize a time extension.
The Academic Committee will designate a Thesis Defense Committee. This Committee will be composed of academics whose specialization is related to the discipline. The Thesis Advisor will attend the exam, but will not have voting rights. At least two members of the Committee will be external to the faculty. The Thesis Defense Committee will make a report on the thesis within a maximum period of one month to accept, reject, or suggest modifications. In case of rejection, the Academic Committee of the Program may set a new opportunity to present the thesis.