Curriculum and Study Plan

The Ph.D. program requires the completion of 60 credit hours, distributed as follows:

Doctoral Requirements: 6 credit hours
Area of Concentration Requirement: 3 credit hours
Comprehensive Examination: 9 credit hours
Doctoral Dissertation Proposal: 6 credit hours
Ph.D. Thesis: 36 credit hours
Total: 60 credit hours

Doctoral Requirements

Students are required to complete the following two compulsory courses:

DDSS 710 – Advanced Seminar in Defence and Security Studies
3 credit hours

DDSS 720 – Doctoral Seminar
3 credit hours

Area of Concentration

Students are required to complete one 3-credit-hour course related to their dissertation topic and research interests in one of the following areas:

  • Defence Economics.
  • Intelligence Studies and Cyber Security.
  • Military Strategy.
  • Defence Diplomacy.

DDSS 730 –  Comprehensive Examination

Credit Hours: 9

The comprehensive examination evaluates the student's mastery of the fundamental knowledge of the discipline as well as their analytical and critical abilities in defence and security studies.

DDSS 740 – Doctoral Dissertation Proposal

Credit Hours: 6

Students are required to prepare and present their doctoral dissertation proposal before an academic committee composed of faculty members of the Academy.

DDSS 800 – Ph.D. Thesis

Credit Hours: 36

Students are required to prepare a doctoral dissertation of between 75,000 and 100,000 words addressing a research problem within their selected area of concentration. The dissertation must constitute an original scholarly contribution to the advancement of knowledge in defence and security studies.