| Language: | English |
| Duration: | 4 semesters (Recommended) |
The students are advised to follow the curriculum to complete their Master's degree in a timely manner; however, the Graduate Study Regulations are the binding authority regarding degree requirements and the maximum duration allowed for the completion of coursework and the Master's thesis. In the present context, students must complete all required coursework with satisfactory grades within a maximum of 4 semesters. The master's thesis must be successfully defended by the end of the 6th semester.
The Master's Program in Mechanical Engineering requires the successful completion of at least 7 credit-bearing courses (1 mathematics course, 2 core courses and 4 elective courses) corresponding to a minimum of 21 credits, one ethics course, one seminar course, and a Master's thesis. Students must obtain a grade of CC or higher in each credit-bearing course and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00.
The normal course load requirement is 3 courses per semester; upon the student's request and with the approval of the thesis advisor, this number may be increased to four. For students with an Academic Deficiency Warning or students who have four or fewer remaining courses in their degree program, the course load may be reduced to two courses, and different course load regulations may be applied by the Department Chair for research assistants of the department.
Students are not allowed to withdraw any registered courses. However, they could replace the failed course with another one. The graduate-level course that was taken as an elective during the undergraduate program, with a passing grade, cannot be repeated in the graduate program or counted towards the graduate program's course load.
Students must take at least 2 courses from the department's core graduate elective course pool:
| ME 502 Advanced Dynamics | ME 526 Vibration of Continuous Systems with Comp. Met. (ME 532 Advanced Machinery Vibrations after semester 2022-1) |
| ME 503 Advanced Gas Dynamics | ME 537 Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics I |
| ME 504 Advanced Heat Transfer I | ME 541 Plasticity and Computer-Aided Metal Forming |
| ME 505 Advanced Heat Transfer II | ME 543 Theory of Elasticity |
| ME 511 Modern Control | ME 547 Introduction to Continuum Mechanics |
| ME 517 Advanced Fluid Dynamics |
These courses provide advanced foundations in the major disciplinary areas of Mechanical Engineering and help students develop the analytical and theoretical background necessary for graduate-level research.
All Master's students are required to take ME 521 to satisfy the mathematics requirement of the program. This course provides the mathematical tools and methods commonly used in advanced Mechanical Engineering analysis and research.
Students are required to take at least 4 Elective courses. Among these elective courses must include at least 2 graduate-level Mechanical Engineering courses with ME 5XX course codes, excluding ME 521. These courses allow students to develop expertise in their chosen research area.
Mechanical Engineering research often involves knowledge from multiple disciplines. Therefore, with the approval of the Departmental Graduate Programme Committee, students may include up to 2 courses selected from the following categories:
- Graduate courses offered by other departments,
- Undergraduate technical elective courses offered by the Mechanical Engineering Department,
- Undergraduate technical elective courses offered by other departments.
Students wishing to include such courses in their programs must submit the required departmental request forms ("Fourth Year and Non-ME Courses Request Form: G7") by the last day of the registration week with an unofficial academic transcript and course content should be attached to the form. Forms submitted after registration week or missing attachments will not be considered. Graduate-level courses that were previously taken and passed during undergraduate studies cannot be counted toward the graduate degree requirements.
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Students must successfully complete ME 599 Ethics and receive an S grade within the first four semesters of the program. The course introduces the ethical principles, professional responsibilities, and research practices expected from graduate researchers and engineers.
Students must register for ME 590 Thesis Seminar and receive an S grade within the first four semesters of the program. The seminar course is designed to help students develop scientific communication skills and receive feedback on their research from faculty members and peers.
Students enrolled in ME 590 are required to give a seminar presentation on their thesis topic and the progress of their research. To obtain an S grade, the seminar presentation must be deemed successful by a jury of relevant faculty members. In addition, students must attend the required number of seminars in their topic group, corresponding to 10 seminar presentations, as determined by the course coordinators.
Successful completion of the seminar course, together with the required coursework and ethics course, marks an important milestone in the Master's program and prepares students for the thesis research and defense process.
The Master's Thesis is the culmination of the program and provides students with the opportunity to conduct independent research under the supervision of their thesis advisor. Through the thesis, students are expected to identify a research problem, apply advanced engineering methods, critically evaluate results, and communicate their findings in a scholarly manner.
Students must register for the non-credit ME 8XX Special Studies course associated with their thesis advisor every semester. In addition, students must register for ME 500 M.S. Thesis beginning from their first semester and continue registration until graduation. Advisor-specific course codes are announced by the department before each registration period.
The thesis will be presented to a thesis jury. According to Article 34 of the Graduate Study Regulations, the composition and appointment of the thesis jury are determined by the relevant department and the Institute of Science. In the Mechanical Engineering Department, the Master's thesis jury consists of five members, including the thesis advisor and at least one jury member from outside METU.
The thesis defense is conducted in English and is open to the university community. After the presentation and question-and-answer session, the jury evaluates the thesis and decides by majority vote on one of the following outcomes:
- Acceptance of the thesis,
- Requirement for revisions (to be completed and re-defended within three months),
- Rejection of the thesis.
If a thesis is deemed incomplete or insufficient by the jury, the student may be granted an extension of up to 3 months to revise it. A repeated thesis examination will be conducted by the same jury members from the first exam.
Following a successful defense, the final version of the thesis must be submitted to the Institute of Science according to the procedures and deadlines specified by the Institute. The student's official graduation date is the date on which the approved final thesis is submitted to the Institute of Science.