The Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering is teaming up with one of South Korea’s most prestigious universities to offer a joint doctoral degree.

The new mechanical engineering program with Seoul National University (SNU) will give students a chance to spend at least one year abroad after beginning their studies at their home institutions.

“This new joint doctoral program will give Georgia Tech students exciting opportunities to expand their global citizenship, as well as allow our faculty to forge new research relationships with counterparts at one of the technological giants of the Pacific Rim,” said Professor Paul Neitzel, the Woodruff School’s associate chair for graduate studies. He traveled to Korea for the signing of the agreement establishing the program.

Other Georgia Tech delegates present at the June 17 signing included Professor Yves Berthelot, vice provost for international initiatives, and Professor William Wepfer, chair of the Woodruff School.   

Students will spend most of their time abroad completing research toward their doctorates, while the majority of their coursework will be completed at their home institutions. But SNU’s classes in the program are offered in English, so Georgia Tech students who don’t speak Korean can enroll in those if they choose.

Neitzel and Min Zhou, a professor at the Woodruff School and a former professor at SNU, led efforts to set up the program.

Mechanical engineering Ph.D. students already enrolled at either SNU or Georgia Tech may apply for the program during the 2014-15 academic year. If accepted, they will officially matriculate in fall 2015.