PhD Degree Program

Students who have filed notice with the Graduate College of intention to become a candidate for the Ph.D. Degree in Electrical Engineering will need an advisory committee. This committee will be chaired by a member of the Faculty of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and should have representation of at least one other department in which the student contemplates taking course(s).

If a student already enrolled as a candidate for the Master's Degree wishes to file notice to become a candidate for the Ph.D. he should petition the Graduate College to designate his advisor for the Master's program as his temporary Ph.D. advisor in order to preserve continuity in his program.

The minimum requirement for the Doctoral Degree is 90 credit-hours beyond a Bachelor's Degree, or approximately 60 hours beyond the Master's Degree. This includes credit for dissertation. This requirement may, however, be increased at the discretion of the student's advisory committee. Thesis credit is determined by the student's major professor or advisory committee (a maximum of 36 semester credit hours). So, a typical course plan (beyond the B.S. degree) would have a minimum of 45 coursework hours, a maximum of nine (9) 5000-level research hours, and a maximum of 36 thesis hours.

The contents of an approved plan of study will be determined by the student and his advisory committee. The committee will consider the student's interests and suggestions in arriving at an approved preliminary plan and for subsequent revision as may be required. Normally, the student will take all of the courses offered in at least the sequence of specialized graduate work embracing the field of interest in which he proposes to conduct research. A maximum of three (3) 4000-level ECEN courses approved for graduate credit may be included on a Ph.D. plan of study (including any that were included on a Master's plan of study). The list of approved courses is included at the end of this bulletin.

A sufficient concentration of subjects offered by one of the other departments of the Graduate College may be accepted as a minor if the faculty of the department involved is represented on the student's advisory committee.

The School of Electrical and Computer Engineering waives the foreign-language requirement for the Ph.D. Degree.

MS Thesis Examination: A candidate for the Master of Science degree who submits a thesis will submit to an oral examination covering hi/her thesis. There is no formal requirement for an examination beyond those associated with specific courses for students completing a Plan III (Professional Path) Master of Science degree. However, the advisor under whom a student performs independent study may require a written or oral examination similar to a thesis examination as part of the evaluation of the work.

Ph.D. Preliminary Examination (ECEN 6050): The Ph.D. preliminary examination, course ECEN 6050, will be used to evaluate the student's ability to perform independent research on an advanced topic. Note that the research should be independent, but it is not necessarily original research. The student will provide his/her Ph.D. committee with a document that details his/her research (two weeks before the presentation). In the presentation, the student will summarize his/her research in an oral presentation. Students will receive minimal guidance from the advisor during the preparation of the 6050 document. The submitted document and oral presentation must primarily reflect the student's own work. The oral exam must be completed within one (1) year of entering the Ph.D. program after the completion of the Master's degree. Enrollment in ECEN 6050 in the first semester after admission to the Ph.D. program is encouraged. Students who are admitted directly into the Ph.D. program upon completion of the BS degree will be considered to have entered the Ph.D. program upon completion of 30 hours of graduate credit.

Ph.D. Qualifying Examination: The qualifying examination will be conducted to judge the candidate's ability to present and defend the results of original research. This examination will not be used to explore the candidate's comprehension of course work nor related to his research investigation. The Ph.D. candidate is expected to participate in scholarship: At the time of the qualifying examination the student must have (at least) submitted a conference paper or journal paper on his/her research. Any deficiencies that may have been uncovered in previous examinations MUST have been rectified before a candidate can be permitted to take his/her thesis examination.

Ph.D. Final Examination: The final thesis examination will be conducted to judge the candidate's ability to present and defend the results of original research. Although referred to in the Graduate Catalog as the "final" examination, this examination will not be used to explore the candidate's comprehension of course work not related to his research investigation. At the time of the final examination, the student must have (at least) submitted a journal paper on his/her research. Any deficiencies that may have been uncovered in previous examinations MUST have been rectified before a candidate can be permitted to take his/her thesis examination.

Evaluation of the examinations described above is the responsibility of the student's advisory committee. Other examinations may be required to satisfy portions of the requirements such as completion of individual courses and proficiency in languages, and an examination MAY BE required over a minor field of study before the cognizant department will permit listing a minor in that subject.