Graduate Program

Doctoral Program

Program Description

The PhD in Electrical Engineering is a research-intensive program designed to prepare students for advanced careers in academia and research institutions, and for leadership positions in industrial research and development organizations, consulting, etc.  手机看片 in the program, under the guidance and in collaboration with their major professors and dissertation committee, pursue original research topics in cutting-edge areas of electrical engineering culminating in a doctoral dissertation.

For official admission and curriculum information, please refer to the

  • Credit Hours

    Program Requirements

    The student's supervisory committee is responsible for evaluating the student's overall transcript to ensure that the following distributional requirements are met:
    Total Required: A minimum of 72 graduate hours beyond bachelor's degree
    Core Distribution Requirements:
    • A minimum of 30 hours - Formal regularly scheduled graduate coursework beyond bachelor's degree
    • A minimum of 8 hours - Additional mathematics or statistics courses beyond bachelor's degree
    • A minimum of 20 hours - Dissertation research (EEL 7980)
    手机看片 with an MSEE from 手机看片 typically begin with:
    • 18-24 credits in formal coursework
    • 6 credits in mathematics/statistics
    • Remaining requirements typically include:
      • 3 hours mathematics
      • 6 hours regularly scheduled courses in concentration area
      • 10-13 hours directed research, directed study, seminar, or additional coursework
      • 20 hours dissertation research
    Master's degree from another university:
    • 9 credit hours of 6000-level EE courses at 手机看片, including 2 hours EE Graduate Seminar (taken once before candidacy, once before graduation)
    • Up to 30 credit hours may be awarded for previous master's degree
    • Graduate program director determines which distribution requirements are satisfied
    Note: While the Registrar's Office automatically credits 30 hours, your supervisory committee may may elect not to accept all of them and a doctoral student may have to complete more EE courses

  • Doctoral Qualifying Exam Preparation

    DQE

    Passing a Doctoral Qualifying Exam is required of all doctoral students by 手机看片. The purpose of the exam is to measure the aptitude and capability of the student for productive independent research in electrical engineering, as well as to demonstrate the student鈥檚 in-depth knowledge of their chosen research domain.
    Exam Format
    • Written Research Paper containing:
      • Annotated literature survey in your chosen research area
      • Discussion and comparison of prior art in the field
      • Identification of promising research areas and problem domains of interest to you and your advisor
    • Oral Presentation of the research paper to the Qualifying Exam committee

    Committee Selection
    The examining committee is selected by the Graduate Program Coordinator in consultation with your major professor

  • Candidacy

    Candidacy

    Prerequisites
    • All coursework must be completed by the semester before candidacy admission, no incomplete or missing grades are allowed
    • Committee meeting with your supervisory committee
    • Submit a Candidacy Packet
    • Must be registered the semester you apply for candidacy
    Required Candidacy Packet Documents
    Important Registration Rules
    • Dissertation hours: Cannot register until the semester after candidacy admission
    • Directed research hours: Cannot be exchanged for dissertation hours
    • After candidacy: No longer register for directed research hours
    See the graduate school website for application deadlines and required forms

  • Dissertation Defense

    Dissertation

    The final oral defense of the dissertation serves as the final exam for the PhD degree.
    Preparation
    Your major professor is your primary guide for:
    • Preparing for the defense
    • Ensuring you're ready to tackle the final dissertation defense
    Evaluation
    • Grading: Defense is evaluated according to the
    • Outcome: Committee decision is binary - pass or fail

    Dissertation Submission
    • The Graduate School mandates the dissertation process for all PhD students.
    • Format check: The College of Engineering conducts a format check with earlier deadlines than the Graduate School's. Learn more here.

    Complete information about doctoral program content and policies/procedures: