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Program Overview

This rigorous and focused Ph.D. program offers competitive funding and prepares graduate students for careers in research and technical leadership. EE Ph.D. graduate students can contribute to interdisciplinary research within a broad range of applications, including power/energy, biomedical, aerospace, and transportation. In addition, the EE program partners with other academic units to also offer a Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and a Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering.

Typically candidates have obtained the Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering prior to application but other applicants are encouraged to consider the program if they have extensive background in mathematics and/or the basic sciences. In such cases, it may be necessary for a student to complete the entrance qualifications without receiving credit toward graduate studies. The general requirements for admission as outlined under the Regulations of the Graduate College must be met. 

Electrical Engineering Graduate Student Handbook

Curriculum

Doctoral Degree Overview

A minimum of:

• Completed M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent, or meet qualifications for the direct-to-Ph.D. route.
• Once admitted, Ph.D. students must successfully meet each of the following requirements:

1. Coursework
2. Comprehensive exam
3. Dissertation proposal
4. Dissertation defense
5. Final dissertation submission to the Graduate College

Admissions

Ph.D. Program Admission Requirements

• M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering or its equivalent.
• A graduate student who meets the requirements for candidacy for the M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and has completed twenty-four (24) credit hours of appropriate graduate course work with a B average (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) or better qualifies to apply to the Ph.D. program.
• An applicant to the Ph.D. program may be admitted provisionally based on a B average or better in twenty-four (24) hours of appropriate graduate coursework toward the M.S. in Electrical Engineering.

Ph.D. Candidacy Requirements

• Completed Ph.D. coursework requirements.
• Completed Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination
• Demonstrated mastery of core electrical engineering material
• Successful defense of dissertation proposal.

Costs and Funding

This is an exceptional time to pursue a graduate degree at ����̽̽, as research funding has increased fourfold during the past three years. Most Ph.D. students and thesis-based master’s students are funded as graduate research assistants (GRA) or graduate teaching assistants (GTA). These positions come with both a stipend and tuition support.

Gund Barrett Ph.D. Assistantships

The Gund Institute for Environment and ����̽̽’s College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (CEMS) seek outstanding Ph.D. students to create real-world solutions to global challenges. These new Gund Barrett Ph.D. Assistantships, supported by the Richard Barrett Foundation, will enable Ph.D. students to collaborate across disciplines on urgent issues at the intersection of engineering and the environment. An interdisciplinary Ph.D. experience. Students will receive up to four years of funding, including an annual $35,000 stipend, tuition, and ����̽̽’s student health insurance. They can also access additional funds for conferences and research costs. Primary advisors must be a Gund Fellow from ����̽̽ Engineering (Biomedical, Civil, Electrical, Environmental or Mechanical). Students must pursue a Ph.D. degree in CEMS and mentor undergraduate Barrett Scholars.

Learn more about the Gund Barrett Ph.D. Assistantships

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Comprehensive Examination

In order to be advanced to candidacy for the Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering, a Ph.D. student is required to pass the Comprehensive Examination, prior to the start of a candidate’s 4th semester of study, and no later than the end of the student's 4th semester (with the potential for an adjusted timeline for part-time students).

The written part of the examination will be a report presented in the form of an IEEE conference paper, with the format of double column and maximum length of 6 pages. The paper will be focused on a research topic in the area of the candidate’s dissertation work, and will comprise three Specific Aims:

1. Introduction, background and literature review related to the research problem. Development of a comprehensive bibliography related to their research topic.

2. A clear description of open issues related to the research topic. Discussion of the value and innovative aspects of the student’s proposed research.

3. Proposed research approach description, hypothesis(es) and/or goal(s), potential barriers and possible solutions, preliminary data, and experimental design plan.

The first aim will demonstrate the student’s ability to collect and contextualize prior art in the area of research. The second aim will demonstrate the student’s ability to identify new research problems and justify their value to the field. The third aim will be a “stretch aim” that extends beyond the completed aspects of the candidate’s research. In this third aim, the candidate will be expected to exhibit evidence of an ability to generate imaginative and thoughtful hypotheses, and to think laterally about how their PhD research area could be developed in a new direction. The candidate should gain the approval of their thesis committee regarding the general area of the proposal prior to beginning work on it.

The oral part of the comprehensive examination will be a formal seminar by the student in front of the faculty committee, to take place after the committee members have had a chance to review the written report, which should be in the hands of the committee members at least 2 weeks prior to the oral presentation. The student will be asked to defend the paper and to answer any additional questions the committee members feel appropriate. It is expected that there will be specific questions directly associated with broad electrical engineering fundamentals. The Ph.D. comprehensive exam is meant to be “integrative”, as in combining multiple theorems/definitions/results/concepts from different EE courses and topics. Questions may go beyond any single theorem or result or definition to allow students to show that they have attained mastery of EE graduate core Materials at the PhD level. The expectation is that the oral portion will be completed prior the start of the student’s 3rd semester.

Requirements for Advancement to Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Candidacy is achieved with successful completion of the exam and successful completion (B or higher) of the second EE core course ( or ) before the end of their 4th semester.

The majority of students will have completed a core program comprising graduate courses before taking the comprehensive examination.