Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - PHD

Required Courses

• ET 6020 - Technical Writing Seminar  (1 hour)
• EE 6981 - Graduate Research Seminar  (a minimum of 2 hours of EE 6981 over two semesters and must present dissertation research to the seminar at least once)
• Students must complete a minimum of 15 hours of formal coursework at the 5000-level or higher, including
  • at least 12 hours of coursework that must be in EE and/or CS at the 6000-level or higher;
  • 3 hours of formal coursework can be in mathematics or the natural sciences at the 5000-level or higher; and
  • with the restriction that Independent Study or other informal coursework not count toward the required 15 credit hours. 

Please note:

• The coursework must be arranged so that the major emphasis is in a single area of EECS (namely, the student’s chosen area of specialization).
• All coursework to be applied to the Ph.D. degree requirements must be approved by the EECS faculty members on the student’s examining committee and the Chair of the EECS Graduate Committee.
• Additional coursework may be required in cases where the student’s background is found to be insufficient. The need for additional coursework will be assessed by the examining committee.

Required Courses

• ET 6020 - Technical Writing Seminar  (1 hour)
• EE 6981 - Graduate Research Seminar  (minimum of 3 hours of EE 6981 over three semesters and must present dissertation research to the seminar at least once)
• Students must complete a minimum of 30 hours of formal coursework at the 5000-level or higher including,
  • at least 18 hours of coursework at the 5000-level or higher in EE and/or CS, of which at least 15 hours must be at the 6000 level or higher in EE and/or CS
  • 3 hours can be in mathematics or the natural sciences at the 5000-level or higher
  • with the restriction that no more than 3 hours of Independent Study or other informal coursework can count towards the required 30 credit hours.

Please note:

• Students must complete two EE and/or CS courses outside their approved area of specialization. The remaining coursework must be arranged so that the major emphasis is in the area of specialization.
• All coursework to be applied to the Ph.D. degree requirements must be approved by the EECS faculty members on the student’s examining committee and the Chair of the EECS Graduate Committee. 
• Additional coursework may be required in cases where the student’s background is found to be insufficient. The need for additional coursework will be assessed by the examining committee. Exceptions to these requirements must be preapproved by the examining committee.

Comprehensive Examination

A three-part (Part A, written, Part B, oral, Part C, research proposal) comprehensive examination must be passed. This is taken with the dissertation advisor’s approval and Part A must be attempted within one (1) semester after completing the formal coursework listed on the student’s approved Program of Study. Exceptions must be approved in advance by the EECS Graduate Committee. Part B and Part C must be completed within one year of passing Part A. The examining committee can waive the Part B examination if no specific concerns regarding the student’s performance on Part A were raised and communicated to the Grad Chair.

Candidacy

After passing parts A and B of the comprehensive examination, and having had a research proposal accepted by his or her dissertation advisor and the examining committee (Part C), the student is admitted to candidacy.

Dissertation

An acceptable dissertation must be submitted, and this should be equivalent to a minimum of two calendar years of full-time independent research. A minimum of 54 semester hours of EE 8950 - Dissertation  or CS 8950 - Dissertation is required. The dissertation must be based on research performed by the student and for which the student has had at least two (2) refereed articles published or accepted for publication.  Articles which have been accepted, subject to major revisions, are not to be considered until the revisions have been submitted and approved. The student’s examining committee will decide which publications are acceptable. The articles may be co-authored, but the student must be a primary author. Exceptions to this must be approved (prior to the scheduling of the dissertation defense) by the examining committee and the EECS Graduate Committee. 

Dissertation Defense

The candidate must pass an oral examination on his or her dissertation. The dissertation must be submitted to the examining committee at least four weeks prior to the scheduled defense date. Any member of the examining committee, after scrutinizing the dissertation, may request a postponement of the defense. Students scheduling their dissertation defense earlier than one calendar year after the approval of the research proposal must obtain the prior approval of the EECS GRADUATE COMMITTEE. The minimum amount of time to be reserved for the dissertation defense is three hours.