Degree Title: Doctor of Philosophy

Program Name and Number: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - PH7267

Department/Unit: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Delivery Mode: Athens Campus.

Program Mission: Our mission is to educate electrical engineering professionals to become leaders in industry, government, and university positions, who are committed to the highest standards of professional ethics, lifelong learning, and improving the human condition.

Program Learning Objectives:

• Students will, by the time of graduation, contribute significantly to the discipline (either EE or CS) as evidenced by publications in refereed conference and journals in the discipline.
• Students will, by the time of graduation, have an advanced knowledge of mathematics and of the discipline so that they continue to contribute significantly to the discipline after graduation.

Program Overview:  This program leads to a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Research in the EE areas of avionics and navigation, communications and signal processing, controls, computer engineering, computer architecture, networking,  electromagnetics, opto- and nano-electronics, industrial controls, and analog and digital circuits, and in CS areas of algorithm design, theory of computation, software verification and certification, security,  programming languages, computer networking, artificial intelligence, robotics, bioinformatics, visualization, and image processing. The program consists of required coursework, and a three-part comprehensive examination consisting of a written exam, oral exam, and Ph.D. dissertation proposal defense, followed by approximately 2 years of research, and successful defense of the Ph.D. dissertation.

Opportunities for Graduates: Students with a Ph.D. degree in EECS are generally given more responsibility than those with Master’s degrees in industrial and government settings. Doctoral degree holders typically supervise teams and manage projects, and may also work in research and development, supervising other degreed engineers. The Doctoral degree is also required for most academic careers.

Link to Program: https://www.ohio.edu/engineering/eecs/academics/graduate.cfm

Link to Program Handbook: https://www.ohio.edu/engineering/eecs/gradtools.cfm

Graduation Requirements:

1. Coursework Requirements – Ph.D. with M.S.
   1. At least 15 semester hours of formal coursework, at the 6000-level or above is required.  Additional coursework may be required in cases where the student’s background is found to be deficient.  The need for additional coursework will be assessed by the examining committee.  Independent Study or other informal coursework will not count toward the required 15 credit hours.
   2. At least 9 semester hours of formal coursework must be in EE and/or CS at the 6000-level or above.  At least 3 semester hours of formal coursework must be in mathematics or the natural sciences at the 6000-level or above is required; exceptions must be pre-approved by the examining committee.  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.
   3. No credit hours below a grade of B may be counted toward the Ph.D. program requirements.  More than 6 semester hours below a grade of B will automatically drop the student from the program.  The student must maintain a 3.0/4.0 grade point average to remain in the program.  Students failing to maintain a 3.0/4.0 grade point average may petition the EECS GRADUATE COMMITTEE to remain in the program for one additional semester, during which the student’s grade point average must be corrected to at least 3.0/4.0.  Only one such petition is allowed during the degree program.
   4. All students are required to obtain a passing grade in two (2) semesters of EE 6981Graduate Research Seminar.  Students should register for one (1) hour each in two (2) (nominally consecutive) semesters.  EE 6981is offered on a pass/fail basis.  Ph.D.-with-M.S. students are required to present their dissertation research work in its current state to the seminar at least once.
   5. One semester of ET 6020 (Technical Writing Seminar) is required.
2. Coursework Requirements – Ph.D. with B.S.
   1. At least 30 semester hours of formal graduate coursework is required.  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.  No more than 3 semester hours of Independent Study or other informal coursework may count toward the required 30 credit hours.
   2. At least 18 semester hours of formal coursework at the 6000-level or above is required, of which at least 12 must be in EE and/or CS and 3 must be in mathematics or the natural sciences; exceptions must be pre-approved.
   3. At least 18 semester hours of formal graduate coursework must be in EE and/or CS.
   4. On the Program of Study, the student will indicate his/her chosen area of specialization (the dissertation advisor must approve this selection).  The student must take two EE and/or CS courses that fall outside this area.  The remaining coursework must be arranged so that the major emphasis is on 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.
   5. No credit hours below a grade of B may be counted toward the Ph.D. program requirements.  More than 6 semester hours below a grade of B will automatically drop the student from the program.  The student must maintain a 3.0/4.0 grade point average to remain in the program.  Students failing to maintain a 3.0/4.0 grade point average may petition the EECS GRADUATE COMMITTEE to remain in the program for one additional semester, during which the student’s grade point average must be corrected to at least 3.0/4.0.  Only one such petition is allowed during the degree program.
   6. All students are required to obtain a passing grade in three (3) semesters of EE 6981 Graduate Research Seminar.  Students should register for one (1) hour each in three (3) semesters.  EE 6981is offered on a pass/fail basis.  Ph.D.-with-B.S. students are required to present their dissertation research work in its current state to the seminar at least twice.
   7. One semester of ET 6020 (Technical Writing Seminar) is required.
3. Other Requirements
   1. 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 must be taken within 6 months of passing Part A; Part C must be completed within one year of passing Part B.
   2. 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 and will be so informed by a letter from the Dean of the Russ College of Engineering and Technology.
   3. 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.
   4. 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) is required.  The dissertation must be based on research performed by the student and for which the student has had at least 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.

Admission Requirements:

Admission to the Ph.D. program is considered for applicants who either currently hold an M.S. degree or those who seek direct entry to the Ph.D. program with a B.S. degree.

Normally, an M.S. and/or B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Computer Science is expected.  Those with an M.S. and/or B.S. degree in a related field will be considered.  In all cases, excellent academic performance at the M.S. and/or B.S. level is expected.  The applicant’s background should reflect an ability to carry out independent supervised research.

Students with degrees from programs that are not accredited by the ABET engineering or computing commissions must submit scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general test. For applicants whose native language is not English, scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) are also required. Three letters of recommendations from persons familiar with the applicant’s academic abilities are required.  Admission and support (tuition scholarships, research and teaching assistantships) are competitive.  Letters of recommendation, undergraduate transcripts, grade point average (GPA), GRE and TOEFL scores are all considered when determining admission and financial support.