PhD in Electrical Engineering

General Requirements:

Application: Student who completed his/her Master’s degree in the subject field with GPA 3.0 or above is eligible to apply for the PhD program.

Thesis Advisor
It is the student’s responsibility to obtain consent from a full-time faculty member in the student’s major department to serve as his/her prospective thesis advisor.

Students are required to find a thesis advisor as soon as possible after being accepted as a PhD student.

The student and the thesis advisor jointly develop a complete program of studies for research in a particular area. The complete program of studies (and any subsequent changes) must be filed with the Graduate Services Office and approved by the student’s advisor.

Course Work and Study Program
The students are expected to complete a minimum of 60 semester units of graduate credit beyond the Master’s degree. Of these, 30 semester units may be earned through course work and independent study and 30 through the thesis. All thesis units are graded on a Pass/No Pass basis. A maximum of 15 semester units may be transferred from other accredited institutions at the discretion of the student’s advisor.

Comprehensive Examinations
After completion of the formal course work approved by the Doctoral Committee, the student shall request for comprehensive examination. The examination shall be a written exam representing sufficient,in-depth for advanced research in the major.
The comprehensive examinations normally must be completed within four years from the time of admission. Comprehensive examinations may be repeated only once, in whole or in part, at the discretion of the thesis advisor.

Admission to Candidacy
A student who passes the comprehensive examinations is considered as a PhD candidate.

A PhD candidate should promptly ask the thesis advisor to form a doctoral committee.

Doctoral Committee
Per student’s request, the thesis advisor will form a Doctoral Committee. The Committee will consist of at least five members, including the thesis advisor and at least two members from the Electrical Engineering Department. The Committee must also include at least one member from outside the Department, preferably from outside the School of Engineering. The Doctoral Committee will review the proposed thesis topic, and determine any further changes to approving the research objective.

Thesis Research
The period following the comprehensive examinations is devoted to research for the thesis, although such research may begin before the examinations are complete. After the research topic approved by the Doctoral Committee, the student should conduct thesis research toward the objective defined.

Publication
One or more refereed articles based on the thesis research must be accepted for publication in a professional or scientific journal approved by the Doctoral Committee.

Thesis Defense
The thesis must be made available to all examiners one month prior to the examination. The oral examination shall consist of a presentation of the results of the thesis and the defense. Thesis defense is open to all faculty members of the university, but only members of the Doctoral Committee have a vote.

Program Completion
At least one month before the degree is to be conferred, the candidate must submit to the Dean Office of the School of Engineering two copies of the final version of the thesis describing the research in its entirety. The thesis will not be considered as accepted until approved by the Doctoral Committee and publication acceptance.

All doctoral theses must also be reproduced on microfilm, for responding to requests for copies by individuals and libraries.

The University reserves the right to evaluate the undertakings and the accomplishments of the degree candidate in total, and award or withhold the degree as a result of its deliberations.

Time Limit for Completing Degrees
All requirements for the doctoral degree must be completed within ten years following acceptance for the PhD program. Extensions will be allowed only in unusual circumstances and must be approved in writing by the Committee on Graduate Programs and the dean of the School of Engineering.

**Note: These courses are only for US citizens or Green Card holders