Electrical and Computer Engineering Ph.D.

• Introduction
• Advancement to Candidacy
• Dissertation

Introduction

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) offers master of science (M.S.) and doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) degree programs and conducts research in the following core areas:

• Electronic Circuits and Energy Systems
• Photonic and Electronic Devices
• Robotics, Control, and Cyber-Physical Systems
• Signals, Image Processing, and Communication Systems

For more information about the core areas and associated graduate courses, the department, and its faculty, please visit the Electrical and Computer Engineering website.

Students begin the program with the completion of courses in a core area of interest and then proceed to do research in their area of specialization. Ph.D. students are required to complete the preliminary exam requirement within their first four quarters of study. After completing the course requirements, students must pass an oral qualifying exam and write a dissertation. Part-time study is possible for students working in industry while attending school.

Advancement to Candidacy

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Each student is required to take 55 credits which must consist of:

• At least 20 credits in one of the four core areas defined above.
• At least 30 of the total 55 credits must be satisfied through ECE graduate courses.
• At most 25 credits can be from courses taught by departments other than ECE. The student must obtain their advisor’s authorization to take a course from outside of Baskin Engineering. Approved core area courses do not require prior authorization.
• At most 10 credits of independent study (ECE 297, ECE 299) will be counted toward ECE course requirements.
• A combined total of 5 credits from ECE 290 and/or ECE 291 are mandatory, but no more than 5 credits from these two courses can be counted toward degree requirements. Students are required to take ECE 291 in order to become eligible to be a teaching assistant within the ECE department.
• Undergraduate courses do not count toward the 55 credit requirement.

Total credits required for the Ph.D. degree is 55.

The 30 credits of ECE graduate courses can include courses from the core areas only if they are ECE graduate courses. Graduate courses offered by other departments and approved for the core areas are not counted as ECE graduate courses.

The ECE Department sponsors a weekly graduate seminar course, ECE 290, in fall, winter, and spring quarters. All graduate students are required to register and attend for at least one quarter during their graduate student career, and are encouraged to enroll every quarter. The graduate seminar consists of talks by invited speakers from industry and academia.

Some faculty also sponsor a weekly lab seminar or lab meeting, ECE 280. Faculty advisers can require their students to enroll for these seminars and they do count toward maintaining full-time enrollment, however they do not count toward the coursework requirements for the degree.

Course Requirements Expand and Collapse

Pre-Qualifying Requirements Expand and Collapse

Preliminary Examination

By the conclusion of their fourth quarter in the program, students admitted to the Ph.D. program must satisfy the requirements of the preliminary examination to continue in the Ph.D. program. Students who do not meet the four-quarter deadline will be placed on academic notice on the condition that they complete all required preliminary examinations by the end of the following quarter.

This examination is as follows:

• Pass three comprehensive exams from subjects in their chosen core area
• Pass one additional section of the comprehensive examination from a different core area.

The preliminary exams are only available for ECE graduate courses approved in the four core areas. Graduate courses approved in the four core areas outside ECE (such as AM or CSE) are not available for the preliminary exams.

At the end of each quarter, students will have the opportunity to take the section(s) of the preliminary examination relevant to the courses offered that quarter that are approved for the core areas. The preliminary examination will focus on fundamental material related to the subject matter of the course. The results of these examination sections, when integrated, will comprehensively test the student’s mastery of the curriculum. In order to pass the overall preliminary examination, a student is required to pass at least three preliminary exam subjects in their core area, plus one exam that is not approved for their core area.

Students may attempt more than one subject per quarter. A maximum of eight exams may be attempted, and a student must pass a minimum of four subjects—three within their selected core area, and one from a different core area. Students who have obtained approved course substitutions for one or more courses within their core area may attempt the preliminary exams for those substituted courses without having taken the course at UCSC. In such cases, students are strongly encouraged to contact the instructor of the UCSC course at the beginning of the quarter to request course materials and/or audit the class.

Eligibility for the preliminary exam is not contingent upon a student's grade in the associated course. Any Ph.D. student who is either enrolled in the relevant core area course or who has demonstrated significant background knowledge of the course material to the instructor of record (for example, through an approved credit transfer) is eligible to complete the preliminary exam in that subject provided they meet the registration deadline for the relevant quarter.

Students must register for the exam subjects they wish to take each quarter when the call for exam registrations is sent. Students who do not register may not be permitted to take the exam.

Passing three preliminary exam subjects within one core area satisfies the comprehensive exam capstone requirement for the ECE Master’s degree. Ph.D. students who wish to apply for a non-terminal Master’s degree once they have completed this requirement are welcome to do so, provided that they have also met the coursework requirements for the M.S. degree.

Qualifying Examination Expand and Collapse

This oral examination is a defense of the student’s thesis prospectus and a test of the student’s knowledge in advanced technical areas of relevance to the dissertation topic. This oral examination consists of a seminar-style talk before the examining committee, where the student describes the thesis prospectus, followed by questions from the committee on the substance of the talk and the areas of presumed expertise of the student. The examination, taken typically in the third year of Ph.D. study, is administered by a Ph.D. qualifying examination committee, consisting of at least four examiners. The composition of the committee must be approved by the graduate director and the dean of graduate studies whereupon the student and the committee are notified.

If the student does not pass the qualifying examination, the student may be asked to complete additional coursework, or other research-related work, before retaking the examination. The student may be allowed to retake the qualifying examination once, and the composition of the examining committee will remain the same for the second try. Students who fail the qualifying examination twice may be dismissed from the Ph.D. program.

The Qualifying Exam (QE) Committee is composed of at least four members who must meet the following eligibility criteria:

1. QE Chair: This person must be tenured* ECE faculty and cannot be the student’s research advisor(s).
2. Member 1: Ladder-rank ECE faculty member (usually the student’s research advisor).
3. Member 2: Ladder-rank SOE faculty member (may be the student’s research advisor) or a recognized expert in the student’s research area from outside UCSC, as judged by the graduate director and dean of Graduate Studies.
4. Outside Member: This person must be tenured UCSC faculty from outside ECE or a recognized expert in the student’s research area from outside UCSC, as judged by the graduate director and dean of Graduate Studies. The outside member may not be the student’s research advisor. In the event that the outside member is not from UCSC, they must have credentials equivalent to a tenured faculty member as judged by the graduate director and the dean of Graduate Studies. The outside member's CV must be submitted along with the committee nomination form.

*A ladder rank faculty (Academic Senate member) holds the title of assistant professor, associate professor, professor, assistant teaching professor, associate teaching professor, or teaching professor. Associate professors, professors, associate teaching professors, and teaching professors have tenure. Assistant professors are not tenured and cannot serve as QE Chair or the Outside Member. However, they are ladder-rank and can be Member 1 or 2.

Additional members may be added to the committee. Exceptions to the committee requirements above may be granted by the graduate director when appropriate, as long as the committee meets the Graduate Division requirements. In order to formally nominate their proposed QE committee, the student should submit a QE Nomination Form to the ECE department’s graduate advisor at least 30 days in advance of the planned QE date. This will be signed by the faculty graduate representative and then sent to the Graduate Division for final approval. Students are required to submit a draft of their paper/presentation at least 30 days prior to the proposed QE date in order to incorporate any feedback before the QE exam takes place.

At least two weeks before the QE, the student should submit the title of their prospectus, an abstract, and the location information for their exam using the Advancement/Defense Notification Request Form so that the Advising Office can send out an announcement to the Baskin Engineering community.

In order to pass the qualifying examination, the committee must come to unanimous agreement that the student has passed the exam and provide a written report on the qualifying exam. The final step in the advancement process for the student is to identify and formally nominate a dissertation reading committee. Ph.D. students who have not advanced to candidacy by the end of the third year (nine quarters) are recommended for academic notice, and are subject to dismissal from the program if they do not advance by the end of their fourth year (12 quarters).

Post-Qualifying Requirements Expand and Collapse

Advancement to candidacy requires that the student:

• pass the preliminary examinations;
• complete all course requirements prior to taking the qualifying examination;
• clear all Incompletes from the student’s record;
• pass the qualifying examination; and
• have an appointed Ph.D. dissertation reading committee.

Transfer Credit Expand and Collapse

ECE Ph.D. students may petition for a transfer of up to 20 credits for commensurate coursework completed at a previous institution with regional accreditation. The approval for credit transfer is contingent upon the assessment of the course substitution application by the instructor of the corresponding UCSC course and the ECE graduate director.

Non-Terminal Master's Degree Expand and Collapse

Students not already holding an M.S.E.E. degree, who are studying for the Ph.D. degree, may apply to be granted a M.S. degree when they have fulfilled all the M.S. degree requirements (including submission of an M.S. thesis or project, or passing the comprehensive examination).

Dissertation

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Dissertation Expand and Collapse

Each student writes a Ph.D. dissertation which must be submitted to the reading committee at least one month prior to the dissertation defense. The members of the Dissertation Reading Committee must include at least three members as follows:

1. Committee Chair - An ECE faculty member (may be the student’s research adviser).
2. Member 1 - A tenured ECE faculty member who is not the student's research adviser.
3. Member 2 - A ladder rank UCSC faculty (may be the student’s research adviser) or a recognized expert in the student's research area with credentials equivalent to a ladder rank UCSC faculty member as judged by the graduate director and the dean of Graduate Studies.

NOTE: A ladder rank faculty (Academic Senate member) holds the title of assistant professor, associate professor, or professor. associate professors and professors have tenure.

If a student has two co-advisers, they should both be listed as co-chairs. Students should consult their advisers about the membership of their committees. Additional members may be added, however, the final committee must be approved by the graduate director. Exceptions to the committee requirements above may be granted by the graduate director when appropriate, as long as the committee meets the Graduate Division requirements. The Dissertation Reading Committee must be appointed in order to advance to candidacy.

The Ph.D. dissertation must show the results of in-depth research, be an original contribution of significant knowledge to the student’s field of study, and include material worthy of publication. The student is strongly advised to submit research work for publication in advance of completing the dissertation so that the latter requirement is clearly satisfied. The Ph.D. dissertation results are presented in both oral and written forms, the oral form being a dissertation defense (see below) and the written form being the Ph.D. dissertation. The student must submit their written Ph.D. dissertation to the dissertation reading committee at least one month before the defense.

Dissertation Defense Expand and Collapse

At least two weeks before the defense, the student should submit the title of their dissertation, an abstract, and the location information for their exam using the Advancement/Defense Notification Request Form so that the Advising Office can send out an announcement to the BE community. The candidate presents their research results in a public seminar sponsored by the dissertation supervisor. The seminar is followed by a defense of the dissertation to the reading committee (only), who will then decide whether the dissertation is acceptable or requires revision. Successful completion of the dissertation fulfills the final academic requirement for the Ph.D. degree.

Academic Progress Expand and Collapse

Each year, the faculty reviews the progress of every student. Students not making adequate progress toward completion of degree requirements may be recommended for academic notice. Students who violate the terms of their academic notice are subject to dismissal from the program. Students without adequate academic preparation may be required to take additional courses. Full-time students are normally expected to complete the Ph.D. coursework requirements at the rate of at least two courses each quarter. Full time ECE Ph.D. students must complete all coursework requirements within three years (nine quarters).

Students receiving two or more unsatisfactory grades (U or letter grade below B-) in Baskin Engineering courses are not making adequate progress and will be placed on academic notice for the following three quarters of registered enrollment. Withdrawing or taking a leave of absence does not count as enrollment. Part-time enrollment is counted as a half-quarter of enrollment.

If an electrical and computer engineering graduate student fails a Baskin Engineering course while on probation, the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department may request the graduate dean to dismiss that student from the graduate program. If after being removed from probation, the student again fails a Baskin Engineering course, they will return immediately to academic notice.

Graduate students experiencing circumstances or difficulties that impact their academic performance should contact their advisor and the graduate director immediately. Students may appeal their dismissal to the graduate committee.

Normative Time Expand and Collapse

Normative time for completion of the dissertation is three years (nine quarters) from the date of advancement to candidacy, and six years (18 quarters) in total. Students who fail to meet expected milestones must request a program extension from the Graduate Division. A written request, signed by the student and their faculty adviser, detailing the timeline to degree completion should be approved by the graduate director prior to submission to the dean of graduate studies. Multiple extensions may be considered.

Students who fail to complete their dissertation within three years of advancement to candidacy, or who fail to complete the Ph.D. degree within six years, may be recommended for academic notice. In order to maintain good academic standing, students must advance to candidacy within the first three years (nine quarters), and complete the degree within the subsequent three years (nine quarters).

Students who are on part-time status accrue time-to-degree at one-half the rate of full-time students for those quarters during which they are on approved part-time study. Doctoral students who have advanced to candidacy accrue time-to-degree at the regular rate, regardless of part-time or full-time status. Taking a leave of absence does not “stop the clock” on normative time. Time-to-degree continues to accrue at the normal rate while students are on approved leave.

If the Ph.D. degree is not awarded within seven years from the date of advancement to candidacy, the student's candidacy will lapse and the student will be required to pass a new Qualifying Exam prior to submitting the dissertation, or to undergo another formal review as directed by the student's department, and the result of this examination or review will be transmitted in writing to the Graduate Council (Academic Senate Regulation 18.6).

Applying for Graduation Expand and Collapse

All candidates for a degree must submit an Application for Doctor of Philosophy Degree to the Graduate Advising Office by the date stated in the Academic and Administrative Calendar for the quarter you wish to receive the degree. Failure to declare candidacy by the deadline means that you cannot be considered a candidate until the next term.

A student is required to be registered or on Filing Fee Status, whichever is applicable, during the quarter in which the degree is conferred. Students should consult the department adviser to determine which option fits their situation. For more information about applying for graduation, visit the Baskin Engineering Graduate Studies website.