PH.D. in ECE Requirements
ECE Ph.D. students must satisfy multiple milestones before the doctoral degree is
certified. These milestones addressed in this section include:
- Coursework
- Breadth Area Requirements
- Qualifying Exam
- Research
- Teaching Internships
- Prospectus
- Thesis
- Dissertation defense
Coursework
Students must receive a “B-” grade or better in both the graduate and undergraduate courses in order for the course to count towards the Ph.D. requirements. Prior to registering each semester, students should consult with their faculty advisor to ensure that their semester course load is balanced and relevant to their Ph.D. research.
Required course total
Students in the Ph.D. program without an M.S. degree, and students in the Ph.D.
program who have an ECE M.S. degree from Carnegie Mellon, must take a total of
eight ECE or related courses (totaling 96 units) at Carnegie Mellon. At least six of
these eight courses must be approved graduate-level courses.
Students in the Ph.D. program who have earned an M.S. degree elsewhere (outside of Carnegie Mellon’s ECE department) must take a total of four ECE or related courses (totaling 48 units) at Carnegie Mellon. At least three of these four courses must be approved graduate-level courses.
Students who received an M.S. in ECE from Carnegie Mellon may use their M.S.
courses to count toward Ph.D. requirements. Students who have received an M.S.
from Carnegie Mellon in ECE are strongly encouraged to schedule an appointment
with the Ph.D. Academic Program Advisor to discuss their M.S. courses and which will count towards the Ph.D. degree requirement.
In addition, students must successfully complete a 1-unit Introduction to Graduate
Studies course during their first semester in the Ph.D. program at Carnegie Mellon
University.
Students pursuing an M.S. degree on the way to the Ph.D. are required to take 18-900 Research Entrepreneurship and Innovation at CMKL to satisfy the CMKL M.S. program requirements.
Course Restrictions
Students are responsible for checking the syllabi for classes to ensure their courses
are not deemed as a restricted course by the following criteria:
- Courses where more than 50% of the course grade is based on a group project or more than 20% is based on attendance are restricted.
- Mini courses worth 12 units are restricted.
- No more than 12 units of professional development coursework can be applied toward the Course requirement.
Breadth Area Requirement
The ECE Department has defined 7 technical areas (plus an ‘Other’ area) as Breadth Areas for the Ph.D. degree. These areas are:
- Algorithms/Complexity/Programming Languages
- Applied Physics (Solid State/Magnetics/Fields)
- Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Control
- Circuits
- Computer Hardware Engineering
- Signal Processing and Communications
- Software Systems and Computer Networking
- Other (by petition)
Each Ph.D. candidate must take at least one graduate class from at least three of
these areas to fulfill the breadth requirement. Students must receive a “B-” grade or better in these courses.
By petition to the ECE’s Graduate Studies Committee at Carnegie Mellon, students
may be able to count one course that they have taken during a previous degree
toward the breadth course requirement. If the petition is accepted, only two more
breadth areas must be satisfied. However, students will still be held to the same
course requirements
Research
All Ph.D. students are required to complete research every semester they are enrolled in the program. The completion of research is represented by the student’s enrollment in 18-990 Reading and Research while they are at Carnegie Mellon or 18- 910 Research and Development while they are at CMKL. Expectations for research and productivity vary greatly throughout the department and should be discussed regularly with the student’s faculty advisor.
Teaching Internship Requirement
All ECE Ph.D. students are required to complete two Teaching Internships (“TI”) – one at CMKL and one at Carnegie Mellon – over the course of the Ph.D. program. These Teaching Internships are unpaid and students will receive a letter grade reflecting their performance. Students must receive a “B” or better in the TI course to receive credit for completing the teaching internship.
The TI program is coordinated through the Academic Services Office. All students
must complete a teaching assistant application for the TI to be formally recognized
by the department. The Academic Services Office will work with the student to enroll him or her in the correct course representing their work as a TI prior to the start of the semester.
Students are expected to support the course instructor and establish mutual
expectations while providing excellent academic support to students. Depending on
a student’s area of expertise and English proficiency, he or she may be assigned to a variety of tasks that can range from grading to leading recitations.
Evaluation and Certification of English Fluency for Instructors
Graduate students are required to have a certain level of fluency in English before
they can instruct in Pennsylvania and Thailand, as required by the English Fluency in Higher Education Act of 1990.
Qualify Exam
The qualifying exam will be held in person at Carnegie Mellon University. It tests the students' ability to think, speak and write. Students must read and understand three technical papers that define the examination's topical area. Students then write a review paper and orally present the review to a faculty examining committee. Details of the qualifying examination can be found at
https://www.ece.cmu.edu/academics/phd-ece/qualifying-exam.html.
Prospectus
All Ph.D. students are required to prepare a thesis prospectus (a.k.a. proposal) within four semesters following the successful completion of the Ph.D. Qualifying
Examination.
The following prospectus requirements must be completed at least one semester
before the final defense:
- an informal written description of the problem to be investigated and the
expected accomplishments of that investigation; and
- an oral presentation to the Prospectus Committee for its review and
recommendations.
Students should discuss the presentation format of their prospectus with their
faculty advisors at CMKL and Carnegie Mellon. More details are available at
https://www.ece.cmu.edu/academics/phd-ece/prospectus.html.
Prospectus Committee
The Prospectus Committee consists of at least four members, including the student’s faculty advisor at Carnegie Mellon. At least two members of this committee must be ECE faculty at Carnegie Mellon and at least one member must be from outside the department (e.g. your CMKL faculty advisor). Faculty members from other departments who hold courtesy appointments in ECE at Carnegie Mellon are considered to be “inside” the department. Faculty members who hold an adjunct appointment at Carnegie Mellon are considered to be “outside” members. All committee members must hold a doctoral degree.
All four committee members must actively participate in both the prospectus
meeting and defense and at least three committee members must be physically
present. It is desirable to have all committee members participate in person;
however, a student is allowed to have one committee member of four participate by teleconferencing. Any deviation from this teleconferencing policy is exceptional and additional information must be provided on the Prospectus form. For students
seeking dual-program, request for teleconferencing will be approved due to the
nature of the program.
Milestone Review
Upon completion of the propspectus proposal, student should make an appointment to meet with the Ph.D. Academic Program Advisor to review the fullfillment of the Course and Breadth Area requirements, as well as Teaching Internship (TI) requirements. Provided that the student has satisfied the aforementioned program milestones, he/she may be informed of their eligibility for All But Disseratation (ABD) status.
All But Dissertation Status (ABD)
Once a student has completed all program requirements, with the exception of the
thesis and defense, the student is required to go on All But Dissertation (ABD) status.
- ABD in Residence (ABD): students continue enrolling for 36 units each semester and will continue to receive stipend support at the location of their studies (either at CMKL or Carnegie Mellon).
- ABD in Absentia (ABS): students stop enrolling at CMKL or Carnegie Mellon and no longer receive tuition or stipend support. The student will be responsible for paying the technology fee each semester he/she is ABS. When the student is ready to come back and defend, he/she will notify the Academic Affairs Office, which will work with the student to re-enroll him or her in ECE. The student will be responsible for registering for and paying for 5 units of 18990 Reading and Research while they are at Carnegie Mellon or 18-910 Research and Development while they are at CMKL as well as all fees. Please note that international students may face additional constraints before going ABS and should consult with the Academic Affairs Office to obtain more information.
Ph.D. Dissertation
Once the Ph.D. thesis is written, the student must submit the Defense Declaration
form to the Graduate Programs Office at least two weeks before the student's
defense date. The Thesis Committee is usually the same as the Prospectus
Committee. If there is any change in the committee, the student must submit a
biographical description of any new committee member from outside Carnegie
Mellon for approval. Additionally, students need to provide the defense committee
with a copy of the thesis at least one and a half months before the defense.
The oral defense is a public examination open to all members of the Carnegie Mellon community. All four of the members of the Prospectus Committee must actively participate in the defense meeting. It is desirable to have all committee members participate in person; however, a student is allowed to have one committee member of four participate by teleconferencing. Any deviation from this teleconferencing policy is exceptional and must be petitioned for approval from the Department via the Final Defense Declaration Form.
Departmental Progress Reviews
All students working towards a Ph.D. degree must regularly demonstrate progress
towards meeting the ECE Ph.D. requirements by completing a Graduate Progress
Review Statement each fall and spring semester.
In this statement, the student must describe his or her:
- Activities as a graduate student researcher;
- Research goals and achievements;
- Activities as a member of the ECE community;
- Courses taken since enrollment as a graduate student in ECE, and;
- Plans for the following semester
These statements are typically due during the first week of November (fall semester) and April (spring semester). Students are encouraged to discuss the completed statement with their advisor.
Students who have passed the qualifying exam will also be asked to create a singleslide summary of his or her progress towards the ECE Ph.D. degree.
The Graduate Progress Review Statement and slide summary inform faculty
discussions during each semester’s Graduate Progress Review meeting. The outcome of this review is a grade that characterizes the student’s progress towards the Ph.D.: satisfactory (“S”) and unsatisfactory or not passing (“N”). Students who receive an “N” grade for the first time must meet with their advisor and define a course of action to achieve a satisfactory grade in the next semester. Students who continue to make inadequate progress towards the ECE Ph.D. may be subject to dismissal.
Ph.D. students do not receive a letter grade for their research each semester with
one exception: students will receive a letter grade in their final semester as a
graduate student in the ECE Department or prior to receiving an M.S. degree on the way to the Ph.D. All students who have passed the qualifying exam will receive a letter from their faculty advisor each fall and spring semester summarizing their
progress and offering suggestions for improvement or continued success. This letter is typically distributed by the final grade deadline of the fall and spring semesters.
Internships Course Option
ECE students may wish to participate in paid internships at off-campus organizations during the summer months. The work for the internship must be appropriate to the goals of the academic program and units can be applied toward the Ph.D. Course Requirement. ECE will enroll all students who are pursuing an internship for a 3-unit credit-bearing internship course.
This internship will appear on a student’s transcript. Ph.D. students typically are not charged summer tuition, including the Internship course. However, in the event that a student takes another summer class, summer tuition may be assessed for the summer internship course as well.