Ph.D. Candidacy Examination Procedure

Effective January 1, 2004 the Ph.D. Candidacy Examination in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering will consist of oral Examination only. The oral Examination should be taken and passed not later than two years from initial Ph.D. registration.

Oral Part of the Candidacy Examination

1. The purpose of the examination is to test the candidate's fundamental knowledge and competence to do research leading to a Ph.D. dissertation.
2. One month before the proposed date of the candidate's oral examination, the candidate has to submit a written research proposal to the members of his/her supervisory committee.
3. Once the date and time are agreed upon, advise Graduate Secretary to ensure paperwork requiring signature is available for the examination.
4. The examination is conducted by the Supervisory Committee and is chaired by the Graduate Advisor or his delegate. During the oral examination, the candidate will be asked questions related to the research proposal, as well as, questions on the fundamentals (sample syllabus and/or text books for major areas including Communications, Computers, Electromagnetics, Microwaves and Optics, Electronics, Power, Software Engineering, and Systems, Signal Processing and Control).
5. The student will be notified of pass or fail. A student who fails the oral part of the candidacy examination may re-attempt it only once. A second failure requires withdrawal from the program.