Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering - ECE Education Research

The doctoral degree, i.e. the Ph.D., is primarily intended for students desiring a career in research andor collegiate teaching. The focus is on advanced ECE topics, on learning to perform research and to write research papers, and on making fundamental new contributions to an ECE topic. Students take advanced course work and write a doctoral dissertation, also called a thesis. Program Overview: Students newly admitted to a doctoral program are classified as precandidates. Upon entering a doctoral program, there is a Ph.D. qualifying process, normally completed during the first two years. After all requirements except the dissertation are completed, students become candidates. Students entering the ECE doctoral program with a bachelor’s degree typically become candidates in the third year and and are strongly encouraged to complete the degree within five years. Such students ordinarily complete the requirements for a master’s degree along the way and receive this degree in addition to the Ph.D. A masters thesis is optional. Students who enter the ECE doctoral program with a master’s in the field of their program typically become candidates in their second year and are strongly encouraged to complete the degree within four years. Such students are not ordinarily eligible to receive an additional master’s degree. ECE Education Research is a rigorous, interdisciplinary field in which scholars focus on and apply research methods from education, learning sciences, and social-behavioral sciences to address a variety of issues pertaining to: teaching and learning; college access and persistence; workforce development; and other issues critical to the success of the field of engineering. Scholars in the subfield of ECE Education Research focus on issues pertinent to the discipline of electrical and computer engineering.