Texas ECE offers a PhD degree in 8 different academic tracks, but students can also take advantage of the immense variety of resources for interdisciplinary work at The University of Texas at Austin. PhD students will participate in state-of-the-art research along with faculty researchers. Holding a Masters of Science degree is not required to enter or even complete the PhD program. However, a student entering the PhD program without an MSE from ECE or a related field also may choose to pursue and receive the MSE along the way to the PhD with typically no or little additional effort beyond that already required for the PhD, although over a longer time period than a student within the MSE program. Students within the PhD program are expected to enroll in at least 3 hours of research problems or, later, dissertation courses each semester, which cannot be counted toward the MSE. As such, they will typically require 5-6 long semesters to complete the MS program.This track involves all aspects of engineering software systems. In addition to the problem of requirements, research and study in the area addresses architecting, designing, building, testing, analyzing, evaluating, deploying, maintaining, and evolving software systems. Problems investigated include theory, techniques, methods, processes, tools, middleware, and environments for all types of software systems in all types of domains and applications. This area of study is available both within the traditional program and, at the master’s level for working professionals and others needing a non-traditional class schedule, through Texas Engineering Executive Education (TXEEE).