Please also check Graduate School requirements for Doctoral degrees in the Graduate Catalog at http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/catalog

To fulfill all requirements for the Ph.D. degree, students must:

1. satisfy a course requirement (36 credits)
2. satisfy a qualifying requirement (written and oral exams)
3. prepare a written research proposal and pass the oral research proposal exam
4. complete 12 credits of doctoral dissertation research
5. write the dissertation and pass the oral defense

Students must demonstrate the ability to do independent research by producing an original dissertation on an approved topic.  After successful completion of items 2 and 3 above, students are eligible for doctoral candidacy.  Students must be admitted to candidacy within five years of enrollment in the Ph.D. program.  Once admitted to candidacy, students have four years to complete the remaining degree requirements.  Admission to candidacy must take place at least six months before the date on which the degree is to be conferred. 

It is the responsibility of the student to submit the APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO CANDIDACY form when all the requirements for candidacy have been fulfilled.  This form must be submitted at least three business days prior to the 25th of the month in order for the candidacy to be effective on the first day of the following month. 

Course Requirement

To satisfy the course requirement for the Ph.D. degree, the student must successfully complete 36 credits of course work  and at least 12 credits of ENEE899 (Doctoral Dissertation Research).  A grade of C or better must be earned in each course, and an overall minimum GPA of 3.0 must be maintained.

All Ph.D. students must complete and gain approval for a proposed Plan of Study within the first semester of enrollment.  The Plan of Study is completed online through MEGS (https://apra.umd.edu).  The main conditions for approval are:

1. in the opinion of the student’s Advisor and Graduate Director, the program must be coherent;
2. the program must satisfy the rules listed below;
3. non-ENEE courses that are not pre-approved (see Course Information) must receive special approval by the student’s Advisor and the Graduate Director, in the context of the proposed Plan of Study; such approval must be requested at least one semester in advance of taking the course.

Modifications to the Plan of Study can be filed subsequently, again subject to approval by the student’s Advisor and the Graduate Director.

For the purposes of meeting the Plan of Study requirement, all transferred courses (see below) will count as B (3.0 grade point value).  However, grades obtained on transfer courses do not affect the GPA as recorded on the official UM transcript.

If two or more attempts are taken at a course, only the grade obtained at the latest attempt counts towards the GPA.

For all doctoral students (except those with a previous M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering or Electrical and Computer Engineering from a U.S. institution — see below), a valid Plan of Study must include at least 36 credits of approved course work.  Moreover, the Plan of Study must satisfy the following rules:

1. Prerequisites must be fulfilled before taking courses that require them;
2. All credits must be at the 600-level or above, excluding ENEE899 (Doctoral Dissertation Research);
3. At least 18 credits of ENEE lecture courses must be included;
4. At least six credits of approved non-ENEE courses at the 600-level or above must be included (see Course Information section).
5. Three credits of ENEE698 (Graduate Seminar) must be included, but no more than three may be included;
6. Combined total number of credits of ENEE 699 (Independent Study) and 799 (Master’s Thesis Research) included in the Plan of Study may not exceed six;
7. No credits of ENEE898 (Pre-candidacy Research) or ENEE889 (Teaching Workshop) may be included.

Previous UM credits

Approved courses taken at the University of Maryland, College Park before the student enters the Ph.D. program may generally be counted towards the Ph.D. Plan of Study.  Also, courses taken while the student is enrolled in the Ph.D. program but that were used towards the M.S. degree can be counted for the Ph.D., provided that the credits have not been used for another Ph.D. degree and that all the rules specified above are satisfied.

Credit reduction option:  Previous M.S. degree from U.S. institution

Optionally, for students who have obtained an M.S. degree in Electrical or Electrical and Computer Engineering at a U.S. institution, the course work requirement is reduced to 21 credits.  When this option is selected, all other rules above apply except for item 3 – only 12 credits of ENEE lecture courses need be included.

Students selecting this option, however, are not allowed any additional credit transfer.

Transfer of credit

A maximum of 15 credits can be transferred. The following conditions must be met:

1. Any course to be transferred must be equivalent to a graduate-level (600-level or above) lecture course available at the University of Maryland, College Park.  Also, if a course is transferred, the equivalent UM course may not be included in the Plan of Study;
2. At least a B (or equivalent) must have been obtained in each course transferred; and
3. The courses must have been taken for graduate credit at the original institution, but may not have been used towards another Ph.D. degree.

Credit transfer is approved only in the context of a specific proposed Plan of Study.  When applying for credit transfer, the student must produce an official transcript, as well as evidence that the course is indeed equivalent to a course offered at The University of Maryland, College Park.  Specifically, documented evidence should include a course description, as well as a syllabus showing what material was covered in the specific offering the student took, and what text was used.  Additional required forms are available in the Graduate Studies Office.

The Ph.D. Qualifying Requirements consists of two components: a written examination and an oral examination. The purpose of the written examination is to test basic knowledge, understanding, and problem solving at an undergraduate level. The purpose of the oral examination is to test the student’s ability to integrate material in a field chosen by the student, to think creatively, and, to a lesser extent, to demonstrate proficiency in the chosen field.

Written Examination

Administration of the Written Exam

The written examination is given two times per year, usually a few days before classes begin each semester. Students may attempt the exam a maximum of two times, and they must pass within one year of entry into the graduate program. Students who fail the written exam twice will not qualify for further Ph.D. study. Students can elect to take the exam immediately prior to their first semester of graduate study. The student must inform the ECE Graduate Studies Office of his/her intention to take the written examination at least one week before the exam is scheduled to be given unless an earlier registration deadline has been stated otherwise.

The Ph.D. written qualifying exam is comprised of 10 sections, each covering a different topic related to Electrical and Computer Engineering. Students must answer 5 out of the 10 sections. Each section is graded out of 20 points, such that the maximum attainable cumulative score on the exam is 100 points. Calculators, cellphones and all other hand-held electronic devices are not permitted in the exam. The exam is closed-book and closed-notes. The questions shall be composed and graded with these constraints in mind. The total time allowed for the exam is 3 hours and 45 minutes (i.e., 45 minutes on average per question.)

The questions are chosen to test understanding of standard undergraduate material at or below the junior level. The list provided below describes the ten sections of the exam and the topics covered under each section. This topic list supersedes any previously posted or published description of the exam. Posted problems from exams given prior to 2009 may or may not conform to these guidelines.

Basic Mathematics

1. Calculus
1. Derivatives and integrals
2. Taylor series
3. Limits and convergence
2. Elementary Linear Algebra
1. Matrices and vectors – linear independence and orthogonality
2. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors
3. Differential Equations
1. First order linear and nonlinear differential equations
2. Second-order linear ordinary differential equations
3. Systems of first order linear ordinary differential equations
4. Vector Calculus
1. Partial derivatives, curl, gradient, vector fields
2. Line, surface, and volume integrals

1. Basic probability
   1. Random experiments, axioms of probability
   2. Conditional probability, Bayes' theorem, independence
   3. Permutations and combinations, counting methods
   4. Discrete, independent, identically distributed trials: binomial, multinomial, and geometric distributions
2. Random Variables
   1. Probability density (PDF), probability mass (PMF) and cumulative distribution (CDF) functions
   2. Common continuous distributions: uniform, exponential, Gaussian, Laplace
   3. Expectation and variance; fundamental theorem of expectation
   4. Simple transformations of random variables
3. Multiple Random Variables
   1. Joint and marginal distributions
   2. Conditional PDFs and PMFs; iterated (total) expectation
   3. Basic properties of independent random variables
   4. Correlation and covariance

1. Electrostatics and Magnetostatics
   1. Gauss’s, Ampere’s, Biot-Savart’s, and Coulomb’s laws
   2. Boundary conditions at dielectric and conducting interfaces
   3. Scalar and vector potential
   4. Calculating capacitance and inductance
2. Electrodynamics and Waves
   1. Maxwell’s equations
   2. Wave equation and Helmholtz equation
   3. Plane wave solutions in lossy and lossless materials
   4. Poynting vector and power density
3. Reflection and Transmission of Plane Waves
   1. Normal incidence at dielectric and conducting interfaces
   2. Reflection from multiple layers (normal incidence)
   3. Oblique incidence at dielectric and conducting interfaces
   4. Snell’s law, Brewster’s angle and total internal reflection
4. Transmission Lines
   1. Transmission line equations for V and I (Telegraphist’s equations)
   2. Characteristic inductance, capacitance, and impedance of transmission lines
   3. Input impedance of terminated transmission lines
5. Waveguides
   1. TE and TM modes of metallic waveguides
   2. Dispersion relations and cutoff frequencies
   3. Parallel plate and rectangular waveguide

1. Linear Circuit Analysis
   1. Series and parallel combinations, voltage and current dividers
   2. Node-voltage and mesh-current methods
   3. Norton and Thevenin equivalent sources
2. AC Circuits Analysis
   1. Phasor representation of sinusoidally varying signals
   2. Complex impedance
   3. Time averaged power
   4. Transfer functions and frequency response
3. Transient Analysis
   1. 1st order RC and RL circuits
   2. 2nd order RLC circuits
4. Ideal Operational Amplifier Circuits
   1. Common op-amp circuits: buffer, inverting, non-inverting, summing, integrating, differentiating amplifier circuits
   2. Analyzing ideal op-amp circuits
5. Diode Circuits
   1. Ideal and non-ideal idiode operation
   2. Rectifers
   3. Load lines and biasing
6. BJT and CMOS Transistors
   1. DC analysis and biasing
   2. Small signal equivalent models
7. Transistor circuits
   1. CMOS digital gate circuits and inverters
   2. Amplifiers and small signal equivalent circuits
   3. Current sources, mirrors, differential pairs

1. Linear Time-Invariant (LTI) Systems
   1. Basic concepts: linearity, time invariance, causality
   2. Convolution (discrete and continuous)
   3. Impulse and step response (discrete and continuous)
2. Fourier Analysis in Continuous Time
   1. Fourier series of a periodic signal; determination of coefficients
   2. Fourier transform; basic properties and pairs
3. Fourier Analysis in Discrete Time
   1. Discrete-time Fourier transform (DTFT) of a sequence; basic properties and pairs
4. Continuous-Time LTI Systems in the s-Domain
   1. Laplace transform and its properties; regions of convergence
   2. Systems described by differential equations
   3. Transfer function: poles, zeros; causality and stability
   4. Determination of system output using the Laplace transform
   5. Relationship between Laplace and Fourier transforms; response of stable LTI systems to exponential and sinusoidal inputs; input-output relationship in the frequency domain

1. Elementary Properties of Materials
   1. Semiconductors
   2. Conductors
   3. Insulators
2. Basic Solid State Devices: PN Junctions, Bipolar Transistors, MOS Capacitors, MOSFETs
   1. Fundamental structure of these device
   2. Their internal operation in terms of electrons and holes, drift and diffusion currents, and electromagnetic principles
   3. Operation of these devices as circuit elements

1. Pipelines and their analysis
2. Caches and their analysis
3. Assembly code and program analysis
4. Virtual memory
5. Multitasking and process management

1. Boolean Algebra and Boolean Simplification (K-Maps and Quinn McCluskey methods)
2. Complex Logic Design With Simple Boolean Functions (Adders, Subtractors etc.)
3. Flip Flops
4. Synchronous Sequential Systems

1. Newtonian Mechanics
   1. Kinematics
   2. Newtons laws of motion
   3. Work, energy and power
   4. Momentum and center of mass
   5. Circular motion and rotation
   6. Harmonic oscillation
2. Waves and Optics
   1. Wave equations
   2. Traveling waves and standing waves
   3. Interference, superposition and diffraction
3. Thermodynamics and Heat
   1. Ideal gas law
   2. Pressure, work, and heat
   3. Laws of thermodynamics
4. Modern Physics and Quantum Mechanics
   1. Schrodinger wave equation
   2. Operators, eigenfunctions and eigenvalues
   3. One dimensional potentials - bound and unbound solutions
   4. Angular momentum and spin

1. Data types, Variables and Operators
2. Program Control and Structure
   1. Expressions, declarations, and statements
   2. Functions, arguments, and return values
   3. Storage classes and variable scope
   4. Loop structures (for, while, do)
   5. Conditional execution (if-then-else, switch)
3. Input and Output
   1. Formatted input and output (printf, scanf)
   2. Basic file I/O (fopen, fclose, fprintf, fscanf)
4. Arrays
   1. Strings
   2. Arrays
   3. Pointers
5. Dynamic Memory Allocation (malloc, calloc, free, realloc)
6. Structures
7. Linked lists
8. The C pre-processor
   1. #include, #define, #ifdef
   2. Standard library header files

The Software section covers undergraduate programming at a level treated in most Electrical and Computer Engineering curricula. In this exam, ANSI C is used consistently as the specific language for programs. It is insufficient for students to convey the “general idea” of a solution through pseudocode or code in some other programming language; syntactically and logically correct ANSI C code must be provided to receive full credit.

Previous semesters' exam questions are below:
Disclaimer: Example problems taken from exams given prior to 2009 may not reflect the current content of the exam. Please refer to the exam guidelines posted above for the complete current topic list.

•  Basic Mathematics:
Fall '09 |Spring '09 | Fall '08 | Spring '08 | Fall '07

•  Probability:
Fall '09 | Spring '09 | Fall '08 | Spring '08 | Fall '07

•  Electromagnetism:
Fall '09 | Spring '09 | Fall '08 | Spring '08 | Fall '07

•  Circuits:
Fall '09 | Spring '09 | Fall '08 | Spring '08 | Fall '07

•  Linear Systems:
Fall '09 | Spring '09 | Fall '08 | Spring '08 | Fall '07

•  Devices:
Fall '09 | Spring '09 | Fall '08 | Spring '08 | Fall '07

•  Computer Architecture & Systems:
Fall '09 | Spring '09 | Fall '08 | Spring '08 | Fall '07

•  Digital Logic:
Fall '09 | Spring '09 | Fall '08 | Spring '08 | Fall '07

•  Software:
Fall '09 | Spring '09 | Fall '08 | Sample

•  Basic Physics:
Fall '09 | Spring '09 | Fall '08 | Sample

Oral Examination

Students who pass the written examination are eligible to take the oral examination.  The student will choose two 600-level courses in one of the following five areas for the oral exam:

• Communications & Signal Processing:  ENEE 620, 621, 627, 630
• Computer Engineering:  ENEE 641, 644, 646, 647
• Controls:  ENEE 620, 660, 661, 664
• Electrophysics:  ENEE 680, 681, 690, 691
• Microelectronics:  ENEE 600, 601, 610, 611

Technical material covered in the oral exam involves undergraduate material in the chosen area and graduate material as represented in the two chosen 600-level courses.

Students must pass the oral exam within two years of entering the graduate program. They are given two chances to pass the exam.  The number of opportunities depends upon when the student passes the written exam.

Administration of the Oral Examination

The oral exam is given twice a year, once each semester.  It is typically held in November and in April.  Registration for the oral examination will be announced and handled in advance by the Graduate Studies Office.

The oral examination normally is given by a panel of three appointed ECE faculty members, one of whom is designated as the panel chair.  The exam lasts approximately one hour but shall not exceed 90 minutes.  Panel members are expected to confer briefly before the examination begins.  After the examination ends, the student is expected to leave the room, and the panel will again confer privately to reach a pass or fail decision.  A majority vote will suffice if the decision is not unanimous.  After the decision is reported to the GSO, the student will be notified.

Appeals

A student may make a written appeal of a fail to the Ph.D. Qualifying Committee.  The Ph.D. Qualifying Committee may elect to make a decision based on the written appeal, to interview the student, or to obtain input from the oral examination committee if an oral exam is being appealed before coming to a decision.

Course-based Qualifying Requirement (Pre-Fall 2004 enrollees)

Doctoral students who fall under the old course-based qualifying requirement should consult the Fall 2004 Graduate Handbook or the Graduate Studies Office for prior policy regulations.

Research Proposal Examination

The specifics of this examination are as follows:

1. Students may register for their first attempt only after having satisfied the Ph.D. Qualifying Requirement but must register by the end of their fourth year.  For example, a student who entered in fall 2005 must register by August 2009, before the start of classes.
   
2. Students register by submitting a completed PH.D. RESEARCH PROPOSAL EXAMINATION COMMMITEE SELECTION form to the Graduate Studies Office, with one hard copy of the research proposal attached. The proposal should contain:
   
   
1. motivation for the research,
2. a concise statement of the proposed problem,
3. an outline of the methodology and
4. a careful survey of relevant literature.

3. Each examination is conducted by an ad hoc Ph.D. Research Proposal Examination Committee consisting of three full members of the Graduate Faculty.  The candidate’s advisor chairs the Committee.  The second member of the Committee is selected by the student (with the advisor’s approval).  The second member must be a regular ECE faculty member or affiliate member; however, if the candidate’s advisor is an affiliate member of the department’s faculty, the second member of the Committee must be a regular ECE member.  The third member of the Committee is selected by the Graduate Studies and Research Committee (GSRC) once the student has registered for the attempt.  The third member will be a regular ECE faculty member, and the advisor/student may suggest potential members for GSRC consideration (see form).  For a repeat attempt, the Committee consists of the same faculty members who served for the first attempt.
    
4. The examination must be scheduled for a two-hour period.  Barring exceptional circumstances, it must take place no later than four weeks after the candidate has been notified of the identity of the third Committee member.  The student is also responsible for scheduling and room reservation.  The student is also responsible for announcing the time and place to the Committee and providing PDF copy of his/her proposal to all committee members at least one week before the examination.
    
5. All Electrical and Computer Engineering regular faculty members are allowed to attend the examination, but only Committee members may address questions to the examinee. Upon invitation by the Chair of the Committee, other faculty may be allowed to attend the entire examination.  Other members of the department or interested visitors may attend the presentation portion (first 30 minutes) at the discretion of the Committee in consultation with the student.
   
   
6. At the examination the student is requested to:  

1. give a 30-minute presentation on the main lines of his/her proposed Ph.D. research
2. answer questions from the Committee

7. At the end of the examination, all but the Committee members must leave the room for the Committee’s deliberations. In order for the student to pass, the Committee’s decision must be unanimous.

Doctoral Research Credits (ENEE 898 and 899)

Every Ph.D. student must successfully complete 12 credit hours of ENEE899: Doctoral Dissertation Research.  Students are eligible to take ENEE899 only after they have advanced to candidacy.  Doctoral candidates are automatically registered by the Registrar for each fall and spring semester until they graduate for six-credit blocks of ENEE899 and are billed at a flat tuition rate.
 
Students who have not yet reached candidacy may register for ENEE898: Pre-candidacy Research.  ENEE898 does not fulfill any course requirements and is not equivalent to ENEE899 in satisfying the dissertation research credit requirement.

Doctoral Dissertation and Oral Defense

Directions for the preparation and submission of dissertations can be found in the Thesis and Dissertation Style Guide, on-line at: http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/etd/styleguide. Contact the Graduate School, gradschool@umd.edu, (301) 405-0376 for additional information.

Barring exceptional circumstances, as per departmental regulation, the dissertation committee must include all three members of the student’s Research Proposal Examination Committee. (Department rules for proposal examination committees are detailed above.)  Dissertation committees may have co-chairs upon recommendation of the department’s Graduate Director and with the approval of the Dean of the Graduate School.  In addition, membership on dissertation examining committees must adhere to Graduate School policy.

From the Graduate Catalog on the Dissertation Examining Committee (http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/catalog):

Dissertation Examining Committee Membership. The Committee must include a minimum of five members of the Graduate Faculty, at least three of whom must be Full Members. The Chair of the Committee normally will be the student's advisor, who will be a Full Member of the Graduate Faculty, or who has been granted an exception to the policy by the Dean of the Graduate School. Each Committee will have appointed to it a representative of the Dean of the Graduate School.

Chair. Each Dissertation Examining Committee will have a chair, who must be a Full Member of the Graduate Faculty or, by special permission, has been otherwise appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School. Dissertation Examining Committees may be co-chaired upon written recommendation of the program's Graduate Director and with the approval of the Dean of the Graduate School; at least one of the co-chairs must be a Full Member of the University of Maryland Graduate Faculty.

Representative of the Dean of the Graduate School. Each Dissertation Examining Committee will have appointed to it a representative of the Dean of the Graduate School. The Dean's Representative should have some background or interest related to the student's research. The Dean's Representative must be a tenured member of the Graduate Faculty at the University of Maryland and must be from a graduate program other than the home program of the chair and co-chair (if one exists) of the examination committee. In cases where a student is in an interdisciplinary graduate program, the Dean's Representative must be from a unit other than the home unit(s) of the chair of the committee and student's advisor.

Special Members. Individuals from outside the University of Maryland who have been approved for Special Membership in the Graduate Faculty may serve on Dissertation Examining Committees. These Special Members must be in addition to the required three Full Members of the University of Maryland Graduate Faculty...