Course Requirements

Students must satisfy the minimum course requirements for their field of specialty (typically 11 courses totaling 33 credits) excluding the EE graduate seminar (ENEE 608 ), graduate research credits prior to Ph.D. candidacy, and doctoral dissertation research credits. Four (4) of the eleven (11) courses must be chosen from the eight (8) core courses and the fifth (5th) course is Digital Signal Processing (ENEE 610 ). Students may take ENEE 898  for research credits before being admitted to Ph.D. candidacy and must take twelve (12) credits of ENEE 899  for doctoral dissertation research after admittance to Ph.D. candidacy. Specifically:

Four-of-eight (4 of 8) core courses required for all students (12 credits):

• ENEE 601 - Signal and Linear Systems Theory [3]
• ENEE 620 - Probability and Random Processes [3]
• ENEE 621 - Detection and Estimation Theory I [3]
• ENEE 622 - Information Theory [3]
• ENEE 630 - Solid-State Electronics [3]
• ENEE 631 - Semiconductor Devices [3]
• ENEE 680 - Electromagnetic Theory I [3]
• ENEE 683 - Lasers [3]

Grade Requirements

A grade of ‘B’ (3.0 GPA) or better is required in all courses and a 3.33 GPA minimum overall (including the transfer courses). Grades with + and - are possible for graduate courses.

PhD Comprehensive Portfolio

The ENEE PhD Comprehensive Portfolio consists of three (3) components: (a) GPA performance on the four (4) core plus ENEE 610  courses, (b) the Research Activity Report (RAR), and (c) two (2) faculty support letters. Students will be dismissed from the doctoral program if they fail to pass the comprehensive portfolio evaluation within the specified time frame. See the ENEE Graduate Program website at www.csee.umbc.edu or www.cs.umbc.edu/programs/graduate/electrical-engineering-ms-phd/ for details on the ENEE PhD Comprehensive Portfolio policy.

Preliminary Examination (Prelim)

Students must select a dissertation advisor and a dissertation preliminary examination committee, and they must pass a two-part preliminary examination. Students will present and defend their dissertation proposal to the preliminary committee. The committee examines the students orally on their proposal and research area(s) to assess their ability to complete the proposed research. Each full-time student must pass the preliminary exam within one-and-a-half (1.5) years after passing the comps to remain in the Ph.D. program, and part-time students will be given two-and-a-half (2.5) years to pass the preliminary examination. Check the ENEE Graduate Program website for updates to this requirement.

Ph.D. Candidacy

After passing the preliminary exam and completing the course requirements, the Graduate Program Committee recommends to the Graduate School that the student be admitted to Ph.D. candidacy.

Dissertation Research

The student conducts and reports (dissertation) on a significant original research topic under the guidance of their dissertation advisor. The doctoral dissertation must be an original and substantive contribution to knowledge in the student’s major field. It must demonstrate the student’s ability to: (a) conduct a program of research and (b) report the results in accordance with standards observed in the recognized scientific journals related to that field. This research must be completed and defended within four (4) years of admission to candidacy. Students must be admitted to candidacy at least two full sequential semesters before the date on which the doctoral degree is to be conferred. Doctoral candidates take at least eighteen (18) dissertation credits (ENEE 899 ). The Ph.D. dissertation committee must include four (4) graduate faculty members from the CSEE department and one external member.

Residency Requirements

A minimum of three (3) years of full-time graduate study or its equivalent is required. At least one year of full-time study must be completed at UMBC.