PhD Candidacy Examination 

The purpose of the PhD Candidacy Examination in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science is for the doctoral student to demonstrate the student’s ability to identify, undertake, and analyze a specific substantive area (or areas) of research in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or computer science. This exam must be passed to be formally admitted to candidacy in the doctoral program. A student failing the exam may, upon re-application, take it a second time. Two failures will result in the student's dismissal from the PhD program.

Procedure for Candidacy Examination 

  1. The student is expected to take graduate courses and select a dissertation advisor during the first year of the PhD program.
  2. Upon completing at least 9 credit hours and not more than 24 credit hours of graduate course work (including credit hours of Directed Independent Study and Advanced Research), a PhD student may request to take the PhD Candidacy Exam. A student entering the PhD program with a bachelor’s degree (direct-path PhD student) is expected to take the PhD Candidacy Exam upon completing at least 24 credit hours and not more than 36 credit hours of graduate course work (including credit hours of Directed Independent Study and Advanced Research). The student must have a dissertation advisor before taking the PhD Candidacy Exam.
  3. The student will submit the Candidacy Exam Application Form , approved by their dissertation advisor, by a specified deadline—a date in September (Fall semesters) or January (Spring semesters).
  4. A Candidacy Exam Committee will conduct the examination and evaluate the student. The student's dissertation advisor is not a member of the Candidacy Exam Committee.
  5. Research papers aligned with current departmental research will be announced before the exam. For the sake of the exam, each student will select one research paper.
  6. After the paper selection, the student has 4 weeks to prepare a 20- to 30-minute PowerPoint presentation. The student will deliver the presentation to the committee based on the paper on the scheduled exam date and time. To demonstrate readiness to begin doctoral-level research, students must show a strong understanding of the selected paper and its broader research context. During the exam, faculty may ask questions drawn from a range of topics intended to assess the student's comprehension, reasoning, and ability to engage with research. Examples of topics that may be covered include but are not limited to:
    • State a problem and provide motivation and requirements for a solution for the problem.
    • Describe the novelty of the work as compared to the field in general.
    • Determine if a proposed solution to the problem is correct and meets the requirements for the solution.
    • Describe how the problem and presumed solution fit in the broader research context.
    • Describe the meaning of mathematical equations (or models) used in the paper.
    • Describe the system’s performance evaluation and results if present in the paper.
    • Identify and describe the limitations of the work.

Candidate Evaluation 

The PhD Candidacy Exam Committee will make final decision (Pass or Fail) based on the overall quality of the oral presentation, understanding of the research problem and presented solution in the paper, and research area in general.