This chapter describes the requirements for the Ph.D. Degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering. This description augments the discussion of the general requirements as stated in the Graduate Catalog of the University.

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) is the highest academic degree awarded by the University and is conferred upon a student who demonstrates outstanding original scholarship during advanced study. It signifies that the student is able to conduct independent research and has both a broad basic knowledge of all areas of the field and a comprehensive knowledge of one area. A student who wishes to qualify for the degree is expected to meet the requirements of both the Graduate School and the Department. Taking courses beyond the Master's Degree does not constitute being a "doctoral student." Application for the PhD program by VT MS students is made by completion of the readmission form following the procedures in section 5.1 below. The procedures described below are intended to ensure a systematic progression toward the achievement of doctoral candidacy and the completion of the degree.

5.1 Beginning the Ph.D. Program

Interim Ph.D. Student Advisor

An interim Ph.D. advisor is not authorized to work on a formal Ph.D. plan of study (see Section 5.4 for more details) with the advisee unless he or she is also willing to serve as the student's Graduate Advisor.

5.2 The Ph.D. Advisory Committee

Advisory committee members should be selected to represent a wide range of interests. At least two of the faculty members shall have different major technical specialty areas; one of the faculty members must be chosen from another academic department in the university. The Graduate Committee reserves the right to designate one of the four mandatory departmental members. An appeal to replace that member must be made to the Graduate Committee within two weeks of notification. Participation in an advisory committee implies that, (a) the faculty member is willing to meet periodically with the advisee for the purpose of offering guidance and assistance in the dissertation project, and (b) the faculty member will be available for a Final Oral Ph.D. Examination within reasonable bounds of a proposed target date.

The Ph.D. Advisory Committee is recommended to the ECE Graduate Committee through the submission of the plan of study. The Graduate Committee shall either approve the committee or recommend changes. Once approved by the Department, the committee is formally appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School. Once a Ph.D. Advisory Committee has been established and approved by the Graduate School, it may be revised only with the full concurrence of all committee members, both new and old, as well as the Graduate Committee. A form to the Dean of the Graduate School requesting any changes in the membership of the Ph.D. Advisory Committee must be signed by each member, both new and old, and approved by the Graduate Committee.

The Ph.D. Advisory Committee has jurisdiction over the student's Ph.D. program (within the guidelines of the department), assesses the student's progress, and conducts the examinations (dissertation proposal and final oral) required by the Graduate School and the Department, subject to approval by the Graduate Committee. The Qualifying examination is conducted by the area research pursued.

5.3 The Direct-Ph.D. and Ph.D. Plan of Study

Basic Requirements

No more than 9 credit hours in total of 4984, 5984 (Special Studies) and 5974 (Independent Study) may be used. These 9 hours may include no more than 3 credits hours of 4984 and no more than 6 credit hours of 5974. A 5984 course will count as a course only in the area from which the course is submitted.

• Ph.D. Plan of Study for students with a M.S. degree from any institution.
• Submit Plan of Study prior to completion of 9 course credit hours, second semester of enrollment.
• Minimum course work consists of 30 course credit hours.
• A minimum of 27 course credit hours at the 5000-level or above.
• A 4000-level course must be approved for graduate credit. At this time, all 4000-level ECE courses at Virginia Tech are approved for graduate credit except ECE 4535 and courses applied to the bachelor degree. 3000-level courses are not permitted.
• A minimum of 15 course credit hours required while enrolled as a Ph.D. student having 80 or 90 academic level at Virginia Tech, to meet the University Residency Requirement*.
• 50% of course credit hours may transfer from M.S. degree. Transfer courses, not taken at Virginia Tech, do not contribute to your VT GPA.
• Transfer credit hours must have a letter grade of B or higher.
• 60 credit hours of ECE 7994, Dissertation.
• 2 credit hours of ECE 5944, Seminar, P/F (not required if taken during Virginia Tech ECE M.S. degree; extended campus students excluded).

*The Virginia Tech Residency Requirement requires at least 15 hours of coursework at the Ph.D. academic levels 80, 90 from on campus classes (Some consideration may be given to part-time off-campus students as to the use of Virginia Tech off-campus classes to fulfill this need, though approval is required from the Graduate School).

Plans of Study for the Direct-Ph.D. Program

Students placed into the direct-Ph.D program must determine whether to earn the M.S. and Ph.D degrees simultaneously upon completion of 21 course credit hours. Students planning to pursue the Ph.D under the direct-Ph.D program must maintain continuous enrollment amongst these two degree programs.

Each Ph.D student must complete a minimum of 90 credit hours beyond the baccalaureate. Courses which are offered on an A-F grading basis may not be taken as Pass/Fail.

M.S., Non-Thesis Degree: (32 credit hours)

Submit prior to completion of 21 course credit hours (requirements are listed on the Summary of Graduate Student Requirements for M.S).
• 30 course credit hours taken at Virginia Tech.
• A minimum of 27 course credit hours at the 5000-level or above.
• A 4000-level course must be approved for graduate credit. At this time, all 4000-level ECE courses at Virginia Tech are approved for graduate credit except ECE 4535 and courses applied to the bachelor degree. 3000-level courses are not permitted.
• 2 credit hours of ECE 5944, Seminar, P/F

M.S., Thesis Degree: (32 credit hours)

Submit prior to completion of 21 course credit hours (requirements are listed on the Summary of Graduate Student Requirements for M.S).
• 21 course credit hours taken at Virginia Tech.
• 9 credit hours of thesis research (ECE 5994).
• A minimum of 18 course credit hours at the 5000-level or above.
• A 4000-level course must be approved for graduate credit. At this time, all 4000-level ECE courses at Virginia Tech are approved for graduate credit except ECE 4535 and courses applied to the bachelor degree. 3000-level courses are not permitted.
• 2 credit hours of ECE 5944, Seminar, P/F

Ph.D:

Submit upon completion of M.S. degree (30 course credit hours).
• Minimum course work consists of 30 course credit hours taken at Virginia Tech.
• University Residency Requirement is automatically satisfied by courses taken at Ph.D. and M.S. levels.
• 60 credit hours of ECE 7994, Dissertation.

Semester Credit Hours      Minimum Maximum Research and Dissertation (ECE 7994) 60 60 Courses numbered 5000 or higher 27* 30 4000-level courses -- 3 Seminar (ECE 5944) 2* -- Courses number 4984, 5974, and 5984       -- 9*** *27 course credit hours required by Graduate School **Seminar exempt if M.S. degree earned @ VT ***Max 4984 (3)      Max 5974 (6)      Max 5984 (9)

TIME LIMITS: Academic work, including transfer credit, must meet the time limits specified below or be revalidated by the student's committee. The revalidation may require a review of the student's ability on course material by the committee or a determination of the currency of the material to the current degree being obtained. Course work may be revalidated by written and/or oral examination upon petition to and approval by the dean of the Graduate School. Upon completion of the revalidation, a revalidation form must be submitted to the ECE Graduate Advising Office. Requests for revalidation of out-of-date courses must be submitted by the advisor and include signatures of all members of the student's advisory committee and the ECE Director of Graduate Studies. Course work that does not lie within the expertise of the committee members should be revalidated by a specialist in the area(s) involved. Revalidations are required in the following cases:

1. Course work more than five years old at the time of submission of the plan of study must be revalidated to count toward the master's or Ph.D.
2. Course work on the plan of study must be completed within five years after approval of the plan of study or revalidated if the preliminary exam for the doctoral degree has not been completed by then.

The core area requirement of completing three areas of ECE or two courses from each of two areas must also be satisfied, if not already completed while an MS student (see Section 4.3).

5.4 Ph.D. Examination Requirements

The Ph. D. Qualifying Examination

All new Ph.D. students are required to take a Ph.D. Qualifying Examination according to the following rules. Each Ph.D. student must pass the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination within the first two semesters of enrollment in the Ph.D. program of the Department. Thus, if the candidate arrives in late August, he/she must pass the Exam not later than during the spring semester of the following calendar year. For direct-Ph.D. students, the Exam must be passed within two semesters after the first 21 hours as a joint Ph.D./M.S. student. The Exam shall consist of one or more of the following requirements:

a) The study of one or more publications in fields of interest to the candidate, with the requirement that the candidate report on the contents and application of those publications to his or her proposed research work.

b) The conduct of open-ended research into one or more areas related to the proposed research of the candidate, with the requirement that the applicant report on his/her results.

c) In the case of a student from Virginia Tech or a U.S. peer institution with an M.S. degree in ECE, the competent presentation of results obtained in a previously completed M.S. thesis can suffice for the oral part of this Examination. The need for additional written work, as described in items (a) and (b) above shall be at the discretion of the Examination Committee.

The outcome of the Exam shall be Pass, Pass with Remedial Measures, or Fail. Remedial measures may consist of one or more prescribed courses to be taken, or of further prescribed research efforts. The candidate may take the Qualifying Exam not more than twice, and --in the event of two failures are dismissed from the ECE Ph.D. program. If the student chooses, he/she can appeal an adverse recommendation, but such an appeal must be made to the Assistant Department Head GE before the end of the semester in which the last failure of the Exam occurred.

A student initiates the Qualifying Examination (possibly in conjunction with his/her Advisor) by requesting the appropriate Area Committee to appoint an Examination Committee. It is the student’s responsibility to submit the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination Form to the Chair of the Area Committee by November 1 (for fall enrollment).  It is advisable but not mandatory that the student already has an advisory committee. The appropriate Area Committee shall appoint an Examination Committee that may consist of members of the Advisory Committee but must contain at least one Area Committee member who is not also a member of the Advisory Committee. The Exam Committee shall consist of at least three members.

Ph.D. Preliminary Examination

After the successful completion of the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination, the Ph.D. student must take a Ph.D. Preliminary Examination. The purpose of the Ph.D. Preliminary Examination is to determine the student's ability to formulate a plan to conduct research leading to a Ph.D. The examination shall consist of an oral presentation of a specific research proposal for work leading to a Ph.D. dissertation. The presentation shall provide the advisory committee with an appropriate literature review, identification of the research problem, preliminary results and/or a discussion of specific problems leading up to the dissertation work, and, in any event, should indicate that the student has sufficient knowledge of the subject area that the topic can be expected to lead to a Ph.D. dissertation of sufficient quality. Specific questions may be asked by members of the student's advisory committee (either in prior written form at least three weeks before the oral part of the exam, or at the oral exam) relating to the student's proposal. Successful completion of the Preliminary Exam enters the student into PhD Candidate status.

Guidelines for scheduling a PhD Preliminary Examination are that the Exam should take place not long after passing the Qualifying Exam. In any event, the Preliminary Exam shall be passed no later than nine months before the final defense of the dissertation. The outcome of this examination shall be pass or fail. If the Preliminary Exam is failed a second time, the student will be dismissed from the Ph.D. program.

An Application for Preliminary Examination form must be submitted to the Graduate Counselor at least three weeks prior to the oral exam. The Graduate Committee may postpone the Preliminary Examination if the application does not meet these requirements. On the morning of the exam, the student must pick up a card from the Graduate School for the advisory committee to sign following the exam. After submitting a copy of the signed card to the ECE Graduate Counselor, the student has until noon of the next working day to return it to the Graduate School. At most, one negative vote by the advisory committee is allowed. Only two opportunities to take the examination are permitted. See the Va Tech Graduate Catalog for additional details.

5.5 The Ph.D. Dissertation

1. Originality of work
2. Significance of contribution
3. Ability to explain essence (not necessarily detail emphasis) of work and fundamental relationships to related work.

5.6 The Final Oral Ph.D. Examination

The Final Oral Ph.D. Examination must be scheduled with the Graduate School. An Application for Final Exam form must be submitted, along with the required technical paper, at least two weeks before the exam is given.

Hard copies of the final draft of the dissertation, with all results and major conclusions, must be made available to all members of the Ph.D. advisory committee at this time (at least two weeks prior to the scheduled date for the final dissertation defense). At the same time, the student must submit to his or her Graduate Advisor and the ECE Graduate Counselor the final hard copy draft of a technical paper based on the dissertation research. This paper must be suitable for publication in an appropriate professional journal. A copy of an already published technical paper may be submitted, if acceptable to the Graduate Advisor. The dissertation will not be accepted and the student will not be allowed to proceed with the final dissertation defense until this requirement has been met.

The Final Oral Ph.D. Examination is mainly a defense of the dissertation with respect to the following criteria:

1. Originality of content
2. Importance of the problem considered
3. Method of solution and/or analysis
4. Achievement of research objectives
5. Clarity of presentation

On the morning of the exam, the exam card must be picked up by the student at the Graduate School. After the student's committee has signed the card following the exam, the student must submit a copy of the card to the ECE Graduate Counselor, and has until noon of the next working day to return the signed card to the Graduate School.

Any student who fails the Final Oral Ph.D. Examination will be required to eliminate the indicated deficiencies in the manner prescribed by the Ph.D. advisory committee. Any student failing the Final Oral Ph.D. exam twice will be dismissed from the ECE Ph.D. program.

5.7 Flowcharts to the Ph.D. Degree

Flowchart overview for the Ph.D program

Flowchart overview for the Direct Ph.D program