Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Requirements:

• Between three and eight approved graduate courses
• JDE1000H “Ethics in Research Seminar
• ECE Colloquium: Distinguished Lecture Series
  • Attendance at the DLS is mandatory for all MASc students.
• PhD Background Statement
• PhD Qualifying Examination
• PhD Thesis Proposal
• Annual Meetings of PhD Supervisory Committee
• Department Oral Examination (DOE) of PhD Thesis
• Final Oral Examination (FOE) of PhD Thesis

Timely Completion:

Timely completion of the PhD degree requirements is a condition of financial support and continued registration.

PhD Course Requirements

• Normally, students who enter the PhD program after the completion of a Master’s degree will be required to complete five approved graduate courses. Students may receive a course reduction of up to two graduate courses, depending on their PhD research needs in relation to their studies at the Master’s level. The number of required courses will be determined by the Associate Chair, Graduate Studies, in consultation with the PhD supervisor.

• Students who enter the PhD program directly from a Bachelor’s degree will be required to complete eight approved graduate courses.

• Normally, students who transfer from the M.A.Sc. to the PhD program will be required to complete three approved graduate courses, in addition to the five graduate courses completed while registered in the M.A.Sc. program. Students may be required to complete up to two additional graduate courses, depending on their PhD research needs in relation to their studies at the Master’s level. The number of required courses will be determined by the Associate Chair, Graduate Studies, in consultation with the PhD supervisor.

• All courses required for the degree must be completed within the first 12 months of program registration.

• Two of the five courses must be outside the student’s major field or group (i.e., breadth courses).

• Students in the Biomedical Collaborative program must complete at least two ECE or JEB graduate courses for the degree.

• Students in the Biomedical Collaborative program must satisfy the requirements for both ECE and the Collaborative program.

• Students may wish to review the policy on extra courses.

PhD Background Statement

The background requirement is intended to ensure that students have sufficient education in the various fields in electrical and computer engineering to pursue the PhD program. Normally, this requirement will be satisfied by courses completed during the undergraduate program. A PhD student with a non-ECE undergraduate degree may be required to complete additional courses to satisfy the background requirement.

• In order to demonstrate background and preparation, each PhD student is required to complete a PhD background statement.

• Please note the relevant deadlines for submission of the PhD background statement to the ECE Graduate Office:

  • September starters must submit the PhD background statement to the ECE Graduate Office by the following November.

  • January starters must submit the PhD background statement to the ECE Graduate Office by the following March.

• The chair and graduate secretary will review the PhD background statements for all students in their group.

• Based on the information contained in your PhD background statement, the chair and graduate secretary may recommend that you complete additional courses in order to achieve sufficient background.

• The PhD background statement will form an important part of your PhD qualifying examination file.

PhD Qualifying Examination

Each PhD student will take the PhD qualifying examination. The purpose of the PhD qualifying examination is to confirm that the student has sufficient depth of knowledge in the major field, and sufficient research ability, to successfully complete the PhD program. Successful completion of the PhD qualifying examination is a condition of continued registration in the PhD program. Students who do not successfully complete the PhD qualifying examination will have their registration terminated.

Deadlines

Please note the relevant deadlines for completion of the PhD qualifying examination:

• September starters must complete the PhD qualifying examination by the following February.

• January starters must complete the PhD qualifying examination by the following June.

Material Covered

Each group will set its own PhD qualifying examinations to focus on areas relevant to the field and relevant to assessing the student’s depth of preparation and research ability. The examinations will be at a third-year undergraduate to introductory graduate level.

Pre-Examination Procedures

The ECE Graduate Office will prepare a file for each student who is due to complete the PhD qualifying examination. The file will include the following documents:

• undergraduate and graduate transcripts;

• PhD background statement;

• curriculum vitae;

• supervisor’s confidential report including, where applicable, an appraisal of the student’s M.A.Sc. thesis and any other relevant work such as published papers;

• examination report form, to be completed by the committee.

The files will be forwarded to the group chair. The chair and graduate secretary of each group will select professors to serve on the PhD qualifying examination committees and schedule the examinations.

Typically, the chair or graduate secretary of each group, or the research supervisor, will inform students of the examination schedule. Students should be proactive, however, and request this information from the supervisor.

Examination Format

The following format will be used by all of the groups, except Photonics:

• One committee of four professors examines the student in an oral examination that typically lasts two hours; or two committees of two professors examine the student in two oral examinations that typically last one hour each.

• The research supervisor(s) will not participate in the oral examinations, but may be present as an observer.

• In order to ensure uniform Department-wide standards, at least one of the four examining professors will be from outside the student’s group.

Decision

After the oral examinations, the research supervisor and the four professors will meet to decide whether the student passes or fails the PhD qualifying examination. Discussion and decision will be based on the student’s performance in the oral examinations, his background statement, any published papers, and the supervisor’s confidential report. Following the discussion, the committee will vote on the outcome. If there is more than one supervisor, only the principal supervisor will vote. There are three possible outcomes:

• The student passes the examination and continues in the PhD program if there is not more than one negative vote or abstention. Passing may be conditional on requirements specified by the examination committee.

• The student is rejected if there are more than two negative votes or abstentions. In such an event, the student will be required to withdraw from the PhD program by the end of the term.

• If there are exactly two negative votes or abstentions, the student will go to an augmented examination. The Associate Chair, Graduate Studies, will select two additional professors who will examine the student in a one-hour oral examination to take place within one month of the initial PhD qualifying examination. One of the two new examining professors will be from outside the student’s group. After the second examination, the candidate passes if there are not more than two negative votes or abstentions among the augmented committee.

The chair and graduate secretary of each group will notify the ECE Graduate Office of the outcome of the PhD qualifying examination within one week of its completion. The ECE Graduate Office will notify students of the outcome of the PhD qualifying examination in writing.

PhD Thesis Proposal

Each student who successfully completes the PhD qualifying examination is required to write a PhD thesis proposal, and present and defend the proposal orally before a committee.

Deadlines

Please note the relevant deadlines for completion of the PhD thesis proposal:

• September starters must complete the PhD thesis proposal by November of the following year.

• January starts must complete the PhD thesis proposal by March of the following year.

Format and Content of the Proposal

 Please review the following guidelines and suggestions for the format and content of the PhD thesis proposal. The PhD thesis proposal should contain two fundamental components:

• review of the “state of the art” in a reasonably focused contemporary area of electrical and computer engineering research;

• outline of known problems to be solved or original developments that might be anticipated, accompanied by a line of approach to these problems or developments.

The “state of the art” review must refer explicitly to the relevant literature, with all references listed at the end of the proposal. The list of references need not be long, but it should be carefully considered. The list and review should show clear evidence that the student has sufficient knowledge to continue immediately into doctoral level research that will potentially lead to new results, without needing to do further background preparation in the area.

The outline of problems or developments must show that the student can formulate a line of research, including initial methodologies to be used, which should lead to significant contributions and new knowledge.

It is neither necessary nor expected that the PhD thesis proposal contain new research results, though such would be welcome. It is only necessary to be convincing that the chosen proposed area and topic of research has a very good chance of leading to new results.

PhD Thesis Proposal Committee

The supervisor will select professors to serve on the PhD thesis proposal committee according to the following regulations:

• The committee must consist of (at least) three professors, including the supervisor.

• Each of the professors must hold a graduate faculty appointment in ECE.

• Where appropriate, one of the professors may be from outside the student’s group.

PhD Thesis Proposal Presentation

• The supervisor will schedule the presentation. All members of the PhD thesis proposal committee must attend the presentation.

• The written proposal must be submitted to the committee at least two weeks prior to the presentation.

• The student will make a presentation at the meeting and orally defend the PhD thesis proposal.

• If the committee does not consider the proposal to be satisfactory, the student must present and defended a new PhD thesis proposal within four months. If the new proposal is also unsatisfactory, the student’s registration in the PhD program will be terminated.

• The supervisor must submit the PhD Thesis Proposal Report to the ECE Graduate Office within one week of the presentation.

• Upon the successful completion of the PhD thesis proposal, the student will have achieved “PhD candidacy.” The date of PhD candidacy will be recorded on the student’s U of T transcript.

Annual Meetings of PhD Supervisory Committee

The School of Graduate Studies requires graduate units to monitor the progress of PhD students. PhD students are therefore required to hold at least one supervisory committee meeting in each year of program registration. For years one and two of the PhD program, this SGS requirement is met by the qualifying examination and the thesis proposal, respectively.

• In years three, four, and all subsequent years until graduation, each PhD candidate must establish a PhD supervisory committee and meet with that committee at least once per year.

• The PhD supervisory committee will typically consist of the research supervisor and two other professors.

• The PhD supervisory committee will assess the candidate’s progress to degree and file a Progress Report with the ECE Graduate Office after each meeting.

• Annual meetings with the PhD supervisory committee are a condition of financial support and continued registration in the PhD program.

• Please see timely completion for recommended scheduling of meetings.

Department Oral Examination (DOE) of PhD Thesis

External Examiner vs. External Appraiser

Please note the important distinction between an external examiner and an external appraiser:

• An external examiner will write an appraisal of the PhD thesis. He/she will also attend the examination and vote to determine whether the candidate has passed the FOE.
• An external appraiser will write an appraisal of the PhD thesis. However, he/she will NOT attend the examination, nor will he/she vote to determine whether the candidate has passed the FOE.