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Electrical and Computer Engineering Graduate Advising Guide
Introduction
This Advising Guide describes the School's requirements for the Master of Science, Master of Engineering and Ph.D. degrees. These requirements are in addition to those of the Graduate School. They may be modified or extended by the student's M.S., M.Eng., or Ph.D. committee. For further information, consult the Graduate School Bulletin, the University General Bulletin, and the Schedule of Classes. Questions concerning advanced degree requirements should be directed to the ECE Graduate Student Coordinator of the School of EECS.
Every new graduate student will be assigned a research group and academic advisor based on the students' interests. This academic advisor will advise the student until the student has found a faculty member who has agreed to serve as the student's major professor. It is the student's responsibility to meet with faculty members and find a major professor. New students are strongly encouraged to attend research group meetings, reading groups, and seminars to get to know the faculty and graduate students in the School.
Research Interest Areas in Electrical and Computer Engineering
The School of EECS offers electrical and computer engineering graduate study in the following research interest areas: Analog & Mixed Signal Circuits; Communication, Signal Processing & Control; Computer Engineering; Energy Systems; Intelligent Systems; Materials & Devices; RF/Microwaves & Optics. Please see http://eecs.oregonstate.edu/graduate/areas.html.
Master of Science (M.S.) Degree Requirements
- At least 45 credits of graduate level courses.
- 15 credits (minimum) of 5xx/6xx ECE courses (excluding 4xx/5xx courses and blanket-numbered courses).
- At most 6 credits of blanket-numbered courses. Blanket-numbered courses are: Research 501, Reading & Conference 505, Project 506.
- Thesis credits: 9-12 credits.
- Three (3) of the following core courses: ECE 514, 520, 530, 550, 560, 570, 580, 590. At least a 3.0 GPA must be achieved over these three courses.
- Attendance at the weekly EECS Colloquium during each term of the first year of graduate studies. Students receive 1 credit for attending the Colloquium by registering for ECE 507. However, ECE 507 cannot be used on a student's graduate program. To satisfy this requirement, students attend colloquia, submit the attendance form, and receive 3 terms of pass (P).
- A grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 for all courses taken as a graduate student and all courses on the graduate program.
- File a program of study by the end of the second term of study, or before 18 graduate credit hours are completed. Each M.S. student obtains a Master’s Program form from the Graduate School, fills it out, has it approved by his/her major professor, and turns in the form to the Graduate Student Coordinator for the EECS associate director's approval. This program is a tentative plan and can be updated or changed.
- A final oral exam on the student’s thesis. A final oral exam may be scheduled only after all other requirements are satisfied. The M.S. committee is formed which consists of at least four graduate faculty members: two in the major field, one in the minor field if a minor is included, and a Graduate Council Representative. When a minor is not included, the fourth member may be from the graduate faculty at large. The Graduate Council representative will be chosen from a list supplied to the student by the Graduate School. All members of the student's committee must approve the scheduling of the final oral exam. Notice of oral exams should be posted and distributed to all faculty and graduate students at least one week prior to the exam. Except in unusual circumstances, these exams will be held during the normal academic year (fall, winter, or spring quarters). For scheduling, use the Event Schedule Form.
- Time limit. All work toward a M.S. degree including transferred credits, course work, thesis, must be completed within seven years.
- A graduate minor is not required (as of 2/14/02). See the Graduate School Bulletin for details.
Master of Engineering (M.Eng) Degree Requirements
- At least 45 credits of graduate-level courses.
- At least 21 credits of 5xx/6xx ECE courses (excluding 4xx/5xx courses and blanket-numbered courses).
- At most 6 credits of blanket-numbered courses may be included in the program. Blanket-numbered courses are: Research 501, Reading & Conference 505, Project 506.
- Three (3) of the following core courses: ECE 514, 520, 530, 550, 560, 570, 580, 590. At least a 3.0 GPA must be achieved over these three courses.
- Attendance at the weekly EECS Colloquium during one term of the first year of graduate studies. Students receive 1 credit for attending the Colloquium by registering for ECE 507. http://eecs.oregonstate.edu/graduate/colloquium/. However, ECE 507 cannot be used on a student's graduate program. To satisfy this requirement, students attend colloquia, submit the attendance form, and receive one term of pass (P).
- A grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 for all courses taken as a graduate student and all courses on the graduate program.
- File a program of study by the end of the second term of study, or before 18 graduate credit hours are completed. Each M.Eng. student obtains a M.Eng. Program form from the Graduate School, fills it out, has it approved by his/her major professor, and turns in the form to the Graduate Student Coordinator for the EECS associate director's approval. This program is a tentative plan and can be updated or changed.
- A final oral exam. A final oral exam may be scheduled only after all other requirements are satisfied. The M.Eng. committee consists of 3 designated graduate faculty members from the School of EECS. All members of this committee must approve the scheduling of the final oral exam. Except in unusual circumstances, these exams will be held during the normal academic year (fall, winter, or spring quarters). For scheduling, use the Event Schedule Form.
Notes for M.S. and M.Eng.
Minimum Breadth Course Requirements for non-BSEE/CpE students
Complete 4 of the following course options:
ECE 390 or ECE 590
ECE 322 or ECE 422 or ECE 520
ECE 323 or ECE 423 or ECE 428 or ECE 526
ECE 351 or ECE 451 or ECE 461 or ECE 550
ECE 352 or ECE 462 or ECE 464 or ECE 560
ECE 375 or ECE 471 or ECE 472 or ECE 473 or ECE 570
Ph.D. Degree Requirements
- At least 108 credits (this includes all graduate work after the B.S.). Typically, an ECE Ph.D. program has a total of about 125 credits and about 65 hours of coursework.
- 36-60 credits of thesis. Thesis credits are ECE 603. The only M.S. thesis credits that may be used for the Ph.D. are those indicated on the M.S. program of study.
- At most, 15 blanket-numbered credits. Blanket-numbered credits are: Research 501/601, Reading & Conference 505/605, and Project 506/606. (These are 50X/60X courses other than thesis 503/603).
- Three (3) of the following 'core' courses must be taken: ECE 514, 520, 530, 550, 560, 570, 580, 590. At least a 3.0 GPA must be achieved over these three courses.
- At least 36 credits of actual coursework (excluding blanket-numbered credits and thesis).
- Residence requirement: At least 36 graduate OSU credits must be completed while enrolled as a full-time student (at least 9 credits/term). These terms of full-time enrollment do not have to take place consecutively.
- At least 18 credit hours in each declared minor. There is no requirement to declare a minor, however.
- Attendance at the weekly EECS Colloquium during each term of the first year of graduate studies or the first 3 terms of study. Students receive 1 credit for attending the Colloquium by registering for ECE 507. However, ECE 507 cannot be used on a student's graduate program. To satisfy this requirement, students attend colloquia, submit the attendance form, and receive 3 terms of pass (P).
- A grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 for all courses taken as a graduate student and all courses on the graduate program.
- Successful completion of the Ph.D. qualifier which tests the student's course background and the ability to read, understand, analyze and synthesize materials from research papers.
- Successful completion of the preliminary examination which tests the student's readiness to start research on a particular topic and his or her breadth of knowledge in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
- Satisfactory performance in the final oral exam. The final oral exam must be taken within 5 years after the oral preliminary examination.
- Normally both the preliminary exam and the final oral exam are open to faculty and students. Notice of such exams shall be posted and distributed to all faculty and graduate students at least one-week prior to the exam. Except in unusual circumstances these exams will be held during the normal academic year (fall, winter and spring quarters). For scheduling use the Event Schedule form at http://eecs.oregonstate.edu/graduate/forms/.
Model Ph.D. Program Process
Note: This is a "model," where the need for flexibility is understood.
Program Committee Meeting
The doctoral program leading to a Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering is administered primarily by the student's Ph.D. committee. It is the student's responsibility to organize his or her doctoral committee with the advice of his or her major professor. The committee must consist of at least five (5) faculty members: the major professor, at least two other members of the School of EECS who represent the student's areas of study, faculty member from the student's minor department and/or other related departments, and a Graduate Council representative. The Graduate Council representative will be chosen from a list supplied to the student by the Graduate School.
The Ph.D. committee, in consultation with the student, is responsible for preparing the student's doctoral program, administering the required examinations, and reporting the student's progress to the School. This committee has considerable freedom in defining a doctoral program, being subject only to the rules of the Graduate School as described in General Regulations - Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Bulletin and the ECE Ph.D. Degree Requirements listed in this Advising Guide. The Doctoral Program form [http://oregonstate.edu/dept/grad_school/Survival_Guide/forms.htm] should be filed by the end of one calendar year if a student joins the PhD. Program with a M.S. degree and by the end of the fifth quarter of enrollment if the student joins the program with a B.S. degree.
Qualifier Exam
For a traditional September start, the student must take this exam before November 1st of the second year if he/she joins the PhD program with a MS degree and before November 1st of the third year if he/she joins the Phd program with a BS degree (modified accordingly for students not starting in September).
The student's advisor assigns a research topic to the students. Within a month the student must:
- Conduct a comprehensive literature review on a topic area chosen with his/her advisor
- Independently write a synthesis research paper (up to 15 pages) demonstrating:
- Appropriate subject knowledge.
- Ability to do comprehensive literature searches.
- Understanding of research concepts encountered.
- Ability to: focus on the most important findings, separate assumptions from findings supported by evidence, and identify context and limitations of reported results.
- Ability to synthesize across different information sources.
- Communication ability.
Note: Independent "writing" implies without any feedback or editorial help from advisor/faculty or other graduate students in EECS ("discussion" of topic is OK). Format can be in IEEE standard format for conferences/journals/transactions.
- Submit the research paper to the committee members one week before the exam.
- Schedule meeting and present the paper to his/her committee (minus the GCR, open forum).
Questions from the committee can include discussion of the paper, undergraduate course material as well as graduate courses already taken by the candidate (move to closed session, total length of meeting is flexible, but may be around 2-3 hours).
After the exam the committee will have a confidential discussion on the performance of the student and make one of the following recommendations:
a) Pass
b) Fail, if 1st attempt, allow retake by May 1st of the same academic year
c) Fail, allow student to choose to stay to complete a M.S. or (2nd) M.S.
Qualifier Evaluation Form
The top half of the Qualifier Evaluation Form should be completed by the student and provided for each committee member, plus one (1) summary form, prior to the Qualifier Exam.
Preliminary Examination
This exam is generally taken around the beginning of the third year with timing to allow the committee to have input on the proposed research.
- Purpose
The purpose of both the written and the oral components of this exam is to guarantee that the student has obtained sufficient breadth and depth of knowledge to carry out the proposed research. This includes a thorough understanding of course work from the core areas on the student's program and of important articles in the dissertation area.
- Procedure
The preliminary exam consists of: (i) preparation of a thesis proposal, (ii) oral presentation of thesis proposal, (iii) oral examination. (The committee may give a written exam also.)
The sequence of events is as follows:
At least three weeks prior to the oral examination, the student submits a written thesis proposal to the committee. This proposal should already have been approved by the major professor working with the student.
The thesis proposal should succinctly describe (a) the topic to be investigated, (b) the significance and relevance of this topic, (c) the approach and methods to be used in the investigation, (d) a discussion of the feasibility of the proposed research, (e) an annotated bibliography listing all relevant publications that have been or will be read by the student, and (f) a timetable for carrying out the research and completing the degree. The student should realize that this proposal is a plan. It is often the case that the actual completed research is substantially different from the proposed research.
Two weeks prior to the oral exam, the committee and the major professor may prepare a written exam that will be given to the student. This exam is normally open-book, and the student is given a week to complete it. The questions involve reading and analyzing an article, comparing a number of approaches, etc., or other activities deemed appropriate by the committee.
One week prior to the oral exam, the student submits the completed written exam. For scheduling use the Event Schedule form.
On the day of the oral exam, the student begins with a 30-minute presentation of the proposed research. This is followed by at least 90-minutes of oral examination of the student. At least 60-minutes of questions will cover the areas of the student's program.
Final Oral Exam
- Student presents Ph.D. research (open presentation) Questions from the committee focus on presentation/thesis research
- Questions from the committee focus on presentation/thesis research
Notes for PhD
Course descriptions available at: http://catalog.oregonstate.edu/CourseSearcher.aspx
To schedule program meeting, qualifier, preliminary exam, and final oral exam use the Event Schedule Form
To register for blanket-numbered credits, fill out and email, blanket.txt
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