Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ph.D

Requirements

The general requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy appear earlier in the Calendar. The minimum number of graduate courses required is three 700-level half courses (or equivalent) beyond the Master’s degree. One of these three courses may be taken outside of the ECE program with prior approval by the department. For students transferring to the Ph.D program from the M.A.Sc. program without defending a Master’s thesis or entering the Ph.D. program directly from the Bachelor’s degree without beginning an M.A.Sc, the minimum number of graduate courses required is six half courses (or equivalent). A maximum of two of these six courses can be 700-level courses taken outside the ECE program with prior approval by the department, and a maximum of one of these six courses can be a 600-level ECE course with prior approval by the department.

A candidate is also required to take the Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination, which is designed to test the knowledge and skills necessary to pursue research at the PhD level in Electrical Engineering. The examination will normally be attempted no later than 24 months from the student’s start date in the PhD program, but after the first supervisory committee meeting. The outcome of the most recent supervisory committee must be at least “satisfactory” in order to proceed with the comprehensive examination.

Within approximately one year of commencement, a Ph.D. candidate must submit a report to the Supervisory Committee outlining the proposed line of research in sufficient detail so that the Committee can decide on its suitability.

General Requirements

The thesis submitted by PhD and M.A.Sc candidates must be defended orally at the conclusion of their study. All M.A.Sc. and Ph.D. graduate students are required to satisfy a seminar requirement by registering in either of ECE 792 / Advanced Communication Skills for Graduate Research in Electrical and Computer Engineering  or ECE 790 / Foundational Communication Skills for Graduate Research in Electrical and Computer Engineering . M. Eng.students registering for ECE 701 , with the exception of those registered in the combined B. Eng./M. Eng. Biomedical Engineering program, must register for either ECE 792  or ECE 790  as well. Under special circumstances, and subject to the Department approval, the students may alternatively enroll in an equivalent course from another program in the Faculty of Engineering to satisfy the seminar requirement. PhD candidates who have passed ECE 792  or ECE 790  during their Master’s degree may apply for an exemption from this requirement. The seminar course requirement is in addition to the regular graduate program course requirements described elsewhere in the calendar.

Industrial Ph.D. Option

The general Regulations for the degree Doctor of Philosophy appear earlier in the Calendar. This program option offers the candidate the potential to conduct all or a portion of their research at their company or research institute of employment. To be enrolled under the option, the candidate must be a full-time student in the degree program, have previously completed a Masters of Applied Science or its equivalence, and be employed by a company or research institute outside of McMaster continuously till degree completion. A candidate is required to complete the normal course requirements of their enrolled department as well as any milestones, but is exempt from seminar requirements. As a doctoral candidate they must take the Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination that is designed to test the breadth of knowledge and the ability to synthesize and integrate ideas from within and peripheral to the candidate’s research area. The Comprehensive Examination will normally take place between 6 and 18 months after the candidate initially registers in the Ph.D. program. A supervisory committee monitors the progress of a Ph.D. candidate and determines when the candidate is ready to write the thesis. The student is required to defend the thesis at a Final Oral Examination.