Roadmap to a Ph.D. Degree

This year, the date of the written Preliminary Examination is Monday Nov. 28, 2005.

Important Milestones:

• You must secure a PhD advisor to do research.
• Ph.D. Preliminary Examination
  • The Ph.D. preliminary examination will consist of a written and an oral examination. The exam will be offered twice per year (tentatively in Dec and May). Students can take the exam only twice and have to pass the exam by the end of the 2nd full year of Ph.D. study. Students should pass both exams and only students who pass the written exam would be eligible to take the oral exam. Failing in the written exam is counted as one of the two tries.

  CSS and CGV concentration prelim examinations.

  CNDC concentration prelim examinations

  Students in EE concentration should pick one of the following fields:
  EE Circuits & Devices
  EE Systems
  
• Ph.D. Qualifying Examination
  • Take this exam when you have set your dissertation topic and have completed most of the initial research.
  • This is the time to form your Candidacy Committee, which comprises 5 U.C. Academic Senate members. This committee must include:
    1. Chair: Usually your research advisor. The Chair must be a faculty member of the EECS Department.
    2. General Members: At least 2 other EECS faculty members.
    3. Outside Member: Must be a U.C. Irvine faculty member not from EECS. For more detailed guidelines, click here.
  • You should submit the nomination form of your committee to The Henry Samueli School of Engineering Graduate Student Affairs Office at least two weeks before the date of the Ph.D. qualifying examination.
  • You must fill out the Ph.D. Form 1 (.pdf file) before your exam begins.
  • Non-resident students who have passed the Qualifying Examination are eligible for a 75% reduction in their non-resident tuition for 3 years.
• Completion of Dissertation
  When you finish your research and are ready to present your defense you need to follow the instructions below:
  
  1. Form your Doctoral Committee, which comprises 3 U.C. Academic Senate members.
  2. Decide a time and place for your defense, when your doctoral committee members are available.
  3. Inform EECS graduate office, Shana Jensen, sjensen@uci.edu , at ET355 the time and place with a copy of your abstract (one paragraph describing your presentation) at least one week before the date of your defense.
  4. Defend your dissertation and fill out the Ph.D. Form 2 (.pdf file)

  The submission of the dissertation is the last step in the program leading to the award of an advanced degree. All dissertations submitted in fulfillment of requirements for advanced degrees at UCI must conform to certain University regulations and specifications with regard to format and method of preparation.

  The Standards and Procedures Manual for writing and submitting theses/dissertations is available at http://www.lib.uci.edu/libraries/collections/special/thesis/tdmanual.html. Students are encouraged to attend the quarterly information sessions that discuss manuscript preparation and filing procedures.

  Doctoral programs must be completed in seven calendar years from the date of admission.