Minimum semester hours required: 108 beyond the baccalaureate.

Students admitted with prior master's degree in EE, CE, or a related field:

• Must complete a minimum of 28 hours of credit in graduate course work, 16 hours of which must be ECE course work at the 500 level excluding ECE 595, 596, 597, 598, 599.
• A Computer Engineering (CE) student may substitute up to 4 hours out of the 16 hours required 500 level ECE course work with 500 level CS course work (excluding CS 595, 596, 597, 598, 599), provided he/she takes the same number of credit hours at the 400 level in ECE.
  Examples.
1. Student #1: (EE or CE). 4 ECE 500 level courses (16 hours) + 3 other courses.
2. Student #2: (CE). 3 ECE 500 level courses + 1 CS 500 level course + 1 ECE 400 level course + 2 other courses.
• Any course that is nearly equivalent to one taken in master's program earlier will not earn Ph.D. credit.
• Credit earned in ECE 596 (Individual Study) may not be applied toward the Ph.D. degree.
• Candidates must earn ECE 599 credits of at least 44 hours beyond master's degree.
• A student admitted to the Graduate College with a prior master's degree will automatically receive 32 hours of credit toward their Ph.D. course work requirement.

Student admitted directly after bachelor's degree in EE, CE, or related field:

• Must complete a minimum of 52 hours of graduate course work, 36 hours of which must be ECE course work with at least 24 hours at the 500 level excluding ECE 595, 596, 597, 598, 599.
• A CE student may substitute up to 8 hours out of the 24 hours required ECE 500 level course work with 500 level CS course work (excluding CS 595, 596, 597, 598, 599), provided he/she takes the same number of credit hours at the 400 level in ECE.
  Examples.
1. Student #1: (EE or CE). 6 ECE 500 level courses (24 hours) + 3 ECE 400 level courses + 4 other courses.
2. Student #2: (CE). 5 ECE 500 level courses + 1 CS 500 level course + 4 ECE 400 level courses + 3 other courses.
• A student may apply to receive an M.S. degree upon passing the preliminary examination provided that the coursework required for M.S. degree under course only option is completed.
• If any one of the Ph.D. degree requirements of passing the qualifying examination or passing the preliminary exam is not successfully completed, student may apply for transfer to the M.S. program for an opportunity to complete the M.S. degree requirements under the thesis option.
• Credit earned in ECE 596 (Individual Study) may not be applied toward the Ph.D. degree.
• Candidates must earn ECE 599 credits of at least 56 hours beyond bachelor's degree.

All doctoral students must:

Perhaps it is sufficient to say that the student must pass within 5 semesters, and that the exams are given every April.

• Pass two areas of the Ph.D. qualifying exam within the first five semesters of enrollment of full-time study. The first attempt must be made in the first April after your first semester of enrollment. If a second attempt is needed, it must be made at the next consecutive exam date. Time spent on an approved leave of absence does not forestall the first attempt.
• Pass an oral preliminary examination on the proposed dissertation research topic. This examination is administered by a faculty committee approved by the Graduate College and chaired by the student's advisor. Students must pass the preliminary examination one year prior to their final dissertation defense.
• Demonstrate a capacity for independent research on an original dissertation research topic within the major field of study. Research is performed under the supervision of an advisor and orally defended before a five member faculty committee approved by the Graduate College. The faculty committee must contain at least two ECE tenure-track faculty members.

A student admitted to the Ph.D. program must pass two areas of a written qualifying examination within the first five semesters of enrollment in order to become a doctoral candidate. The first attempt must be made in the first April after your first semester of enrollment to allow for a second consecutive sitting. Qualifying exams are only offered during the Spring semester (first Friday of April).

Master's students in ECE may petition to appear in the qualifying examination if they have completed at least one calendar year of residence and have a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

Students registered for the qualifying examination can obtain copies of the past two exams in Room 900 SEO. Solutions are not provided.

Qualifying Examination Dates

Sign up by the second Friday of March.
Examination on the first Friday of April.

1. Signal Processing
2. Communications
3. Controls
4. Electromagnetics
5. Solid State Electronics
6. Computer Architecture
7. Digital Systems & VLSI Design
8. Algorithms & Data Structures

A Committee Recommendation Form, listing the committee members and their affiliations, must be submitted to the Graduate College three weeks prior to the exam date. If human subjects are involved, Institutional Review Board approval is required. If animals are involved, Animal Care Panel approval is required.

The chair and advisor is the primary reader of the dissertation, and must be a full member of the UIC graduate faculty. The five member examining committee must include two UIC tenured faculty, one individual from outside the degree-granting program (either a graduate faculty member in another UIC department or college, or outside the university), and at least two ECE tenure-track faculty members. If the outside member is not a UIC graduate faculty member, his/her curriculum vitae must accompany the Committee Recommendation Form to demonstrate equivalent academic standards. The faculty committee must contain at least two ECE tenure-track faculty members.

Graduate programs should strive for diversity in the composition of the preliminary examination committee. The appointment of one or two members from outside the degree-granting program or university is encouraged. The timing, content, and nature (written, oral, or both) of the preliminary examination is left to the discretion of the preliminary examination committee. The committee reports its recommendations (either pass or fail) in writing to the Dean of the Graduate College. A candidate may not be passed if more than one vote of fail is reported.

The committee may require that specified conditions be met before the passing recommendation becomes effective. The Dean, on the recommendation of the committee, may permit a second examination. A third examination is not permitted. Failure to complete the degree requirements within five years of passing the preliminary examination requires a new examination.

The Graduate College requires the preliminary examination be given after at least one calendar year of residence and one calendar year prior to the final dissertation defense.

Ph.D. candidates must register for at least zero credit hours each semester (excluding summer) after passing the preliminary examination until the final defense is made and the dissertation is submitted in compliance with department and Graduate College rules.

Ph.D. candidates are not required to register for zero hours after they successfully defend their dissertation unless registration is required to maintain a specific status (i.e., assistantship, visa, or continued use of university facilities). Until the final defense is presented, all Ph.D. candidates must choose one of the following options:

(A) Register for zero hours credit of ECE 599 thesis research every semester (excluding summer) until the degree is awarded

(B) Pay a non-refundable dissertation fee each academic year in lieu of further registration. This fee is equal to twice the amount of tuition for zero credit (Range IV) at the time of payment. Students who elect this option are ineligible for student health insurance, library and laboratory privileges, computer facilities, ID card, and loan deferment. The student must also certify to the department that he or she will not use any University facilities throughout the semester if option B is petitioned.

Option A must be petitioned each semester.

Option B must be petitioned every year.

If a Ph.D. candidate successfully defends the dissertation and submits the final dissertation to the Graduate College after the semester deadline but prior to the fifth day of instruction of the next semester, the degree is conferred in the subsequent semester. Registration for that semester is not required.

All doctoral candidates must complete the required course work and defend a dissertation within seven consecutive years, regardless of which option is selected. Students who fail to graduate within this time frame will be dismissed from the Graduate College for failure to progress.

At least 54 semester hours beyond the master's level or its equivalent must be taken at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

After admission to the Ph.D. program, students may petition to transfer a maximum of 9 semester hours earned outside the university. Transfer credit courses must be relevant to the program of study. A transcript showing the courses and grades must accompany the petition. A detailed outline of the courses, including information about the textbook and material covered, should be included. Students must also provide an official letter from the univer sity stating the courses were not used to satisfy any prior degree requirements.

Students may only petition to transfer graduate credit that was not used to fulfill course work requirements of their prior Master's degree(s).

A student's curriculum should be planned in cooperation with his/her advisor. All graduate students are required to maintain a 3.0/4.0 grade point average (GPA). The GPA calculation does not include seminar, independent study, and research courses (ECE 596 and 599).

Graduate course work must by satisfied by a C grade or higher. If a student's GPA falls below 3.0, the Graduate College will issue a letter of warning and impose academic probation for a specified period of time. Failure to comply with the terms will likely result in expulsion from the Graduate College.

A student on probation is ineligible for department awarded financial aid, recommendation letters for F-1 practical training, or graduation.

Prior Publication of Research Findings

Students engaged in research are encouraged to publish certain findings that are later incorporated into the final dissertation. In such cases, appropriate acknowledgment of the earlier publication should be included in the final dissertation. The Graduate College encourages such publication, but the dissertation may not be published in its entirety before all degree requirements, including the defense of the dissertation, have been completed.

Format Guidelines

Thesis and dissertation format guidelines are described in detail in a Thesis Manual published by and available in the Graduate College. The defended and approved dissertation must be submitted to the department for a format check one week prior to the deadline set by the Graduate College.

Final Dissertation Defense

Upon completion of the dissertation, the candidate must orally defend the work before a committee. A new Committee Recommendation Form must be filed, listing the dissertation title and committee members. The committee composition requirements of the final defense committee are the same as the preliminary exam committee, except that the appointment of one member from outside the degree-granting program is mandatory. The chairperson (advisor) is considered the primary reader of the thesis. A second and/or third member of the committee may also be designated as "readers." The committee vote is Pass or Fail. A candidate may not be passed if more than one vote of Fail is reported.

Dissertation Committee Composition

The advisor is considered the primary reader of the dissertation. The dissertation committee is appointed by the Dean of the Graduate College on the recommendation of the student's department. Committee Recommendation Forms are available in Room 900 SEO and must be filed at least two weeks prior to the exam date.

Five member composition of the committee is as follows:

One chair, considered the primary reader of the dissertation and full member of the UIC graduate faculty;

At least two UIC tenured faculty members;

At least two ECE tenure-track faculty members;

At least one member must be from outside the degree-granting program, either graduate faculty from other UIC departments or colleges or outside the university. If the outside member does not come from UIC faculty, they must demonstrate equivalent academic standards. The outside member's curriculum vitae must accompany the Committee Recommendation Form.