Roadmap to a Ph.D. Degree

Important Milestones:

• You must secure a PhD advisor to do research.
• Ph.D. Preliminary Examination

The Ph.D. preliminary examination consists of a written and an oral examination. The exam will be offered twice in the students’ first year of admission. Students can take the preliminary exam only twice and have to pass the exam by the end of the 1st full year of their Ph.D. studies.

Students in EE concentration should pick one of the following fields:
EE Circuits & Devices
EE Systems

Students in CpE concentration should pick one of the following fields:
Computer Systems and Software
Computer Networks and Distributed Computing

• 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 before your exam begins.
  • Non-resident students who have passed the Qualifying Examination are eligible for a 100% 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:

  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.

  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, Julie Kennedy, jkenned@uci.edu in EH 2201 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)