The ECE PhD Qualifying Examinations comprise of two written examinations: (1) the Breadth exam and (2) the Depth exam. Each exam has duration of three hours.

MSEE students must pass the Breadth exam as part of their requirements for the MSEE degree.

Part-1: Breadth exam [REVISED]:

This exam evaluates the student's breadth of knowledge in Electrical and Computer Engineering. This exam is usually conducted at the end of April in the spring semester and at the beginning of November in the fall semester. In this exam the student is required to answer 4 problems:

• One problem on engineering mathematics: The student needs to answer one problem from a set of seven problems, each from a different mathematical topic. View the list of mathematical topics here. 

• Three problem from selected undergraduate courses of ECE: A sufficient number of problems are provided from five different Technical Thrust Group (TTG) areas from which the student needs to answer any three by selecting not more than two problems from the same area (i.e. all three should not be chosen from the same area). Complete reading lists along with samples of these problems in all five areas may be found here. [REVISED]

Part-2: Research Aptitude Test:   [REVISED]

This requires the student to make a research presentation and submit a technical paper on a topic selected by the student to his/her advisory committee.  The presentation and paper should ideally include the student’s original work; however, a review of a research topic within the student’s area of interest will also be acceptable. The student should consult with his/her advisor for scheduling the test. The paper should be commensurate in form and content to that of an acceptable technical article in the student’s disciplinary area. It can be an accepted conference or journal paper primarily written by the student. It must be submitted to the committee at least one week prior to the scheduled presentation date. The presentation should be for approximately 20 minutes and demonstrate the student’s understanding of:

1. Motivation for research on the topic
2. Related work on the area
3. Technical idea, novelty, and contributions being presented

 At the end of the presentation, the committee will perform an oral exam to evaluate the student’s research aptitude, presentation skills, and writing skills. Committee evaluations and the research paper will be reviewed by Graduate Committee, where a Pass/Fail result will be determined.