III. Doctor of Philosophy Degree Requirements
The Degree of Doctor of Philosophy is conferred only in recognition of proficiency and high attainment in advanced scholastic endeavor and independent investigation. It is not conferred merely for the completion of a required number of courses but for demonstrated independence, initiative, and exceptional ability in study and thought.III.A. Course-work Requirement
A minimum of thirty-six (36) semester hours of course credit is required. No more than twelve (12) semester hours of courses numbered 400 to 497 may count toward degree credit. Students are encouraged to pursue course work outside the department whenever such study supports their program in the major area.
A Master's Degree earned elsewhere within the last five years counts for a maximum of twenty-four (24) credit hours towards the course work and residency requirements. The student must petition the Graduate Committee for transfer of credits.
The department may accept course work completed at another accredited university toward meeting its degree requirements. A student may transfer credits earned at another accredited university only if:
1) the student is in degree status at Notre Dame;
2) the courses taken are graduate courses appropriate to the Notre Dame graduate program and the student had graduate student status when he or she took these courses;
3) the courses were completed within a five-year period prior to admission to a graduate degree program at Notre Dame or while enrolled in a graduate degree program at Notre Dame;
4) grades of "B" (3.0 on 4.0 scale) or better were achieved; and
5) the transfer is recommended by the department chair and approved by the Graduate School.These five requirements also apply to the transfer of credits earned in another program at Notre Dame.
The University considers a request for credit transfer only after a student has completed one semester in a Notre Dame graduate degree program and before the semester in which the graduate degree is conferred. The university of origin must submit two transcripts directly to the Notre Dame Graduate School. Credits not earned on the semester system, such as trimester and quarter-hour credits, will be transferred on a pro- rata basis.
A student transferring from an unfinished master's program may not transfer more than six (6) semester credit hours into either a Notre Dame master's or Ph.D. program. If the student has completed a master's or Ph.D. program, he or she may transfer up to nine (9) semester credit hours to a Notre Dame master's program and up to twenty-four (24) semester credit hours to a Notre Dame Ph.D. program. Occasionally, a student may need to do dissertation research at another institution. Normally, the student would register for the appropriate number of credit hours of research at Notre Dame. If the student does not enroll at Notre Dame they must have the approval of the department and the Graduate School in advance. The University also requires prior approval for formal courses taken elsewhere and applied to the degree program. Twenty-four (24) credit hours is the maximum acceptable for transfer into a Notre Dame doctoral program.
No grades of transferred courses are included in the student's G.P.A.
III.B. Foreign Language Requirement
The Electrical Engineering Department has no foreign language requirement.
.III.C. Residency
The minimum residency requirement for the Ph.D. degree is three years in resident study and full-time status for four consecutive semesters (including the summer session).
III.D. Degree Eligibility
The student must fulfill all doctoral requirements, including the dissertation and its defense, within eight years from the time of matriculation. Failure to complete any of the Graduate School or departmental requirements within the prescribed period results in forfeiture of degree eligibility.
III.E. Advisors and Dissertation Directors
Not later than one semester after passing the Qualifying Examination, the student submits a Dissertation Advisor Certification to the Graduate Committee. The student must assume the initiative in seeking a faculty member who is willing to serve as Advisor and to assist him in planning his or her research program. Any student who is working on a doctoral degree in the Electrical Engineering Department must have either a Thesis Advisor or a Thesis Co-Advisor who is a regular teaching-and- research faculty member in the department. If two or more people share the responsibility of Thesis Advisor, they shall each be known as Thesis Co-advisors and each shall sign the final thesis document. Thus, if a thesis involves work outside of the department, it must be directed, at least in part, by a faculty member from the department.
III.F. Examination Requirements
Each Ph.D. student must pass three examinations to fulfill the department requirements for graduation -- the Qualifying Examination, the Oral Candidacy Examination, and the Dissertation Defense. The Qualifying Examination is used to determine whether the student has the potential and required background for obtaining the Ph.D. Degree. The Oral Candidacy Examination is administered to determine whether the student has depth in his research area and has identified a viable dissertation topic. At the Dissertation Defense, the student defends his or her dissertation before an oral examining board.
Qualifying Examination
The student must demonstrate Ph.D. capability on the Qualifying Examination described in Section II.K. The Qualifying Examination functions as the Written Doctoral Candidacy Examination when passed at the Ph.D. level.
Oral Candidacy Examination
In addition to passing the Qualifying Examination at the Ph.D. level, a student seeking the Ph.D. degree must pass the Oral Candidacy Examination in order to become a Ph.D. Candidate. The purpose of this examination is to determine if the student has depth in his or her major area, has identified a viable dissertation topic, performed the appropriate literature search, and proposed a reasonable set of research goals. Typically, this examination is taken in the fifth semester, after the completion of all formal course work.
The student must prepare a written Dissertation Proposal which summarizes the background of the research topic together with the proposed plan of investigation. This proposal is distributed, at least one week prior to the examination, to the five members appointed by the Associate Dean of the Graduate School to serve as the Oral Candidacy examining board.
A board of at least four voting members nominated by the department and appointed by the Graduate School administers the oral part of the examination. Normally, this board has the same membership as the student's dissertation committee. Board members are chosen from the teaching and research faculty of the student's department. The Graduate School should be consulted before the department or the student invites a faculty member outside the student's department to be a board member. A faculty member appointed by the Graduate School from a department other than the candidate's department chairs the examination board. This chair represents the Graduate School and does not vote.
At the Oral Candidacy Examination, the student will make a presentation of the research problem to begin the examination proceedings. Questioning will be on the research area and related areas.
After completion of the examination, the chair calls for a discussion followed by a vote of the examiners. On a board of four, three votes are required to pass. A grade of Pass means that the examining board feels the student has acquired the proper background and that it approves the Dissertation Proposal. If the department chooses to have five members, four votes are required to pass. The chair should, before the examination begins, ask the candidate's advisor to confirm departmental regulations for conduct of the examination and voting procedures. The chair sends a written report of the overall quality of the oral examination and the results of the voting immediately to the Graduate School. The Graduate School officially notifies the student of the results of the candidacy examination.
In case of failure in either or both parts of the doctoral candidacy examination, the department chair, on the recommendation of a majority of the examiners, may authorize a retake of the examination. An authorization for retake must be approved by the Graduate School. A second failure results in forfeiture of degree eligibility and is recorded on the candidate's permanent record.
III.G. Admission to Candidacy
Admission to candidacy is a prerequisite to receiving any graduate degree. To qualify for admission to doctoral candidacy, a student must:
1) be in a doctoral program;
2) have been continuously enrolled in the program;
3) complete the departmental course work requirement with a cumulative average of 3.0 or better;
4) pass the written and oral parts of the doctoral candidacy examination (passing the written part is equivalent to passing the qualifying examination at the Ph.D. level.)It is the responsibility of the student to apply for candidacy admission by submitting the appropriate form to the Graduate School office through the department chair. Consult the Graduate School Calendar for the appropriate deadline.
III.H. The Doctoral Dissertation
The dissertation is prepared under the guidance of the student's Dissertation Advisor. The three readers should come from among those participating in the Oral Candidacy Examination. It is expected that they will be consulted frequently by the student throughout the research period either individually or as a group.
The department chair or director of graduate studies will appoint a dissertation committee consisting of the dissertation director and three readers. Normally, the committee is drawn from the membership of the student's oral candidacy board. The Graduate School must be consulted before the department invites a committee member from outside the teaching and research faculty of the student's department.
The candidate delivers typed copies of the finished dissertation, signed by the director, to the department chair for distribution to the three readers. The dissertation should follow the guidelines in the Graduate School's Guide for Formatting and Submitting Dissertations and Theses, even if the candidate has previously published the substance of the dissertation in scholarly journals. The Guide is available at the Graduate School office.
Readers normally have two to four weeks to read the dissertation, decide whether it is ready to be defended, and so indicate on the appropriate form to the Graduate School. Reader approval of the dissertation for defense does not imply reader agreement or support; it implies reader acknowledgment that the dissertation is an academically sound and defensible scholarly product. Only a dissertation which has been unanimously approved for defense by the three readers may be
defended.Even though the dissertation has been approved for defense, revisions may be required. If defects in the dissertation come to light at the defense, the candidate may be asked to revise the dissertation before it is accepted by the Graduate School and the degree is conferred. In that case, it will be the responsibility of the dissertation director, or such person as the committee may appoint, to report to the Graduate School that such revisions have been completed satisfactorily.
III.I. Defense of Dissertation
At least four weeks before the Defense of his or her Dissertation, it is the candidate's responsibility to obtain verbal consent from three faculty members (other than the candidate's Thesis Advisor) from the five-member Oral Candidacy examining board who are to serve as readers, and to deliver a copy of the dissertation to each member. (The readers, chosen by the student, are officially nominated by the department and appointed by the Graduate School). If the readers give unanimous approval to the dissertation, the candidate presents the results of his
or her research at the Dissertation Defense. The defense is chaired by a faculty member who is appointed by the Graduate School from a department other than the candidate's department. This chairman represents the Graduate School and does not vote. The defense board consists of four voting members, including the Dissertation Advisor and the three official readers. At least three votes out of four are required to pass. The chairman sends a written report of the examination's
overall quality and of the voting results promptly to the Associate Dean of the Graduate School.III.J. Microfilming of Dissertation
To receive the degree at the next commencement, the doctoral student who has successfully defended his or her dissertation must present two clean copies, signed by the dissertation director, to the Graduate School office. The delivery deadline is published in the Graduate School calendar. The Graduate School office will verify the dissertation for compliance with the approved style manual. The candidate will then deliver the approved copies along with the Graduate School approval form to the Hesburgh Library, where he or she pays the microfilming costs. The Graduate Council requires that all doctoral dissertations be microfilmed by University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan. The administrative office in the Hesburgh Library handles this publication requirement.
Enrollment | Academic Regulations | Financial Support | Academic Integrity | Policies | Research Requirements | Non-Research Requirements | Dr. of Philo. Degree Requirements
Admission | Course Descriptions | Fall 1999 Course Schedule | Spring 2000 Course Schedule | Graduate Manual | Pre-Application Form