Summary of Ph.D. Degree Requirements
The following requirements include the course hours normally accumulated during the student's master's degree.
| Requirement | Hours |
Description |
| Group I: ECE 6000 level classes in two TIA's: | 9 |
Three classes in a combination of two technical interest areas of the student's choosing (All for letter grade credit) |
| Group II: ECE 6000-level classes | 9 |
Nine hours of classes, all of which must be outside of and not cross-listed with the TIA's above. All for letter grade credit. |
| Group III: Minor in an area outside ECE | 9 |
Nine hours of classes in a single discipline outside
of ECE. All for letter grade credit |
| Group IV: Electives | 14 |
(Up to 12 MS thesis hours, recorded as such on an official transcript, may be used in this area) |
| ECE 8010 (Research Seminar) | 1 |
Pass/fail. NOTE: PhD students are strongly urged to take this class during their first or second semester in the graduate program. |
| ECE 8022 Professional Communications Seminar | 1 |
Pass/fail. Students entering the graduate program after Summer 2006 are required to take ECE 8022 (Professional Communications Seminar) to fulfill ECE's professional communications requirement. Students matriculating prior to fall 2006 may use ECE 8020 (Professional Communications Skills) to fulfill the professional communications requirement. NOTE: Ph.D. students are expected to complete ECE 8010 before taking ECE 8022 or 8020. |
| Total hours required | 43 |
Students taking ECE 8022 (1 hour professional communications seminar) will have to take a minimum of two additional hours to meet the 43 hour requirement. They may end up with a total of 44-45 hours. Students taking ECE 8020 (3-hour professional communications course) are able to fulfill the Ph.D. coursework requirement without taking additional hours. |
In addition, there are a number of requirements imposed by the Institute. These include:
- Student must pass a Comprehensive Examination. In ECE, this is the combination of the Ph.D. Preliminary Examination and the dissertation proposal
- Students must be in the Ph.D. program at Georgia Tech for a minimum of 2 years.
- Student must have at least two semesters of full-time, on-campus enrollment.
- A minimum of 9 hours for letter grade must be taken at Georgia Tech.
- The student must complete and defend a dissertation, for which prior approval of the topic is necessary.
- Once admitted to candidacy, the student must complete all degree requirements within 7 years.
- Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA.
Minor Field of Study: Within the minimum requirement of 43 hours of coursework, the student must complete a minor field of study consisting of nine hours of classes in a single discipline outside of electrical or computer engineering. The minor is most often in mathematics; a list of math courses acceptable for a Ph.D. minor is on the ECE web site. Minor courses in another area will be considered provided they meet the following criteria:
- All minor courses are in a single field. For example, one cannot combine courses in computer science and physics for a minor.
- Minor courses may not be cross-listed with ECE.
- All courses are at the graduate (6000 and above) level.
- Courses should enhance or support the dissertation research.
- Minor courses in non-technical areas (for example, management) will not be approved.
- Approval of the minor courses is secured from the ECE Graduate Affairs Office via the web-based Ph.D. coursework completion plan.
- When completed, Ph.D. minors are submitted to the Georgia Tech Graduate Studies–VPR office for approval.
- The minor courses submitted to the Institute for approval must have a minimum grade average of 2.70/4.00.
To assist with planning when to take courses, visit the projected schedule of graduate classes page on the ECE web site and search for details about ECE classes on the ECE Course Information page; the special topics page provides a list of ECE courses by technical area classifications.
Last revised on July 17, 2007.
