The program leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Systems and Control Engineering is intended for those exceptional individuals who plan to pursue a career in fundamental applied research. The program requires course work and the successful completion of a research dissertation, which is an original and significant contribution to knowledge in the discipline. The PhD program consists of 30 credit hours of course work beyond the MS degree, and 12 hours of dissertation. The program offers the possibility to take up to six (6) credit hours for directed research.
The student has to abide by the CIE department policies regarding the distribution of the course work. A PhD student is also required to pass a comprehensive examination covering his area of study, a preliminary dissertation proposal defense, and presentation and defense of the dissertation. This comprehensive examination is permitted only twice, and its purpose is to ensure that the student has a sufficient breadth and depth of knowledge and to evaluate a student’s ability to research a specific topic. The examination is managed by an ad hoc departmental committee. Decisions of Pass/Fail are taken by the Graduate Program Committee based on the student’s score, according to the policies of the department. In case of failure in the comprehensive examination for the first time, the student can take the examination a second time in the following semester. A candidate who successfully passes the comprehensive examination may proceed with his research work under the supervision of his dissertation advisor. The student, in consultation with his dissertation advisor, prepares a dissertation proposal. The student must make a public defense of the preliminary proposal and must incorporate the comments raised during this defense in his preliminary proposal. Upon completion of his research work, the candidate is required to defend his dissertation before the Dissertation Committee and in public. Note: Graduate students working towards MS or Ph degrees are required to register for SCE-599 and SCE-699 (Seminars), respectively, before finishing the degree requirements.
Applicants for the SCE PhD from the SCE program are required to have completed the MS degree with thesis option and to have a cumulative GPA in the MS courses of 3.0 or above. Applicants from other majors are required to have completed an MS degree thesis option in an engineering field with close relevance to the Systems and Control major, and to have a cumulative GPA in the MS courses of 3.0 or better. In addition, their course work should contain the equivalence of the SCE MS core courses, otherwise remedial courses and/or an entrance exam may be required to be taken and the student must score 'B' or better in each of these courses to be officially admitted into the SCE PhD program.