Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Requirements

The PhD degree is offered exclusively as a full-time program consisting of 135 units. The candidacy for the PhD program is five years.

Students in the PhD program are required to complete 135 units of unduplicated coursework. Note that up to 45 units of a master’s degree earned at Stanford or another institution in Electrical Engineering or other science/engineering/math fields may be counted toward the 135 units required for the doctoral degree. Please see the Graduate Residency Transfer Credit policy.

Students who wish to receive a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford may count the 21 units of lecture/lab courses mentioned above toward the requirements for that degree (45 total units are required to earn a master’s degree). They must submit the Graduate Authorization Petition in Axess to open the degree and then submit the MS Proposal form that lists the courses taken to fulfill that degree. PhD students that wish to open the master’s degree must confer the degree within three (3) years of the first master’s degree quarter.

Students wishing to earn an MS degree in a different science or engineering department at Stanford instead of EE in partial fulfillment of the 135 units may submit a request to the Degree Progress Officer to be reviewed by the Associate Chair of Graduate Education. 

The proposed program of study for the PhD program must be listed on the Application for Candidacy for Ph.D. Degree opens in a new tab. An explanation and the approval of the dissertation advisor must accompany any deviations from these guidelines. All deviations must be approved by the Associate Chair of Graduate Education (submit all requests for program deviations to the Degree Progress Officer).

Admission to a graduate program does not imply that the student is automatically a candidate for the PhD degree. Advancement to candidacy requires superior academic achievement, satisfactory performance on a qualifying examination, and sponsorship by two faculty members: a dissertation advisor and a second reader. Enrollment in EE 391, Special Studies, is recommended to get acquainted with a faculty member who might be the dissertation advisor.

Students admitted to the PhD program must take the department-qualifying examination opens in a new tab. Students must pass the qualifying exam before the end of winter quarter of their second year of study. Students who have never taken the qualifying examination or have not passed the qualifying exam will be dismissed from the PhD program for failure to progress. Such students may be allowed to complete a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering.

Upon completion of the qualifying examination and after securing agreement by two faculty members to serve as dissertation advisor and second reader, respectively, the student files an Application for Candidacy for Doctoral Degree opens in a new tab. The dissertation advisor must be a member of the Academic Council. One of the two faculty members must have either a full or a joint appointment in the Electrical Engineering Department. Students must advance to candidacy before the end of their second year in the graduate program. Students who do not advance to candidacy by the end of their second year will be dismissed from the PhD program for failure to progress. Such students may be allowed to complete a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering instead.

After receiving department approval of the Application for Candidacy opens in a new tab, the student becomes a candidate for the PhD degree.

Reading Committee Form
Form a Dissertation Reading Committee of at least three members, including your Dissertation Advisor, in your third year and submit the Doctoral Dissertation Reading Committee Form opens in a new tabto the Degree Progress Officer.

• Two of the three must belong to the EE faculty (full or joint appointment), and the dissertation advisor and second reader must be on the Academic Council.

• See the EE Graduate Handbook opens in a new tab for more information about the Reading Committee.

Oral Examination
Complete the University Oral Examination in the fourth year. The oral examination is intended to verify that the student’s research represents their contribution to knowledge and understanding of the research. The oral examination is a dissertation defense in which the candidate is expected to:

• Demonstrate their ability to explain and defend the thesis and its contribution to knowledge before experts in the field.

• Present a coherent picture of the research and its setting to scholars whose particular areas of interest lie outside the candidate’s area of research.

• Answer satisfactorily any questions deemed pertinent by the examining committee.