ECEN PhD Qualifying Exam Format
ECEN will utilize the following two-track option for administrating its qualifying exam. The research advisor will be selecting which track the students will take. During the transition period, students who have already taken an exam through Track 1 and failed will be allowed to change to Track 2, but such change request must come from the advisor. Students without a research advisor will automatically take Track 1.
| Starting Semester in PhD Program | When to take Track 1 Qualifying Exam |
|---|---|
| Fall | June of the next year |
| Spring | January of the next year |
| Summer | June of the next year |
| Starting Semester in PhD Program | When to take Track 2 Qualifying Exam |
|---|---|
| Fall | June - July of the next year |
| Spring | January - February of the next year |
| Summer | June - July of the next year |
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The Track 1 Qualifying Exam is based on material covered in a set of ten fundamental undergraduate courses in electrical and computer engineering.
- CSCE 221 – Data Structures and Algorithms
- ECEN 214 – Electrical Circuit Theory
- ECEN 248 – Introduction to Digital Systems Design
- ECEN 303 – Random Signals and Systems
- ECEN 314 – Signals and Systems
- ECEN 322 – Electric and Magnetic Fields
- ECEN 325 – Electronics
- ECEN 340 – Electric Energy Conversion
- ECEN 350 – Computer Architecture and Design
- ECEN 370 – Electronic Properties of Materials
Any student who has graduated from either of the undergraduate programs in our department should have taken at least eight of these courses. Students who have degrees from peer programs should have taken courses similar to many of these.
Exam Format: The exam consists of two questions from each of the areas listed above. Each question is designed to be completed in 20 to 25 minutes. Each student is required to answer any 6 of the 20 questions on the exam. This ensures that each student has at least some proficiency outside of their main focus area, but does not require students to study extensively outside of their area of expertise. The exam is closed book, in-class, and time-limited to three hours. Students may use department-issued calculators for the exam or personal calculators from a pre-approved list. Students can check out a departmental calculator one week prior to the exam to become accustomed to it if needed.
Exam Syllabus: Exam syllabi explicitly outlining the material that might be tested for each of the courses are linked above. Hence the students will have an explicit list of topics to prepare for rather than a general "material from course xxx" type statement.
Timing: The exam is offered twice a year, once in mid-January shortly before the start of the spring semester, and once in mid-June. In both cases, the exam date is about one month after the end of finals. This encourages students not to spend more than one month preparing for the exam.
Incoming doctoral students are required to take the exam within one year of starting the program. Students entering the program with a previous degree outside of electrical or computer engineering will be allowed, with the approval of their advisor, an extra year and will be required to take the exam by the end of the second year. Those students that fail the examination will be given a second opportunity to retake the exam which must be taken at the next opportunity in which the exam is offered. Those that fail the examination twice will be removed from the doctoral program. Current MS students are not allowed to take the qualifying exam.
Grading: The faculty who composed each problem will grade their perspective problems in the written exams. Once grading is complete, the Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) will meet to determine passing thresholds for the examination. The GSC may elect to normalize grades from each problem in order to maintain fairness across the various problems. Results of the exam will be available within six weeks of the date of the exam. Appeals regarding the results of the exam by either students or faculty must be submitted in writing to the Graduate Office and will be handled by the GSC.
NOTE: Doctoral students who pass the qualifier, Track 1 or Track 2, are required to submit degree plans within one semester after passing the exam.
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Purpose: The purpose of this exam format is to assess students' critical thinking ability to solve research problems and their ability to make concise presentations of their conclusions. If a research advisor wants their student to take Track 2, they should email the ECEN Graduate Office with the information (katie@tamu.edu).
Timing of the exam: The student must take the exam within two semesters of beginning their graduate studies in ECEN.
Committee: A three-person committee will be formed, consisting of two faculty members from the department and the advisor. The chair of the committee will be a faculty member who is not the student's advisor. The group leader will select the two other members of the committee.
Format: There will be two exam components: a written component and an oral exam component following a short presentation by the student.
- Three research papers that are interlinked around a particular research area will be selected by the committee. These papers should not be directly linked to the research project the student is conducting. It is assumed that the student will read additional reference papers to properly understand these papers.
- Written component: The written paper should address, for example (but not limited to), the following sets of questions:
- What challenges is the research described in the papers trying to overcome?
- What is the contribution of the paper to the field? How do you know this is a significant contribution to the field?
- Is the conclusion drawn by each author supported by the data they provided?
- Did the authors provide sufficient information for other researchers expert in the field to verify their work?
- What challenges in the field have the papers still not addressed, which require further research?
- Oral component: The committee will question the student for up to 1 hour with the objective of assessing their critical thinking and communication skills in solving and presenting research problems. The committee must base their questions on the papers, fundamental references covered in the paper, and fundamental background information.
Timing: Students should have 6 weeks of preparation time upon being given the research papers, and the committee members should have one week to evaluate the written component. Thus, the student will first schedule the oral exam time, and the student should be given the research paper assignment 7 weeks before the oral exam time, with the written part of the exam due one week before the oral exam date. Track 2 should be taken within a two-month period twice a year: June and July OR January and February. The exam should be administered and results reported to the Graduate Office within either of these two-month time frames. The deadline for the research advisor to notify the Graduate Office of a decision for the student to take Track 2 is one month prior to these dates – so the months of May and December.
Grading: A simple pass/fail vote by the members, with the majority vote deciding the outcome.
Number of times the exam can be taken: The student has two opportunities, with a chance for their Ph.D. advisor to appeal for a third exam with approval by the Graduate Studies Committee, as in Track 1.