research proposal for phd in power electronics

Toward Smaller and Smarter Power Electronics and Magnetics

Research Sponsors

Prof. Chen gave a IEEE PELS Distinguished Seminar at Georgia Tech and visited Prof. Deepak Divan's Center for Distributed Energy.

Prof. Chen was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure effective July 2024.

Shukai, Mian, and Tanuj received the Outstanding Presentation Award at APEC 2024.

November 2023

Another wonderful ECCE 2023!

Congratulations to Haoran Li and Shukai Wang for winning the First Place Award at the ECCE Best Student Demonstration, and Jaeil Baek and Youssef Elasser for winning the First Place IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics Prize Paper Award.

Daniel Zhou and Hanyu Liu received the IEEE PELS John G. Kassakian Fellowship.

Prof. Chen received the Richard Bass Award.

October 2023

Hsin Cheng received the IROS Best Paper Finalist on Robot Mechanisms and Design with his paper eViper: A Scalable Platform for Untethered Modular Soft Robots . This is our group's first prize paper from an international flagship robotics conference. This work is in collaboration with Prof. Naveen Verma, Prof. James Sturm, and Prof. Sigurd Wagner. Congrats, Hsin!

Daniel Zhou received the 2023 Princeton SEAS Honorific Fellowship !

Mian Liao received the 2023 New Jersey Economic Development Authority Wind Institute Fellowship !

Tanuj Sen received the 2023 Princeton ECE Graduate Student Outstanding Teaching Award!

Jaeil and Youssef received the 2022 IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics Prize Paper Award ! This is the 6th Transactions Paper Award received by our group {2016, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2021, 2022}.

J. Baek, Y. Elasser, K. Radhakrishnan, H. Gan, J. Douglas, H. K. Krishnamurthy, X. Li, S. Jiang, C. R. Sullivan, and M. Chen, “Vertical Stacked LEGO-PoL CPU Voltage Regulator,” IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 6305-6322, June 2022. Link TPEL 2022 Prize Paper, 1st Place

M. Chen and C. R. Sullivan, “Unified Models for Coupled Inductors Applied to Multiphase PWM Converters,” IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 36, no. 12, pp. 14155-14174, Dec. 2021. Link TPEL 2021 Prize Paper, 1st Place

P. Wang, Y. Chen, J. Yuan, R. C. N. Pilawa-Podgurski and M. Chen, “Differential Power Processing for Ultra-Efficient Data Storage,” IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 4269-4286, April 2021. Link TPEL 2021 Prize Paper, 2nd Place

Y. Chen, P. Wang, Y. Elasser and M. Chen, “Multicell Reconfigurable Multi-Input Multi-Output Energy Router Architecture,” IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 35, no. 12, pp. 13210-13224, Dec. 2020. Link TPEL 2020 Prize Paper, 2nd Place

M. Chen, K. K. Afridi, C. Sombuddha and D. J. Perreault, “Multitrack Power Conversion Architecture,” IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 325-340, Jan. 2017. Link TPEL 2017 Prize Paper, 2nd Place

M. Chen, M. Araghchini, K. K. Afridi, J. H. Lang, C. R. Sullivan and D. J. Perreault, “A Systematic Approach to Modeling Impedances and Current Distribution in Planar Magnetics,” IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics , vol.31, no.1, pp. 560–580, Jan. 2016. Link TPEL 2016 Prize Paper, 1st Place

Prof. Chen received the 2023 IEEE PELS Richard M. Bass Outstanding Young Power Electronics Engineer Award for contributions to the modeling, design and application of high-performance power electronic systems. This award recognizes outstanding achievement in power electronics by an engineer less than 35 years of age.

Prof. Chen joined a virtual panel at POLITICO Europe Tech Summit on Clean Energy and Sustainable Computing - Green & cost-effective tech: can Europe have both?.

Ping Wang graduated from Princeton Power Electronics Research Lab with an outstanding thesis and a wonderful final public oral! Thanks for all the contributions. Wish Ping continued success in his future endeavor!

Wonderful reunion at APEC with Prof. John Kassakian!

Three outstanding presentation awards received by Tanuj Sen, Youssef Elasser, and Shukai Wang!

Keep the momentum going with 48V-VRM and MagNet project.

Prof. Chen visited Harvard SEAS and talked about power electronics and sustainability.

Daniel Zhou and Mian Liao received the Rao R. Tummala Best Paper Award at 3D-PEIM with their paper “Power Systems on Chiplet: Inductor-Linked Multi-Output Switched-Capacitor Multi-Rail Power Delivery on Chiplets,” . This is our group's first prize paper award from the IEEE Electronics Packaging Society , Congratulations!

Prof. Chen presented an invited review paper “Design Considerations for 48-V VRM: Architecture, Magnetics, and Performance Tradeoffs” with Dr. Shuai Jiang, Prof. Jose Cobos, and Prof. Brad Lehman.

Two papers from our group received 2021 IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics Prize Paper Awards !

Hsin Cheng, Yenan Chen, Zhiwu Zheng and Prakhar Kumar received the Best Poster Award at the ICRA 2022 Bio-inspired and Biohybrid (Cyborg) Systems workshop with the paper ‘‘Bioinspired Inchworm Crawling and Jumping of Piezoelectric Soft Robots".

Prof. Chen received the Princeton SEAS E. Lawrence Keyes, Jr./Emerson Electric Co. Junior Faculty Award .

Ping and Hsin received the outstanding presentation awards at APEC 2022. Congratulations!

January 2022

Two papers accepted to IEEE Transations on Power Electronics!

“Vertical Stacked LEGO-PoL CPU Voltage Regulator” Link , Paper

“Virtual Intermediate Bus CPU Voltage Regulator” Link , Paper

November 2021

Congratulations to Jaeil Baek and Youssef Elasser on winning two top prizes in a row - the Best Paper Award at Open Compute Project Future Technologies Symposium , and the Best Student Demonstration Award (1st Place) at IEEE ECCE 2021 ! This is the first OCP best paper award, and the third ECCE best demo awards (all 1st Places) received by our lab (2014, 2019, and 2021).

Congratulations to Haoran Li, Mian Liao, and Shukai Wang on receiving the honorable mention in the software track! The MagNet team is ourstanding!

Congratulations to Evan Dogariu for winning the best undergraduate presentation award at the Andlinger Center Annual Meeting 2021 ! Great job Evan!

The official Mag-Net website is online. The goal of the MagNet project is to redefine how power magnetics was studied and modeled with a data-driven approach. If you are interested in contributing to MagNet, please check our GitHub repository for the latest update.

September 2021

Ping Wang's paper - “Analysis and Design of Series Voltage Compensator for Differential Power Processing” - accepted to IEEE Journal of Selected and Emerging Topics of Power Electronics!

August 2021

Daniel Zhou's paper - “Reluctance based Dynamic Models for Multiphase Coupled Inductor Buck Converters” - accepted to IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics!

Yenan Chen's paper - “Multicell Reconfigurable Multi-Input Multi-Output Energy Router Architecture” - received the 2nd Place Prize Paper Award from IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics in 2020. This is the third Transactions prize paper awards from Princeton PowerLab (2016, 2017, 2020)!

Ping Wang's paper - “Stochastic Power Loss Analysis of Differential Power Processing” - accepted to IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics! This paper is in collaboration with Prof. Robert Pilawa at UC Berkeley and Prof. Philip Krein at UIUC.

Prof. Chen gave an invited seminar - “Power Architecture and Magnetics to Unlock the Potential of WBG Semiconductor Devices” at the Power Electronics Workshop of the CEI Annual Meeting of Polytechnic University of Madrid.

Prof. Chen and Prof. Sullivan's paper “Unified Models for Coupled Inductors Applied to Multiphase PWM Converters” accepted to IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics!

Proposal “Machine Learning for Power Electronics-enabled Power Systems: A Unified ML Platform for Power Electronics, Power Systems, and Data Science” selected for funding by C3.ai DTI.

Proposal “MagNet: Transforming Power Magnetics Design with Machine Learning Tools and SPICE Simulations” selected for funding by Princeton CSML DataX program.

Proposal “Circuits and Integrated Magnetics for Vertical Power Delivery of Microprocessors and IoT Devices” selected for funding by Princeton Innovation Fund for Industrial Collaborations.

Daniel Zhou received the prestigious Canada NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Graduate Scholarship, awarded to the top-ranked Postgraduate Scholarships-Doctoral (PGS D) applicants. Congratulations, Daniel!

Prof. Chen published an invited paper - “Coupled Inductors for Fast-Response High-Density Power Delivery: Discrete and Integrated” with Prof. Charles Sullivan at the IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference (CICC). In addition to review the state-of-the-art of integrated and discrete coupled inductors, we introduce a fundamental, systematic way to interpret and quantify the advantages of multiphase coupled inductor in small, fast voltage regulators.

Prof. Chen gave an invited talk - “Traditional and Machine-Learning based Magnetic Core Loss Modeling” at PSMA Power Technology Roadmap Forum together with Prof. Charles Sullivan of Dartmouth. Check out the slides HERE .

January 2021

The graduate course taught by Prof. Chen - “ELE581:Principles of Power Electronics” - was recognized as “Princeton Engineering Commendation List for Outstanding Teaching” in Fall 2020! We are doing very well in pandemic. Thanks Haoran and Daniel for TAing this course!

Prof. Chen gave an invited talk at IEEE PELS DMC Webinar Series . It was a great pleasure to share our latest research on high frequency magnetics design and machine learning. Check out the slides HERE .

November 2020

Yenan Chen received the Best Paper Award, and Haoran Li received the Student Registration Award for High Quality Paper at COMPEL 2020 . Congrats, Yenan and Haoran!

Check out the COMPEL presentations HERE

October 2020

Yenan Chen received the Postdoc Researcher Presentation Award at the 2020 Princeton Andlinger Center Annual Meeting . Congrats, Yenan!

September 2020

Prof. Chen and Prof. Poor's invited paper on power electronics at the grid edge published on IEEE Electrification Magazine! This paper describes a bottom-up approach toward the future smart grid with high frequency power electronics at the grid edge. #Paper

Ping Wang's paper on differential power processing and ultra-efficient data storage accepted to IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics! Congrats, Ping! This paper defines a new way of delivering power losslessly to a large number of modular units at ultra high energy efficiency. #Paper

DOE ARPA-E GAMOW . We will collaborate with Princeton Fusion Systems, United Silicon Carbide, and NREL to develop extreme performance radio frequency (RF) power amplifiers for fusion applications. A great opportunity to push ourselves into high voltage, high frequency, high power area with wide-bandgap devices!

Prof. Chen gave an invited talk at the Power Electronics Systems Group of ETH, Zurich. It was a great pleasure to share our latest research with the Kolar Group at ETH.

August 2020

Ming Liu's paper on multilayer hierarchical battery balancer architecture accepted to IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics! Congrats, Ming! This paper points the direction towards multicell smarter, smaller, and more efficiency power electronics. #Paper

#CoupL is online! CoupL is an online software tool for designing multiphase coupled magnetics. This tool was developed by Seungjae under the supervision of Haoran and Minjie!

#MagNet is online! MagNet is an open-source software platform which explores machine learning methods for magnetic modeling. Github repository is here #Github . Congratulations Haoran and Seungjae!

Yenan Chen's paper on reconfigurable multi-input multi-output energy router architecture accepted to IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics! Congrats, Yenan! This paper points a promising direction towards the future Power FPGA. #Paper

Prof. Chen gave an invited talk at the IEEE High Frequency Magnetics Workshop. #Slides

Ping Wang presented his work on performance limits of differential power processing at OCP 2020. This work explores the fundamental principles of differential power processing and reveals important theoretical findings. Congratulations Ping! #Paper

Jaeil Baek presented his work on LEGO-PoL converter at OCP 2020. This work shows an high performance topology for very high current CPU/GPU voltage regulators. This work is also published at APEC 2020. Congratulations Jaeil! #Paper

PowerLab launched a collaboration with pSemi, a Murata company focused on semiconductor integration.

Youssef Elasser received the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Congratulations, Youssef!

February 2020

Prof. Chen became a Senior Member of IEEE.

Daniel Zhou and Haoran Li join Princeton PowerLab. Welcome!

December 2019

Powerlab will lead a project sponsored by DOE ARPA-E DIFFERENTIATE program to develop a machine learning based magnetic modeling tool in collaboration with Dartmouth College and Plexim. We will use machine learning to enhance our understanding about magnetics. A great opportunity to DIFFERENTIATE ourselves!

November 2019

The data center power delivery work from our group was selected among nine inventions this year in Princeton University for the prestigious event Celebrate Princeton Innovation 2019. Our Energy Processing Unit (EPU) was featured on the coverpage of the whole event!

October 2019

Ping's work on ultra-efficiency date center power delivery won the First Place of the Student Demo Competition in ECCE 2019. This is the first demonstration of a fully-functioning HDD server with series stacked power delivery architecture. We look for new ways to power the “brain” of human society. Stay tuned!

Ping Wang presented his work on Series Stacked power delivery architecture for HDDs at ECCE 2019. The HDD server Ping built achieved over 99.4% efficiency with over 640W/in3 power density. #Paper , #Slides

Ming Liu presented his work on 13.56 MHz wireless coupled battery balancer with online impedance spectroscopy capability at ECCE 2019. The 13.56 MHz battery balancer Ming built can perform precise online EIS up to 500 kHz. #Paper , #Slides

Jaeil Baek presented his work on Grid-Interface PFC at ECCE 2019. Jaeil proposed a reverse feeding strategy to extend the hold-up time of grid interface PFC. #Paper , #Slides

Yenan Chen presented his work on LEGO-MIMO architecture at ECCE 2019. The LEGO-MIMO archietcture can be freely extended to cover wide operation range, just like playing LEGO bricks. #Paper , #Slides

Yueshi Guan presented his work on ultra-high-step-down converter at ECCE 2019. The MSP-LEGO archietcture can be freely extended to cover wide input/output range and high voltage conversion ratio. #Paper , #Slides

The undergraduate course taught by Prof. Chen - “ELE481:Principles of Power Electronics” - was recognized as “Princeton Engineering Commendation List for Outstanding Teaching” in Spring 2019!

PowerLab launched a collaboration with Intel and Google. We are building high performance power electronics to support future computer infrastructures!

PowerLab won the Campus-as-Lab project from Princeton University Office of the Dean for Research to build a nano-grid testbed in Andlinger Center. The nano-grid will connect roof-top PV, second-life EV batteries, and EV chargers as an integrated platform to support grid-interface power electronics research.

As the faculty lead, Prof. Chen organized and hosted the Rapid Switch Workshop as the Effiliate Program Annual Meeting of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.

Jaeil Baek presented his work on LEGO-PoL architecture in COMPEL 2019. Jaeil built a 54V-1.8V 300A PoL converter with 93.1% peak efficiency. #Paper , #Poster

Yenan Chen presented his work on Turbo MMC architecture in COMPEL 2019. Yenan proposed a novel MMC architecture with minimum submodule capacitor size. #Paper , #Poster

Ping Wang presented his work on small signal modeling of DPP architecture in COMPEL 2019. Ping developed an analytical approach to modeling small signal dynamics of DPP architectures. #Paper , #Poster

Youssef Elasser presented his work on sparse operation of multi-winding magnetics in COMPEL 2019. Youssef investigated the performance limit of planar multiwinding magnetics in sparse operation. #Paper , #Poster

Ming Liu's paper on reactance steering network and dual-band wireless power transfer accepted to IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics! Congrats, Ming! #Paper

Yenan Chen won the Outstanding Presentation Award in APEC 2019!

Yenan Chen presented his work on multi-active-bridge converters in APEC 2019. #Paper , #Slides

Ming Liu presented his work on dual-band wireless power transfer in APEC 2019. #Paper , #Slides

Ping Wang presented his work on ultra-efficiency data center power delivery architecture in Open Compute Project (OCP) Global Summit. #Paper , #Poster

February 2019

PowerLab won the First Place out of nine teams in the 2019 Princeton Innovation Forum with our research on Ultra Efficient Energy Processing Unit (EPU) for future data centers. Big congrats to Yenan Chen, Youssef Elasser, and Ping Wang! A new venture starts!

Prof. Chen received the NSF CAREER Award for his proposal ‘‘Granular Power Electronics at the Grid Edge". More interesting research coming!

January 2019

Dr. Jaeil Baek joins Princeton PowerLab from KAIST. Welcome, Jaeil!

Prof. Chen's proposal on 48V-1V point-of-load power converter wins Princeton SEAS Innovation Grant.

August 2018

Prof. Chen's journal paper - “Multitrack Power Conversion Architecture” - wins the 2nd Place Prize Paper Award from IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics in 2017. This is the second journal prize paper award from Princeton PowerLab!

Ping's work on multiport power converter published on IEEE Workshop on Control and Modeling for Power Electronics (COMPEL). Ping is working towards flexible, programmable, granular, and adaptive power converters (Power FPGA). #Poster , #Paper

Ming's work on Reactance Steering Network and Wireless Power Transfer published on IEEE Workshop on Emerging Technologies: Wireless Power (WoW). This work shows how to design a dual-band wireless power transfer systems that can cover both 100kHz and 13.56 MHz. #Slides , #Paper

Prof. Chen's work on Multitrack PFC published on IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics (TPEL). #Slides , #Paper

Dr. Yenan Chen joins PowerLab from Zhejiang University. Welcome, Yenan!

December 2017

Prof. Chen's proposal as a PI “Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) Bi-directional DC Power Delivery Architecture for Smart Homes” was selected for funding by Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership.

Prof. Chen's proposal as a co-PI “Engineering the Invisible: Probing the Limits of Solar Powered Com-Towers” was funded by American Tower through Princeton Andlinger Center.

November 2017

Our new patent “Switched-Capacitor Split Drive Transformer Power Conversion Circuit”, US patent No. 9,825,545 (with Prof. Khurram Afridi at and Prof. David Perreault) was issued on Nov. 21, 2017. More innovations coming!

Prof. Chen gave a speech about Transporation Electrification at the Andlinger Center E-ffiliates Annual Meeting. Lots of opportunities for power electronics in EVs and Transportation Electrification!

October 2017

Prof. Chen's paper - “A switched-winding transformer with low quiescent loss to meet the level VI efficiency standard at high power density” - was published at IEEE ECCE.

Dr. Ming Liu joins PowerLab from University of Michigan and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute. Welcome, Ming!

September 2017

Prof. Chen's proposal as a co-PI - “Extreme Efficiency 240 VAC to Load Data Center Power Delivery Topologies and Control” - was selected for funding by DOE ARPA-E as part of the CIRCUITS program as a three-year project. This project is in collaboration with Prof. Robert Pilawa-Podgurski's at University of California Berkeley.

Fida Niway joins PowerLab as an undergraduate working on his senior thesis about wireless power transfer. Welcome, Fida!

August 2017

Prof. Chen's proposal as a co-PI - “Electrification of Transportation for Energy Storage and Smart Mobility” - was seleted for funding in a recent Call for Proposals for Innovative Research in Energy and the Environment from Princeton Andlinger Center.

Prof. Chen's journal paper - “A Systematic Approach to Modeling Impedances and Current Distribution in Planar Magnetics” - wins the 1st Place Prize Paper Award from IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics in 2016. This is the first journal prize paper award from Princeton PowerLab!

Abdul, Alex, and Fida's research on solar powered wireless charging platform for drones was featured on Princeton SEAS Webpage .

Ping Wang joins PowerLab from Shanghai Jiaotong University. Welcome, Ping!

Prof. Chen's paper - “Magnetics Design and Optimization for Tapped-Series-Capacitor (TSC) Power Converters” - was published at IEEE COMPEL.

Abdulghafar Al Tair, Alex Ju and Fida Newaj join PowerLab.

Prof. Chen gave a speech about at the ExxonMobil Global Longer Range Research Meeting at Princeton

Prof. Chen's proposal - “Developing a Smart Energy Router for Flexible and Efficient DC Power Distribution in Smart Homes and Buildings” - wins Siebel Energy Institute 2017 Research Grant .

February 2017

Minjie Chen joins Princeton Department of Electrical Engineering and Andlinger Center for Energy and Environment as an Assistant Professor.

In this section

• Undergraduate Programs
• ECE PhD Students
• DENG ECE Students
• Adjunct Lecturers
• Graduate Student Instructors
• Laboratories
• Message from the Chair
• Industrial Advisory Board

Ph.D. in Electrical, Electronics, and Computer Engineering

About the program.

University of Michigan-Dearborn’s College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) is a leader in providing quality graduate programs in an environment integrated with research, engineering practice and continuing professional education. The EECE Ph.D. program addresses the critical need for engineers who are proficient in emerging technologies, knowledgeable in the latest advancements in science and engineering and research that combines deep knowledge in both electrical and computer-related areas. The Ph.D. degree is aimed primarily at those who wish to have academic as well as research and development careers.  

This Ph.D. program of the Rackham Graduate School of the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor is located, administered, and offered by UM-Dearborn. The program observes the standards for admissions, registration, degree requirements, awarding of degrees, and other administrative policies and regulations established by the Executive Board of the Rackham Graduate School. 

Program Overview

The program is a full-time, research-based degree designed to train students to conduct high quality original translational research and develop innovative technologies in the fields of electrical, electronics and computer engineering.

Students are admitted for full-time study and all admission offers are for Fall or Winter terms only. 

Program Description

The Ph.D. in Electrical, Electronics, and Computer Engineering (EECE) is a research-based degree designed to prepare students to conduct high-quality original translational research in areas of Electrical, Electronics, and Computer Engineering and to prepare students for careers in academia or research and development.

The Ph.D. program requires a minimum of 36 credits of coursework and 24 credit hours of dissertation coursework for Ph.D. students entering the program without a prior M.S. degree. Students without a master's degree may work toward an M.S. in Electrical Engineering or M.S. in Computer Engineering as part of the candidacy requirements. Both M.S. EE and M.S. CE require 30 credits of graded coursework.  To complete the Ph.D. program, students will typically complete a minimum of 6 additional credits hours in coursework in order to satisfy the specific course requirements.

Students with a prior M.S. degree must satisfy the same course requirements or the equivalent from other institutions, as approved by the ECE Graduate Committee. In addition, they must complete 18 credit hours of graded coursework or directed study and a minimum of 24 credit hours of dissertation coursework at the University of Michigan-Dearborn to satisfy the Rackham residency requirement. Waiver of this requirement will be considered for students who obtained their master’s degree from a University of Michigan program in a similar area and whose coursework meets the Ph.D. program requirements.

The targeted time for completion is five years.

Program Goals

The Ph.D. in EECE has the following program goals and learning outcomes: To train talented students who will conduct original and innovative research in the engineering field, educate future generations, and play leading roles in developing cutting-edge technologies while working in academia, industry, and government. A. A strong foundation in the theoretical principles and techniques from science, engineering, and mathematics needed for advanced engineering design and development. (Tag: Theory) B. An ability to use modern engineering software, processes, devices, and diagnostic tools for advanced engineering design and development. (Tag: Tools) C. An ability to read, understand, and critically evaluate the research literature in their chosen domain and contribute original scholarship in the form of peer-reviewed publications and technical presentations. (Tag: Scholarship) D. An ability to conduct original research in the field of electrical and/or computer engineering. Students will be able to design and conduct experiments, collect meaningful data, use appropriate analysis tools and techniques to understand the data, evaluate system performance, and critically evaluate performance in comparison to other state-of-the-art approaches. (Tag: Research)

Admission Requirements

Applicants to the EECE program are expected to have strong mathematical and technical skills, therefore the typical student should have a B.S. or M.S. in electrical, electronics, and/or computer engineering or in computer science. Students with a B.S. in other engineering fields or in physical or mathematical sciences can be considered, but some preparation courses may be required.

A successful applicant will have demonstrated mastery in his or her undergraduate or graduate discipline. The expected mathematics background of a successful applicant includes ordinary differential equations, linear algebra, and probability and statistics. In computing, a successful applicant is expected to have computer programming facility and knowledge of data structures and algorithms. No particular language or programming methodology is required.

Students must have a minimum GPA of 3.2 in their previous coursework to be admitted to the EECE Ph.D. program. In addition to coursework, the Ph.D. program committee will examine several aspects of a prospective student’s record, these include:

• English language proficiency exam,
• 3 letters of recommendation,
• a statement of purpose indicating the intended field or fields of research and prior R&D experience, and
• a personal statement that describes the background and life experiences, including cultural, geographical, financial, educational or other opportunities or challenges that motivate the decision to pursue a Ph.D. degree at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
• GRE general test scores are no longer included in the admissions process for Rackham’s doctoral programs as of the 2022–2023 admissions cycle.  ( More information available )

Funding Support

We understand the financial commitment of continuing your education.  Our Ph.D. program adheres to the CECS full-funding model for Ph.D. students. All Ph.D. students receive full-funding in the form of an appointment as a Graduate Student Instructor (GSI), Research Assistant (GSRA), or a combination of both which covers: a monthly stipend, health insurance, and tuition waiver.

Students admitted to the program are fully funded for up to five years. Funding is guaranteed based on continued good academic standing and adequate progress towards the Ph.D. degree.

Program Policies

In addition to the Rackham Graduate School policies for doctoral students, as a doctoral student in EECE, you need to know the requirements, timeline, and processes for Pre-candidacy years 1 and 2, the Qualifying Exam at the end of year 2, Proposal Exam, and eventually your Dissertation Defense.  See the Path to Degree section below.

Also, an Annual Progress Report completed by you and your faculty advisor must be submitted for review to the ECE Doctoral Committee in May of each year. 

The ECE Doctoral Committee and your Faculty Advisor are the main resources for information and guidance throughout your program. The ECE Doctoral Committee is chaired by Dr. Mengqi Wang, and includes Dr. Junho Hong and Dr. Alireza Mohammadi. 

Registration and Enrollment Requirements

Registration policy.

Students must register before the first day of classes.   A student who registers  on or after the first day of classes  (not including course adds, drops, or changes to initial registration)  will be charged a late registration fee. 

Ph.D. Continuous Enrollment Requirement

Students in Ph.D. programs must register for each fall and winter term until final completion of degree requirements unless they have received an authorized leave of absence or have been approved for extramural study. 

Required Registration to Complete Milestones

• A student who takes candidacy or preliminary exams in a spring or summer half term must register in that half term.
• A student who defends the dissertation and/or finalizes degree requirements in a spring or summer half term must register for the full spring/summer term and submit the final dissertation and all materials by the published deadline to avoid registering for another term.
• Pre-candidates preparing for qualifying exams may be enrolled in 980, “Dissertation/pre-candidate,” for the number of credit hours that reflect their effort and as required by outside agencies such as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 

Candidacy Registration and Enrollment Requirement

• Ph.D. candidates will be registered for 990, “Dissertation/candidate,” which consists of 6 credit hours for a full term.
• Ph.D. candidates register in the fall and winter terms for six credit hours of 990/Dissertation Candidate.  Part-time enrollment is not permitted.
• A student who defends in either the spring or summer half term must register for 6 credit hours of 990 for the spring/summer full term, or for both 3 credits in the spring half-term and 3 credits in the summer half-term.
• A candidate who registers for a course (other than the 990) must seek prior approval from the faculty advisor and also register for 990.
• When a candidate registers for a course during the fall, winter, or spring and summer half-terms but does not register for 990, the Registrar’s Office will add the 990 to the term and assess any required tuition.

Path to Degree

Please refer to the  Path to Degree  page for the procedures and forms for the following:

• date/deadlines
• milestone exams
• dissertation committee
• dissertation proposal
• dissertation
• final oral defense

Ph.D. Student Handbook

At the beginning of enrollment in the EECE Ph.D. program, students will typically take a series of courses to satisfy the depth, breadth, and advanced mathematics requirements.  Each student in consultation with the Faculty Advisor creates a  Plan of Study which will outline the courses and research activities for meeting the milestones of the EECE Ph.D. program. The Plan of Study is to be approved by the EECE Ph.D. committee and any change to the Plan of Study must be approved by the EECE Ph.D. committee.

Satisfactory Progress Requirements

Only letter-graded courses at the 500+ level count toward the degree. Courses completed with a grade lower than B+ or a "U" grade are not accepted. The only exception is the Cognate course which requires a minimum B grade and the Depth area courses which requires a minimum A- grade. 

To advance to candidacy, the cumulative coursework GPA (Grade Point Average) must be 3.4 or above on the 4.0-scale.

Course Requirements

Breadth requirement (3 courses):.

Students must select three courses from three different core areas. Equivalency is possible. Courses selected to fulfill the EECE Ph.D. breadth requirement may not also be used to fulfill the EECE Ph.D. depth requirement. All Ph.D. breadth courses must be completed with a grade of B+ or better within 3 full terms (1 1/2 years) for a student with a relevant master's degree and 4 full terms (2 years) for all other students. Courses taken at another university that are equivalent in level and content may fulfill one or more of these requirements.

Depth Requirement (2 courses):

The depth coursework requirement is designed to ensure that students complete graduate-level coursework relevant to their chosen area of specialization and acquire the core research skills and knowledge of the current research and technologies relevant to this specialization. Here, students must select two courses from one core area (see course list below), including at least one advanced course (indicated with an asterisk). The Depth courses must be completed with a grade of A- or better. These courses may not be completed via equivalency. These courses must be completed within 3 full terms (1 1/2 years) for a student with a relevant master’s degree and 4 full terms (2 years) for all other students.

Advanced Mathematics (1 course):

Students must take at least one advanced mathematics course. A list of approved advanced mathematics courses is presented below. It is acceptable to use advanced mathematics courses to meet the cognate course requirement. Students must achieve a minimum grade of B+. See the course list below.

Cognate Requirement (1-2 courses):

At least 4 credit hours of coursework must be outside the electrical and computer engineering area.  See the Cognate section below for ways to satisfy this requirement. A list of cognate course is provided in the approved program courses section.

Technical Electives (1 course):

Students can take any courses in the four core areas listed below as technical electives. Students must achieve a minimum grade of B

Research Requirement (1-2 courses):

To meet this requirement students are required to take (ECE 591 or 691) Directed Study for 3-6 credits before the Qualifying Exam.

During their first year in the Ph.D. program, students are required to perform independent research in collaboration with an ECE faculty member.  (See policy below)

The selected courses must be approved by the student’s faculty/research advisor and the Ph.D. program committee, and a signed depth course approval form must be submitted when signing up for the qualifying examination.

Required Seminar Courses

All students are required to take ENGR 700 Research Methodology Seminar, Responsible Conduct of Research and Scholarship training, and ECE 798 Seminar.

ENGR 700 Ph.D. Research Methodology Seminar:

This course provides doctoral students with the fundamental training for conducting high-level scholarly research used in the various fields of engineering. Topics include evaluation of information resources, intellectual property, writing for journals and dissertation, effective work with scientific literature, literature review, plagiarism, publication, bibliographic management, and library resources. Students also complete the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) and Scholarship Training workshops. Additionally, students appointed as GSIs are required to attend the approved GSI training workshop.

The course is required for all doctoral students in the first year of enrollment and prior to taking the qualifying exam. Passing is based on participation and attendance and passing the RCR exam. The seminars will carry no credit hours.

ECE 798 Ph.D. Research Seminar:

After attaining candidacy, every Ph.D. student is required to attend and actively participate in research seminars given by CECS dean’s office or individual departments in CECS. A student gets a satisfactory grade if he/she attends at least three (3) research seminars during the course period. The seminars will carry no credit hours.

Core Areas and Approved Program Courses

Advanced mathematics courses.

• Math 504 Dynamical Systems
• Math 5055 Integral Equations
• Math 512 First Course in Modern Algebra
• Math 514 Numerical Solutions of Partial Differential Equations
• Math 515 B-Splines and Their Applications
• Math 516 Partial Differential Equations
• Math 520 Stochastic Processes
• Math 525 Mathematical Statistics II
• Math 551 Advanced Calculus I
• Math 552 Advanced Calculus II
• Math 554 Fourier Series and Boundary Value Problems
• Math 555 Functions of a Complex Variable with Applications
• Math 558 Introduction to Wavelets
• Math 562 Mathematical Modeling
• Math 583 Discrete Optimization
• Math 584 Applied and Algorithmic Graph Theory
• Math 592 Introduction to Topology

Four Core Areas Courses

Computer systems and networks core area.

• ECE 514 VLSI Design
• ECE 528 Cloud Computing
• ECE 535 Mobile Computing
• ECE 550 Communication Systems
• ECE 554 Embedded Systems
• ECE 570 Computer Networks
• ECE 5701 Wireless Communications*
• ECE 5702 High Speed and Advanced Networks
• ECE 575 Computer Architecture
• ECE 5752 Reconfigurable Computing*
• ECE 578 Advanced Operating Systems
• ECE 5781  Real-Time Operating Systems†*
• ECE 5542 Embedded Signal Processing†*
• ECE 612 Wireless Sensor Networks*
• ECE 614 Control Networks for Embedded System*
• ECE 670 Advanced Computer Networks and Wireless Comm.*
• ECE 675 Advanced Computer Architecture*
• ECE 678 Dependable Computing†*

Control Systems and Signal Processing Core Area

• ECE 512 Active Filter Design
• ECE 555 Stochastic Processes*
• ECE 560 Modern Control Theory
• ECE 565 Digital Control Systems*
• ECE 567 Nonlinear Control Systems*
• ECE 580 Digital Signal Processing
• ECE 5802 Multirate Signal Processing with Applications*
• ECE 581 Architecture for DSP*
• ECE 582 Statistical Signal Processing*
• ECE 584 Speech processes*
• ECE 589 Multidimensional Signal Processing*
• ECE 661 System Identification and Adaptive Control*
• ECE 645 Stochastic Control Systems†*
• ECE 665 Optimal Control*
• ECE 681 Advanced DSP*

Electronics, Optoelectronics, Power Electronics and Energy Systems

• ECE 519 Advanced Topics in EMC
• ECE 515 Vehicle Electronics II
• ECE 517 Advanced Power Electronics and Motor Drives*
• ECE 530 Energy Storage Systems
• ECE 532 Auto Sensors and Actuators*
• ECE 533 Active Auto Safety Systems*
• ECE 539 Production of Electronic Products
• ECE 541 Introduction to Electric Energy Systems
• ECE 542 Intro. to Power Management and Reliability
• ECE 5462 Hybrid Electrical Vehicles
• ECE 556 Fundamentals of Optoelectronic devices†*
• ECE 557 Nano Electronics Processing and Technology†*
• ECE 558 Fundamentals of Integrated Photonics†*
• ECE 559 Integrated Biophotonics†*
• ECE 566 Mechatronics*
• ECE 615 Advanced Power Electronics*
• ECE 616 Advanced Topics in Power Systems*
• ECE 646 Advanced Electric Drive Transportation*
• ECE 657 Integrated Solid State Nano Electronic Devices*†
• ECE 658 Quantum Electronics for Electrical Engineers†*

Intelligent Systems and Robotics Core Area

• ECE 527 Multimedia Security and Forensics
• ECE 531 Intelligent Vehicle Systems
• ECE 532 Auto Sensors and Actuators
• ECE 535 Mobile Devices
• ECE 536 All Weather Auto Vision
• ECE 537 Data Mining*
• ECE 542 Introduction to Robotic Systems†*
• ECE 543 Kinematics, Dynamics, and Control of Robots†*
• ECE 544 Mobile Robots†*
• ECE 552 Fuzzy systems
• ECE 576 Information Engineering
• ECE 579 Intelligent Systems*
• ECE 5792 Unsupervised Machine Learning†*
• ECE 5831 Pattern Recognition and Neural Networks*
• ECE 587 Selected Topics in Computer Vision*
• ECE 588 Robot Vision*
• ECE 643 Humanoid Robots†*
• ECE 644 Advanced Robotics†*
• ECE 679 Advanced Intelligent Systems*

Cognate Courses

Mathematics.

• Math 504: Dynamical Systems
• Math 5055: Integral Equations
• Math 512: First Course in Modern Algebra Math
• 514: Numerical Solutions of Partial Differential Equations
• Math 515: B-Splines and Their Applications
• Math 516: Partial Differential Equations
• Math 520: Stochastic Processes
• Math 525: Mathematical Statistics II
• Math 551: Advanced Calculus I
• Math 552: Advanced Calculus II
• Math 554: Fourier Series and Boundary Value Problems
• Math 555: Functions of a Complex Variable with Applications
• Math 558: Introduction to Wavelets
• Math 562: Mathematical Modeling Math 583: Discrete Optimization
• Math 584: Applied and Algorithmic Graph Theory
• Math 592: Introduction to Topology

Mechanical Engineering

• ME 510: Finite Element Methods
• ME 580: Advanced Engineering Materials
• ME 610: Finite Element Methods--Nonlinear
• ME 515: Advanced Mechanics of Solids
• ME 519: Basic Computational Methods in Engineering
• ME 540: Mechanical Vibrations
• ME 542: Advanced Dynamics
• ME 560: Experimental Methods in Design
• ME 531: Statistical Thermodynamics
• ME 535: Advanced Thermodynamics

Industrial, Manufacturing Systems Engineering

• IMSE 548 Human Factors
• IMSE 514 Multivariate Statistics
• IMSE 5205 Engineering Risk-Benefit Analysis
• IMSE 5215 Program Budget, Cost Estimation & Control
• IMSE 559 System Simulation
• IMSE 605 Advanced Optimization
• IMSE 606 Advanced Stochastic Processes
• IMSE 519 Quantitative Methods in Quality Engineering
• IMSE 561 Total Quality Management
• IMSE 567 Reliability Analysis

Computer and Information Science

• CIS 505 - Algorithm Design and Analysis
• CIS 534 - The Semantic Web
• CIS 536 - Information Retrieval
• CIS 552 - Information Visualization and Multimedia Gaming
• CIS 556 - Database Systems
• CIS 571 - Web Services
• CIS 579 - Artificial Intelligence
• CIS 587 - Computer Game Design and Implementation I
• CIS 652 - Information Visualization and Computer Animation

Cognate Requirement Policy

The cognate requirement is intended to foster intellectual breadth in graduate studies. Students must undertake at least 4 credit hours of coursework in an area outside of their chosen field of specialization. Following the Rackham requirements, the cognate requirement should be approved by the Ph.D. program committee and will generally be satisfied in one of the following ways:

• Completion of at least 4 hours of approved cognate credits, which must be from outside the EECE department. The minimum acceptable grade for a cognate course is a B. The list of approved cognate courses can be found below.
• Completion of a University of Michigan master’s degree, which includes a cognate component. This coursework must have been completed no more than 5 years before admission to the Ph.D. EECE program.
• Completion of a relevant master’s degree from another university that had coursework that meets the expectation of the program cognate requirement, without transferring the credit to the transcript. This coursework must have been completed no more than 5 years before admission to the Ph.D. EECE program. These courses do not apply toward the minimum 18 (or 36) credit hours in residence at UM-Dearborn required for the degree and do not appear on the university transcript

First-Year Research Requirement

The intent of this research requirement is to provide adequate opportunity for students to work closely with a research advisor to prepare to take the qualifying exam before their qualification deadline.

The first-year research requirement is a condition of continued departmental financial-support guarantees and can be waived only by petition to the Ph.D. program committee with an explanation of special circumstances (e.g., a research-oriented internship directly relevant to the student’s qualifying exam preparation) endorsed by the student’s academic or research advisor.

This requirement does not apply to students who transfer from a terminal MS to the Ph.D. program, who will be given more than one calendar year after entering the MS program.

Exams, Milestones, and Timeline

Pre-candidacy:.

• Breadth coursework
• Depth coursework
• Advanced Math course
• Directed Study Research course
• Required Seminar courses
• Completion of a 4-credit cognate course with a minimum B grade.

Qualification exams:   

• Completed related coursework 
• A 3.5/4.0 GPA overall,
• A 3.7/4.0 GPA for all qualifying exam courses and
• An ECE faculty/research advisor to sign up for these exams.

A student will be given two chances to take the qualifying examination within the first three years.

Candidacy:  Achieving candidacy for the Ph.D. EECE requires:

• Completion of the required coursework
• A 3.4/4.0 GPA overall
• Passing the Qualifying Exam
• Completion of the RCR training workshops provided by the UM-Dearborn campus
• Dissertation Chair or Co-Chairs
• Submitting of the candidacy application form

Students with a relevant master’s degree must achieve candidacy in four terms (2 years). Students that have only a bachelor’s degree will be allowed six terms (3 years) to achieve candidacy.

Candidates must register for the ECE 990 Dissertation course each fall and winter until completion of all degree requirements

Dissertation Proposal Examination : The dissertation proposal examination requires:

• Achieving candidacy
• Identifying a research advisor and agree on an appropriate topic
• Submitting and defending a proposal for the doctoral research content

A student entering with a bachelor’s degree must successfully complete a dissertation proposal within 3.5 (4) years from the start of the graduate study to maintain satisfactory progress. A student with a relevant master’s degree must complete the dissertation proposal examination within 2.5 (3) years.

Dissertation and Defense:  The Dissertation and Oral Defense requires:

• Passing the dissertation proposal examination
• Completing the required dissertation research credit hours
• Conducting an original research
• Submission of a written dissertation
• Pre-Defense meeting
• An Oral Defense of an approved written dissertation

The dissertation defense may not be scheduled in the same academic term as the dissertation proposal examination.

The Ph.D. EECE program has a limit of 7 years. Students are expected to complete the degree within five years of achieving candidacy, but no more than seven years from the date of the first enrollment in the Ph.D. EECE program.

Qualifying Exam

A Ph.D. student must complete at least one Directed Study course of ECE 591/691 prior to the qualifying exam. The directed study course must be taken as a Rackham student at the ECE department at UM-Dearborn. During their first year in the Ph.D. program, students are required to perform independent research in collaboration with an ECE faculty member. The intent of this research requirement is to provide adequate opportunity for students to work closely with a research advisor to prepare to take the qualifying exam before their qualification deadline.  This requirement does not apply to students who transfer from a terminal MS to the Ph.D. program, who will be given more than one calendar year after entering the MS program.

The student’s qualification is evaluated through a written report of a project done in the research-oriented Directed Study course, followed by a 1–2 hour oral exam by a Ph.D. qualifying examination committee, which consists of three faculty members not including the research advisor, two of which are ECE faculty and one of which is an affiliate faculty. The three faculty members on the Ph.D. qualifying examination committee are selected by the EECE Ph.D. program committee. The oral examination will cover the student’s directed study project and knowledge directly related to the student’s research area. This examination will be administered during the qualification examination period in every fall and winter semester.

The students research advisor is the director of the student’s directed study project. The student must submit a copy of the Directed Study written report to the ECE Graduate office staff at [email protected] and the examiners at least two weeks before the qualifying examination. The examination committee consists of three graduate faculty members appointed by the program committee and cannot include the student’s research advisor.

The qualifying examination consists of two parts:

Part one: curriculum examination:.

The goal of this examination is to ensure that students have a good understanding of the fundamentals of electrical, computer, and/or robotics engineering. The examination will include the following steps:

• Good performance in three courses selected during the first semester of enrollment in the program and approved by the program committee. The courses must be passed with grades not lower than 3.7 on the 4-point scale (A-).
• An examination on the material of these courses.

For students admitted to the program on the basis of a master’s degree, the courses already completed during the master’s study and applied to satisfy the coursework requirements can be selected as a part of the curriculum examination.

Part Two: Research Fundamentals Examination:

This examination’s objective is to ensure that a student has the necessary educational background and skills to conduct independent research in the selected area. Specifically, the examiners test such aspects of the student’s preparedness as:

• Depth and clarity of understanding in the selected area,
• Ability to make independent logical conclusions,
• Problem-solving skills and creativity,
• Communication skills.

The examination consists of a 1 hour presentation by the student on the topic of intended dissertation research followed by questions from the examiners.

Forming the Dissertation Committee

Dissertation committee.

• The dissertation committee will consist of four members, including at least three tenure-track members (appointment as Professor, Associate Professor, or Assistant Professor) of the instructional faculty affiliated with a Rackham doctoral program.
• The student’s dissertation advisor, who must be a member of the graduate faculty of the department, will serve as chair or co-chair.
• Of the additional members, two must hold at least 50% appointment as tenured or tenure-track faculty of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, with at least one being a member of the ECE graduate faculty.
• The third committee member (cognate member) must be from outside the department: a faculty member with at least 50% appointment from a Rackham Doctoral program other than Ph.D. in EECE.
• The composition of the dissertation committee must be approved by the Ph.D. program committee and requires Rackham approval. 
• tenure or tenure-track members of the University’s instructional faculty who are not affiliated with a Rackham doctoral program;
• research faculty;
• instructors and lecturers;
• similarly qualified University faculty or staff, or person from outside the University; and
• former University faculty members who have moved to a faculty position at another university.

In the cases when it is justified by the nature of the student’s research and by approval of the program committee, the dissertation work can be co-supervised by two co-chairs. Both co-chairs must hold at least 50 percent appointments as tenured or tenure-track faculty. One of them must be a member of the graduate faculty of the ECE department. The other can be from the ECE department or a department other than ECE.

Dissertation Proposal and Dissertation Research

Please refer to the path to degree for the procedures and forms for the dissertation committee, dissertation proposal, dissertation, and final oral defense. , dissertation proposal exam.

The main objective of the dissertation proposal examination is to ensure sufficient strength and feasibility of the proposed research topic, as well as the suitability of the student’s background and skills regarding the topic. The examination must be completed within a year of passing the qualifying examination.

The examination consists of a written dissertation proposal and its open-to-the-public presentation by the student. The examination is conducted by the dissertation committee. As a rule, the dissertation committee continues overseeing the student’s work to the stage of the final dissertation defense.

Dissertation

After passing the dissertation proposal examination, the student may proceed with the dissertation research and the writing of the dissertation. The dissertation should document the original contributions made by the candidate as a result of independent research. This research work should be of archival quality. In advance of graduation, all members of the student's dissertation committee must approve the dissertation. To obtain this approval a student must submit a written copy of the dissertation to the dissertation committee and defend the research work at a final oral examination open to other faculty, students, and the interested public. Students must be registered for ECE 990 the full spring/summer term if defending the dissertation after May during the spring/summer term.

The dissertation must strictly follow the Rackham Graduate School Dissertation guidelines as described in the Dissertation Handbook Guidelines for copyrighting, publishing and distributing, dissertation embargo and distribution limitations.

Students are expected to complete the degree within two years of passing the dissertation proposal exam, but no more than seven years from the date of the first enrollment in the Ph.D. EECE program. The Ph.D. EECE committee conducts annual reviews to evaluate progress toward degree completion. Students defending the dissertation must be registered in the 990 Dissertation Research course.

Dissertation Research Requirement

• Students who have completed the coursework requirements but have not reached the candidacy status should register for ECE 980 (Pre-Candidacy Dissertation Research). A maximum of 12 credits may be completed in ECE 980 Pre-Candidacy course. 
• Students who have achieved candidacy should register for 6 credits in ECE 990 (Doctoral Dissertation Research).

Note that the actual completion of the dissertation project is likely to take several years at full-time enrollment thus, requiring more than the minimum number of credit hours.

Final Oral Defense

Upon completion of the dissertation work, the student initiates the last step toward the degree—the dissertation defense process. The process follows the official guidelines and consists of the following main stages:

• Preparation of a written dissertation formatted in accordance with the guidelines,
• Pre-Defense meetings with the members of the program committee,
• Written evaluations of the dissertation by the dissertation committee members presented to the Ph.D. program committee,
• Public seminar and open question session held by the student
• Private deliberations by the committee,
• Final oral examination report and certificate of approval prepared by the dissertation committee and submitted to the Ph.D. program committee.
• Post-Defense meeting with the CECS Graduate Education Office

Program Contacts

Amanda Donovan

Michael Hicks

Mengqi Wang

Electrical and computer engineering, office hours.

PhD (Doctoral) Admissions Overview

Our research-intensive program cultivates the next generation of leaders in academia and industry. Electrical Engineering doctoral students work alongside faculty, fellow students, and researchers who are leaders in their disciplines.  

Application Timeline & Deadlines

Click on the links below to read about each step of the application process:

Did You Know?

• A master's degree is not required prior to applying to the PhD program in Electrical Engineering. • Applications are reviewed on an annual basis for autumn quarter start only. • December 7, 2024 is the application deadline for Autumn 2025-2026. • Typical completion time for the PhD degree is 5-7 years. • All PhD students who maintain satisfactory academic progress receive full financial support for the duration of the doctoral program.

Knight-Hennessy Scholars

The Knight-Hennessy Scholars program is designed to build an interdisciplinary community of Stanford graduate students dedicated to finding creative solutions to the world's greatest challenges. The program awards up to 100 high-achieving students every year with full funding to pursue a graduate education at Stanford, including the M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. To be considered, you must apply to Knight-Hennessy Scholars and separately apply to the Electrical Engineering department.

Additional Resources

Research Plan / Thesis Proposal

According to Academic Regulations , all doctorands must elaborate and defend a report containing the research plan to be developed during the thesis. The research plan must be delivered up to one year since the date of first registration. The research plan shall be defended before a committee in the spring following the plan delivery.

Report structure

The report shall contain the necessary information to evaluate the originality, coherence and viability of the proposed thesis. It is suggested that the document is structured in the following sections:

• Personal details of the doctoral student and the thesis supervisor(s).
• Title of the thesis proposal.
• Summary of the proposal.
• Critical state of the art on the subject.
• Thesis goals.
• Methodology and resources needed.
• Description of tasks to achieve the thesis objectives.
• Workplan schedule with estimated deadlines.
• Bibliography.
• Material published in the field, if applicable.

Delivery procedure

The delivery and assessment is done through Atenea PhD   The Research Plan document needs to be uploaded  by the Doctorand, and validated by the Supervisor, before 1 year has passed after the date of first registration. Next is a description of the different steps involved;

• The Program administration enables the dates for upload of the research plan in Atenea PhD.
• The supervisor authorizes the upload of the document by the doctorand in Atenea PhD, Research Plan section.
• Doctorand uploads the updated version of the Research Plan in Atenea PhD, Research Plan section.
• Supervisor validates the submission, adding a comment in the Observations section.

When to defend the Research Plan

The Doctoral Program organizes the presentations of the research plans in early summer; typically, late June. The Program will appoint evaluation committees according to research areas, and all delivered research plans will be evaluated. The exact dates for Research Plan defenses will be announced by the Program.

It is the responsibility of the doctorand to have delivered the Research Plan via Atenea in due time. Failure to deliver the Research Plan at the time of presentation implies the dismissal of the program.

Research Plan Evaluation

The research plan shall be examined by a committee composed of three doctor members, one of them a professor of the program representing the CAPD, another member a professor of the program expert in the subject of the proposal, and a third member an expert external to the Program. The evaluation criteria used by the jury can be found in the Guidelines for the evaluation of the thesis proposal / research plan .

The evaluation committee will address the candidate comments and recommendations about his/her thesis proposal. These comments and recommendations must be considered by the doctorand, together with the thesis advisor . In case the evaluation committee writes them in the assessment report, the Academic Committee is in charge to check how they have been attended. Throughout the following years, the doctorand will have to justify the thesis progress compared to the proposed research plan, as a part of the yearly tutorship evaluation . This justification may also include an update, revision or improvement of the research plan, with the validation of the thesis advisor.

Documents and forms:

• Guidelines for the evaluation of the Thesis Proposal / Research Plan
• FAQs for Atenea PhD

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Electrical and Electronic Engineering PhD

• Full-time: 3 to 4 years
• Part-time: Not available
• Start date: Multiple available
• UK fees: £5,100
• International fees: £21,500 or £28,600 depending on the nature of your project

Research overview

The Electrical and Electronic Engineering PhD brings innovation in science and technology to applications ranging from the generation and use of electrical energy (including renewable energy) to high-speed information processing and pervasive computing. Areas of research strength include biophysics, imaging and optical science, photonic engineering, power electronics, ultrasonics and electromagnetic simulation.

A Collaboration offering a Dual PhD Award with  Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile  in Electrical and Electronic Engineering is also available.

Entry requirements

All candidates are considered on an individual basis and we accept a broad range of qualifications. The entrance requirements below apply to 2024 entry.

Meeting our English language requirements

If you need support to meet the required level, you may be able to attend a presessional English course. Presessional courses teach you academic skills in addition to English language. Our  Centre for English Language Education is accredited by the British Council for the teaching of English in the UK.

If you successfully complete your presessional course to the required level, you can then progress to your degree course. This means that you won't need to retake IELTS or equivalent.

For on-campus presessional English courses, you must take IELTS for UKVI to meet visa regulations. For online presessional courses, see our CELE webpages for guidance.

Visa restrictions

International students must have valid UK immigration permissions for any courses or study period where teaching takes place in the UK. Student route visas can be issued for eligible students studying full-time courses. The University of Nottingham does not sponsor a student visa for students studying part-time courses. The Standard Visitor visa route is not appropriate in all cases. Please contact the university’s Visa and Immigration team if you need advice about your visa options.

We recognise that applicants have a variety of experiences and follow different pathways to postgraduate study.

We treat all applicants with alternative qualifications on an individual basis. We may also consider relevant work experience.

If you are unsure whether your qualifications or work experience are relevant, contact us .

Our step-by-step guide contains everything you need to know about applying for postgraduate research.

Additional information for international students

If you are a student from the EU, EEA or Switzerland, you may be asked to complete a fee status questionnaire and your answers will be assessed using guidance issued by the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) .

These fees are for full-time study. If you are studying part-time, you will be charged a proportion of this fee each year (subject to inflation).

There are many ways to fund your research degree, from scholarships to government loans.

Check our guide to find out more about funding your postgraduate degree.

Researcher training and development

The Researcher Academy is the network for researchers, and staff who support them. We work together to promote a healthy research culture, to cultivate researcher excellence, and develop creative partnerships that enable researchers to flourish.

Postgraduate researchers at Nottingham have access to our online Members’ area, which includes a wealth of resources, access to training courses and award-winning postgraduate placements.

Graduate centres

Our graduate centres are dedicated community spaces on campus for postgraduates.

Each space has areas for:

• socialising
• computer work
• kitchen facilities

Student support

You will have access to a range of support services , including:

• academic and disability support
• childcare services
• counselling service
• faith support
• financial support
• mental health and wellbeing support
• visa and immigration advice
• welfare support

Students' Union

Our Students' Union represents all students. You can join the Postgraduate Students’ Network or contact the dedicated Postgraduate Officer .

There are also a range of support networks, including groups for:

• international students
• black and minority ethnic students
• students who identify as women
• students with disabilities
• LGBT+ students

SU Advice provides free, independent and confidential advice on issues such as accommodation, financial and academic difficulties.

Where you will learn

University park campus.

University Park Campus  covers 300 acres, with green spaces, wildlife, period buildings and modern facilities. It is one of the UK's most beautiful and sustainable campuses, winning a national Green Flag award every year since 2003.

Most schools and departments are based here. You will have access to libraries, shops, cafes, the Students’ Union, sports village and a health centre.

You can walk or cycle around campus. Free hopper buses connect you to our other campuses. Nottingham city centre is 15 minutes away by public bus or tram.

Whether you are considering a career in academia, industry or haven't yet decided, we’re here to support you every step of the way.

Expert staff will work with you to explore PhD career options and apply for vacancies, develop your interview skills and meet employers. You can book a one-to-one appointment, take an online course or attend a workshop.

International students who complete an eligible degree programme in the UK on a student visa can apply to stay and work in the UK after their course under the Graduate immigration route . Eligible courses at the University of Nottingham include bachelors, masters and research degrees, and PGCE courses.

Completing a research degree with us will ensure that you develop transferable skills that will be beneficial in a number of different careers. Graduates within the faculty have gone on to have successful careers as:

• researchers
• production managers and directors
• IT and telecommunication professionals
• business, research and administrative professionals
• science, engineering and production technicians
• natural and social science professionals
• teachers, lecturers and educators
• various other roles in engineering and architecture

92.6% of postgraduates from the School of Engineering Research secured graduate level employment or further study within 15 months of graduation. The average annual salary for these graduates was £33,689.*

*HESA Graduate Outcomes 2019/20 data published in 2022 . The Graduate Outcomes % is derived using The Guardian University Guide methodology. The average annual salary is based on data from graduates who completed a full-time postgraduate degree with home fee status and are working full-time within the UK.

Electrical and Electronic Engineering - Postgraduate Research

Discover our research within Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Related courses

Positioning, navigation earth observation phd, environmental engineering phd, power electronics: sustainable electric propulsion phd, research excellence framework.

The University of Nottingham is ranked 7th in the UK for research power, according to analysis by Times Higher Education. The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a national assessment of the quality of research in UK higher education institutions.

• 90%* of our research is classed as 'world-leading' (4*) or 'internationally excellent' (3*)
• 100%* of our research is recognised internationally
• 51% of our research is assessed as 'world-leading' (4*) for its impact**

*According to analysis by Times Higher Education ** According to our own analysis.

This content was last updated on 27 July 2023 . Every effort has been made to ensure that this information is accurate, but changes are likely to occur between the date of publishing and course start date. It is therefore very important to check this website for any updates before you apply.

Research Topics

Power Electronics Design

Power electronics architectures are trending increasingly towards modular multi-converter structures that facilitate plug-and-play operation while enhancing reliability and efficiency. Generally speaking, this could take the form of parallel-connected systems that promote current sharing or series-connected systems that enable operation at elevated voltages. Our group formulates high-performance solutions for parallel-connected converters in computational applications, point-of-load setups, as well as microgrids. Innovations in series-connected configurations facilitate medium-voltage energy conversion for batteries, photovoltaics, and solid-state transformer applications. 

Low-inertia Power Systems & Grid-forming Inverters

Modern energy resources, such as photovoltaics, batteries, wind, and electric vehicles are interfaced to the grid through power electronics. These interfaces are fundamentally distinct from conventional synchronous generators in that they do not contain moving parts and their dynamics are shaped with digital controls. As generation shifts from large rotating machines to collections of electronic interfaces dispersed across the grid, system dynamics will accelerate under reduced inertia and system structures will become increasingly decentralized. Our group is reimagining the way grids are built and stands at the forefront of grid-forming inverter technologies that enable scalable and resilient power systems. UW is also a co-lead of the UNIFI Consortium.

Electromechanics & Drives

Electromechanical drive systems for vehicles and modern variable speed mechanical systems entail complex multiphysics phenomena that span across the mechanical, electromagnetic, electrical, and control domains. Untangling this interplay of dynamical systems and unlocking high-performance solutions requires breakthroughs in the realms of modeling, design, and experimentation. On the analytical front, we are leveraging the universality of energy to formulate equivalent circuit models that reveal the operation of closed-loop drive systems in a lucid and visually intuitive manner. These approaches facilitate new design methodologies which are validated on custom-designed SiC-based drive circuits and high power density axial flux machines.

Opportunities

Students with interests in controls, power electronics, or power systems are encouraged to email me their resume along with a brief description of their background and interests.

We have 62 power electronics PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships

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power electronics PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships

Research studentship in power electronics thermal management, phd research project.

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

This research project has funding attached. It is only available to UK citizens or those who have been resident in the UK for a period of 3 years or more. Some projects, which are funded by charities or by the universities themselves may have more stringent restrictions.

Time Domain Shielding for on-board Power Electronics

Funded phd project (students worldwide).

This project has funding attached, subject to eligibility criteria. Applications for the project are welcome from all suitably qualified candidates, but its funding may be restricted to a limited set of nationalities. You should check the project and department details for more information.

PHD ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

Funded phd programme (students worldwide).

Some or all of the PhD opportunities in this programme have funding attached. Applications for this programme are welcome from suitably qualified candidates worldwide. Funding may only be available to a limited set of nationalities and you should read the full programme details for further information.

China PhD Programme

A Chinese PhD usually takes 3-4 years and often involves following a formal teaching plan (set by your supervisor) as well as carrying out your own original research. Your PhD thesis will be publicly examined in front of a panel of expert. Some international programmes are offered in English, but others will be taught in Mandarin Chinese.

Monolithic integrated GaN power devices with Integrated Gate Drivers

Coordinated control and operation of distributed energy resources (ders) in converter dominated power systems, phd studentship in electromagnetic compatibility for 25kv rail systems, funded by network rail - (eng 1864), competition funded phd project (uk students only).

This research project is one of a number of projects at this institution. It is in competition for funding with one or more of these projects. Usually the project which receives the best applicant will be awarded the funding. The funding is only available to UK citizens or those who have been resident in the UK for a period of 3 years or more. Some projects, which are funded by charities or by the universities themselves may have more stringent restrictions.

High Power Density Converter Topologies for Pulsed Power Applications

Development of high-power-density power module based on gan monolithic integration, development of a multi-port zero carbon building energy router based on gan power integration, high-power density electrical propulsion drives in airborne applications, high-voltage and low leakage current algan/gan fin-hemts, phd in the area of wide and ultrawide bandgap semiconductor devices (innovation and knowledge centre, rewire), sideband suppression on high power microwave antenna, assessment of soft magnetic properties in amorphous/nanocrystalline high-entropy alloys through magnetic mechanism modulation aimed at next-generation electrical machines, self-funded phd students only.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Convective heat-transfer in turbulent boundary layers

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