Doctoral of Philosophy Queen's University

During the first month of the program, the Department in consultation with the student's supervisor(s) establishes the Ph.D. Advisory Committee consisting of the supervisor(s), an internal examiner, as well as a department representative. At this time, an area of research is chosen. The internal examiner should have the expertise as close to the candidate's general research area. The requirements to be fulfilled include a minimum of 4 term-length graduate courses beyond the Master's degree, a two-part comprehensive examination, the seminar course ELEC-891, satisfactory research progress, and a thesis. One of the graduate courses must be taken from outside the Department. One of the graduate courses must be taken inside the Department. Only one course may be a double-numbered graduate course (also known as a combined undergraduate/graduate course). Fourth-year undergraduate courses cannot be taken for credit toward Ph.D. program requirements, as per the FEAS Graduate Council Regulation 2.1.5. The supervisor(s) and the Department must approve all programs of study.

For students who received a Master’s from the same Department at Queen's and in the same area of study, the minimum course requirements shall be decided in consultation with the Ph.D. Advisory Committee and approved by the Department Head or Graduate Coordinator.

All Ph.D. candidates will take a comprehensive examination administered in two parts by the candidate's thesis committee. Part I deals with the candidate's background in his/her chosen area of research. Part II consists of the candidate's thesis proposal. The Ph.D. Part I report must be submitted to the Department within 10 months of the start of the program, and the Ph.D. Part I Comprehensive Examination should be held no later than two months from the report submission date. For Part II, the PH.D. Advisory Committee for the Part I exam is augmented with an external/Internal examiner (outside the ECE Department, within Queen's University). The Ph.D. Part II report must be submitted to the Department within 22 months of the start of the program, and the Ph.D. Part II Comprehensive Examination should be held no later than two months from the report submission date. After the successful completion of Part II, thesis research progress is reported by the candidate and reviewed by the Ph.D. Advisory Committee annually.