Doctor of Philosophy in Telecommunications Engineering

Degree Requirements

75 semester credit hours minimum beyond the baccalaureate degree

The Telecommunications Engineering program for doctoral study is individually tailored to the student's background and research objectives by the student's supervisory committee. The program will require a minimum of 75 semester credit hours beyond the baccalaureate degree. These credits must include at least 30 semester credit hours of graduate-level courses beyond the baccalaureate level in the major concentration. The core requirements for the Ph.D. degree in Telecommunications Engineering are the same as the ones for the MS in Telecommunications Engineering. All Ph.D. students must demonstrate competence in the master's level core courses in their research area. However, a student's supervising committee may impose course requirements that are necessary and appropriate for the student's research program. It is expected that MS degree students planning to enter the proposed doctoral program will take most of the courses as part of their MS degree requirements. All students must have an academic advisor and an approved plan of study.

Also required are:

• A qualifying examination, as approved by the Telecommunications Engineering graduate committee, demonstrating competence in the Ph.D. candidate's research area. A student entering the Ph.D. program with an MS degree must pass this exam within 3 long semesters, and a student entering with a BS degree must pass this exam within 4 long semesters. A student has, at most, two attempts at this qualifying exam. The exam will be given during the fall and spring semesters.
• At least half of the supervising committee must be comprised of core Telecommunications Engineering faculty members; it must be chaired or co-chaired by a Telecommunications Engineering faculty member.
• Completion of a major research project culminating in a dissertation demonstrating an original contribution to scientific knowledge and engineering practice. The dissertation will be defended publicly. The rules for this defence are specified by the Office of the Dean of Graduate Education. Neither a foreign language nor a minor is required for the Ph.D. However, the student's supervising committee may impose these or other requirements that it feels are necessary and appropriate to the student's degree program.

Areas of Research

The principal concentration areas for the Telecommunications Engineering graduate program are:

• Core and wireless networks
• Communications and signal processing
• Network design and protocols
• Embedded and reconfigurable systems
• Optical and photonic devices, materials, and systems
• Fault-tolerant data networks

Doctoral level research opportunities include VLSI design, reconfigurable systems, system architecture, fault-tolerant computing, digital signal processing, digital communications, modulation and coding, electromagnetic-wave propagation, fibre and integrated optics, lasers and optoelectronic devices, optical transmission systems, optical networks, wireless communications, mobile IP, wireless multimedia, DWDM networks, QoS assurance protocols, network design and optimization, ad-hoc and PCS wireless networks, network security, and high-speed transmission protocols.

Interdisciplinary Opportunities

In keeping with the established tradition of research at UT Dallas, the Telecommunications Engineering Program encourages students to interact with researchers in the strong basic sciences and mathematics. Cross-disciplinary collaborations have been established with faculty across various departments and schools (e.g. Management, Natural Sciences, Brain & Behavioral Science).

Graduates of the program seek positions such as Professor; Researcher and Consulting Engineer in the public and private sectors. TE graduates find employment in local, national, and international enterprises.