PhD Course Requirements
- All courses required for the degree must be completed within the first 12 months of program registration.
- At least two of the five courses must be outside the student’s major field and chosen from other research groups (in order to ensure breadth of knowledge).
- Undergraduate courses, TEP-prefixed courses, APS-prefixed courses, and courses intended for M.Eng. students only are not acceptable for Ph.D. degree credit.
- Number of Courses
- Students who enter the Ph.D. program after the completion of a Master’s degree are required to complete five approved technical graduate courses.
- In exceptional cases, students may request a course reduction of up to two graduate courses depending on their PhD research needs in relation to their studies at the Master's level. To qualify for this potential reduction, students must have a strong academic record and have completed additional graduate courses beyond the courses required for their Master's degree. Course reduction requests will be determined by the Associate Chair, Graduate Studies, in consultation with the PhD supervisor.
- Students who enter the Ph.D. program directly from a Bachelor’s degree will be required to complete eight approved technical graduate courses.
- Students who transfer from the M.A.Sc. to the Ph.D. program will be required to complete three to five approved technical graduate courses in addition to the five graduate technical courses completed while registered in the M.A.Sc. program. The number of required courses will be determined by the transfer evaluation committee.
- Students who enter the Ph.D. program after the completion of a Master’s degree are required to complete five approved technical graduate courses.
- Students in the Biomedical Collaborative program must:
- complete at least two ECE or JEB graduate courses for the degree.
- satisfy the requirements for both ECE and the Collaborative program.
- Ph.D. students may complete an optional emphasis in "Robotics and Mechatronics" or "Sustainable Energy" as part of their degree program. Students who complete an emphasis will receive a corresponding notation on their transcript. The detailed requirements for each emphasis are listed under the "Electrical and Computer Engineering: Electrical and Computer Engineering MASc, MEng, PhD Emphases" section of ECE's page in the SGS Calendar.
- Students may wish to review the policy on extra courses.