The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Telecommunications and Networking prepares students for independently engaging in advanced research, leading to research laboratory or teaching positions. Universities and research laboratories around the world have found their leaders in our Ph.D. program. Alumni are faculty at major colleges and universities (e.g., University of Colorado, Northeastern University, Molde College (Norway), King Mongkut’s University of Technology (Thailand), University of South Florida) and senior researchers at various corporate and government laboratories (e.g., Qualcomm, Juniper, National Electronics and Computer Technology Center of Thailand). To earn a Ph.D. degree, a student must demonstrate breadth of knowledge, give evidence of superior scholarship and mastery of a specialized field, and must demonstrate his/her ability to do significant and relevant research. The student must conceive, write and defend a Ph.D. dissertation representing an original contribution to current academic research as demonstrated by a public dissertation defense and publication in established peer-reviewed conferences and/or journals. Major milestones en-route to the Ph.D. degree are the preliminary examination, the comprehensive examination, the dissertation proposal, and the dissertation defense.

The preliminary examination consists of two parts: (1) completion of five core courses with minimum grade requirements and (2) successful completion of an oral examination. The four core courses are: TELCOM 2321: Wide Area Networks, TELCOM 2710: Foundations of Wireless Communications, TELECOM 2030: Mathematical Foundations for Telecommunications; TELCOM 2130: Queuing Theory; and IE 2001: Operations Research. The student can have at most one B+ in the five core courses. All other grades must be A- or higher. The average grade in the five courses must be at  A- or higher. If the student fails to achieve the required grades, the core courses cannot be taken again and the Ph.D. candidacy will be terminated. Students are REQUIRED to complete the five core courses in not more than 4 semesters from the start (including summer). Exceptions are not allowed for full-time students unless a core course is not offered during the four semesters after the student’s matriculation. Exceptions may be made for part-time Ph.D. students in consultation with their advisors.

The oral exam will be offered once a year in the Spring semester. The student must notify the Telecommunications and Networking Program Ph.D. Czar that he/she intends to take the oral exam at the beginning of the Spring semester of interest. The date and time of the oral exam will be communicated to the student by the Ph.D. Czar. The oral exam is intended to test a student’s ability to solve an open-ended question. This exam consists of different types of questions such as case study evaluations, problems with no single "right' answer, or a  published paper to be read and critiqued. The exam will be handed to the students two days prior to the oral examination. The students will have two days to prepare and will answer the question in an oral presentation, lasting 20 minutes, before a group of   Telecommunications and Networking Program faculty members. The oral component is graded out of 20 points and a student must obtain at least 16 points to pass this component. Two tries are allowed for the oral component.  A student has to pass the oral exam at the earliest opportunity (within the first four semesters) and should not wait until completion of the four core courses to attempt the oral exam. A student will have successfully satisfied requirements for the preliminary exam after passing the oral exam and completing the core courses as required.

A student who successfully passes the preliminary examination becomes a candidate in the Doctoral Program in Telecommunications and Networking. The student must now prepare for the comprehensive examination. Prior to the comprehensive examination a student must complete most of the graduate course and seminar requirements. This includes: the required courses (or their equivalent) for the MST degree at the University of Pittsburgh, the 6-credit advanced statistics/probability and research design course requirement, the 6-credit minor requirement, and 9 credits in doctoral level seminars in relevant topics.

For the comprehensive examination the student is required to write a "state-of- the-art" tutorial paper that provides a comprehensive literature survey, critique and explanation of the topic considered in the paper. This paper must be submitted to the Telecommunications and Networking Program Committee (TPC) two weeks prior to the scheduled oral examination date. The oral part of the exam is directed primarily at the contents of the "state-of-the-art" paper, but questions in a larger context about the various relationships among the principal components of telecommunications and networking may also be asked. In most cases the paper also provides the background from which the student’s dissertation research begins. Students are encouraged to perform additional work on the "state-of-the-art" paper and submit it to a peer reviewed publication. In some cases, a student may wish to enlarge the "state-of-the-art" paper and submit it as a dissertation proposal. The comprehensive examination is a one-hour oral examination. Its primary function is to assess the student’s ability to: (1) synthesize the theory, the research, and the important contributions which have shaped the field; (2) apply research methodologies to telecommunications topics; and (3) show the inter-relationships among the structural components of the field and how research advances our understanding of these relationships.

After successfully completing the comprehensive examination, the student works with a faculty advisor to prepare a dissertation proposal and form a dissertation committee. The dissertation proposal must be approved by the student’s dissertation committee. Successful completion of the comprehensive examination and approval of the dissertation proposal permit the student’s academic advisor to recommend the student for doctoral candidacy. Normally a student will begin to register for dissertation credits after being admitted to doctoral candidacy. A minimum of 18 dissertation credits is required. To be eligible for the dissertation defense the student must complete the residency requirement (three terms of full-time study of which two terms must be consecutive). The final defense of the dissertation is a public session announced in University-wide media. The dissertation must be unanimously approved by the dissertation committee. Also, all Ph.D. students are required to submit an article of publishable quality to a journal before the degree is awarded.

The Telecommunications and Networking Ph.D. program requires a minimum of 48 credits beyond a Masters degree.  Exceptional students with a technical Bachelor’s degree may be admitted on occasion and in such cases, a minimum of 72 credits beyond the baccalaureate degree is required. These credits must include 6 credits of minor courses, 9 credits of doctoral level seminars in relevant topics and 18 credits of dissertation research and writing. Graduation depends upon meeting the minimum credit requirements and all other requirements.

Graduate degrees are conferred only on those students who have completed all courses required for the degree with at least a 3.3 QPA. Grades of C or lower are unacceptable for graduation credit.

All students who are candidates for doctoral degrees are governed by the regulations of the University Council on Graduate Study, which establishes minimum standards for graduate work throughout the University as well as by those regulations established by the SIS faculty.

For futher information, please use the PhD in TELE Guide: PDF