PhD in Electronics and Communication Engineering

PhD in Electronics and Communication Engineering

The PhD programme in Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) is a research-based programme. The research can be in any of the broad areas in ECE. The core strength of the institute is currently in the following core areas: signal/speech /image processing, VLSI and embedded systems, robotics, and communications. The mian emphasis of this programme is on a thesis. Work towards the thesis requires a good understanding the state of art in an area, problem formulation, original contributions based on analysis with sufficient mathematical rigour and validation. The research is expected to be of sufficient quality to be publishable in leading international journals and top conferences pertaining to an area of research.

This programme has a limited amount of course work that can be completed in one year. The course work is aimed at providing a student with sufficient breadth and to carry out research. The main emphasis is on the research work leading to a thesis. Typically students decide on their research area and faculty advisor within the first year while doing course work. Thereafter, the steps involved are: finishing course work (to build research background and breadth), clearing a set of qualifiers, proposal defense, and thesis defense. The PhD qualifiers are a combination of coursework and comprehensive exams.

It is a research programme with emphasis on the dissertation work. To ensure the necessary depth and breadth in the area chosen for research, students are required to do course work and clear the qualifiers. Typically students plan their PhD study based on their background and in consultation with their program chair. Upon clearing the requirements and the acceptance of their research proposal, the student works on the thesis, and its successful defense leads to the degree.
For the course component, there are (a) depth and (b) breadth requirements, and the student need to satisfy BOTH. The recommendations may differ from student to student since the students come from a varying backgrounds, for example MSc (Maths/statistics, Physics/Chemistry/Biology and their interfaces, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics) and BTech (CSE, Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, other Engg. branches).

Typical duration varies between 4-6 years.