Our electrical engineering Ph.D. program prepares students for a career in academia, industry and national laboratories. The training offered in our program increases the breadth and depth of students’ electrical and computer engineering knowledge and helps them develop the specialized skills in areas including, but not limited to,biomedical engineering, human-computer interaction, wireless communication, integrated circuit design, cybersecurity, control system and robotics, sensor design, wearable electronics, image processing, Internet-of-Things, computer architecture, and medical instrumentation.
Our graduate programs are flexible,allowing the student to choose a wide variety of courses and research projects.Our students work with award-winning faculty to investigate cutting-edge research topics and pursue their career goals. During the academic year and summer, a large number of our graduate students receive financial aid in the form of teaching assistantships, research assistantships and scholarships. The ECE Industrial Advisory Board(IAB) is comprised of representatives in a wide range of companies, who actively offer internships and full-time positions to our students. Upon completion of their programs, many of our graduates move on to work in various positions including industry, academia and postdoc research fellowships at other institutions.During academic years, a large number of students work in the UNH Interoperability Laboratory and study computer communication.
Phone (603) 862-1357
Email: ece.dept@unh.edu
Our graduate programs are flexible allowing the student a wide choice of courses as well as research topics. We will prepare students for professional skills such as working collaboratively, scholarly writing, and technical presentation and publications. Our programs will provide the students the training needed to pursue a career both in industry and academia. The programs will increase the breadth and depth of the students’ electrical and computer engineering knowledge and help them develop the specialized skills in areas including but not limited to biomedical engineering, human-computer interaction, wireless communication, integrated circuit design, cybersecurity, control system and robotics, sensor design, wearable electronics, image processing, Internet-of-Things, computer architecture, and medical instrumentation. Students have internship opportunities such as UNH Interoperability Laboratory (IOL), Center of Coastal Mapping (CCOM), Institute for the study of Earth, Ocean, and Space (EOS), etc.
The degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) is conferred on qualified candidates who have passed the qualifying examination and candidacy examination in their field of study, who have completed an original investigation in this field and have embodied the results in an acceptable dissertation, and who have passed an oral examination in defense of the dissertation. The degree of Ph.D. is a research degree, and it is not given merely for the completion of course credits.
Students entering the Ph.D. program with a B.S. degree must successfully complete the following minimum program requirements:
Students with master's degrees in ECE or related fields may petition for full or partial waiver of the ECE coursework requirement. Students with M.S. degrees in ECE from UNH may also petition to waive the ECE 900 requirement. Dissertation research requirements include the nomination of the dissertation committee to supervise the student’s dissertation research, successful defense of the dissertation proposal, and successful completion of the dissertation defense. Detailed information about the Ph.D. program guidelines, and rules governing the qualifying examination and dissertation requirements, can be found on the ECE departmental website.
Applications must be completed by the following deadlines in order to be reviewed for admission:
Application fee: $65
Campus: Durham
New England Regional: No
Accelerated Masters Eligible: No
Students claiming in-state residency must also submit a Proof of Residence Form. This form is not required to complete your application, but you will need to submit it after you are offered admission or you will not be able to register for classes.
If you attended UNH or Granite State College (GSC) after September 1, 1991, and have indicated so on your online application, we will retrieve your transcript internally; this includes UNH-Durham, UNH-Manchester, UNH Non-Degree work and GSC.
If you did not attend UNH, or attended prior to September 1, 1991, then you must upload a copy (PDF) of your transcript in the application form. International transcripts must be translated into English.
If admitted, you must then request an official transcript be sent directly to our office from the Registrar's Office of each college/university attended. We accept transcripts both electronically and in hard copy:
Transcripts from all previous post-secondary institutions must be submitted and applicants must disclose any previous academic or disciplinary sanctions that resulted in their temporary or permanent separation from a previous post-secondary institution. If it is found that previous academic or disciplinary separations were not disclosed, applicants may face denial and admitted students may face dismissal from their academic program.
Recommendation letters submitted by relatives or friends, as well as letters older than one year, will not be accepted.
GRE General test scores are normally required, but UNH ECE alumni with a minimum GPA of 3.0 may request a waiver using our waiver process. Request official test scores to be sent directly to the Graduate School by the testing service. Test scores more than five years old are not acceptable. Student copies and photo copies of scores are not considered official. Our CEEB code is 3918.
Accelerated Master's applicants are not required to submit GRE test scores and will be waived after the application has been submitted by the Graduate School.
For general information about test scores required for admission into our programs please visit our Test Scores webpage.
Prepare a brief but careful statement regarding:
All applicants are encouraged to contact programs directly to discuss program-specific application questions.
Prospective international students are required to submit TOEFL, IELTS, or equivalent examination scores. English Language Exams may be waived if English is your first language. If you wish to request a waiver, then please visit our Test Scores webpage for more information.
