B.M.S. PLAN I (THESIS) PROGRAM

I. MAJOR PROFESSOR SELECTION

The student must select a Major Professor from the members of the ECE Graduate Program as soon as possible, but no later than start of the third quarter of enrollment. In the case of a change in Major Professor, signatures of the previous and the new major professor are required acknowledging the change. The Vice Chair for Graduate Studies will serve as the interim advisor to the new students during the process of selecting a major professor.

II. COURSE WORK REQUIREMENTS

By the third quarter of enrollment, the student must file a Program of Study for the M.S. Plan I that must be routed through the ECE Graduate Program Coordinator for the ECE Graduate Advisor's approval.

Thirty-six (36) units of upper-division and graduate course work, and a minimum of three quarters of academic residence are required.

At least 15 units must be in graduate engineering courses (excluding 29X seminar series and 299) and of these 15 units, at least 12 units must be in graduate Electrical and Computer Engineering courses (again excluding 29X seminar series and 299).

The balance of the 36-unit requirement may be met with a combination of upper division technical elective courses and EEC29X and 299. No more than three units of EEC29X can be counted. A student should register for the amount of EEC299 research and independent study that reflects the actual effort and time devoted to thesis work, although no more than nine units can be counted. Courses required for the ECE undergraduate degree or the following courses: EEC100, EEC110A/B, EEC130A/B, EEC140A/B, EEC150A/B, EEC170, EEC172, and EEC180A/B may not be used to satisfy the requirements of the ECE MS degree.

All graduate students are required to take EEC290, the ECE Graduate Seminar, each Fall quarter.

Students should note that departmental requirements are more stringent than those set by the College of Engineering. These departmental requirements, therefore, take precedence.

Program of Study for M.S. Plan I 

III. THESIS REQUIREMENT

The M.S. thesis must demonstrate the student's proficiency in research methods and scientific analysis, and a thorough knowledge of the state-of-the-art of the student’s chosen field. Original contributions to knowledge are encouraged, but not expected, at the M.S. degree level. Thus, an M.S. thesis may consist of:               1. An original technical or research contribution of limited scope.

               2. A critical evaluation of the state-of-the-art of a current research area.

               3. An advanced design project, either analytical or experimental.

Well before completion of the thesis work, the student, together with the Major Professor, should select two thesis readers to be on the Thesis Committee, the Chair of which is the Major Professor.
Thesis Committee Form

IV. ADVANCEMENT TO CANDIDACY

Every student must file an official application for Advancement to Candidacy during the quarter when all the non-thesis requirements will be completed. The application must be routed through the ECE Graduate Program Coordinator for the ECE Graduate Advisor's approval and then must be filed with Graduate Studies.

At advancing to candidacy the student will declare a MS dissertation reading committee. The ECE Graduate Advisor will appoint the committee. This committee is chaired by the Major Professor and made up of at least two other members. The majority of this committee must be members of the ECE graduate program. The responsibility of this committee is to assist in the guidance of the MS, Plan I, student, and to read and approve the thesis. The thesis must be prepared in accordance with Graduate Studies guidelines. Three copies of the thesis with the signed signature page are required.

M.S. Advancement to Candidacy Form

V.  SUBMITTING THESIS TO GRADUATE STUDIES

See the Graduate Studies website for updated information, forms and format requirements for submitting your thesis at: http://gradstudies.ucdavis.edu/students/degree_candidates.html

 

C.M.S. PLAN II (COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION) PROGRAM

I. MAJOR PROFESSOR SELECTION

The student must select a Major Professor from the members of the ECE Graduate Program as soon as possible, but no later than start of the third quarter of enrollment. In the case of a change in Major Professor, signatures of the previous and new major professor are required acknowledging the change. The Vice Chair for Graduate Studies will serve as the interim advisor to the new students during the process of selecting a major professor.

II. COURSE WORK REQUIREMENTS

By the third quarter of enrollment the student must file a Program of Study for the M.S., Plan II that must be routed through the ECE Graduate Program Coordinator for the ECE Graduate Advisor's approval.

Thirty-six (36) units of upper-division and graduate course work, and a minimum of three quarters of academic residence are required.

At least 24 units must be in 200 series courses (excluding 29X seminar series and 299) with a minimum of 18 units in graduate engineering courses of which at least 15 units must be in graduate Electrical and Computer Engineering courses.

A student who elects Plan II can register for EEC299, research and independent study, and should do so while preparing for the Comprehensive Examination. The number of EEC299 units taken should reflect the amount of time and effort devoted to the project. However, only three units of EEC299 and one unit of EEC29X can be applied toward the 36-unit requirement. EEC299 and EEC29X units may not be applied toward the 24 unit graduate course requirement. Courses required for the ECE undergraduate degree of the following courses: EEC100, EEC110A/B, EEC130A/B, EEC140A/B, EEC150A/B, EEC170, EEC172, and EEC180A/B may not be used to satisfy the requirements of the ECE MS degree.

All graduate students are required to take EEC290, The ECE Graduate Seminar, each Fall quarter.

Students should note that departmental requirements are more stringent than those set by the College of Engineering. These departmental requirements, therefore, take precedence.

Program of Study for M.S. Plan II Form

III. ADVANCEMENT TO CANDIDACY

The candidate must file for Advancement to Candidacy during the quarter when all the coursework requirements will be completed. The application must be routed through the ECE Graduate Program Coordinator for the ECE Graduate Advisor's approval and then must be filed with Graduate Studies.

M.S. Advancement to Candidacy Form

IV. COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTS

After advancing to candidacy the student will declare a MS Comprehensive Examination committee. The ECE Graduate Advisor will appoint the committee. This committee is chaired by the Major Professor and made up of at least two other members. The majority of this committee must be members of the ECE graduate program. The responsibility of this committee is to assist in the guidance of the student and to give the comprehensive exam and approve the final report.

The purpose of the exam is to demonstrate the student's ability to initiate and carry to completion a short engineering investigation. The examination has two parts: an oral presentation and a written report.

The oral presentation consists of a seminar attended by the Comprehensive Examination Committee. After a formal talk on the subject of the investigation, the Committee questions the student on that subject and on related topics.

The topic of the written report is chosen by the Major Professor in consultation with the student. It can be a literature search, an in-depth study of a particular topic, or a brief experimental investigation. The written report is a concise, written report that follows the style of an IEEE paper. The examination can be taken at any time but usually takes place during the last quarter of residence. After passing the examination a copy of the MS Plan II Report must be turned in to the ECE Graduate Program Coordinator.

With the advance endorsement of the student's Major Professor and the ECE Graduate Adviser, a student may request permission from his or her PhD Qualifying Exam Committee to combine the comprehensive exam for the MS Plan II degree with the PhD qualifying exam. The PhD Qualifying Exam Committee will only approve such requests provided that the MS requirements are met as a subset of a successful PhD Qualifying Examination as determined by the PhD Qualifying Exam Committee. With the permission of the PhD Qualifying Exam Committee, a student may submit a version of the PhD research proposal in fulfillment of the MS Plan II written report requirement. The MS Plan II report must be considered separately from the student's PhD research proposal; however, the PhD research proposal may contain text from the MS written report.

Comprehensive Exam Committee Form

Qualifying Exam for Comprehensive Exam Agreement Form --for Ph.D. Student only

D.  M.S.  INTEGRATED DEGREE PROGRAM

Graduate Students in the Integrated Degree Program are admitted in their junior year at UC Davis.  Upon admission they will complete two graduate level courses concurrently with their undergraduate education.  As graduate masters level students, their programs of study will vary slightly from that of a typical M.S. degree.

M.S. REQUIREMENTS

I.  IDP M.S. Plan I-Thesis

Requires 30 units of coursework at the upper division and graduate levels and the submission of a thesis. At least 12 of the 30 units must be ECE graduate courses, at most 9 units can be research (299), at most 3 units can be seminar (290-297, excluding 290C), and the remaining units required to total 30 units must either be upper division technical or graduate courses. M.S. Plan I-Program of Study Form

II.  IDP M.S. Plan II-Comprehensive Exam

Requires 36 units of coursework at the upper division and graduate levels and satisfactory performance on a comprehensive final examination. At least 18 of the 36 units must be graduate engineering courses of which 15 units must be ECE graduate courses. Furthermore, at most 6 units can be research (299), at most 3 units can be seminar (290-297, excluding 290C), and the remaining units required to total 36 units must either be upper division technical or graduate courses.

M.S. Plan II-Program of Study Form

E. RESIDENCE AND SCHOLARSHIP

I.  ACADEMIC RESIDENCE REQUIREMENT

Candidates for the M.S. degree must be in academic residence for the equivalent of at least three academic quarters. A student is in academic residence when enrolled in at least four units of graduate or approved upper division courses, including research. All full-time students must be registered for 12 units each quarter. Two regular six-week summer sessions may be counted as the equivalent of one quarter, provided that full registration is maintained in this period. Arrangements can be made to satisfy part of a residence requirement by study on another campus of the University of California. Students interested in pursuing this option should contact the Graduate Advisor.

II. TRANSFER CREDIT

Though ordinarily all work for the M.S. degree is done in residence, some work completed elsewhere may be credited toward the degree. The normal limit for such transfer work is six units from another institution or up to one-half of the unit requirement from another campus of the University, provided that the units were not used to satisfy the requirements for another degree. Requests for transfer credit must be submitted in writing to the Graduate Advisor, and must be accompanied by an official transcript if the courses in question were taken from University Extension or from any campus other than the University of California, Davis. The following regulations apply specifically to the transfer of units toward M.S. degree requirements.

• a. Units of work completed at institutions other than the University of California may not be used to reduce the minimum residence requirement or the minimum Department requirement in the 200-series courses taken at the University.
• b.  Students who have been accepted into a double major program may transfer up to 12 units from one program to another with the approval of the ECE Graduate Advisor and Graduate Studies provided that the units were not used to satisfy the requirements for the other degree.
• c.  As many as six units of graduate work taken by a student in undergraduate status may be credited towards a graduate degree program provided the credit was not used in satisfaction of the unit or any other requirements for the bachelor's degree. This rule does not apply to excess undergraduate units.
• d.  A maximum of 12 units of graduate courses taken under concurrent status through University Extension at the University of California, Davis can be transferred to the graduate record.

III. SATISFACTORY AND UNSATISFACTORY GRADING OPTIONS

Students working toward an M.S. degree are not permitted to take any courses, normally offered for a grade, on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis.

IV. Standards and Scholarship

a.  Only courses in the 100 and 200 series in which the student receives grades of "A", "B", or "S" may be counted in satisfaction of the requirements for the M.S. degree. A course in which a student receives a "C+" or lower cannot be used to satisfy the unit requirement for the M.S. degree but will count in determining the grade point average.

b.  Candidates must maintain a grade point average of at least 3.0 in all upper division and graduate courses taken during their residence as graduate students at the University of California.

c.  Courses graded "S/U" will not be counted in determining grade point averages.

V. REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS NOT HOLDING AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEGREE

Students with a background other than electrical or computer engineering will meet with the ECE Graduate Advisor during their first quarter of residence to determine the required sequence of remedial courses. Students must demonstrate competency by completing the remedial course requirements, obtaining a grade of B or better in six of the courses listed below or their equivalents. The six courses must be selected from at least three of the six areas listed.

• Active and Passive Circuits:
  
  • EEC110A Electronic Circuits I
  • EEC110B Electronic Circuits II
•  Electromagnetics:
  • EEC130A Introductory Electromagnetics I
  • EEC130B Introductory Electromagnetics II
    
    
•  Physical Electronics:
  • EEC140A Principles of Device Physics I
    EEC140B Principles of Device Physics II
    
    
• Signal and Systems:
  • EEC150A Introduction to Signals and Systems I
  • EEC150B Introduction to Signals and Systems II
    
    
•             Computer Systems and Software:
  
  • ECS30 Introduction to Programming and Problem Solving
  • ECS40 Introduction to Software Development
    
  • EEC70 Computer Structure and Assembly
    
    
•              Digital Systems:
  • EEC170 Introduction to Computer Architecture
    
  • EEC180A Digital Systems I
    EEC180B Digital Systems II

None of these courses can be counted toward an ECE graduate degree.

 

F. M.S. DEGREE TIMELINE

In order to make satisfactory progress, the expectation is that full-time students in the MS program will follow the timeline below. The number is the consecutive quarter of enrollment.

 

	MS Plan I	MS Plan II
Select Faculty Research Advisor	2	2
Application for candidacy which includes a plan of study	3	3
Application Form for Master of Science Plan I Thesis Committee	3	NA
Application Form for Master of Science Plan II Comprehensive Examination	NA	3
Plan I Thesis	6	NA
Plan II Comprehensive Examination	NA	5