Ph.D. degree requirements

Department of Electrical Engineering, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology.

The Ph.D. degree will be awarded to individuals who has completed the course requirements within the prescribed time frame and passed the Ph.D. qualifying examinations and dissertation oral defense.

Course requirements

The minimum course credits for the Ph.D. degree are 20. The completion of 6 thesis credits and Independent Study (I) ~ Independent Study (VI) is also required. See the Ph.D. curriculum for the selection of courses. Course credits obtained outside the Department of Electrical Engineering may be counted as course credits for the Ph.D. degree only if they are approved by the department chair.

Prescribed time frame

The current time frame is no less than two years and no more than seven years in totality registering in this Ph.D. program.

Ph.D. qualifying examinations

Passing the Ph.D. qualifying examinations gives a Ph.D. student the Ph.D. candidate standing. Please refer the details of examinations to the information of Ph.D. qualifying examinations.

Dissertation oral defense

Upon the approval of the supervising professor(s), a Ph.D. candidate who has completed the course requirements within the prescribed time frame and obtained 12 (twelve)academic accomplishment points including at least 1 (one) technical paper accepted for publication by a SCI listed journal is eligible to apply for a dissertation oral defense .

Academic accomplishment points

The academic accomplishment points can be earned according to the following

6 (six) points for each technical paper accepted for publication by a SCI listed journal. For a journal ranks within the top 10% of a subject category in Impact Factor according to the Journal Citation Reports, an accepted technical paper therein will be counted as 10 (ten) points.
3 (three) points for earning an international invention competition medal or an international competition medal listed in the first three places.
3 (three) points for each technical paper accepted for publication by an EI listed journal.
2 (two) points for each technical paper accepted for publication by an international conference included in IEEE Xplore.
2 (two) points for a work officially approved as a Taiwanese invention patent.

In the aforementioned technical papers, the following conditions must be met.

1. At least one of the Ph.D. student’s supervising professor(s) must be one of the authors.

2. The Ph.D. student must be the leading student author.

3. The first author must be either the Ph.D. student or one of the supervising professor(s).

4. The Ph.D. student must identify his/her affiliation as the Department of Electrical Engineering, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology.

5. The aforementioned technical papers are eligible to be counted as academic accomplishment points only upon supervising professor's approval.

6. The receiving dates of the aforementioned technical papers in the editorial office must be after the Ph.D. candidate's first enrollment in this program.

Special cases

Special cases not specified here may be submitted to the departmental committee of academic affairs for considerations by the Ph.D. student’s supervising professor(s).

The Information of Ph.D. qualifying examinations

1. Ph.D. qualifying examinations are normally held in the third week of March and October each year. The department will announce the exact dates and accept applications for examination one month prior to the examination.

2. Subjects of examinations are

Control and IC group: Intelligent Control, Digital Control Systems, Advanced System Theory and Digital Signal Processing.
Power and Information group: Advanced Power Electronics, Electric Power Quality, Vector Control of Electrical Machines, Power System Operation and Control.
Medical Devices group: Medical Instrumentation Design, Digital Image Processing, Designs of Biomedical Electronics.

3. Upon the approval of the supervising professor (or department chair if a supervising professor has not been selected), the examinee selects 3 (three) subjects from at least two groups listed above as his/her examination subjects. Once a selection is made, no modification is allowed without the approval of the departmental committee of academic affairs, while the sequence of examination subjects may be changed afterward at the will of the examinee.

4. The examinee is required to pass (obtaining 70 (seventy) points or higher out of 100 (one hundred)) in all 3 (three) subject examinations within 4 (four) years of registration in the Ph.D. program. Failing to do so forfeits the admission.