Advancing to Doctoral Candidacy

By advancing to doctoral candidacy, a graduate student will become an official PhD candidate at UT-Austin. This involves identifying a tentative research area and topic, and assembling a committee of faculty members who will evaluate the research, and eventually sign off on the dissertation, while also serving as a resource of complementary experts who will be available to provide advice and guidance throughout the PhD.

An ECE PhD student is expected to advance to doctoral candidacy within one year after attempting and/or attempting and/or completing 33 hours of coursework within the Graduate Program, excluding approved leaves of absence. Advancing to doctoral candidacy should be done as soon as a general research area and topic have been identified. You are not considered a PhD candidate until you have advanced to candidacy officially.

Advancing to doctoral candidacy consists of two major steps, forming an approved PhD committee, and completing individual candidacy evaluation meetings with each non-supervisory committee member, major steps which are delineated below in a sub-set of six steps.

Please note that you are expected to complete the six steps in order, and to advance to the next step only after you have satisfactorily completed all preceding steps.

Forming a Committee, Committee Announcement, Committee Approval

Your candidacy and PhD dissertation will be overseen by the same committee of faculty members. This committee will consist of five members, including your supervisor(s). At least three members must be on the ECE GSC, and ECE must be the home department of at least two of the three ECE GSC members. At least one member of your committee must be external, and not a member of the ECE GSC. The process of forming this committee and approval of the committee is comprised of several steps listed below, and can often take more than a month to complete.

Step 1 of 6:	With the assistance of your faculty supervisor, identify and contact potential committee members to ask for their general willingness to serve on your committee. Students should provide a 1 to 2 page abstract of the proposed research and an informal PhD Program of Work (list of coursework) when contacting potential members. Agreement to serve on your committee is the first step.
Step 2 of 6:	When you have tentative agreement from your proposed committee members, email your Track PhD Coordinator and request that your committee be announced to the ECE GSC, Graduate Studies Committee. Provide your full name, your EID, your academic track, a working title of your dissertation (this is not necessarily the final title), the full names of your committee members with labels identifying their roles (supervisor, co-supervisor, member, external member), and a Word or pdf copy of the external member's CV (Curriculum Vitae, or academic resume). You must wait two weeks after the announcement is made before proceeding to the next steps.
Step 3 of 6:	Your committee will be reviewed and approved by the ECE GSC on a no-protest basis over a period of 2 weeks. Please wait for confirmation of committee approval from the Graduate Advising Team before moving onto the Candidacy Evaluation process.

Candidacy Evaluation Meetings

Step 4 of 6:	Once your committee is formed and approved, reach out to each member of your committee to set up a time to meet individually with each one for approximately 30 minutes. A formal presentation is not required, although you might choose to use slides to provide context (e.g. figures) where needed. Committee members should communicate any special expectations or requirements they may have for the evaluation beforehand. Each candidacy evaluation should have the following suggested format:
10-15 min	Student provides a summary of proposed research directions, including a review of the student's research proposal and coursework.
10-15 min	A Q&A that covers how prepared the student is for candidacy, including suitability and feasibility of their proposed project.

ECE Candidacy Form Completion, Follow-Up Meetings

Step 5 of 6:

Each member of your committee will formally sign off on your readiness, the proposed research and whether they agree to serve on your committee via the ECE Candidacy Form HERE.

Committee members will indicate any significant concerns they may have about your ability to communicate, your preparation, readiness, or the proposed research, and they may request follow-up meetings to address such concerns. It is your responsibility to setup any such follow-up meetings if requested.

Confirmation, Applying Online for Admission to Doctoral Candidacy

Step 6 of 6:

You must wait for approval and for email instructions from the Graduate Advising Team before applying online for admission to doctoral candidacy.
If you receive notification that your ECE Candidacy Form has been signed and completed, but you do not receive instructions within a week, please email the Graduate Advising Team. Request instructions to apply for admission to doctoral candidacy, and attach a copy of the completed and signed ECE Candidacy Form.

Once you receive the instructions from the Graduate Advising Team, apply online for admission to doctoral candidacy within two weeks of receiving the instructions. Your application will be reviewed and approved electronically by your supervisor(s), the ECE Graduate Advisor, the chair of the ECE GSC (Graduate Studies Committee), a Doctoral Degree Evaluator in the Graduate School, and a Dean in the Graduate School. This process can take time, so be prepared to be patient. The Dean in the Graduate School has final approval of applications for admission to doctoral candidacy. Once the Dean approves your application, you are an official doctoral candidate.