Electrical and Software Engineering

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis-based program

Program overview

​For students seeking to gain cutting-edge expertise in a particular area, the Electrical and Computer Engineering doctoral program will place you in a vibrant community of researchers who are focused on finding practical solutions to real-world problems. The PhD is a research-based degree that usually takes three to four years of full-time study following a master's degree, or five to six years following a bachelor's degree. Successful students go on to work in high-tech companies in positions such as senior research and development engineer, senior system/network architect, senior system designer, senior system engineer, senior application engineer, senior application developer and senior software architect. They can also work in academia as an assistant professor or instructor.

Completing this program

  • Courses: Topics may include virtual environments, data mining, intelligent control, VLSI and SOC, multidimensional signal processing and more.
  • Professional Development Courses: Students take two professional development courses on communication styles, presentation skills and more.
  • Thesis: Students will be required to submit and defend an original research thesis.
  • Software Engineering Specialization: Topics may include modelling and measurement of software performance, advanced software testing and more.
  • Candidacy: Students will complete both oral and written candidacy exams.

Specializations

Outcomes

Electrical energy, electronics, control, and instrumentation, telecommunications, information and communications technology, computer, software, oil and gas, medical, biomedical, automotive.

A PhD in electrical and computer engineering is usually considered a final degree.

Thesis-based program

Students are required to prepare a thesis and successfully defend in an open oral defense.

Classroom delivery

Time commitment

Expected completion time is 4 years; six years maximum; part-time available

Supervisor

A supervisor is required, but is not required prior to the start of the program

Fees and funding

See the Graduate Calendar for information on fees and fee regulations, and for information on awards and financial assistance.

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Supervisors

Learn about faculty available to supervise this degree.
Please note: additional supervisors may be available. Contact the program for more information.


  1. Placeholder Profile Image

    Abu Sesay

    Accepting Inquiries
    Digital Communications, Wireless Communications and Signal Processing
  2. Mike Smith

    Mike Smith

    Seeking Students
  3. Photo of Ben

    Benjamin Tan

    Accepting Inquiries
    Hardware for Security, Security of Hardware, Embedded Systems
  4. Assistant Professor

    Gias Uddin

    Accepting Inquiries
    AI4SE: AI for Software Engineering, SE4AI: Software Engineering for Machine Learning Application
  5. Yingxu Wang

    Yingxu Wang

    Seeking Students
    Basic Studies in Emerging Sciences and Denotational Mathematics, Cognitive Robotics (CRs), Cognitive Informatics and Cognitive Computers, Deep Machine Learning and Cognitive Knowledge Learning, Denotational Mathematics for AI, Abstract Intelligence (aI), Computational Intelligence (CI), and Brain Informatics (BI), Big Data Algebra (BDA) for Data Science and Engineering Data Analytics, Brain Science: Formal Theories and Brain-Inspired Systems, Intelligence Science: Formal Theories and Cognitive Systems, Software Science: Theoretical Foundations of Software Engineering
  6. Huaqing Wu

    Huaqing Wu

    Seeking Students
    B5G/6G, edge computing/caching, space-air-ground integrated networks, Internet of vehicles, and artificial intelligence (AI) for future networking
  7. Svetlana Yanushkevich

    Svetlana Yanushkevich

    Accepting Inquiries
    biometric technologies, data analysis and pattern recognition, biometric system design, computational intelligence, image processing
  8. Dr. Qiang John Ye

    Qiang John Ye

    Seeking Students
    5G/6G wireless communication and networking, network slicing, SDN/NFV, AI-assisted network design, edge computing, autonomous vehicular networks, and networking protocols.

Admission Requirements


GPA

A minimum of 3.5 GPA on a 4.0 point system.

Minimum education

MSc degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or software engineering.

Work samples

None

Documents

None

Reference letters

Two

Test scores

None


English language proficiency (ELP)

An applicant whose primary language is not English may fulfill the English language proficiency requirement in one of the following ways:

*Please contact your program of interest if you have any questions about ELP requirements.

Deadlines

For admission on September 1:

  • Canadians and permanent residents: Jan. 31 application deadline
  • International students: Jan. 31 application deadline

For admission on January 1:

  • Canadians and permanent residents: Apr. 30 application deadline
  • International students: Apr. 30 application deadline

If you're not a Canadian or permanent resident, or if you have international credentials, make sure to learn about international requirements

Learn more about this program

Department of Electrical and Software Engineering

ICT (Information and Communications Technology) 402
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, AB T2N 1N4
403.220.7596

Contact the Graduate Program Administrator

Visit the departmental website

Schulich School of Engineering

University of Calgary
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, AB T2N 1N4

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