September 2007                                                                                                                          Memorandum 3805

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Graduate Office, Room 38-444

THE TECHNICAL QUALIFYING EXAMINATION

The first component of the General Examination for the doctorate is the Technical Qualifying Examination (TQE).  The purpose of this examination is to assure that students in the doctoral program have the technical background that will enable them to carry out their research effectively.  The examination is not intended to rank order students or to eliminate them from the program.  This memorandum describes the procedures and schedule to be followed in the academic year 2007-2008 by new students in the doctoral program.

A student completes the TQE by demonstrating competence in four technical topic areas, each of which is associated with a specific subject offered by the Department.  Basic topic areas are associated with undergraduate subjects; advanced topic areas are associated with graduate subjects.  Competence in basic topic areas is demonstrated by performance on a written examination given at the end of the spring term.  Competence in an advanced topic area is demonstrated by performance in the corresponding graduate subject.

Each student, in consultation with the Graduate Counselor, chooses the four topic areas that will constitute the TQE, subject to a set of constraints that depend on the student's research area.  The constraints on selection of topic areas are explicitly listed at the end of this memorandum together with the list of approved topic areas.  Students with an unusual educational background may petition for the substitution of an equivalent advanced subject for one of the approved advanced subjects.  Please note that some graduate subjects are not offered every year and your plan should take this into account.

Each new graduate student must submit a plan for completing the TQE.   Forms are included with this memorandum and are available online at http://www.eecs.mit.edu/grad/TQEform.html for students in Areas I, III, IV, V or VII.  Students in Area II should submit a TQE plan using the form at https://projects.csail.mit.edu/area2/students/.  New students who expect to leave after completing an S.M. degree should also use this form to state their intentions.  The form must be submitted to the Graduate Office before the end of the first week of the spring term. 

Each written examination is two hours in length and all written examinations will be taken in a single afternoon on Wednesday, May 28, 2008.  Arrangements to take the examinations at another time will be made only in unusual situations.  Examinations are graded as Satisfactory, Marginal or Unsatisfactory.  Examples of previous examination questions are available in the Graduate Office.

Earning the grade of A+, A or A- in an advanced subject is regarded as satisfactory performance in that topic area.  The grade of B+, B, or B- is usually interpreted as marginal performance and a grade of C+ or lower is unsatisfactory.  When the student has completed the four topic areas that were specified in the student's plan, the Committee on Graduate Students will determine if the overall performance is satisfactory.  Satisfactory performance in all four areas or satisfactory performance in three areas and marginal performance in the fourth area constitutes overall satisfactory performance at this stage.

If the overall performance is judged to be unsatisfactory, the student will need to supply further evidence of competence in all of the topic areas where performance was marginal or unsatisfactory.  This evidence normally takes the form of an oral examination in the following term.  Students whose only deficiency was unsatisfactory performance in a single written examination may petition to substitute performance in a related advanced subject for the oral examination. 

The oral examination is conducted by a committee of two faculty members and focuses on material from all of the topic areas in which performance was marginal or unsatisfactory.  The committee reports its conclusions to the Committee on Graduate Students.  If performance on the oral examination is judged to be unsatisfactory, the Committee on Graduate Students will ask the student’s Area Chair to consult with the oral examination committee, the student’s Graduate Counselor and research supervisor.  The Area Chair will advise the student on steps to take before having a second oral examination.  If performance in the second oral examination is not satisfactory, the Committee on Graduate Students will normally require that the student leave the doctoral program.

Students who have not satisfactorily completed the TQE by the end of the fourth regular term may continue in the doctoral program only with the explicit approval of the Committee on Graduate Students.

The normal schedule for completing the TQE is summarized below:

Fall term (Sept. 2007):

Prepare plan for TQE.

Take one or more advanced subjects to satisfy TQE.

End of fall term:

Submit TQE plan by end of IAP

Spring term (Feb. 2008):

Take additional advanced subjects.  Students should have completed at least one advanced subject by the end of the spring term and most will have completed more.  TQE written examinations will be held on Wednesday, May 28, 2008.

Fall term (Sept. 2008):

Students who have completed all four topics and whose overall performance is not satisfactory will take an oral examination or otherwise provide evidence of competence.   Students should complete all of their advanced subjects by the end of the fall term.

IAP (Jan. 2009) or spring term (Feb. 2009):

Students who have completed all four topics and whose overall performance is not satisfactory will take an oral examination or otherwise provide evidence of competence.

End of fourth regular term:

Students who have not completed the TQE can continue in the doctoral program only with the explicit permission of the Committee on Graduate Students.

Constraints on selection of topic areas:

Area II (see detailed list of topic areas):

The topic areas are arranged in three groups:  Systems, Theory, and Artificial Intelligence.  Each group contains three advanced topic areas.  Students in Area II must choose one topic area from each group; the fourth topic area may be in any group.  There are no basic topic areas in Area II; students will normally take four graduate subjects to complete the TQE. Some advanced subjects are listed as alternatives and a student may choose only one from the list.  For example, 6.840 and 6.875 are alternative ways to satisfy the advanced topic area of complexity and a student may choose only one of these.

An Area II student may change the TQE plan at any time up until Drop Date of the fourth regular term.  The change is made by submitting a new form to the Graduate Office.

Areas I, III, IV, V, VII  (see detailed list of topic areas):

Each student must choose two basic topic areas and will be expected to take two written examinations in May 2008.  Each student must also choose two advanced topic areas and take the corresponding advanced graduate subjects.  Some advanced topic areas are listed as alternatives and a student may choose only one, i.e. a student may not choose both 6.631 and 6.632.

A student may change the choice of topic area by filing a new plan with the Graduate Office.  Basic topic areas may be changed up until one week before the written examination.  Advanced topic areas may be changed prior to Drop Date of the fourth regular term; after that date, a petition to the Committee on Graduate Students is required.

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

January 2008

PLAN FOR COMPLETING THE TECHNICAL QUALIFYING EXAMINATION IN AREA II

Name__________________________________________________ MIT ID #: _______________________________

Date submitted___________________________________ e-mail address___________________________________

If you do not intend to continue for the doctorate, please check here, sign and return the form_____

Please check here if this is a new version of a previously submitted plan _____

Circle four subject numbers in the table below.  (The names of the subjects are on the reverse side of this form.)  You must choose one subject from each group.  The fourth subject can be in any group.  Do not circle more than one subject in any cell.  If you have already received a grade in the subject, enter the grade in the cell.  Please enter the term in which you took or will take the subject in the cell (e.g. FT07 is the term starting in September 2007, ST08 is the term starting in February 2008).  Prior to Drop Date of Spring Term 2009, changes in your choices may be made by submitting a new version of this form; after that date, a petition to the Committee on Graduate Students is required.  

*6.839 may be chosen as a second subject in Artificial Intelligence but not as the only subject in Group III.

THIS FORM SHOULD BE SUBMITTED ON THE WEBSITE (above and linked here) BY FEBRUARY 8, 2008.

YOUR SIGNATURE: ____________________________________________________________________________

GRADUATE COUNSELOR’S SIGNATURE ________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________

For Graduate Office use only:

Status:     app          oral          subj _____              TA _____               comp       left

Letters:    T1, 1a      T2           T3           T4           T5, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e              T6           T7           T8, 8a, 8b

Committee:  _____________________________________________________________________________________

GROUP I:  SYSTEMS

Programming Languages:                6.821       Programming Languages (FT)

                                                                                                or

6.827       Multithreaded Parallelisms:  Languages and Compilers (FT; not offered 2007-2008)

Systems Software:                              6.824       Distributed Computer Systems Engineering (ST)

                                                                                                or

                                                                6.829       Computer Networks (ST)

                                                                                                or

                                                                6.830       Database Systems (FT)

GROUP II:  THEORY

Complexity:                                           6.840       Theory of Computation (FT)

                                                                                                or

                                                                6.875       Cryptography and Cryptanalysis (ST)

Algorithms:                                            6.852       Distributed Algorithms (FT; not offered 2008-2009)

                                                                6.854       Advanced Algorithms (FT)

                                                                                                or            

GROUP III:   ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Robotics/ Vision                                  6.345       Automatic Speech Recognition (ST; not offered 2007-2008)

                                                                                                or

6.863       Natural Language & Computer Representation of Knowledge (ST)

                                                                                                or                                                            

                                                                6.864       Advanced Natural Language Processing (FT)

                                                                                                or

                                                                6.866       Machine Vision (FT)

                                                                                                or

                                                                6.869       Advances in Computer Vision (ST)

Learning/Language                            6.825       Techniques in Artificial Intelligence (FT; not offered 2007-2008)

                                                                                                or

 (print version of TQE form)

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

January 2008

PLAN FOR COMPLETING THE TECHNICAL QUALIFYING EXAMINATION IN AREAS I, III, IV, V, VII

Name _________________________________________________ MIT ID #: _______________________________

Date submitted _______________________ e-mail _____________________________ Area __________________

If you do not intend to continue for the doctorate,

 please check here, sign and return the form_____

Circle two subject numbers in the table of basic topic areas below.   (The names of the subjects are on the reverse side of this form.)  These subjects will be the basis for the written examinations that you will take on May 28, 2008.  The choice of basic topic areas may  be changed up until May 21, 2008 by submitting a new plan.

Circle two subject numbers from the list of advanced topic areas below.  Do not circle more than one subject in any cell.  If you have already received a grade in the subject, enter the grade in the cell.  Please enter the term in which you took or will take the subject in the cell (e.g. FT07 is the term starting in September 2007, ST08 is the term starting in February 2008).  Prior to Drop Date of Spring Term 2009, changes in your choices may be made by submitting a new version of this form; after that date, a petition to the Committee on Graduate Students is required.

THIS FORM IS DUE IN THE GRADUATE OFFICE, 38-444, BY FEBRUARY 8, 2008.

YOUR SIGNATURE: _____________________________________________________________________________

GRADUATE COUNSELOR’S SIGNATURE_________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________

For Graduate Office use only:

Status:     app          oral          subj _____              TA _____               comp       del

Letters:    T1, 1a      T2           T3           T4           T5, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e              T6           T7           T8, 8a, 8b

Committee:  _____________________________________________________________________________________

For students in Areas I, III, IV, V, VII

Basic Topic Areas

                                6.002                       Circuits and Electronics

                                6.003                       Signals and Systems

                                6.012                       Microelectronic Devices and Circuits

                                6.013                       Electromagnetics and Applications

                                6.041                       Probabilistic Systems Analysis

Advanced Topic Areas

                                6.241                       Dynamic Systems and Control (FT)

                                6.251*                     Introduction to Mathematical Programming (FT)

                                6.255*                     Optimization Methods (FT)

                                6.262                       Discrete Stochastic Processes (ST)

                                6.334                       Power Electronics (ST)

                                6.336                       Introduction to Numerical Simulation (FT)

                                6.341**                   Discrete-Time Signal Processing (FT)

                                6.374                       Analysis and Design of Digital Integrated Circuits (FT)

                                6.376****               Low Power Analog VLSI (FT)

                                6.437***                 Inference and Information (ST

                                6.438***                 Algorithms for Estimation and Inference(ST)

                                6.450                       Principles of Digital Communication I (FT)

                                6.521                       Quantitative Physiology:  Cells and Tissues (FT)

                                6.522                       Quantitative Physiology:  Organ Transport Systems (ST)

                                6.551                       Acoustics of Speech and Hearing (FT)                  

6.555**                   Biomedical Signal and Image Processing (ST)

                                6.561                       Fields, Forces, and Flows in Biological Systems (FT)

                                6.630                       Electromagnetics (FT)

                                6.631*****             Optics and Photonics (FT)

                                6.632*****             Electromagnetic Wave Theory (ST)

                                6.641                       Electromagnetic Fields, Forces and Motion (ST)

                                6.720                       Integrated Microelectronic Devices (ST)

                                6.728******           Applied Quantum and Statistical Physics (FT)

                                6.730******           Physics for Solid-State Applications (ST)

                                6.775*** *              CMOS Analog and Mixed-Signal Circuit Design (ST)

                                6.777                       Design and Fabrication of MEMS (ST)

                                6.823                       Computer System Architecture (FT)

                                                *              You may not choose both 6.251 and 6.255                                           

                **            You may not choose both 6.341 and 6.555

                ***          You may not choose both 6.437 and 6.438

                ****         You may not choose both 6.376 and 6.775

                *****       You may not choose both 6.631 and 6.632

                                                ******      You may not choose both 6.728 and 6.730