September 2008 Memorandum 3903
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Graduate Office, Room 38-444
GENERAL INFORMATION FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS
CONTENTS
Institute Graduate School Policies and Procedures
Master of Science and Master of Engineering
Electrical Engineer/Engineer in Computer Science
Doctor of Philosophy/Doctor of Science
Registration for first year students in in 6.961 & 6.962
Academic Credit for Assigned Teaching Assistants
Independent Study and special Topics Classes
Registration for Master's Thesis
Limitation on Support
Other Graduate Office Memoranda and Forms
Sources of Information, Assistance and Mediation
GENERAL INFORMATION FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS
Institute Graduate School Policies and Procedures
Institute policies and procedures relating to the Graduate School can be found in the MIT Course Catalogue (http://web.mit.edu/catalogue/) and in the latest Graduate Policies and Procedures (http://web.mit.edu/gso/gpp). Students are responsible for knowledge of these rules and regulations
Graduate Study Arrangements
All arrangements for graduate work are under the direction of the Department’s Committee on Graduate Students (CGS). This Committee (either directly or through your Graduate Counselor) approves your program, your thesis subject and arrangements, any changes you may wish to make and prepares the recommendations for graduate degrees. Your initial assignment of a Graduate Counselor is made on the basis of information supplied by you in your admissions application. If your interests can be better served by a different counselor, a change of counselor can be made later by consulting Janet Fischer (jfischer@mit.edu) in the Graduate Office.
All records are kept in the Graduate Office, Room 38-444. All petitions and needed forms should be brought there, and most of the forms, memoranda, and general information is available on the web site for the Graduate Office at http://www.eecs.mit.edu/grad/ .
Use of Library
The MIT Library system includes a number of specialized branches at different locations around the campus. Two branches of particular relevance for EECS students are the Barker Engineering Library, Room 10-550, and the Science Library, Room 14S-100. The library staff will be pleased to assist graduate students in the use of the library. Knowledge about keys and guides to the use of electrical engineering and computer science literature will be especially helpful to graduate students who are preparing for thesis work. (See http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/subjects/eecs)
Degree Requirements
Master of Science and Master of Engineering
The Institute's requirements for the Master's degree are 66 units plus an acceptable thesis. The 66 units must include a minimum of 42 units of graduate "H" subjects. The remaining requirement of 24 units may be graduate "H" subjects, other graduate subjects ("G" subjects), or intermediate or advanced undergraduate subjects, as approved by the Graduate Counselor and the Department. In general, subjects that ordinarily may be taken by first or second-year undergraduate students will not be accepted for non-H credit in an SM or EE program. The Department requires that the 66 units consist of at least six subjects, and that the 42 "H" units consist of at least four subjects. For a degree "with specification", 34 units of "H" subjects and the thesis, must be in a single field. Interpretation of the term "field" is left to the Graduate Committee. Our Department has interpreted "field" to be much broader than "course" or "department". Many mathematics and physics subjects, for example, have been regarded as being in the field of electrical engineering.
Electrical Engineer/Engineer in Computer Science
For the EE/ECS degree 162 units are required, plus an acceptable thesis. The Department further requires 24 units of thesis registration, and that at least 90 units, consisting of no fewer than eight subjects (none less than 9 units), of the 162 required units be graduate "H" subjects. Subjects in which the grade received is C, D or F will not be accepted in fulfillment of the unit requirement for the EE/ECS degree. A Master's thesis of superior quality will satisfy the EE/ECS thesis requirement. When the Master's thesis grade is reported, the thesis supervisor is asked to certify that, should the EE/ECS degree eventually be sought, the Master's thesis meets the required criteria for quality.
Doctor of Philosophy/Doctor of Science
The Institute's basic requirements for the award of a doctorate are:
Completion of a major program of advanced study, including a General Examination.
Completion and oral defense of a thesis on original research.
A minimum residence requirement of four terms of full-time graduate work.
Consult the current Catalog (http://web.mit.edu/catalogue) and Graduate Policies and Procedures (http://web.mit.edu/odge/gpp) for additional information. The Department has several additional requirements (see Memo 3800 for details at http://www.eecs.mit.edu/grad/3800.html).
Registration Information
Registration in 6.961 (1st year students only)
6.961: This seminar series is intended for first-year full time graduate students who have not yet found a research home. There is a simple test to see if you should sign up for this seminar: If you cannot turn in a signed copy of the Research Supervision Agreement by September 8, 2008, then you should register for this class. To help you get oriented in the MIT environment, the Department considers it desirable for you to include 3 units of the seminar 6.961, Introduction to Research in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, as part of your registration for your first Fall term, and to limit the remainder of your registration to no more than two graduate classes. While students on fellowship may take more classes, this is not recommended. The intent of 6.961 is to provide you with guidance finding a research topic of personal interest to you, and with a faculty member who shares a similar interest. To assist you, there will be a series of weekly, one-hour seminars during the first half of the Fall term. It is expected that by end of the term, you will have found a research problem and a supervisor.
More information about these seminars will be discussed at the EECS Graduate Orientation on Wednesday, August 27, beginning at 9 a.m. in the Grier Room, 34-401.The times and locations of the seminars will be announced on the Stellar Class site at http://stellar.mit.edu/S/course/6/fa08/6.961. 6.961 registration carries graduate "G" credit.
Academic Credit for Research Assistants & Fellowship Students (1st year students only)
6.960: First-year students with a full-time or part-time Research Assistantship or a full-time or part-time Fellowship should register for 12 units of 6.960, Introductory Research in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science for both the Fall and Spring semesters of their first year in the graduate program. Former MIT undergraduates who have already earned an MEng degree should also register for this subject in their first year in the doctoral program.
Academic Credit for Research Assistants & Fellowship Students (2nd year and higher)
All students in their second year or higher who have a Research Assistantship or a Fellowship register for 24 units of 6.THG each semester. This subject carries Graduate level "H" credit.
Full-time Research Assistants are also restricted to a maximum of 27 units of classroom subjects in addition to their thesis registration. Part-time Research Assistants are restricted to 36 units of scheduled subjects. No exceptions to these restrictions are allowed.
Academic Credit for Assigned Teaching Assistants (All students)
6.981 & 6.980: Teaching and research are both important parts of the total educational experience of a graduate student. Academic credit is awarded for teaching by allowing Teaching Assistants to register for 6.981, Teaching Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Full-time Teaching Assistants are restricted to a maximum of two scheduled classroom or laboratory subjects per term, not to exceed 27 units; they register for 24 units per term of 6.981. Part-time Teaching Assistants are restricted to 36 units of scheduled subjects, and they register for 12 units of 6.981. No exceptions to these restrictions are allowed.
Registration for 6.981 may be repeated for each term in which an appointment as Teaching Assistant is held. Only P and F grades will be given. This subject does not carry Graduate "H" credit. Graduate students who serve as Teaching Assistants (without funding) may get academic credit for teaching under 6.980.
Independent Study and Special Topics Classes
6.962: should be used when you wish to pursue a special topic of an advanced nature under the supervision of a faculty member. These subjects do not carry graduate "H" credit. You must submit a statement describing the special study, and the statement must be approved and signed by the supervisor. This statement must be submitted to the Graduate Office before the end of the fourth week of the term.
6.963-9 and 6.971-9: These subject numbers are used exclusively for special organized subjects and seminars and should not be used for individual special studies. 6.971-9 carry graduate "H" credit; 6.963-9 carry "G" credit. Please consult the list of special subjects for the present term at http://www.eecs.mit.edu/current/catalog.
Registration for Master's Thesis
It is extremely important for all new graduate students to make an early start on thesis research. The Department expects the Master's thesis proposal to be submitted by the end of the second term of graduate study.
Before a candidate's name can be included on the degree list for either the Master's or EE/ECS degrees, the student must have registered for at least 12 units of thesis (6.THG) and have submitted an acceptable thesis proposal. In addition, registration must include all requirements for the degree. A student must be registered for 6.THG in the term in which a thesis grade is submitted. Thesis registration is normally 24 units.
A thesis submitted for the Master's degree which is certified to be of superior quality may also satisfy the requirements for the EE/ECS degree.
Limitation on Support
Financial support, in the form of RA's, TA's or departmentally-administered Fellowships, will not be provided to S.M. students in the doctoral program beyond their fourth regular term of registration if the Master’s thesis has not been submitted. Students whose Teaching Assistant activities have seriously delayed their theses may petition to be eligible for one additional term of support.
Adding and Dropping Subjects
There are a number of situations that can arise which make it necessary to change registration after Registration Day. However, such changes generally lead to inefficient use of the Department's limited resources and often represent an unproductive use of time by the student. The Department encourages you to investigate the nature of the subjects you intend to register for before Registration Day and plan your program so that your registration will need to be changed only as a result of unforeseen circumstances. Faculty in charge of subjects and students who have taken the subject before are possible sources of information about subjects you intend to take. If it becomes necessary to change registration, consult the MIT academic calendar for the appropriate deadlines. Changes are made through the Institute Add/Drop forms, which are available in the Graduate Office. The forms may require the signature of the Graduate Counselor.
Faculty regulations prohibit adding subjects after the fifth week of the term and prohibit dropping subjects in the last three weeks of the term. Exceptions to these rules require a petition to the Dean for Graduate Education with approval by the Department’s Graduate Officer.
Application for a Degree
To receive a graduate degree, a student must apply for it. An Application for Advanced Degree is available on WEBSIS (http://student.mit.edu/cgi-docs/student.html) and must be completed by the end of the first week of the term in which the degree is to be awarded. If it later becomes clear that the degree requirements will not be completed in that term, inform the Graduate Office so that your name will be removed from the degree list. Degrees are awarded in September, February, and June of each year; there is one commencement each year, in June.
Additional Employment
MIT Graduate Student Office Policies and Procedures state that a graduate student may not interrupt an academic program to accept employment on academic, administrative, or research staff, or as an hourly employee at MIT, Lincoln Laboratory, or the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, either during the academic year or during the summer, unless the approval of the department head and of the appropriate academic dean has been obtained and unless the work as an employee is not related to the student's thesis research. A thesis release form indicating such approval must be submitted to the Human Resources Department to effect such employment. A graduate student may not include as part of the thesis any material based upon work done while holding an academic or research staff appointment.
Graduate students who hold full time research or teaching assistantships or who receive full support on a fellowship or traineeship are not usually eligible for such employment. A full time (100 percent) teaching assistant or research assistant is defined as 20 hours of work per week. A student who is a US citizen or permanent resident who applies to work, in addition to his or her RA or TA appointment, may be permitted additional compensated employment at MIT for no more than 10 hours per week during the academic year, especially to support student life and learning activities (e.g., staffing the front desk of a residence hall). Consult the EECS Graduate Office for approval before undertaking such employment. Regulations for international students are stricter, due to US immigration laws. For more information on this, please the Graduate Policies and Procedures at the website: http://web.mit.edu/odge/gpp.
Other Graduate Office Memoranda and Forms
3800 The Doctoral Program in EECS
3802 Thesis and Thesis Proposal
3805 The Technical Qualifying Examination
3806 The Research Qualifying Examination
3813 6.961 Introduction to Research in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
3902 Research Supervision Agreement Form
Research Interests of Faculty Members Who Supervise Theses
http://www.eecs.mit.edu/supervisors.html
Sources of Information, Assistance and Mediation
Students are encouraged to take advantage of these resources in resolving both academic and non-academic difficulties.
Graduate Student Government and Department Student Organizations
EECS Graduate Student Association (http://web.mit.edu/eecsgsa/www)
EECS REFS (http://www.eecs.mit.edu/refs/)
Student representatives on EECS Department Graduate Committee
The Graduate Student Council (http://gsc.mit.edu) and EECS representative
Departmental Faculty and Administration
Graduate Counselor
Thesis Supervisor
Area Chairs:
Area I: Systems, Communication, Control and Signal Processing, Prof. M. A. Dahleh
Area II: Computer Science, Prof. R. Davis
Area III: Electronics, Computers and Systems, Prof. D.J. Perreault
Area IV: Energy and Electromagnetic Systems, Prof. L. A. Kolodziejski
Area V: Materials and Devices, Prof. L. A. Kolodziejski
Area VII: Bioelectrical Engineering, Prof. L. D. Braida
Chairman of the Department Graduate Committee, Prof. T. P. Orlando
Department Head, Prof. W. E. Grimson
Dean for Graduate Students, Dean S. R. Lerman
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