The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering doctoral program draws students from all over the world. Most candidates enter the program directly after completing an undergraduate degree in disciplines such as electrical engineering, computer science, or physics. Although our doctoral program is one of the largest at Princeton, its scale still allows students to receive personal attention and extensive faculty interaction.
Research in the Department is collaborative and interdisciplinary. The current main themes of research span areas from applied physics, devices, advanced circuits, and high-performance computing to security, data and information science, and artificial intelligence. Details on those research themes and related application domains can be found on the Department's website under the Research link and faculty and research group websites. There are also a variety of interdisciplinary research centers at Princeton that enhance and broaden educational and research opportunities.
New graduate students spend the first semester on coursework and typically select a thesis research advisor at the start of the spring semester, based on a match of research interests. The program combines a balance of preliminary and advanced coursework (400/500 numbered courses) and innovative research leading to a doctoral dissertation and award of the Ph.D. degree. Candidates earn a Masters of Arts degree en route to the Ph.D. degree. The nominal length of the program is five years. Students maintaining good progress will be provided with full financial support during the duration of the program. This support covers university tuition and fees and provides a stipend for living expenses. It is awarded through a combination of university fellowships and research/teaching assistantship positions. Housing is available for all first-year graduate students, and most students are accommodated in university housing for the duration of their regular enrollment. Many additional details about the program can be found in the Graduate Student Handbook.
