PhD in Electronic Engineering

Program Description

Objectives

This Doctoral Program aims to provide highly specialized training leading to a doctoral degree in electronics, to spanish and international students holding a Master degree related to ICT technologies. These students may carry out their doctoral thesis in the fields of Industrial and Power Electronics, Semiconductor Devices and Microsystems, Integrated Circuits and Systems, or Instrumentation and Measurement Systems, benefiting from the complementary and wide experience of the research groups working in those areas.

 

Therefore, the PhD Program in Electronic Engineering trains specialists capable to investigate, innovate and develop new products and services in the above areas. The doctors trained in this program will be able to contribute to the scientific and technological progress, and to the socio-economic environment by applying their deep knowledge of electronic technology and its possible applications, having undergone a training that facilitates their employment in research institutes, universities, and research, development and innovation departments in companies with strong technological content.


Structure

According to the spanish legislation in RD 99/11, a doctorate has a nominal duration of 3 years full time, with two possible 1-year extensions, or the possibility to make it part-time. The first step is admission, for which candidates must fulfill some requisites that are detailed in the admission section. In general, it is necessary to hold a Master degree in the ICT area, sciences or engineering related to the research groups involved in the Program

 

For those students admitted under the RD 99/11, the doctorate includes only the research phase, and it is assumed that the student has obtained research-oriented training during his Master, previous to the admission. Nevertheless, the student can complement his/her training once in the PhD by taking courses offered in the Master in Electronic Engineering or other Master degrees in UPC or UIB. These courses may be either ordered in the moment of the admission, or taken volunteerly by the student, in both cases with the previous acnowledgement of his/her tutor.

 

Each new student is assigned a tutor related to his/her research area of interest, who has the role of orienting the student and act as a link with the Academic Committee (CAPD) and the University. Before six months after starting the PhD, the student is assigned a thesis advisor, who must be a professor with demonstrated research experience. By default, the thesis advisor will be a professor of the Program, although it is possible to have another professor acting as co-advisor, or even a thesis advisor external to the Program, or to the University.

 

The doctorate student will carry out his/her thesis work in one of the research groups in UPC or UIB, with the objective to develop a scientific investigation that produces an original and significative contribution that expends the frontiers of knowledge in its area, and that this contribution is acnowledged as such by the international scientific community. In maximum one year, the student will prepare a Research Plan, that will be presented and defended in front of a panel of experts. This Research Plan will detail the objectives, tasks and schedule for the completion of the thesis, and will be used as a reference for the doctorate assessment and tracing.

 

Along the doctorate, the student will keep updated an Activity Report (DAD), which is a register of all activities related to his/her research work, such as participation in projects, agreements with companies, reseach stages in other centers, publications and participation in conferences, courses, seminars, updates of the research plan, etc. It is expected that the student participates along his/her doctorate in activities with formative content, both specific to his/her research area, and in transversal skills.

 

The Academic Committee makes annually an evaluation of the progress of the thesis, based on the report of the thesis advisor, the degree of progress in reference to the Research Plan, acquisition of competences, and other quantitative indicators, such as the publication of preliminary results at the second year of the thesis. It is possible to the doctorate temporarily for one-year, if there are reasons to justify it.

 

Before the completion of the thesis, the Academic Committee verifies that the quality of the thesis is backed by relevant international publications, patents, of by the reports of international experts. The manuscript of the Doctoral Thesis may we written in English, Spanish or Catalan, and after its approval it will be entitled for a public defence, which is the culmination of the Doctorate.

Academic Commission of the Doctorate Program (CAPD)

The Academic Commission of the Doctorate Program (CAPD) is led by the Program Coordinator. This is the Committe in charge of the academic issues of the Doctorate Program, according to the spanish legislation in RD 99/2011, the general regulations for PhD studies in UPC and UIB, and the Academic Regulations of this PhD Program. By an agreement of the Univertities promoting this Program, this Commission is composed by the coordinators of the Program in each of the Universities, and a representative of each of the four research areas in the PhD Program.