Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Program Requirements

To obtain a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree in Mechanical Engineering (ME) or Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) from the Joint Institute, students must fulfill the following requirements.

1. Complete specific coursework sequence, which differs for students starting their Doctoral program with a Bachelor’s Degree or with a Master’s Degree.
2. Present at least 1 academic paper(s)/abstract(s)/poster(s) at high level international conference. (Note: this new Regulation is applicable to the doctoral students entering the PhD program starting from the year of 2020 and on.)
3. Preparation, propose, and defend a Doctoral Thesis.

While the typical duration of the doctoral program is of five years for students starting their Doctoral program with a Bachelor’s degree and of four years for students starting their Doctoral program with a Master’s degree, students are eligible to receive a doctoral degree when the above requirements are fulfilled. Requirements for ME and ECE degrees are identical; the term “major” refers to the ME and ECE programs.

1. Coursework (Students entering with Bachelor’s degree only)

1.1 Students matriculate in the year of 2023 and after, please follow the below requirements.

Students matriculated in the year of 2017 and before, please follow the original requirements. Students matriculated in the year of 2018 and after, please follow the below requirements.

To complete their coursework requirement, Doctoral students entering the doctoral program with a Bachelor’s degree must take a number of courses, while maintaining a minimum GPA. Specifically, students must take the following course.

1. At least thirty three approved credit hours of engineering, math, and science at the 4xx level or higher,
2. A total of three credit hours of technical communication, VG50X – Technical Communication. Each graduated student must complete all three courses (VG501,VG502,VG503) with a composite GPA of 3.0 or above in order to meet the graduation requirement.
3. A total of three credit hours of politics for domestic students, or a total of six credit hours of Chinese Language and Chinese Culture for international students.
4. The Grade Point Average corresponding to the Training Plan must be at least 3.0.

The thirty-three approved credit hours of engineering, math, and science are subjected to the following restrictions.

1. At least six credit hours of mathematics must be taken at the 5xx level or higher.
2. At least fifteen credit hours within the student’s major must be selected at the 5xx level or higher.
3. A maximum of twelve credit hours may be selected from classes offered outside of the JI. These credit hours must be approved by the faculty adviser and the graduate committee. The Petition to Take a Non-JI Course form can be downloaded from the Graduate Student Forms.
4. The total number of 4xx level courses cannot exceed nine credit hours.
5. Students must take at least six credit hours outside their discipline group to ensure the breadth of their study program.
6. The combined total of 4xx level credit hours and credit hours taken outside of the JI cannot exceed fifteen. If the Graduate Committee approves a non-JI math class to satisfy the math requirement, those non-JI math credits do not count toward this total of fifteen credit hours.

1.2 Students matriculate in the year of 2022 and before, please follow the below requirements. Clik to download files. 

2. Coursework (Students entering with Master’s degree)

2.1 Students matriculate in the year of 2023 and after, please follow the below requirements.

To complete their coursework requirement, Doctoral students entering the doctoral program with a Master’s degree must take a number of courses, while maintaining a minimum GPA. Specifically, students must take the following course.

1. At least fifteen approved credit hours of engineering, math, and science at the 4xx level or higher, and
2. A total of three credit hours of technical communication, VG50X – Technical Communication. Each graduated student must complete all three courses (VG501, VG502, and VG503) with a composite GPA of 3.0 or above in order to meet the graduation requirement.
3. A total of two credit hours of politics for domestic students, or a total of four credit hours of Chinese Language and Chinese Culture for international students.
4. The Grade Point Average corresponding to the Training Plan must be at least 3.0.

The fifteen approved credit hours of engineering, math, and science are subjected to the following restrictions.

1. At least nine credit hours within the student’s major must be selected at the 5xx level or higher.
2. A maximum of six credit hours may be selected from classes offered outside of the JI. These credit hours must be approved by the faculty adviser and the graduate committee. The Petition to Take a Non-JI Course form can be downloaded from the Graduate Student Forms.
3. Students must take at least three credit hours outside their disciple group to ensure the breadth of their study program.
4. If the Graduate Committee approves a non-JI math class to satisfy the math requirement, those non-JI math credits do not count toward this total of six credit hours.

2.2 Students matriculate in the year of 2022 and before, please follow the below requirements. Clik to download file.

3. Qualifying Grade Point Average

Doctoral students must write and defend of a formal doctoral thesis. For each semester they are involved in graduate research, ME or ECE students must register for doctoral thesis research, VM695 - Doctoral Thesis or VE695 - Doctoral Thesis Doctoral Thesis, respectively. This course will provide feedback on their progress toward the completion of their doctoral thesis.

For the first step of their doctoral program, students must become qualified doctoral students. This status is achieved through coursework only. For students entering with a Bachelor’s degree, the GPA for their first five courses at the 5xx level or above must be at least 3.2. For students entering with a Master’s degree,  the GPA for their first three courses at the 5xx level or above must be at least 3.2. These classes must be completed within the first two years of the student’s doctoral program of studies. Upon completion of these five courses, students submit a Petition to become a qualified doctoral student to the graduate office.

If a student fails to achieve the qualifying GPA, the graduate committee will review their record. The graduate committee will take either of the following two actions: (1) dismiss the student from the Doctoral program, or, (2) specify additional coursework and target grades needed to continue in the Doctoral program.

4. The Candidacy Exam

Policy: New Candidacy Exam Format for Doctoral Students Starting in the Spring Semester 2020

To: JI Faculty and Graduate Students

From: Yongxing Shen, Associate Dean for Graduate Education

Revised Date: May 16, 2023

As the second step of their doctoral program, students must pass the PhD candidacy examination (also known as the PhD qualifying examination). The candidacy examination is a comprehensive assessment of doctoral students. It is an important part of the doctoral education. In general, it should be taken after doctoral students have successfully completed key graduate level courses related to their major research areas while before officially starting their doctoral dissertation research work.

The candidacy examination mainly evaluates the students from the following three aspects:

1. Main content of the courses as stipulated in the training plan
2. Research progress and professional skills
3. Academic integrity

Students entering with a Bachelor’s degree should schedule their candidacy examination after completing a minimum of eighteen approved credit hours of graduate or relevant (approved) courses. They will generally complete the candidacy examination before the end of the third semester (typically Summer semester) of the second academic year after the enrollment.

Students entering with a Master’s degree should schedule their candidacy examination after completing a minimum of twelve approved credit hours of graduate or relevant (approved) courses. They will generally complete the candidacy examination during the first semester (typically Fall semester) of the second academic year after the enrollment.

The candidacy examination committee and Graduate Education Office shall inform the PhD students of the arrangement for the examination at least one month prior to the examination.

Candidacy examination consists of two parts: 1) a 90-minute written exam, and 2) a 30- minute oral exam. Doctoral students must first inform the Graduate Office the declaration of his/her major discipline (See Attachment 1). To be able to take the candidacy exam, doctoral students must have taken the selected courses listed on Attachment 1 with a grade B or above before they are eligible to select the courses as part of their exam subjects.

For the 90-minute written exam, students shall select the subject areas based on two graduate-level (5XX or above) subject courses in the area related to their major discipline and one graduate-level (5XX or above) subject course in other discipline closely related to his/her research area. In general, only the courses listed in Attachment 1 can be selected for the candidacy exam. Exception Policy: Exception to the above rules or to the course selected other than those listed in Attachment 1 must be approved by both the student’s supervisor and the Associate Dean for Graduate Education.

The 30-minute oral exam consists of a 15-minute presentation and a 15-minute Q&A. The topic of the presentation can come from either one of the two major discipline courses selected for the written exam from Attachment 1 (or follow the exceptions policy as listed above for the written exam) that the student has taken or from the research topic which the student has been conducting. The guideline for grading an oral exam is as follows:

1. Clarity (25%): the student’s ability to explain a topic comprehensible for experienced researchers in related fields (i.e., faculty members). No obvious conceptual or technical mistakes should be made.
2. Contextualization (25%): the student’s ability to put a topic in a relevant scientific, technological and/or socio-economic context. The student needs to answer why the topic is worth studying.
3. Problem statement (25%) (for topics selected from research): the student’s understanding of the specific problem(s) which his/her research will address.
4. Q/A ability (25%): the student’s ability to hold a meaningful and constructive discussion with experienced researchers.

The oral examination committee shall be comprised of 3 faculty members from the major and related disciplines. A chair of the committee shall be appointed (by the Associate Dean of Graduate Education/Discipline head) to preside over the work related to the examination. Student’s supervisor cannot be included as a member of the candidacy oral examination committee.

Two examination sessions are scheduled during each academic year, one during the fall semester (typically in the middle of October), and the other one during the summer semester (typically in the middle of June). Students must take the written exam and oral exam at the same time for the first candidacy exam.

The Candidacy Examination Committee shall mark the exam result with “pass” or “fail”, and give comprehensive comments based on their academic performance and scientific research accomplishments while maintaining good moral ethics.

For the written exam, the passing score for each subject exam is 60 out of 100. The student must achieve at least the passing score on EACH of three subject exams taken in order to PASS the overall written exam. If the student scores below the passing score on only ONE subject exam, he/she is considered as having failed the written exam, and he/she will have to retake the same subject exam again. If he/she scores below the passing score in TWO OR MORE subject exams, he/she is considered as having failed the written exam, and he/she will have to retake the same THREE subject exams again.

For the oral exam, the passing score is 60 out of 100. The student must achieve at least the passing score in order to PASS the oral exam. If the student fails the oral exam, he/she will have to retake the oral exam again using the same format as how it has been taken before (i.e., either by subject exam or by research topic).

The student who fails the candidacy examination for the first time must retake the examination at the next available session. If he/she fails the re-examination again, he/she is considered not suitable for further training as a doctoral student. However, those who meet the requirements for a master program can, after filing an application approved by the supervisor, Associate Dean for Graduate Education, and the Graduate School, transfer to a corresponding master program. After transferring to the master program, the student must complete the master curriculum and thesis defense within two years. If he or she successfully meets the requirements as set out in the “SJTU Regulations on the Training of Master Degree Students” and passes the thesis defense, the student will be awarded a master’s degree and diploma. Otherwise, the student shall be advised to exit the graduate program based on the academic assessment. Exception cases must be evaluated and approved by the Graduate Committee and the Associate Dean for Graduate Education.

This revised new candidacy exam format will take effect starting in the summer semester of 2022.

Attachment 1 (Updated Summer 2024)

Notes:

• Math courses cannot be selected for candidacy exam.
• Course syllabus of each course is available at here: https://www.ji.sjtu.edu.cn/cn/academics/courses/

5. The Doctoral Dissertation Proposal

5.1. The doctoral dissertation committee

After successful completion of their candidacy exam and in consultation with their research adviser, students invite a minimum of five faculty members to serve on their Doctoral Dissertation Committee. This committee will guide, monitor, and assess the student’s progress thereafter. The membership of the dissertation committee is subjected to the following requirements. (1) The head of the dissertation committee is the student’s thesis adviser, (2) the second member of the committee is a member of JI’s faculty within the student’s discipline, (3) the third member is a member of JI’s faculty outside the student’s discipline, (4) at least one full professor, and (5) at least one member from outside of JI. Besides, all the committee members must hold a doctoral degree.
The membership of the dissertation committee must be approved by JI’s degree committee. Students should submit Dissertation Committee Members Application through http://bpm.umji.sjtu.edu.cn/, for approval by the degree committee.

Discipline Groups (2023-2024 Academic Year)

Design, Manufacturing, and Systems

Head: Lei Shao

Members: Youyi Bi | Peisen Huang

Solid Mechanics

Head: Jaehyung Ju

Members: Shane Johnson | Jaehyung Ju | Yanfeng Shen | Xiaodong Wei | Yongxing Shen

Thermal and Fluids

Head: Lipo Wang

Members: Chien-Pin Chen | David Hung | Zijie Qu | Kwee-Yan Teh | Zhaoguang Wang | Dezhi Zhou

Circuits and Devices

Head: Yaping Dan

Members: Yuljae Cho | Xuyang Lu | Rui Yang

Electromagnetics, Optics, and Photonics

Head: Sung-Liang Chen

Members: Wenjie Wan | Jigang Wu | Xuyang Lu

Communications and Signal Processing

Head: Chong Han

Members: Xudong Wang | Li Jin | Yong Long | Yibo Pi | Heng Qiao | Aimin Tang | Yifei Zhu | Mo-Yuen Chow

Control

Head: Chengbin Ma

Members: Jun Zhang | Hanyang Zhuang | Yutong Ban, | (Richard Ren)

Materials Science and Engineering

Head: Yunlong Guo

Members: Qianli Chen | Yulian He | Wendong Wang | Yanming Wang | Hong Zhu | Milias Liu

Computer Science and Engineering

Head: Paul Weng

Members: Weikang Qian | Paul Weng | Manuel Charlemagne | Xinfei Guo | Xuyang Lu | Yibo Pi | Gang Zheng | An Zou | Yifei Zhu

5.2. The doctoral research meeting (Optional)

The outcome of the doctoral research meeting is recorded in the Research Meeting Minutes Form. If follow up research meetings were held, this form documents the conclusions of all research meetings.

5.3. The doctoral dissertation proposal

Next, the student presents his/her doctoral thesis proposal to the dissertation committee. This presentation must be open to the public. A minimum of one month should elapse between the research meeting and the thesis proposal. The environment is one of open discussion among the student, adviser, and dissertation committee members. The dissertation committee must approve the dissertation proposal unanimously. If a unanimous vote cannot be reached, an additional thesis proposals must be scheduled after the student’s response to the concerns raised by all members of the dissertation committee. If unsuccessful at the second try, the student will be downgrade to master program or dismissed from the doctoral program, the program duration of student will be extended.

A minimum of six months must elapse between the dissertation proposal and the dissertation defense.

5.4. The dissertation defense

Upon approval of the draft doctoral dissertation by the head of the dissertation committee, the candidate is allowed to schedule his/her doctoral dissertation defense. A minimum of six months must elapse between the dissertation proposal and the dissertation defense.

The candidate then schedules a public oral defense of his/her dissertation. The dissertation committee must approve the dissertation defense unanimously. If a unanimous vote cannot be reached, the student must respond to the concerns raised by all members of the committee and an additional public defense must be scheduled in consultation with the dissertation committee.

The outcome of the doctoral dissertation defense is recorded in the Dissertation Defense Minutes Form.

DISSERTATION MAJOR STEPS AND TIMELINE