Electrical and Software Engineering

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis-based program

Program overview

​For students seeking to gain cutting-edge expertise in a particular area, the Electrical and Computer Engineering doctoral program will place you in a vibrant community of researchers who are focused on finding practical solutions to real-world problems. The PhD is a research-based degree that usually takes three to four years of full-time study following a master's degree, or five to six years following a bachelor's degree. Successful students go on to work in high-tech companies in positions such as senior research and development engineer, senior system/network architect, senior system designer, senior system engineer, senior application engineer, senior application developer and senior software architect. They can also work in academia as an assistant professor or instructor.

Completing this program

  • Courses: Topics may include virtual environments, data mining, intelligent control, VLSI and SOC, multidimensional signal processing and more.
  • Professional Development Courses: Students take two professional development courses on communication styles, presentation skills and more.
  • Thesis: Students will be required to submit and defend an original research thesis.
  • Software Engineering Specialization: Topics may include modelling and measurement of software performance, advanced software testing and more.
  • Candidacy: Students will complete both oral and written candidacy exams.

Specializations

Outcomes

Electrical energy, electronics, control, and instrumentation, telecommunications, information and communications technology, computer, software, oil and gas, medical, biomedical, automotive.

A PhD in electrical and computer engineering is usually considered a final degree.

Thesis-based program

Students are required to prepare a thesis and successfully defend in an open oral defense.

Classroom delivery

Time commitment

Expected completion time is 4 years; six years maximum; part-time available

Supervisor

A supervisor is required, but is not required prior to the start of the program

Fees and funding

See the Graduate Calendar for information on fees and fee regulations, and for information on awards and financial assistance.

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Supervisors

Learn about faculty available to supervise this degree.
Please note: additional supervisors may be available. Contact the program for more information.


  1. Headshot

    Hatem Abou-Zeid

    Seeking Students
    6G Networking & Communications, Safe and Robust Machine Learning, Immersive Multi-Sensory Communications, Sustainability using AI and Optimization, Industrial Internet-of-Things
  2. Dr. Ann Barcomb

    Ann Barcomb

    Accepting Inquiries
    Software engineering, open source software, human and social aspects of software engineering, human factors, research methods, collaboration, community management
  3. Leo Belostotski

    Leo Belostotski

    Accepting Inquiries
    RF and Mixed-Signal Integrated Circuits and Systems
  4. Colin Dalton

    Colin Dalton

    Unavailable
    Electrokinetic Microsystems, Microneedles, Brain-machine interfaces
  5. Picture of Lorenzo De Carli

    Lorenzo De Carli

    Accepting Inquiries
    Network Security, Software Security, Usable Security
  6. profile

    Ronnie de Souza Santos

    Accepting Inquiries
    Human Aspects of Software Engineering, Software Fairness, Software Testing, Software Engineering Education
  7. Gouri Ginde Deshpande

    Gouri Ginde Deshpande

    Accepting Inquiries
    Software Engineering, Requirements Engineering, Machine Learning, NLP, Data Analytics
  8. Steve Drew Portrait

    Steve Drew

    Accepting Inquiries
    Distributed Learning Systems, Edge Computing, Container orchestration systems and AIOps, Blockchain Services
  9. Abraham O Fapojuwo

    Abraham O. Fapojuwo

    Accepting Inquiries
    5G and Beyond Wireless Networks, IoT Networking, Wi-Fi Networking, Vehicular Networking, Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer
  10. Behrouz Far

    Behrouz Far

    Accepting Inquiries
    Distributed software systems, Intelligent analytics
  11. Elise Fear

    Elise Fear

    Accepting Inquiries
    New approaches to imaging and sensing, Prototype systems, Imaging and sensing algorithms, Applications
  12. Dr. Ignacio Galiano Zurbriggen

    Ignacio Galiano Zurbriggen

    Seeking Students
    Power electronics as enabling technology for high-impact applications, Modelling & Control, Topologies, Power Integration, Multi-domain Modelling, Magnetic Devices
  13. Fadhel M Ghannouchi

    Fadhel M. Ghannouchi

    Accepting Inquiries
    Software-defined Radio Systems, Power Amplifiers & Linearization, Modeling of Devices, Circuits, and Systems, DSP for Communication Systems, Instrumentation & Measurements, Electromagnetic energy harvesting and recycling techniques, Millimetre wave (mm-wave) electronics, Integrated Active Antenna Systems, Radio-over Fiber (RoF) and Laser Communications
  14. Dr. Philippe Gray's Profile Picture

    Philippe Gray

    Seeking Students
    Solid-State Transformers for Hybrid AC-DC Grids, Power Electronics for Future Electric Transportation Applications, Grid Integration of Advanced Power Electronic Converters
  15. Hadi Hemmati

    Hadi Hemmati

    Accepting Inquiries
    Software Engineering, Applied Interdisciplinary Research
  16. Prof Yaoping Hu

    Prof. Yaoping Hu

    Seeking Students
    Human-Computer Interaction within Virtual Environments
  17. Portrait Photo

    Yani Ioannou

    Accepting Inquiries
    Sparse Neural Networks, Efficient Deep Learning, Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Artificial Intelligence
  18. A circular picture of myself

    Erika Janitz

    Seeking Students
    Developing a hybrid atomic-molecular platform for quantum sensing and information
  19. Hadis Karimipour

    Hadis Karimipour

    Seeking Students
    Anomaly Detection in Smart CPSs, AI and IoT/OT Monitoring/Security , AI-enabeld Smart Grid Analysis, Machine Learning and Its Applications
  20. Kangsoo Kim

    Kangsoo Kim

    Accepting Inquiries
    eXtended Reality (Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality), Virtual Avatars and Agents, Embodied & Multimodal Interaction, Perception and Cognition, Human-Computer Interaction
  21. Placeholder Profile Image

    Diwakar Krishnamurthy

    Accepting Inquiries
    Performance evaluation of software systems
  22. Picture of Dr. Leung in the Robotics and Sensor Networks Lab

    Henry Leung

    Accepting Inquiries
    Signal and Image Processing, Autonomous Systems, Machine Learning, Internet of Things and Wireless Communications
  23. photo

    Ethan MacDonald

    Accepting Inquiries
    Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Big Data and Machine Learning, Next Generation Artificial Intelligence
  24. Om Malik

    Om Malik

    Accepting Inquiries
    Electric Machines and Power Systems
  25. Brent Maundy

    Brent Maundy

    Accepting Inquiries
  26. Geoffrey Messier Photo

    Geoffrey Messier

    Accepting Inquiries
    Data Science for the Services Provided to People Living with Homelessness, Mental Health Disorders and Addiction
  27. martin mintchev

    Martin Mintchev

    Accepting Inquiries
  28. Kartikeya Murari

    Kartikeya Murari

    Accepting Inquiries
    Biomedical Imaging and Instrumentation
  29. Jorgen Nielsen

    Jorgen Nielsen

    Accepting Inquiries
    signal processing of wireless and vision systems
  30. Michal Okoniewski

    Michal Okoniewski

    Accepting Inquiries
    RF and mm-wave antennas and circuits
  31. Placeholder Profile Image

    Abu Sesay

    Accepting Inquiries
    Digital Communications, Wireless Communications and Signal Processing
  32. Mike Smith

    Mike Smith

    Seeking Students
  33. Photo of Ben

    Benjamin Tan

    Accepting Inquiries
    Hardware for Security, Security of Hardware, Embedded Systems
  34. Assistant Professor

    Gias Uddin

    Accepting Inquiries
    AI4SE: AI for Software Engineering, SE4AI: Software Engineering for Machine Learning Application
  35. Yingxu Wang

    Yingxu Wang

    Seeking Students
    Basic Studies in Emerging Sciences and Denotational Mathematics, Cognitive Robotics (CRs), Cognitive Informatics and Cognitive Computers, Deep Machine Learning and Cognitive Knowledge Learning, Denotational Mathematics for AI, Abstract Intelligence (aI), Computational Intelligence (CI), and Brain Informatics (BI), Big Data Algebra (BDA) for Data Science and Engineering Data Analytics, Brain Science: Formal Theories and Brain-Inspired Systems, Intelligence Science: Formal Theories and Cognitive Systems, Software Science: Theoretical Foundations of Software Engineering
  36. Huaqing Wu

    Huaqing Wu

    Seeking Students
    B5G/6G, edge computing/caching, space-air-ground integrated networks, Internet of vehicles, and artificial intelligence (AI) for future networking
  37. Svetlana Yanushkevich

    Svetlana Yanushkevich

    Accepting Inquiries
    biometric technologies, data analysis and pattern recognition, biometric system design, computational intelligence, image processing
  38. Dr. Qiang John Ye

    Qiang John Ye

    Seeking Students
    5G/6G wireless communication and networking, network slicing, SDN/NFV, AI-assisted network design, edge computing, autonomous vehicular networks, and networking protocols.

Admission Requirements


GPA

A minimum of 3.5 GPA on a 4.0 point system.

Minimum education

MSc degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or software engineering.

Work samples

None

Documents

None

Reference letters

Two

Test scores

None


English language proficiency (ELP)

An applicant whose primary language is not English may fulfill the English language proficiency requirement in one of the following ways:

Deadlines

For admission on September 1:

  • Canadians and permanent residents: Jan. 31 application deadline
  • International students: Jan. 31 application deadline

For admission on January 1:

  • Canadians and permanent residents: Apr. 30 application deadline
  • International students: Apr. 30 application deadline

If you're not a Canadian or permanent resident, or if you have international credentials, make sure to learn about international requirements

Learn more about this program

Department of Electrical and Software Engineering

ICT (Information and Communications Technology) 402
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, AB T2N 1N4
403.220.7596

Contact the Graduate Program Administrator

Visit the departmental website

Schulich School of Engineering

University of Calgary
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, AB T2N 1N4

Visit their website

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