Ph.D. in Systems Engineering

The Ph.D. is an advanced graduate degree for students wishing to contribute to knowledge creation through independent, original, cutting-edge research. 

The PhD in Systems Engineering provides a springboard for careers as an academician, as a researcher, as a consultant or in management/leadership within a university, institute, industry or government setting. SIE doctoral programs include three components:

  • Coursework and Teaching to gain fundamental and advanced knowledge, as both student and GTA
  • Research conducted in a collaborative environment leading to a doctoral dissertation and scholarly papers
  • Engagement in UVA’s intellectual life

See below for information on the Systems Engineering PhD program, or download the SIE Graduate Student Handbook.

Admissions Criteria

The deadlines for PhD applications with financial aid requests are January 6th for fall semester and September 30th for spring semester. All SIE faculty are eligible to advise students enrolled in the SE PhD program. We accept applications from candidates with degrees from all engineering and some affiliated backgrounds. In some cases, candidates who do not have engineering or similar credentials will be offered conditional admission, which will require them to take selected undergraduate coursework in addition to the coursework required for their PhD. 

All candidates are evaluated by one or more of the SIE research subgroups. Some students are admitted directly into a specific research group with a specific advisor. Other candidates are admitted into a subgroup and are then connected with an advisor during the first year. 

Most accepted PhD students receive financial aid. Funding offers take the form of GRAs, GTAs and/or various fellowships. SIE is committed to acquiring the resources to fund PhD students for five years, contingent upon satisfactory progress toward the degree. The department’s default stipend for PhD students is $36,050 per year. 

Funded offers also include tuition and health insurance. Some PhD students are funded by third-party entities (e.g., their employer or government or military agencies), and a small number of students are self-funded. 

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Engineering School Requirements

Engineering School requirements for the PhD degree are described on the UVA Graduate School of Engineering’s information webpage. The page also addresses admission requirements, rules and regulations pertaining to financial assistance and outside employment, and other matters. The portion of the Engineering School’s website devoted to current graduate students contains many helpful resources, including required forms.

Time limit: All requirements for the PhD degree must be completed within seven years after matriculation to the program.

Coursework, Professional Development and Engagement

SIE has three general classes of PhD requirements: coursework, professional development, and academic engagement. These are described below. 

The Ph.D. in SE involves relevant coursework to help students access foundational knowledge in their discipline while striking a balance between depth and breadth. It requires at least seventy-two (72) credit hours of graduate-level work, of which twenty-four (24) credits must be graded coursework beyond the B.S. degree. Students that enter the Ph.D. program with a STEM master’s degree must take at least six (6) credits of graded graduate-level course work in the department. If students earned an M.E. or M.S. degree in SE at UVA, they are not required to take additional courses.

Program Requirements:

  • 2 semesters of SYS 7096 Systems Engineering Colloquium (required) in the first academic year (1 zero-credit hour per semester).
  • 3 credits of SYS 6001- Introduction to Systems Analysis & Design
  • 6 credit hours of Foundation Courses: two courses selected from SYS 6003, SYS 6005, SYS 6007, and SYS 6021. 
  • 15 credits of graded, graduate-level SYS or other graduate courses relevant to the student’s field of study (graduate-level 6000 and above).
    • No more than three (3) credit hours of Independent Study SYS 6993 or SYS 7993.
    • No more than three (3) credit hours at the 5000-level from the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
  • 33 credits of SYS 9999 (Dissertation) research or a combination of SYS 9999 and SYS 8999 (Thesis, taken if getting an enroute MS). The research is performed under the direction of the faculty advisor and the advisory committee and is documented in a written dissertation.

Special Circumstances 

Prerequisites: The student who does not have the prerequisites (i.e., calculus, linear algebra, probability and statistics, computer programming) should take articulation courses. These courses cannot be used to satisfy the degree requirements. 

Transfer Credit: PhD students who have earned a master’s degree in a STEM field will receive an automatic bulk transfer of 24 graduate course credits toward SEAS’s total graded coursework credit requirement. 

  • PhD students who have earned a master’s degree in a non-STEM field will receive an automatic bulk transfer of 12 graduate course credits toward SEAS’s total graded coursework credit requirement. Students who receive a bulk transfer of credit may not transfer any additional credits toward the PhD degree. 
  • At least 6 additional credits of graded, graduate-level SYS coursework must be taken at UVA (i.e., they cannot be transferred). A minimum grade of “B” is required.
  • PhD students entering without a Master’s degree that have previously taken graduate level courses may transfer a maximum of six graduate course credits into their program of study.
  • Only courses with a grade of B or better that have not been applied toward another degree may be transferred. The request for credit transfer must include the following documents: a completed Request Approval of Transfer Credits form, a description of course content and level, and an official transcript. The documents are provided to the SIE Student Services Coordinator to facilitate processing of the request. If the student is already admitted into a UVA program, then the request for credit transfer must be preapproved before the course is taken.
  • Whether any individual transfer course counts toward our PhD degree Foundations Courses is determined by the Graduate Director. If a student has already taken a course equivalent to a Foundations course, they may petition the graduate director for credit. Students that received automatic bulk transfer credits that are applied towards SEAS’s credit requirements must complete the SE Coursework Petition Form to receive credit towards their degree program requirements. Other transfer coursework taken in another STEM program will count towards elective credits.

Students are encouraged to take additional courses beyond those required for graduation, and work with their PhD advisor and committee in selecting coursework.

Please refer to the UVA Graduate Record for more information:  https://records.ureg.virginia.edu/content.php?catoid=62&navoid=5418#transfer-credit.

The ultimate goal of an SE PhD is to give students the best possible preparation for their careers in research, government, or industry. The following professional training requirements help students prepare for the full spectrum of career choices: 

  • GTAs: Students typically serve as a GTA at some point over the course of their MS or PhD. GTAs will enroll for three credits (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory, or S/U, basis) of SYS 6097 or SYS 9997 in a section corresponding to their supervising instructor. Receipt of one or more U grades for graduate instruction may endanger a student’s eligibility to serve as a GTA in future semesters. More information about the Engineering School’s language-skills requirements for international students serving as GTAs can be found on the Center for American English Language & Culture's Assessment website.
  • Research Dissemination: Students will disseminate their research via journal and conference papers. Before scheduling the final defense, students must have at least one first-authored paper with their research advisor published or accepted by a journal or peer-reviewed conference paper approved by their advisory committee. To aid in supporting student travel to conferences, all SIE PhD students are able to apply to receive a travel grant if their research adviser or fellowship is unable to fund their travel, conference registration, and lodging. To receive a travel grant, the student must be the primary author presenting a peer-reviewed publication. Additionally, their advisor must write a statement that there are no research funds to support travel. See the Doctoral Student Travel Grant section below for more information. 
  • Seminars and Defenses: SIE is committed to providing members of our community with the opportunity to learn from a wide range of scholars and practicing engineers through seminars. These seminars are organized as (a) our weekly Graduate Colloquium and (b) Distinguished Speakers invited by our faculty on an ad-hoc basis. As an essential component of graduate education, PhD students should register for at least two semesters (preferably in their first year) of SYS 7096 with zero credit hours. Students are expected to attend and participate actively in scheduled SIE and UVA seminars and student thesis/dissertation defenses. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, it is expected that seminars and defenses are held in person at the university. 
  • Academic Engagement: Doctoral students are valued members of SIE’s community of scholars. They are expected to be good citizens by engaging in departmental and school-wide events (e.g., milestone defenses, symposiums, workshops, social events). Section 5 provides more information about the role of the SIE Graduate Student Council (GSC) and opportunities for students to be involved in departmental leadership.

Each SIE PhD student is eligible to apply for a one-time travel grant of up to $1,500 to present their research at a peer-reviewed conference once during their tenure at UVA. To receive a travel grant, the student must be the primary author presenting a peer-reviewed publication. Additionally, their advisor must write a statement that there are no research funds to support travel. The one- time grant can be requested by using the SIE PhD Student Travel Fellowship Request Form. The request should be submitted at least 6 weeks prior to the conference date.

The three main milestones toward completion of an SE PhD are the qualifying exam, the dissertation proposal, and the dissertation defense. 

The typical timeline for the completion of the PhD in SIE is listed below. This timeline assumes that students enter the PhD after first completing a master’s degree. However, SIE also routinely accepts students directly into the PhD program without first requiring them to complete an MS. For these students, it may be valuable to extend the initial timeline by one year, in which case students can delay the qualifying exam until the end of their second year. The rest of the timeline then proceeds as shown below.

Engineering School policy allows a leave of absence (an action students can take after the completion of a semester, indicating that the student plans to be away from the university for at least one semester) for parental leave or serious personal or family illness; this requires notification to and approval from the appropriate department or program and the Office of Graduate Programs. When considering these options, students are urged to talk with their advisor, their program’s graduate director and the Engineering School’s graduate registrar. These individuals are committed to helping students find and navigate their best possible paths. Students must first obtain the approval of their advisor and the graduate director of the student’s program.

Typical timeline for doctoral students entering with a master’s degree. Students entering without an MS may need one extra year before taking the qualifying exam. Different research groups offer qualifying exams at different times of year.

Year 1

  • Establish a working relationship with the faculty advisor(s)
  • Begin coursework
  • Identify a research area and doctoral committee
  • Prepare a plan of study*
  • Pass the qualifying exam (August)

Year 2 

  • Finish coursework
  • Establish research
  • Present and defend dissertation proposal (March–June)

Year 3 

  • Continue research
  • Submit a paper for publication
  • Attend and present at a research conference

Years 4-5 (as needed)

  • Complete research
  • Publish additional papers or proceedings
  • Defend dissertation

*The plan of study form is for departmental use only. Students should file the form with an SIE student services coordinator and maintain a copy for themselves to access it whenever they convene their committee and/or complete a requirement. Official tracking for SEAS and SIE requirements are done using the student's academic requirements report in SIS.

Qualifying Exam

The principal objective of the qualifying exam (also referred to as the comprehensive exam and Ph.D. exam) is to assess a student’s research aptitude and confirm that they have the skills necessary to make a substantive contribution in their field. The exam also provides an opportunity for students to receive early, individualized feedback on research output that could influence the direction of their dissertation. As such, preparation for and participation in the exam should be viewed as research.

The qualifying exam is not meant to directly assess content from required courses. Thus, students must have already specified the coursework they will take before the exam. Required coursework varies by concentration, the student’s anticipated dissertation topic, and the recommendation of the student’s committee.

Students who have already passed their qualifying examinations at a previous institution may petition the Graduate Program Committee for an exemption from the UVA SIE qualifying exam upon presentation of acceptable evidence (typically a letter from the previous department).

  •  To pass the qualifying exam, students may be asked to demonstrate that they can:
  • Understand, interpret, and critically evaluate relevant literature.
  • Analyze data (via experiments, observations, surveys, simulation, etc.) and draw meaningful conclusions.
  • Apply technical/engineering tools, concepts, coursework and/or approaches to gain insight on real-world problems.
  • Effectively communicate results in both oral and written formats.
  • Answer questions and respond to critical feedback when sharing, defending, and revising their ideas.

The examination consists of two parts, written and oral. The following guidelines apply.

The examining committee will include three to five members. It is highly recommended that at least two of the faculty have expertise in the student’s research area. At least three of the members must be faculty members with non-zero percentage appointments in SIE. External (non-SIE) or courtesy faculty may be a part of the committee, but do not count toward this requirement. In most instances, the qualifying committee contains many of the same members as the student’s dissertation advisory committee. However, this is not mandatory.

The chair of the qualifying exam committee should have an appointment in SIE and cannot be the student’s advisor. The chair will be responsible for collecting and delivering feedback to the student, as explained below.

Students should work with their advisor to identify a qualifying exam committee and schedule their exam to take place no later than the end of their second year in the SIE department. 

The student should send a completed Recommendation and Certification of Doctoral Advisory Committee form to the SIE Student Services Coordinator no later than two weeks prior to the date of the written exam component. Students should meet with each of their committee members before beginning their exam preparations so they can discuss how they can best use their time.

There are two options for the qualifying exam. Students should work with their advisor to identify the format that best suits their research goals.

Option 1: Targeted Research Questions: In this option, the student’s committee will formulate a set of targeted research questions based on a research summary and reading list prepared by the student. The student will then have up to one week to prepare written answers to those questions. This will be followed by an oral exam. 

Students will work with their individual examination committees to identify dates for the written and oral components of the exam. They should then work backward from those dates to complete the activities summarized below. 

This qualifying exam should proceed as follows:

  1. The student should prepare a two-page document that outlines their research area and ex-plains how it will advance knowledge in their Ph.D. discipline.
  2. The student should prepare a preliminary reading list (research papers, book chapters, etc.) organized by topic to be used in their qualifying exam. The student is encouraged to start preparing these materials early and to meet or engage with their committee members to establish a comprehensive reading list. 
  3. The student should circulate these materials to their committee members no later than one month before their scheduled written exam start date.
  4. Committee members will have one week (three weeks before the written exam start date) to respond to the student with suggested modifications to their proposed reading list.
  5. The student will then circulate the final reading list to the whole committee no later than two weeks before the written exam start date.
  6. Committee members will then prepare their questions based upon the research overview and finalized reading list. They will forward the questions to the advisor and other commit-tee members before the exam with enough time for everyone to evaluate the exam before it begins. As the person who is most familiar with the student’s research area and how the exam could be best used for their benefit, it is highly recommended that the advisor coordinate with the committee to create a coherent and targeted set of questions.
  7. The committee chair will deliver the questions to the student on the scheduled day of the exam.
  8. The student will work on the exam for up to seven days (unless the committee specifies a different time frame). Responses should be prepared as a single written document that should state each question followed by its response. 
  9. The student will submit their solutions to the examination committee at the end of the ex-am period.
  10. The committee will have up to one week to read the student’s response and confer. They should ultimately communicate to the chair whether the student has passed or failed the exam and/or whether any additional response is required
  11. The committee chair will communicate the results of the evaluation to the student. If the student passed the written portion, they should proceed to the oral portion of the exam.
  12. Unless otherwise specified by the committee chair, the student should schedule the oral exam for one hour. The exam should be scheduled to occur in less than two weeks of no-tice to proceed. 
  13. The student should prepare a 30-minute presentation summarizing their answers to the exam questions.
  14. The student will present at the oral exam.  The remaining exam time will be used for questions from the committee. 
  15. The committee will collectively determine the examination's outcome: pass, pass with remediation, or fail.

Option 2: Individual Research Project: In this option, the student will propose an independent research product. The student then completes this research product and documents it in a form suitable for publication as a peer-reviewed conference paper or journal article. This could be anything that constitutes publishable research in the student’s research area. This could include (but is not limited to): an experiment, a simulation study, an analysis on an existing data set, an observation study, a model-based analysis, a novel mathematical proof, or a systematic literature review. The work used for the qualifying exam must exclusively be the student’s work (in conference with their adviser and examination committee) and cannot be a previously completed or published effort.

This qualifying exam should proceed as follows:

  1. The student should prepare a proposal document that is three single-spaced pages long (excluding references). Text should be in 10- or 11-point Arial or Times New Roman font. The document should propose the research project the student plans to pursue. There is no set format for this document, but it is recommended to have the following sections:
    • Background/Problem Statement: Provide a brief background on the topic area and/or the problem the research is going to solve.
    • Research Objectives: The specific research questions that will be answered, hypotheses that will be tested, and/or research objectives. 
    • Proposed Methods: How the student plans to answer the research questions, test the hypotheses, and/or achieve the research objectives. 
    • Contributions: A description of what the project will produce, why it is important, and why the work is novel.
    • Deliverables: What the student proposes to deliver to the committee at the end of the process. At minimum, this should include a conference paper or journal article manuscript documenting the completed research.
    • Timetable: A proposed schedule for completing the proposed work. This can be flexible but should be a minimum of 2-months and maximum of 9-months.
    • Bibliography: References cited in the other sections and papers the student thinks are pertinent to the proposed research. 
  2. The student should circulate a preliminary version of proposal to their committee.
  3. Committee members will confer and (within one week) communicate any revisions and recommendations (to the proposal or bibliography) to the committee chair. 
  4. The committee chair will synthesize committee recommendations and send them to the student.
  5. The student will revise the proposal and repeat steps 2-4 until the committee is satisfied with the student’s proposal. 
  6. The student will complete their research proposal in accordance with the proposed timetable. The student is encouraged to engage with their adviser and the rest of their committee during this process as necessary to keep the research on track and/or respond to unexpected issues that arise. 
  7. The student will submit their solutions to the examination committee at the time prescribed in the timetable.
  8. The committee will have up to two weeks to read the student’s response and confer. They should ultimately communicate to the chair whether the student has passed or failed the written exam and/or whether any additional response is required
  9. The committee chair will communicate the results of the evaluation to the student. If the student passed the written portion, they should proceed to the oral portion of the exam. 
  10. Unless otherwise specified by the committee chair, the student should schedule the oral for one hour. The exam should be scheduled to occur in less than two weeks of notice to proceed.
  11. The student will prepare a 30-minute presentation summarizing their research product findings.
  12. The student will present at the oral exam.  The remaining exam time will be used for questions from the committee. 
  13. The committee will collectively determine the examination outcome.

The outcome of the exam is determined collectively by the examination committee choosing from four options: pass with distinction, pass, pass with remediation, or fail. The committee weighs both parts of the exam (written and oral) at its discretion when determining the outcome. The chair is responsible for communicating the outcome of the exam and delivering feedback from the committee to the student after the exam.

At the discretion of the student’s committee, students who fail can retake the examination within six months. Students who do not receive permission to retake the exam are dismissed from the PhD program. After two unsuccessful attempts, the student is automatically dismissed from the PhD program.

Dissertation Proposal

Formulation of a dissertation proposal is a key step toward completion of the PhD This milestone allows a student’s committee to make three important determinations:

  1. To assess whether the student’s knowledge of their chosen area and their understanding of relevant literature is adequate to complete a PhD.
  2. To recommend coursework, approaches/techniques and other resources that would facilitate or enhance the proposed work.
  3. To evaluate whether or not the proposed work, if completed, would constitute an acceptable basis for a doctoral dissertation.

Selection of a PhD committee is an important component of the dissertation proposal process, insofar as the committee is responsible for helping the candidate navigate their path to the PhD. The PhD committee approves a candidate’s plan of study, including coursework, teaching, dissertation proposal and the final dissertation. SIE faculty place high value on interdisciplinarity and crosscutting collaborative research. Accordingly, we are firmly committed to letting each student work with their research adviser to select a committee that best supports their scholarly and professional development. PhD candidates must adhere to both the committee composition rules set by SEAS as well as by the department. The requirements are outlined below: 

  • SEAS Requirements: The final dissertation committee must include a minimum of three Engineering School faculty with a minimum of four UVA faculty and a minimum of five total members; one of the UVA members (the external member) must be from outside SIE. At least three of the dissertation committee members must have non-zero appointments in SIE.
  • SIE Courtesy faculty member policy: Courtesy faculty members appointed by SIE may serve as the primary adviser of a PhD student. Courtesy faculty members that are not the primary adviser can count towards either an internal or external member.
  • SIE Committee composition rules: Final committee composition should consist of no fewer two SIE faculty members with greater than 50% appointment. The committee chair should also have a primary appointment in SIE.

Finally, it is strongly recommended that the dissertation proposal committee consist of all five faculty members that would be on the final defense; however, it is acceptable for a dissertation proposal committee to have four instead of five members, in which case the fifth person is added before the final defense. 

The dissertation proposal consists of both a written document and an oral presentation. The written document should discuss the proposed work, contributions, preliminary results to date, and research timeline in a concise manner. Proposal documents should not exceed 15 single- spaced pages (or 30 double-spaced pages). The bibliography and any appendices (appendices are not required to be read by the student’s committee) are not included in this page limit. Significant departures from these guidelines must be approved in advance by the student’s proposal committee. The written proposal document must be submitted to the committee at least two weeks in advance of the proposal presentation.

All members of the committee evaluate the proposal and generate a preliminary assessment of the candidate’s achievement of the following research skills: a) identifying relevant problems of interest, b) interpreting existing literature, c) generating hypotheses, d) collecting data (via experiment, observation, modeling and/or simulation), e) interpreting results and drawing conclusions, f) communicating results (in oral and written formats), g) answering questions and defending their work, and h) commenting/critiquing on the work of others. 

The oral defense of a dissertation proposal is advertised within SIE and Engineering School. All interested parties are welcome to attend. The candidate gives a brief overview (20 to 30 minutes) of their proposed dissertation research, then takes questions from the audience and their committee. The committee then deliberates and decides whether the candidate has passed. The committee also reviews the student’s transcript and plan of study to recommend additional coursework or other relevant training if necessary. In this way, the emphasis of the dissertation proposal will be on supporting student growth, rather than just deciding who passes/fails. Candidates who fail the exam must take it again within six months. The chair of the candidate’s committee takes the lead in identifying an appropriate format and timeline for the second-chance defense. Students who do not pass on their second attempt are dismissed from the PhD program. 

It is the candidate’s responsibility to email the SIE student services coordinator their announcement information which consists of the committee members list with the chair and advisor identified, the meeting date, time, and location information, and the dissertation proposal title and abstract at least two weeks before the proposal. The SIE student services coordinator will provide the chairperson with the relevant forms (Dissertation Proposal and Admission to Candidacy and Dissertation Proposal Assessment) for the proposal defense. It is the candidate’s responsibility to bring their transcripts and plan of study. Each committee member is responsible for completing a research skills assessment and submitting it to the committee chair. The chair collates the feedback, submits an aggregated assessment form to the SIE student services coordinator (who sends it to the Engineering School registrar) and circulates the feedback to the candidate and their advisor within two weeks of the proposal. 

Finally, reiterating from Section 4.4 and Table 4-2, SIE students typically complete their proposal milestone at the end of Year 2, or the end of Year 3 if they enter the PhD without an MS. A revised Recommendation and Certification of Doctoral Advisory Committee form should be submitted to the SIE student services coordinator no later than two weeks before the scheduled proposal if the student has revised their committee since their qualifying exam and/or have added the fourth committee member. Proposal defenses are typically scheduled from March through June. 

Final Defense

The final dissertation defense is the culminating step of the PhD process. The main objective of this milestone is to confirm that the completed research constitutes a meaningful contribution to the body of knowledge in the student’s field of study. A secondary objective is to ensure that the written quality of the final document is adequate to highlight the value of the work and make it accessible for an educated audience. Often, there are intermediate meetings with the committee between the proposal and the defense to Students are eligible to defend their dissertation once they have completed all other requirements, including the publication requirement. The final defense committee must have five members (see Section 4.4.3). There is no required format for the dissertation. Rather, the candidate should work with their committee to prepare a satisfactory document. The candidate should circulate the final dissertation to their committee no later than two weeks before the oral defense date. Final defenses are advertised within the SIE and Engineering School. All interested parties are welcome to attend. The candidate gives a brief overview (30 to 35 minutes) of their dissertation research. The candidate then takes questions from the audience and their committee. The committee deliberates and decides about whether the candidate has passed. 

It is the candidate’s responsibility to email the SIE student services coordinators their announcement information which consists of the committee members list with the chair and advisor identified, the meeting date, time, and location information, and the dissertation defense title and abstract at least two weeks before the final defense. The SIE student services coordinators will provide the chairperson with the relevant forms(Report on Final Examination and Thesis and Dissertation Assessment) for the final defense. The chairperson will return the completed forms back to them after the final defense. 

PhD candidates must apply for graduation in SIS at the beginning of the semester in which they’re expected to graduate. In addition, after successful completion of the final defense, the candidate must submit the dissertation via Libra  (see Graduation Procedure) and complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates.

Administrative Forms

It is important that graduate students submit administrative forms related to degree requirements in a timely manner to the SIE student services coordinators. These forms can be found on the Engineering School’s webpage for current engineering graduate students.

The information contained on this website is for informational purposes only.  The Undergraduate Record and Graduate Record represent the official repository for academic program requirements. These publications may be found here.