Overview

Our PhD program takes roughly 5–6 years to complete, but the duration varies depending on the student and the advisor. Here is a high-level timetable of the program requirements:

Year 1 WSE Academic Ethics online course
Title IX online training module
Years 1–3 8 courses
2 research projects
Responsible Conduct of Research
Years 3–4 Graduate Board Oral (GBO) Exam
First meeting with thesis committee
Finish research projects
Years 4+ (n-1) Annual meetings with thesis committee
Year n Departmental seminar
Thesis defense
Submit final dissertation to library
These requirements are discussed below. The timetable is designed to help you keep moving along toward the PhD; it is not a strict requirement to finish the items by the listed timeframe. Note that the PhD qualifying requirements are a slightly stricter version of the MSE requirements. Once you complete the coursework requirements and your first qualifying project, you may be entitled to an MSE degree from JHU (upon request). Questions about picking up your MSE degree should be directed to MSE Academic Program Manager Revelie Williams. If you transfer into the PhD program from our master’s program and then to align with the timetable, you can approximately assume you are starting out as a second-year PhD student—the 1.5–2 years of an MSE roughly approximates one year of a PhD.

Manual Directory

Online Resources

CS PhD students are beholden to the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering academic policies listed below unless the department has a differing internal policy stated. Please contact either the Academic Program Manager or the Director of Graduate Studies if you need clarification regarding if and/or how a policy may apply to you. Please see below for additional online resources that may help you in your pursuit of a PhD.