Research students may commence their studies on 1st October,
1st February, 1st April or 1st July.
Full-time: 2 - 4 years
Part-time: 3 - 7 years
Full-time: £6,000 per year
Part-time: £3,000 per year
External Candidate study of this course costs £785 per year either as a part-time or full-time option.
Full-time: £18,000 per year
Part-time: £9,000 per year
Candidates carry out original research within the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in the areas of three research centres:
Examples of recent PhD theses:
A good first class honours degree in Electrical, Electronic Engineering, Physics or Mathematics from a UK university or a recognised equivalent from an overseas institution. Most areas also require an appropriate Masters qualification, or equivalent degree. If your undergraduate degree is not of a first class pass or equivalent an MSc with Distinction is required.
Proof of English language proficiency is required for applicants whose first language is not English. We require a minimum IELTS overall score of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each of the four components; or, a minimum TOEFL overall score of 92 with a minimum of 22 in Writing and 20 in Listening, Speaking and Reading.
Please note that the UKVI currently requires us to confirm that you are at level B2 or above in all components of English before issuing visa documents.
Find out more about English language proficiency requirements at City.
International Students (EEA and Non EEA) coming to study in the UK, may need to apply for a visa or entry clearance to come to the UK to study. The way that you apply may vary depending on the length of your course. There are different rules for:
For more information see our main Visa page.
The research in the Department is organised around two Research Centres on Sensors and Instrumentation and Systems and Control.
The Sensors and Instrumentation Centre has an established international reputation in the areas of measurement and instrumentation, sensor development, optical systems and photonics, computer vision, medical imaging and biomedical engineering. The work builds on advanced experimental and theoretical developments to meet current sensing challenges from industry and clinical practice.
The Centre comprises research activity in the areas of sensing and photonics and biomedical engineering. It has particular expertise in novel optical fibre-based sensor design, fabrication and implementation, biomedical diagnostics, medical imaging and pattern recognition, photonics modelling, microelectronics, instrumentation and signal processing.
The Systems and Control Centre activities address the challenge of complexity in engineering and general processes and have extended the control and systems approaches to challenging problems in the Design, Operations, Risk and Management of Industrial Processes, as well as new fields of applications such as Energy, Environment, and Security. Its central goal is the development of methodologies that enable the management of complexity in engineering processes. Applications are supported by basic research in Mathematical Systems and Control Theory, Optimization, Linear Algebra and Computations.
External Candidate study of this course costs £785 per year either as a part-time or full-time option.
Fees for doctoral candidates are charged annually and cover registration, supervision and examination. Fees are subject to review each year and may vary during your period of registration.
Find out about our fourteen full-time, three-year doctoral studentships for 2019/20 entry.
The Government has introduced a new Postgraduate Doctoral Loans scheme which can provide a loan of up to £25,000 over three years to support study for a doctoral degree. A Postgraduate Doctoral Loan can help with course fees and living costs while you study and can be used alongside any other forms of support you may be able to receive, for example from industry or business or through your PhD supervisor.
Students are assigned to a lead and secondary supervisor within a Research Group, then assigned to the Research Centre of the Primary Supervisor. The Research Centre supports the PhD candidate with training and development.
Students are strongly encouraged to widen their horizons by attending in-house seminars and participate in relevant courses from the MSc programmes as recommended by their supervisor. Participation in theme-oriented study groups and presentation of their own work in a seminar after the first year is required and students are also strongly encouraged to present their work regularly.
After the first year, the Department offers the opportunity for PhD students to gain teaching experience and improve their communication skills by tutoring undergraduate students. Assignments depend on progression and are co-ordinated by the Head of Department in liaison with supervisors.
City provides:
Further support for the development of generic research skills and personal transferable skills is provided by the City Graduate School, founded in August 2012, which among other objectives aims to facilitate cross-School collaboration and improve skills training provision and employability.
Student progression is closely monitored by the Graduate School's senior tutor for research through annual progress reports and by means of a recently introduced software system (the Research and Progress platform), whose use is mandatory for both supervisors and students. The system involves PhD students in the management of their own research projects with a flexible approach according to individual student needs. Key milestones are recorded, with required reporting on at least four meetings per term, an initial six-month report, an annual progress report, details of progression from MPhil to PhD status, intention to submit and transfer to writing-up status no later than year four.
We accept applications on an ongoing basis for entry on 1st October, February, April and July. Please see the requirements section above for eligibility criteria.
It is essential that you contact a member of academic staff in the department you are interested in, to discuss your ideas for research (research proposal) and gain their consent to supervise your research. Unfortunately, we will not be able to consider your application without this pre-requisite.
Details of relevant academic staff can be found on our department pages.
You are advised to submit your application at least 12 weeks before your proposed start date in order for us to consider and process your application. Once you have contacted a supervisor who has confirmed that they will accept to guide you through your research, please submit an application online using the applicable link below:
If you are applying to study externally (not based at City University of London, supported by a supervisory team in your approved educational institution or workplace) please email pgr.smcse.enquire@city.ac.uk with your application number once you have submitted your application, to ensure that you are considered for your intended mode of study.
To apply online, an applicant will need to submit the following supporting documents:
