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Electronic and Electrical Engineering MPhil/PhD

London, Bloomsbury

UK students International students

Study mode

UK tuition fees (2024/25)

£6,035

£3,015

Overseas tuition fees (2024/25)

£31,100

£15,550

Duration

3 calendar years

5 calendar years

Programme starts

Research degrees may start at any time of the year, but typically start in September.

Applications accepted

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

A UK Master’s degree, or a minimum of an upper second-class UK Bachelor’s degree, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard. The qualification may be in any relevant subject, e.g. electronic engineering, communication engineering, computer science, chemistry, materials science (the latter two for electronic materials research).

The English language level for this programme is: Level 1

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

If you are intending to apply for a time-limited visa to complete your UCL studies (e.g., Student visa, Skilled worker visa, PBS dependant visa etc.) you may be required to obtain ATAS clearance. This will be confirmed to you if you obtain an offer of a place. Please note that ATAS processing times can take up to six months, so we recommend you consider these timelines when submitting your application to UCL.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

Thanks to the breadth of research we carry out in the department, we offer doctorates across a wide range of topics in electronic and electrical engineering from nanotechnology and novel materials, to circuits and systems, radar, communications, photonics, optical networks and large-scale networks.

Who this course is for

Applicants should have a strong academic record in a relevant discipline, previous research experience, and be highly motivated and interested in continuing their research in the field of electronic and electrical engineering. If you are interested in joining us as a research student, we strongly encourage you to look at the EEE research pages to identify areas of interest to you. Selecting the correct research project or area of research interest is a hugely important first step, so we recommend that you contact potential supervisors directly to discuss possibilities before you apply.

Read about what it takes to become a UCL graduate research student

What this course will give you

Our department is the oldest electronic engineering department in England and one of the most highly regarded and research active. Our research is at the cutting edge of the discipline and we have an enviable track record of exploiting our research in new technologies.

Our facilities are world-class with access to the state-of-the-art London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) and excellent in-house design and test facilities for radio frequency, radar, communications, optical networks, materials and photonics. On top of this, we also offer comprehensive training packages, dedicated staff, world-renowned academics, and support from UCL's graduate school.

Find out how your research could have an impact

The foundation of your career

Our graduates are in high demand, going on to careers in industry, as postdoctoral researchers and, in many cases, continuing to permanent academic positions at leading educational institutions.

Industry

Graduates from this programme have taken up positions at companies such as Cisco Meraki, Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia-Siemens, Barclays, Toshiba, Microsoft, European Space Agency and Deutsche Telekom, with some progressing to Directorships. A significant number use the PhD as a stepping stone to careers in other sectors, including management consultancy and finance. Several have started up their own businesses and become successful entrepreneurs.

Academia

Our graduates have also become successful academics and researchers at institutions including the University of Liverpool, Queen Mary, University of London, University of British Columbia, National University of Singapore, Aston University, City University, University of Hokkaido and at UCL.

Several have been awarded prestigious fellowships, including Royal Academy of Engineering and Royal Society University Fellowships, Leverhulme Trust Early Career Awards and EPSRC Fellowships.

Employability

Graduates from this programme are highly employable. They are well-prepared for a career in industry or to conduct powerful, influential research in this multi-disciplinary field. Many have gone on to successful careers in large organisations, top academic institutions and founded their own start-up companies.

Networking

The EEE department is located in the heart of London and has deep industry connections. This provides unique and invaluable opportunities to students such as industry-supervised research projects, sponsored studentships, site visits, placements and invited talks from experts connected to the university. Events like our Festival of Research celebrate our industry collaborations, highlight our impacts and enable networking across students, researchers and industry.

We collaborate with institutions, organisations and academics world-wide across most of our postdoctoral provision, and our renowned academic team bring their own experience and expertise to the table.

Our doctoral students engage widely with the world outside academia via mechanisms including Knowledge Transfer (KT) programmes, public engagement and outreach activities. In the former case, we have seconded students to collaborating companies via KT studentships to carry out highly industrially-relevant work. These students are often employed by the company at the end of their PhD.

Teaching and learning

This MPhil/PhD programme provides a route for students to carry out their own research project under the supervision of a member of academic staff. Students will normally work within a research group, and closely with their supervisor(s), to develop each stage of their research. Throughout their degree, students will have regular meetings with their primary supervisor, contact with their secondary supervisor, and participation in group meetings.

Students initially register for an MPhil degree and transfer to the PhD programme after a year, pending success in a transfer/upgrade examination. For a successful upgrade to PhD, students must prepare a written report, give an oral presentation and pass an oral examination.

The final examination for a PhD degree is by the presentation of a thesis, which is assessed by both an external examiner (someone from outside UCL) and an internal examiner (from within UCL). The thesis should demonstrate the student's ability to pursue original research based upon a good understanding of the research techniques and concepts appropriate to the discipline.

This MPhil/PhD comprises mostly self-directed study under the supervision of a member of academic staff. Full-time study equates to 36.5 hours per week; pro-rata for part-time. During the research degree students will have regular meetings with their Primary Supervisor (at least once every month) and consult regularly with a Subsidiary Supervisor.

If a student has external funding, they should ensure they meet the Terms and Conditions of their funder in this regard.

Research areas and structure

Communications and information systems: telecommunication networks and services; wireless communications; IP networks; sensor networks; information security and retrieval
Electronic materials and devices: optical materials and electronic devices; quantum nanoelectronics; diamond electronics; laser processing; resistive switching
Optical networks: optoelectronic devices and systems; large scale optical networks; dense WDM optically routed networks; optical packet networks; high speed optical systems
Photonics: connected electronic and photonic systems; ultrafast photonic devices; wireless over fibre devices and systems; photonic generation of THz signals; advanced liquid crystal devices; uncooled and coherent wavelength division multiplex technology
Sensors, systems and circuits: radar and sonar; antennas and EM modelling; medical electronics; RFID systems; IC design.

Research environment

This department offers an exceptionally vibrant and innovative research environment for students. Our research spans a broad range of topics in electronic and electrical engineering with research groups specialising in Electronic Materials and Devices, Information and Communication Engineering, Optical Networks, Photonics, and Sensors Systems and Circuits. We collaborate widely, both with other departments in UCL, and with leading research groups and industrial partners around the world. This generates a highly stimulating environment that has led to brilliant careers for most of our graduating students.

The length of an MPhil/PhD in this department is normally three years’ full time. Full-time research degree students are required to register for an MPhil degree for not less than 9 months after initial registration. They must then fulfil academic requirements to upgrade to PhD degree no later than 12 months after initial registration. A full-time student must be registered for at least two calendar years before they will be allowed to submit their thesis for examination for the PhD.

The length of an MPhil/PhD in this department is normally five years part time. Part-time research students in this department are required to register for an MPhil degree for a minimum of 15 months after initial registration. They must then fulfil academic requirements to upgrade to PhD degree no later than 22 months after initial registration. A part-time student must be registered for at least three calendar years before they will be allowed to submit their thesis for examination for the PhD.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble accessable.co.uk. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing team.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students

Fee description	Full-time	Part-time
Tuition fees (2024/25)	£6,035	£3,015
Tuition fees (2024/25)	£31,100	£15,550

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

There are no programme-specific costs.

As each PhD research project is unique in nature, additional costs related to consumables, equipment, materials, attending and presenting at conferences, poster printing, etc. will vary. Prospective students are advised to contact the project supervisor for more information on additional costs for specific research projects.

A student conference and travel fund is available to students within the department to help with costs associated with attending and presenting at conferences. Applications are considered on a case-by-case basis.

For more information on additional costs for prospective students please go to our estimated cost of essential expenditure at Accommodation and living costs.

Funding your studies

A number of competitive EPSRC funded studentships are available each year for UK and EU students who meet residency requirements.

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Next steps

Deadlines and start dates may be dictated by funding arrangements so check with the department or academic unit to see if you need to consider these in your application preparation. In most cases you should identify and contact potential supervisors before making your application. For more information see our How to apply page.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

This programme requires two references. Further information regarding references can be found on this Selecting your references page.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.