General Study Syllabus for Engineering Sciences with Specialisation in Electronics

Engineering Science with Specialisation in Electronics

Swedish title: Teknisk fysik med inriktning mot elektronik

TNTEKF03

Responsible department: Department of Electrical Engineering

TNTEKF21

Responsible department: Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Subject-specific parts (*) in Swedish adopted by the Faculty Board (the Doctoral Education Board) on 2011-03-09. Revision on 2019-05-15 and 2020-01-15.Translations approved 2019-05-15 and 2020-01-15.

Faculty-common parts approved by the Faculty Board of Science and Technology on 2022-04-26. Revision on 2023-02-07.

The faculty-common parts go into force on 1 July 2022. The Faculty-common parts also apply to those who started their doctoral education prior to 1 July 2022, except if this would have a negative impact on the conditions for doctoral students.

Subject description *

Electronics describes the interaction between electric and magnetic fields as well as the motion of charged particles in various media, whereas electronic devices control the movement of charged particles. The research topic pertains to the study of these phenomena and in particular to the design of various electronic/optoelectronic components, circuits and functionalities that can be devised by utilising the same. The development of methods and processes for the fabrication of such components plays, therefore, a pivotal role in this education. The research is of both theoretical and experimental character and contains both applied and fundamental elements. Research is carried out predominantly within the area of solid state electronics and particularly in the following specific sub-areas:

  • Component design and fabrication
  • Sensors and sensor technology
  • Microwave engineering
  • Thin film technology
  • Solar cell technology
  • Optoelectronics
  • Flexible electronics
  • Quantum electronics
  • Self-powered electronic systems

All sub-areas are of applied character and subsequently the student’s research is often carried out in collaboration with industrial partners. Participation in international projects, EU in particular, is a common form of the research activity.

The research in the area of Electronics makes use of a range of advanced process equipment and processes such as ion implantation, ALD, CVD, sputtering, evaporation, dry etching and lithography, as well as a number of plasma-activated processes. Carrying out the research effectively and professionally requires knowledge in advanced characterisation techniques especially electrical, optical and optoelectronic methods. An important part in the education is to give the student substantial experience and skills working with these processes and methods as well as deep understanding about their possibilities and limitations.

Aim and objectives for the education

Overall aim and objectives of the education

Doctoral education shall develop the knowledge and skills needed to be able to conduct research independently (Higher Education Act, 1992:1434). The Higher Education Ordinance’s System of Qualifications (Appendix 2, 1993:100) sets out the requirements to be met for a doctoral and licentiate degree, respectively (see individual study plan template).

Subject-specific objectives *

Supervision and thesis work will make the student well prepared to carry out independent scientific research. After the education, the student will be familiar with scientific questions and methods in electronics, and will have reached thorough knowledge within the specific area of the thesis. The student will be able to critically assess his/her own scientific work and that of others.

The doctoral student shall also be able to present her/his own goals and results orally and in writing to different target groups in English and, in the case of Swedish-speaking doctoral students, in Swedish.

Entry requirement

General entry requirements

General entry requirements for doctoral education are regulated in the Higher Education Ordinance as follows:

An applicant shall be considered as meeting the general entry requirements if they have

  • completed a degree at the advanced level (Master’s level), or
  • completed course requirements of at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits are at the advanced level (Master’s level), or
  • acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

The University may permit an exemption from the general entry requirements for an individual applicant, if there are special grounds (Chapter 7, § 39 of the Higher Education Ordinance).

In order for a person who has completed course requirements of at least 240 credits (under the second item above) to be considered eligible at Uppsala University, the 60 credits at advanced level must include a degree project of at least 15 credits (AFUU § 2, UFV 2022/729).

Special entry requirements *

Special eligibility is assigned to a candidate who has taken courses within all relevant areas in the subject with sufficient breadth and depth. Thus, special eligibility is considered to have a candidate with one of the following:

  • a) has obtained a Master’s degree in engineering (Swedish “Civilingenjörsexamen”) from a Swedish technical University/College and hence taken courses within the relevant areas of the subject;
  • b) in a different way has gained knowledge principally to the same extent as in a), irrespectively of the country of study.

Advertisement, selection and admission

Information and advertisement

Admission shall be made on a competitive basis following open advertisement of a doctoral place, with the exception of that which is specified in Chapter 7, § 37 of the Higher Education Ordinance. The advertisement shall be made available locally and on the University’s website (www.uu.se) at least three weeks before the application deadline and should be given appropriate national and international dissemination.

Selection

Selection among the applicants shall be carried out with consideration given to their ability to successfully conduct their studies. The assessment criteria for selection are:

  1. knowledge and skills relevant to the thesis work and the subject/specialisation
  2. assessed ability to work independently, for example
    • ability to formulate and address scientific problems
    • written and oral communication skills
    • ability to carry out independent critical analysis
  3. other experience relevant to doctoral studies, e.g. professional experience.

The assessment criteria may be demonstrated, for example, by supporting documents, an interview or a skills test.

In addition, an assessment is made of the applicant’s general competence and personal qualities, as well as their ability to collaborate. If a number of applicants are judged as being equal, preference shall be given to applicants from the underrepresented legal gender among the doctoral students in the subject/specialisation.

The mere fact that an applicant is deemed to be able to be awarded credits for prior studies or professional experience for the purpose of doctoral studies shall not give an applicant preference over other applicants during selection (Chapter 7, § 41 of the Higher Education Ordinance).

Admission

A doctoral student is admitted to a doctoral programme in a doctoral subject/specialisation. Admission of a doctoral student with full-time employment in their doctoral studentship at Uppsala University is decided by the head of the relevant department, except in cases specified in the Faculty’s guidelines for doctoral education (TEKNAT 2021/301). Admissions with other forms of funding are decided by the Faculty Board’s Working Committee after preparation in the Doctoral Education Board.

Structure and content of doctoral education

Doctoral education consists of courses and research work, and can take various forms, as specified in the individual study plan.

The research project must be well-defined and the level of ambition must be set taking into account both the degree objectives of the programme and the net study time (maximum 48 months for a doctoral degree or maximum 24 months for a licentiate degree).

Requirements for doctoral degree *

The requirements for doctoral degree consist of on one hand passed examinations in the courses included in the approved individual study plan of each doctoral student, and on other hand passed public defence of the doctoral thesis. The programme leading to the doctoral degree amounts to 240 credits (four years of full-time studies), of which the thesis part amounts to a minimum of 120 credits and the course part to a minimum of 50 credits.

Requirements for licentiate degree *

A stage of at least 120 credits (two years of full-time studies) in the third cycle program may be completed with a licentiate degree. The requirements for this are that the doctoral student both has passed the examinations included in the program stage and has got an academic paper amounting to a minimum of 60 credits passed. The course part amounts to a minimum of 30 credits.

Supervision

The head of department is responsible for ensuring that sufficient time is allotted for the department’s doctoral students to receive the necessary supervision. A doctoral student has the right to request a change of supervisor (Chapter 6, § 28 of the Higher Education Ordinance).

Individual study plan

The principal supervisor, in consultation with the professor responsible for doctoral studies (FUAP), is responsible for drawing up an initial individual study plan prior to admission. The head of department approves the study plan in connection with admission. The individual study plan shall contain a timetable for the doctoral studies, specification of how supervision is organised, and a description of the undertakings of the doctoral student and the department during the period of studies. The individual study plan also specifies the courses included in the doctoral student’s education.

The individual study plan must be revised at least annually in collaboration between the doctoral student and their supervisor. The revision involves following up on the doctoral student’s progress in relation to the degree objectives and previous plan, as well as planning for further studies. The FUAP approves the revised study plan.

Courses

Faculty-common courses

A course in research ethics, with a minimum of 2 credits and content equivalent to the courses provided by the Faculty, shall be included for the licentiate and doctoral degrees. An introductory course to doctoral studies and a course in scientific writing are also recommended.

Doctoral students who teach should undergo teacher training for higher education. This is specified in the individual study plan, and can either be a credit-bearing course element or take place within the framework of the doctoral student’s departmental service.

Teacher training for higher education, lasting 5 weeks, is equivalent to 7.5 credits at the Faculty, and may be included in the doctoral programme.

Basic Swedish language training for doctoral students who do not have Swedish as their first language may be a credit-bearing course element or take place within the framework of the doctoral student’s departmental service.

Subject-specific courses *

Within the third cycle programme there may be different kinds of courses, such as lectures, literature studies, practical training, field studies, etc. The courses are intended to provide wider insights into the subject as a complement to the specialist competence acquired in the research work. The courses included in the individual study plan may be chosen from relevant courses given at Uppsala University, other Swedish universities and universities abroad..

The range of courses offered is revised continuously. A minimum of 50 credits is required for each doctoral student to fulfil the studies. A selection of courses below is given regularly and at least two of those six 5-credits courses marked in bold and italic (no. 1 through no. 6) shall be included in the individual study plan.

  1. Physics of semiconductor devices, 5-10 credits
  2. Design and process for advanced semiconductor devices, 5-10 credits
  3. Thin film technology, 5 credits
  4. Solar cell technology, 5 credits
  5. Electrical characterisation techniques for thin film technology, 5 credits
  6. Optical characterisation techniques for thin films, 5 credits
  7. Advanced semiconductor materials, 3-10 credits
  8. Sensor technology, 5-10 credits
  9. Vacuum technology, 5 credits
  10. Solid-state radio frequency and microwave amplifiers, 10 credits
  11. Bioelectromagnetics, 5 credits

In addition, it is expected that the doctoral student holds at least four (4) presentations at the division Friday seminar during the study time of four years. An important aspect of the presentations is to develop the ability of reaching a broader audience than the own research area of the student. For completing these presentations, the doctoral student will be awarded 1 credit.

Depending on the specialisation, it may be desirable that a non-negligible part of the courses of the individual study plan is to be selected from the field of condensed matter physics, and in particular solid state physics. In the same context, materials theory, materials science, microsystems technology, electrochemistry, physical chemistry, biophysics, biochemistry, control theory, signal processing and AI are other closely related subjcredits.

The courses should be categorised as base versus specific block. The base block comprises those 6 aforementioned courses in bold and italic style (no. 1 – no. 6), while the specific block can consist of in-depth courses closely related to the thesis work including literature.

Course examiner

Course examiner

For doctoral courses, the teacher responsible for the course normally serves as the examiner. The head of department appoints an examiner for a doctoral course. The task of the examiner is only to determine grades on examinations. The principal supervisor, in consultation with the FUAP and other supervisors, decides which courses and to what extent (number of credits) the doctoral student is allowed to be credited for in their doctoral studies, and this is documented in the individual study plan.

Credit transfer

It is up to the principal supervisor, in consultation with the FUAP and other supervisors, to decide which examinations (courses or other elements carried out during the study period of the doctoral education) the doctoral student will be allowed to count towards their doctoral studies and to what extent (number of credits). This shall be documented in the individual study plan. The task of the examiner is only to determine grades on examinations.

An assessment must be made as to whether credits can be awarded for prior studies or professional or vocational experience (that have been completed prior to admission to doctoral education) (Chapter 6, § 8 of the Higher Education Ordinance). At the Faculty, the FUAP is responsible for the assessment.

Thesis, doctoral defence and licentiate seminar

Thesis

The research work shall result in a scientific thesis that must be defended at a public doctoral defence. The research task may be carried out individually or in collaboration with others within or outside the department. However, the doctoral student must be trained to conduct independent research.

The doctoral thesis can be designed either as a monograph, i.e. a unified, coherent scientific work, or as a compilation thesis, i.e. a compilation of scientific papers with a summary of these. The thesis work must be equivalent to at least 120 credits (Chapter 6, §§ 4–5 of the Higher Education Ordinance, and Appendix 2, System of Qualifications). Theses within the Faculty shall include a popular science summary that is in Swedish and at least two pages long.

The doctoral thesis must either meet the requirements for publication in an international scientific journal with independent quality review, or be a summary of scientific papers with equivalent quality requirements. If the doctoral student has co-authored a paper with another person, this may be taken into account only to the extent that the individual effort can be distinguished. This should be done through a description of the doctoral student’s contribution in the papers on which a compilation thesis is based. If parts of the work have previously been published by the doctoral student in a licentiate thesis, this shall be made clear.

The licentiate thesis is smaller in scope, but is subject to the same quality requirements for constituent papers as apply for the doctoral thesis.

In consultation with the FUAP and other supervisors, the principal supervisor shall assess when the thesis work has progressed to the point that a date for doctoral defence or licentiate seminar can be set.

Doctoral defence

The forms of defence and the grading of doctoral theses are regulated in the Higher Education Ordinance, the Faculty’s Guidelines for doctoral education (TEKNAT 2021/301) and Admission and grading regulations for doctoral studies at Uppsala University (UFV 2022/729).

The doctoral thesis shall be defended orally in a public doctoral defence. An examining committee appointed by the Faculty decides on the grade for the doctoral thesis.

Licentiate seminar

The Faculty’s guidelines for doctoral education (TEKNAT 2021/301) summarise the rules for the licentiate seminar.

The grade for a licentiate thesis shall be determined by the FUAP, or another professor delegated this duty, in consultation with the principal supervisor and the external reviewer. The principal or assistant supervisor for the doctoral student may not serve as examiner.

Degree*

The following degree titles have been established for Engineering Science with specialisation in Electronics:

Teknologie licentiat- och doktorsexamen

The English translation is Degree of Doctor/Licentiate of Philosophy.

Both the subject and the specialisation are listed on the degree certificate. The degree title (Teknologie/Filosofie licentiat- och doktorsexamen [Degree of Doctor/Licentiate of Philosophy]) shall be determined by the content of the doctoral education, and not by the doctoral student’s degree from a qualifying programme. If a doctoral student wishes to change their degree title to one that differs from that established for the doctoral subject dispensation is required from the Faculty Board (Working Committee). The request for a change of degree title must be made no later than the time of opponent and examining committee appointment or submission of the thesis for printing, whichever occurs first.

Doctoral and licentiate degree certificates are issued upon application in Ladok.

Regulatory framework and responsibilities for doctoral education

Doctoral education is regulated in the Higher Education Act (1992:1434) and the Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100). These are supplemented by the following local regulations: Guidelines for doctoral studies at Uppsala University (UFV 2022/728), Admission and grading regulations for doctoral studies and study programmes at Uppsala University (UFV 2022/729) and Guidelines for doctoral (third cycle) education at the Faculty of Science and Technology (TEKNAT 2021/301).

Responsibility for doctoral education ultimately rests with the University Board and the Vice-Chancellor (Chapter 2, §§ 2–3 of the Higher Education Ordinance). Through delegation, the Disciplinary Domain Board or Faculty Board has overarching responsibility and supervisory responsibility, but the day-to-day responsibility is exercised by the department in which the doctoral student is registered. Key functions in doctoral education are the head of department, professor responsible for doctoral studies (FUAP), director of doctoral studies, and the supervisor. See the Faculty’s Rules of Procedure (TEKNAT 2019/177) for a description of roles and responsibilities.

Other*

It is often advantageous that the thesis work in electronics be related to a specific scientific and/or technological issue of substantial relevance for industry or equally so for research institutes and similar organisations.

Further information can be obtained from the professors responsible for third cycle education in Engineering Science with specialisation in Electronics.

Website: http://www.teknik.uu.se/

FOLLOW UPPSALA UNIVERSITY ON

facebook
instagram
twitter
youtube
linkedin