The PhD programme in Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) is a research-based programme. The research can be in any of the broad areas in ECE. The core strength of the institute is currently in the following core areas: signal/speech /image processing, VLSI and embedded systems, robotics, and communications. The mian emphasis of this programme is on a thesis. Work towards the thesis requires a good understanding the state of art in an area, problem formulation, original contributions based on analysis with sufficient mathematical rigour and validation. The research is expected to be of sufficient quality to be publishable in leading international journals and top conferences pertaining to an area of research.

This programme has a limited amount of course work that can be completed in one year. The course work is aimed at providing a student with sufficient breadth and to carry out research. The main emphasis is on the research work leading to a thesis. Typically students decide on their research area and faculty advisor within the first year while doing course work. Thereafter, the steps involved are: finishing course work (to build research background and breadth), clearing a set of qualifiers, proposal defense, and thesis defense. The PhD qualifiers are a combination of coursework and comprehensive exams.