With its postdoctoral research station set up as early as in 1999, the discipline enjoys a rather strong comprehensive advantages and has demonstrated great competence in fundamental and applied researches. With its substantially enhanced research abilities, the discipline is drawing close to the national first level as a whole with part of its achievements coming up as the most advanced in the country. Altogether, cheerful results have been achieved in aspects of discipline orientations, academic teams, discipline platform constructions, scientific researches, cultivation of talents and academic exchanges.

1. Objectives

 Ph.Ds of the discipline are expected to have a solid knowledge of fundamental mathematics, a systematic knowledge of the discipline’s covered areas, and a profound knowledge of their orientations. With their vigorous consciousness of academic pursuits, acute awareness of innovation and an in-depth understanding of the present situations, the developing trends and the cutting-edge of the discipline, they are enabled to contribute high-level academic papers and exchange research concerns in international conferences, to carry out independent researches on fundamental theories and front issues of computer science with internationally acknowledged innovative achievements, and to undertake designing and developing large scale software or significant computer applied projects, and they are thus furnished with the qualities of being an academic leader or a project director and the qualifications for teaching in institutes of higher education.

International doctoral candidates are also expected to have a basic knowledge of Chinese history and culture, and be capable of reading Chinese scientific literatures in simple Chinese and communicating with basic skills in the Chinese language.

2. Orientations

1) Information Security

2) Digital Media Technology

3) Embedded System

4) Software Development Technology

3. Duration

The duration set for Ph.D candidates is three years full-time. An extension can be applied for by those who cannot finish their courses on time owing to objective causes, yet altogether six years is the last due.

4. Progression and Requirements

International students of Ph.D candidates can take 1) full-time training, i.e. the whole progression is done at UESTC, or 2) on-the-job training, i.e. finishing the course work at UESTC and completing the dissertation in their home country, with no less than 1 year to be spent at UESTC for the research work around the dissertation. Either way chosen, the dissertation defense should be done at UESTC.

The supervisor responsibility mechanism is adopted in the education for international Ph.D candidates. The supervisor is responsible for the student’s making of personal study plan, the choice of courses, and the completion of the degree thesis.

The minimum total credits for international students of Ph.D candidates is 14, Ph.D candidates should complete the course work of no less than a total of 12 credits (out of which at least 8 should be of the degree course categories), compulsory sections of no less than 2 credits. During the course work, according to specifications by the discipline, the student is to pass examinations held for the degree courses and examinations or assessments held for the other optional courses. Of all the degree courses, common core courses are compulsory. Ph.D candidates are allowed to choose 1~2 inter-disciplinary core courses as their degree courses under supervisors’ guidance. Degree courses can be taken to substitute non-degree courses, but not vice versa. International students of Chinese language abilities can apply to take courses given in Chinese to local full-time graduate students and acquire corresponding credits if pass.

Those who fail to meet the credit requirements will be denied the thesis defense.