Frequently Asked Questions
Information for Prospective Graduate Students
If you would like to apply to Stanford for graduate school, I will most likely be unable to communicate with you directly about the application process or about the opportunities you might have to join my research group. There are simply too many emails to answer them all. However, I have pulled together some answers to common questions, which I hope will be helpful. For general information about graduate school in electrical engineering, the following article by Dr. Robert N. Candler, who completed his Ph.D. thesis at Stanford in 2005 in Prof. Thomas W. Kenny's group in the Mechanical Engineering Department, is very insightful. Rob then joined Bosch Research and Technology Center, Palo Alto and later joined the Electrical Engineering Department at UCLA as a faculty member. He provides many valuable as well as entertaining observations about life in graduate school.
R. N. Candler, "Stuff most students never ask about grad
school," IEEE Potentials, 24, 4-10
(2005).
DOI: 10.1109/MP.2005.1502497
Dr. Jorge Cham, who received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford a few years ago, created a comic strip based on life in graduate school. It's required reading for those who are about to enter this challenging phase of academic life.
Piled Higher and Deeper a grad school comic strip, by Jorge Cham
Lego Grad Student also provides valuable perspectives:
Prof. Christos Kozyrakis (EE and CS Depts.) has modified a presentation by Prof. Dave Patterson (EECS Dept., UC Berkeley) that tells you how to have a bad career in research and academia. The presentation is available on his homepage and has excellent insights into common misunderstandings about how to succeed in graduate school.
Question: Can you give me advice on my background and chances for admissions?
A. The webpage for the Department of Electrical Engineering and in particular, the Graduate Admissions webpage will answer most of your questions. In addition to your grades, undergraduate major and courses, and GRE scores, it is very important that you request letters of recommendation from professors or engineers in industry who know you and your abilities for research. Needless to say, admission is highly competitive for the M.S./Ph.D. program. The MSEE program at Stanford provides an intensive, coursework-only graduate education that is an excellent foundation for a career in the information technology industry, including MEMS and nanotechnology. Although the MSEE degree does not require a thesis, there are many project-oriented courses that provide students with intensive experiences in design.
Question: I've been accepted to Stanford's M.S./Ph.D. program. Can you tell me whether or not I will financially supported through my Ph.D. studies?
A. Yes. Faculty in the School of Engineering are required to
support their PhD students until they file their thesis.
However, research funding in engineering fields in the U.S. has
been declining over the past decade, making it important that
you apply to all multi-year fellowships for which you qualify:
the National Science Foundation, Dept. of Energy, Dept. of
Homeland Security, the National Defense Science and Engineering
Fellowship, as well as the Hertz and other private fellowships.
You should be sure to apply for M.S./Ph.D. admission early to
maximize your chance of winning a Stanford Graduate Fellowship,
which provides three years of support and which can be combined
with external fellowships for up to five years of support.
Q: Are you taking new students?
A: No. I became an emeritus professor in April 2023.
The following talk has my perspectives on pursuing an academic career:
Q: Do you have openings for postdocs or visiting researchers?
A: No.
Q: What are some graduate courses related to MEMS?
A: Refer to the Stanford bulletin for details, but consider Engr240, Engr241, ME218, ME220, ME329, ME358, ME 344A, ME414, ME457, EE212, EE312, MSE251, MSE316, MSE324, MSE353, and MSE321. Many of the courses in the solid-state devices, photonics, and integrated circuit-design areas are very relevant to research in this field. EE225 and BIOE370 are courses relevant to Bio-MEMS; faculty in EE, ME, and Bioengineering are developing new courses in this field.