Graduate Admissions

Be a Part of ECE's Graduate Program

Thank you for your interest in the graduate programs in Electrical and Computer Engineering, or ECE, at UC Davis!

Our ECE program is well-known for its outstanding education and pioneering research. Our faculty and researchers lead the way in creating innovative engineering methods and advancing a range of disciplines. Being situated near Silicon Valley keeps us informed about the latest trends in innovation, allowing us to offer cutting-edge education and numerous collaboration opportunities that facilitate the transformation of ideas into real-world products.

For more information, we invite you to review our webpages and the information below. If you have any questions, please contact Graduate Coordinator Michelle Walker at ecegradinfo@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-1726.

The Fall 2025 application is now open Apply Now!

• Application Deadlines (M.S. and Ph.D.) 

• General Deadline: January 15

  To be considered for financial support, all application materials (including online application, recommendation letters, transcripts and TOEFL scores) must be submitted before this deadline. All U.S. citizens and permanent residents are encouraged to file FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). 

  Space Available Deadline: June 1

  Permitting available space, applications without financial support are accepted until this deadline.
  
  Apply Now!

• Application Requirements

• Application Fee 

  The application fee is $135 for the domestic application and $155 for the international application. The fee may be paid by credit card or e-check. The fee must be paid before the application will be considered as complete and the fee must be paid for each application submitted.

  Please note that Ph.D. applicants selected for participation in the COE Equity program are eligible for an application fee waiver for Fall 2025 admission. Please visit here for more information and accessing the Waiver Request Form. We strongly encourage applications from underrepresented communities.

  You will need:

  Three Letters of Recommendation: Letters of recommendation must be submitted electronically by the referrer through the online application. Recommendations will not be accepted by mail or e-mail.

  Transcripts: UC Davis requires academic records from each college-level institution you have attended.  You will be instructed to upload scanned copies of your transcripts after you have submitted your online application.  For more details visit https://gradstudies.ucdavis.edu/submit-transcripts.

  Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Scores: GRE general exam (verbal, quantitative and analytical) GRE is not required for applicants to PhD or MS programs.

  TOEFL Scores: TOEFL is required if English is not your first language or the primary language of instruction for your degree. Submit scores to School Code 4834; Department Code 66.

  Optional Materials: All other material must be submitted electronically, including optional material – CVs and conference paper(s). Please do not provide bank statements.  All material sent by mail will be discarded.

  Prospective Student Fellowship Application (Optional): If you wish to be considered for campus-wide fellowships (“internal fellowships”), please fill out the fellowship application in Embark. Next to each fellowship, you can find the eligibility criteria and any requested information. You are not required to submit additional letters of recommendation, but may need to explain your eligibility for certain fellowships if you wish to be considered for them. This application must be completed and submitted by the January 15 priority deadline. There is no application to be considered for Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) positions, Teaching Assistant (TA) positions or department fellowships. You will be considered automatically. Priority, however, will be given to applicants whose applications are completed by the January 15 deadline.

  Additional and supplemental information will not be accepted. Please include all pertinent information in the online Graduate Application.

• Graduate Research Areas
• Computer Engineering
  • Computer Organization and Digital Hardware
  • Computer Networks 
  • Cyber-Physical and Embedded Systems
  • Secure and Trustworthy Computing
  • Computing for Machine Learning and AI
  
  Bio, Ag and Health Technologies
  • Biosensing and Biophotonics
  • Biomaterials and Bioelectronics
  • Bio and Health Informatics 
  • Neuroscience and Neural Engineering
  • Smart and Precision Agriculture 
  
  Integrated Circuits and Systems
  • Analog, Digital and Mixed-Signal Inegrated Circuits
  • Low Voltage and Low Power Circuits and Systems
  • Power Electronics
  • VLSI and Multicore Computing
  
  Quantum, Photonic and Electronic Devices
  • Energy Conservation Technologies
  • RF and THz Photonics
  • Nanoscale Electronics and Photonics
  • Quantum and Photonics Devices in Computing, Communications and Information Processing
  
  Information Systems
  • Information and Networking
  • Decision and Control
  • Machine Learning and Applications
  • Signal Processing and Communications
  
  RF-to-THz Electronics and Waves
  • RF to THz Integrated Circuits and Systems 
  • Antennas and Phased Array Antennas
  • High Power Amplifiers and Frequency Multipliers 
  • Radar, Sensing and Energy Harvesting Systems
• Funding Resources for Graduate Students

• Sources of funding in the ECE Graduate Program include:

  • ECE Graduate Program fellowships
  • Graduate Student Researcher appointments
  • Teaching Assistantships
  • PhD COE Equity program - application fee waiver for Fall 2025 admission

  Funding decisions related to fellowships are generally made by the graduate program executive committee or Graduate Studies, depending on the source of funding for the fellowship. Not all fellowship funding decisions are made by either the graduate program executive committee or Graduate Studies. For example, graduate students often seek fellowship funding directly from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, foundations and a range of other agencies and organizations.

  Funding decisions related to Graduate Student Researchers are made by the principal investigator of the source of funding.

  Teaching assistant appointment decisions are made by the Undergraduate Program Chair approximately four weeks prior to the start of each quarter and are based, in part, on a graduate student’s educational background, grade point average, academic standing, degree objective, feedback from instructors and recruitment status at the time of entering the graduate program.