The Progress Review is an oral examination performed before your PhD Dissertation Committee as a whole. The committee will evaluate and sign off on your research and plan , establishing after conducting a rigorous review. The result will be a de-facto contract between you and your committee about the project and topic being PhD-worthy to ensure the PhD-worthiness of your topic, projects, and research if completed as proposedplanned.
A PhD student is expected to give a Progress Review the latest prior to the 9th long semester after attempting and/or completing 33 hours of coursework within the Graduate Program, excluding approved leaves of absence. The Progress Review should be done at around the half-way point of the PhD, and at least one year before the PhD defense. It is in your own interest to get input from the committee as early as possible in order to be able to make corrections, to undertake further research if requested by your committee, and to avoid surprises during the defense. Certain ECE requirements may be relaxed under rare circumstances generally beyond the student’s control (such as a doctoral student following his or her supervisor’s move to the UT-Austin ECE department) and with prior approval of the ECE GSC or its representatives.
The Progress Review consists of two major components: a written Progress Report and an Oral Examination.
Written Progress Report
You, the student, must provide a written Progress Report / PhD Proposal to the Dissertation Committee at least one week before the Oral Exam. The report should highlight your research accomplishments to date, ongoing research, and planned research toward completion of your Dissertation.
...