Overview

This prestigious program prepares future faculty and researchers through expert mentoring, teaching experience, and cutting-edge research opportunities in areas like autonomous systems security and electromagnetic interference fortification.

Program Benefits

  • Financial support that includes a stipend of up to $34,000 per year (determined by FAFSA)
  • Educational allowance up to $16,730 that covers all educational expenses, including tuition and fees and the cost of textbooks and other materials, computer hardware and software, travel expenditures and registration fees for participation in conferences
  • Mentoring by one or more of the GAANN faculty, as well as industry mentors who include successful alumni of previous GAANN programs
  • Supervised teaching experience, which will be preceded by training in effective teaching techniques
  • Opportunities for peer mentoring and community outreach

Eligibility

The program is open to students who meet the following criteria:

  • Demonstrated financial need (as determined by FAFSA)
  • U.S. citizenship or permanent residence
  • B.S. degree in computer engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, or closely related areas
  • Outstanding academic record, including a GPA of 3.5 or higher
  • Commitment to a career in teaching and/or research

Research Areas

The GAANN Fellows will be able to choose their Ph.D. dissertation research from a variety of topics in electrical and computer engineering, including, but not limited to, the following:

  • cybersecurity for autonomous systems
  • network and hardware vulnerability analysis
  • comprehensive threat assessment
  • fortification against intentional electromagnetic interference
  • dependability modeling for embedded systems
  • failure prediction and mitigation for embedded systems

Participating Faculty

GAANN Fellows will be engaged in multidisciplinary research and education activities centered on data-enabled approaches to increasing, evaluating, and predicting the immunity and compatibility of a broad range of systems. A lack of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) can result in catastrophic failure or malfunction of a system and can increase vulnerability to malicious attacks. Advancements in science and application of EMC principles can lead to significant improvements in reliability, survivability, availability, and security of systems that range from an electronic device intended for consumer use, to a cyber-physical critical infrastructure relied upon by thousands for daily needs.

The research carried out by GAANN Fellows will enable design, manufacturing, and verification of dependable and resilient systems, and is critical to maintaining the prominence and competitiveness of the United States in advanced technology.

 Participating Faculty

Ready To Apply?

Apply to the Electrical and Computer Engineering doctoral program at futurestudents.mst.edu, and send the required documents and information to Dr. Sahra Sedigh Sarvestani at sedighs@mst.edu.

Required Application Documents

Interested students should email the following to Dr. Sahra Sedigh Sarvestani (sedighs@mst.edu):

  • Unofficial transcripts (undergraduate and if applicable, graduate).
  • A one-page summary of your most important qualifications for the GAANN Fellowship, including undergraduate GPA, relevant coursework, GRE scores, and related work experience.
  • A one- or two-page statement of purpose outlining your career goals and explaining how the GAANN Fellowship will help you reach them. This statement should also describe your research interests related to the program, including your motivation for pursuing this research and a doctoral degree.

Questions?

Dr. Sahra Sedigh Sarvestani
Program Director, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Phone: 573-341-7505
Email: sedighs@mst.edu