Course Requirements MS PHD

The Robotics Masters (MS) degree program requires completion of 30 credits of letter-graded coursework including directed study for 3 to 6 credits.

The Robotics PhD program has very similar course requirements. PhD students may earn a master’s degree as part of their PhD program. This master’s degree may be conferred provided the student does not already have a master’s degree in Robotics. To complete the PhD coursework requirements, students will complete at least 6 credits beyond the 30 required for the master’s degree to satisfy specific course requirements. If entering with a relevant master’s degree, students must only complete ROB 501, ROB 550, ROB 590, and the depth, breadth, and cognate requirements, which is a minimum of 26 credits.

The Rackham Residency requirement states that at least 18 of the 36 course credits required for a PhD be earned at the University of Michigan, for those entering with master’s degrees from other institutions.

The robotics program classifies most of its courses as belonging to one of three core subdisciplines:

  • Sensing - Includes computer vision, mapping, signal processing.
  • Reasoning - Includes planning, multi-agent coordination, machine learning, artificial intelligence.
  • Acting - Includes control, kinematics, dynamics, mechanical, bio-mechanical systems design, manipulation, real-time systems.

Course lists

Researchers remotely control a Spot robot in a lab.

SENSING: Robots rely on numerous technologies, such as LIDAR or computer vision, to determine their environment.

A 3d virtual environment with a bipedal robot determining where to place its hands and feet.

REASONING: A virtual robot decides to move with only feet, with one hand, or with both, as it traverses rough terrain.

A large industrial robot arm is moved by a researcher to a more exact position.

ACTING: A robot arm grasps a rope as a researcher assists.

Credit Requirements

The following table summarizes Robotics program course categories. The “Other Electives” course set is quite general and should be discussed with a student’s advisor. Some suggested math and robotics courses hosted in traditional departments are listed here. Any course listed under Sensing, Reasoning, or Acting that is not used to fulfill the breadth or depth requirement, 400-level courses listed here, or any 500-level or higher courses within the College of Engineering, can be considered an elective. If you would like to request that a course not included in one of these groups count as an elective, please fill out the Robotics Course Approval Request form.

Course / CategoryDescription
ROB 501Math for Robotics
ROB 550Robotic Systems Laboratory
BreadthOne course from each core area: sensing, reasoning, acting
DepthAt least one additional course taken from at least one of the three core areas
Cognate (PhD only)One technical course from outside your Depth core area. Note that the cognate CANNOT double-count for a Breadth course.
Directed StudyResearch supervised by a robotics faculty member. See ROB 590: Directed Study
Other Electives400 level or higher (approved by a faculty advisor)

1st Year Students MS PHD

All first-year MS and PhD robotics students are advised to take 2 or 3 courses in the first (Fall) semester

  • These courses should include: Math for Robotics (ROB 501) and either Programming for Robotics (ROB 502) or Robotic Systems Laboratory (ROB 550). The academic topics in ROB 501 and ROB 550 build the foundation to the Robotics curriculum and students are expected to have this education in their first two semesters.

    • If not taken in the first two semesters, there is not a guarantee a third semester student will be able to enroll in ROB 501 and/or ROB 550 and there could be a delay in graduation.
  • If decided upon, the third course would be related to the student’s primary area of interest.  

  • In the second term, students are again advised to take 2 or 3 courses.   These courses can come from the depth or breadth requirement areas, or 2 courses plus a directed study course (ROB 590.)

Grade requirements

Master’s Grade Requirements MS

Course grades must be B- or better for the credit hours to be counted toward any MS degree requirement. A student must have a minimum cumulative Rackham GPA of 3.0 (B) to be granted a degree.

PhD Grade Requirements PHD

A student must maintain a cumulative 3.5 GPA (on a 4.0 scale, A=4.0) and must make a grade of B+ or higher in all courses counted toward the Robotics PhD degree.

ROB 590: Directed Study and ROB 690: Master’s Advanced Research

Find more information on ROB 590 and ROB 690, including steps and the proposal form.

Thesis Proposal and Defense PHD

PhD students must propose, write, and defend a thesis on an original research topic. At least a year prior to the final thesis defense, the student must defend a proposal to the PhD committee. More information can be found here.

Advaith Sethuraman: PhD Defense

4/24/2025

Devansh Agrawal: PhD Defense

4/9/2025

Tribhi Kathuria: PhD Defense

2/3/2025

Luis Cubillos: PhD Defense

1/21/2025

Tzu-Yuan (Justin) Lin: PhD Defense

1/7/2025

Akshay Mathur: PhD Defense

12/19/2024

Chien Erh (Cynthia) Lin: PhD Defense

12/18/2024

Hardik Parwana: PhD Defense

11/22/2024

Andrea Sipos: PhD Defense

11/5/2024

Sheng Zhong (Johnson): PhD Defense

8/1/2024

Ziyou Wu: PhD Defense

5/31/2024

Jana Pavlasek: PhD Defense

4/29/2024

Joseph Kim: PhD Defense

3/20/2024

Eva Mungai: PhD Defense

1/31/2024

Oluwami Dosunmu-Ogunbi: PhD Defense

1/24/2024

Peter Mitrano: PhD Defense

12/8/2023

Grant Gibson: PhD Defense

9/23/2023

Alphonsus Adu-Bredu: PhD Defense

8/4/2023

Paul Flanigen: PhD Defense

7/21/2023

Stephan Lemmer: PhD Defense

1/30/2023

Michael Gonzalez: PhD Defense

1/30/2023

Prince Kuevor: PhD Defense

1/26/2023

Jinsun Liu: PhD Defense

1/26/2023

Matthew Romano: PhD Defense

8/5/2022

Acshi Haggenmiller: PhD Defense

7/20/2022

Prashin Sharma: PhD Defense

7/14/2022

Gideon Billings: PhD Defense

12/3/2021

James Dallas: PhD Defense

9/3/2021

Hebert Azevedo Sá: PhD Defense

8/6/2021

Brad Saund: PhD Defense

7/29/2021

Jeremy Castagno: PhD Defense

7/16/2021

Jianping Lin: PhD Defense

6/30/2021

Alex Vaskov: PhD Defense

5/12/2021

Cyrus Anderson: PhD Defense

5/5/2021

Zheming Zhou: PhD Defense

4/9/2021

Brian Bittner: PhD Defense

12/16/2020

Yu (Brian) Yao: PhD Defense

12/8/2020

Yu-Chi Lin: PhD Defense

6/17/2020

Dale McConachie: PhD Defense

5/4/2020

Luowei Zhou: PhD Defense

4/29/2020

Mia Stevens: PhD Defense

3/3/2020

Ross Hartley: PhD Defense

8/28/2019

Joshua Mangelson: PhD Defense

8/28/2019