minimum qualification phd in computer science

CS PhD Course Guidelines

The following program guidelines (a.k.a model pogram) serve as a starting point for a discussion with the faculty about areas of interest.   This description of the Computer Science PhD course guidelines augments the school-wide  PhD course requirements .   Students should make themselves familiar with both.

Course Guidelines for Ph.D. Students in Computer Science

We expect students to obtain broad knowledge of computer science by taking graduate level courses in a variety of sub-areas in computer science, such as systems, networking, databases, algorithms, complexity, hardware, human-computer interaction, graphics, or programming languages.

Within our school, CS courses are roughly organized according to sub-area by their middle digit, so we expect students to take courses in a minimum of three distinct sub-areas, one of which should be theory (denoted by the middle digit of 2, or CS 231). Theory is specifically required as we expect all students to obtain some background in the mathematical foundations that underlie computer science. The intention is not only to give breadth to students, but to ensure cross-fertilization across different sub-disciplines in Computer Science.

Just as we expect all students obtaining a Ph.D. to have experience with the theoretical foundations of computer science, we expect all students to have some knowledge of how to build large software or hardware systems , on the order of thousands of lines of code, or the equivalent complexity in hardware. That experience may be evidenced by coursework or by a project submitted to the CHD for examination. In almost all cases a course numbered CS 26x or CS 24x will satisfy the requirement (exceptions will be noted in the course description on my.harvard). Students may also petition to use CS 161 for this requirement.   For projects in other courses, research projects, or projects done in internships the student is expected to write a note explaining the project, include a link to any relevant artifacts or outcomes, describe the student's individual contribution, and where appropriate obtain a note from their advisor, their class instructor, or their supervisors confirming their contributions.  The project must include learning about systems concepts, and not just writing many lines of code.   Students hoping to invoke the non-CS24x/26x/161 option must consult with  Prof. Mickens ,  Prof, Kung,  or  Prof. Idreos  well in advance of submitting their Program Plan to the CHD.  

Computer science is an applied science, with connections to many fields. Learning about and connecting computer science to other fields is a key part of an advanced education in computer science. These connections may introduce relevant background, or they may provide an outlet for developing new applications.

For example, mathematics courses may be appropriate for someone working in theory, linguistics courses may be appropriate for someone working in computational linguistics, economics courses may be appropriate for those working in algorithmic economics, electrical engineering courses may be appropriate for those working in circuit design, and design courses may be appropriate for someone working in user interfaces.

Requirements

The Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (GSAS) requires all Ph.D. students to complete 16 half-courses (“courses”, i.e., for 4 units of credit) to complete their degree. Of those 16 courses, a Ph.D. in Computer Science requires 10 letter-graded courses. (The remaining 6 courses are often 300-level research courses or other undergraduate or graduate coursework beyond the 10 required courses.)

The requirements for the 10 letter-graded courses are as follows:

• Of the 7 technical courses, at least 3 must be 200-level Computer Science courses, with 3 different middle digits (from the set 2,3,4,5,6,7,8), and with one of these three courses either having a middle digit of 2 or being CS 231 (i.e., a “theory” course).   Note that CS courses with a middle digit of 0 are valid technical courses, but do not contribute to the breadth requirement.
• At least 5 of the 8 disciplinary courses must be SEAS or SEAS-equivalent 200-level courses. A “SEAS equivalent” course is a course taught by a SEAS faculty member in another FAS department. 
• For any MIT course taken, the student must provide justification why the MIT course is necessary (i.e. SEAS does not offer the topic, the SEAS course has not been offered in recent years, etc.). MIT courses do not count as part of the 5 200-level SEAS/SEAS-equivalent courses. 
• 2 of the 10 courses must constitute an external minor (referred to as "breadth" courses in the SEAS “ Policies of the Committee on Higher Degrees [CHD] ”) in an area outside of computer science. These courses should be clearly related; generally, this will mean the two courses are in the same discipline, although this is not mandatory. These courses must be distinct from the 8 disciplinary courses referenced above.
• Students must demonstrate practical competence by building a large software or hardware system during the course of their graduate studies. This requirement will generally be met through a class project, but it can also be met through work done in the course of a summer internship, or in the course of research.
• In particular, for Computer Science graduate degrees, Applied Computation courses may be counted as 100-level courses, not 200-level courses.
• Up to 2 of the 10 courses can be 299r courses, but only 1 of the up to 2 allowed 299r courses can count toward the 8 disciplinary courses. 299r courses do not count toward the 5 200-level SEAS/SEAS-equivalent courses. If two 299r’s are taken, they can be with the same faculty but the topics must be sufficiently different.
• A maximum of 3 graduate-level transfer classes are allowed to count towards the 10 course requirement.
• All CS Ph.D. program plans must adhere to the SEAS-wide Ph.D. requirements, which are stated in the SEAS Policies of the Committee on Higher Degrees (CHD) . These SEAS-wide requirements are included in the items listed above, though students are encouraged to read the CHD document if there are questions, as the CHD document provides further explanation/detail on several of the items above.
• All program plans must be approved by the CHD. Exceptions to any of these requirements require a detailed written explanation of the reasoning for the exception from the student and the student’s research advisor. Exceptions can only be approved by the CHD, and generally exceptions will only be given for unusual circumstances specific to the student’s research program.

Requirement Notes

• Courses below the 100-level are not suitable for graduate credit.
• For students who were required to take it, CS 2091/2092 (formerly CS 290a/b or 290hfa/hfb may be included as one of the 10 courses but it does not count toward the 200-level CS or SEAS/SEAS-equivalent course requirements nor toward the SM en route to the PhD.

Your program plan  must always comply  with both our school's General Requirements, in addition to complying with the specific requirements for Computer Science. All program plans must be approved by the Committee on Higher Degrees [CHD]. Exceptions to the requirements can only be approved by the CHD, and generally will only be given for unusual circumstances specific to the student’s research program

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The Graduate Field of Computer Science seeks to produce well-rounded researchers who have demonstrated both breadth in computer science and depth in specific areas of concentration. Although the program is designed to be flexible, students in the CS Ph.D. program must complete several requirements imposed both by the Field and by the Cornell Graduate School:

Field Requirements

• competency requirement
• breadth requirement
• project requirement
• teaching requirement

Graduate School Requirements

• special committee
• minor requirement

Each of these requirements is described in some detail below, followed by a FAQ that answers some of the most common student questions. Because no document can hope to cover all the nuances, students who have questions or concerns should consult their advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS).

The Field requirements were most recently updated in Fall 2018. Students matriculating in Fall 2018 or later must fulfill the new requirements. Students who matriculated into the Ph.D. program earlier may choose to fulfill either the new requirements or the previous requirements.

The Competency Requirement

The Field believes that knowledge of Computer Science at the undergraduate level is an indispensible foundation for doctoral study in CS. Ph.D. candidates are expected to demonstrate competency at the high undergraduate level in four areas of computer science: Artificial Intelligence, Programming Languages, Systems, and Theory. This requirement can be discharged in one of three ways:

• by demonstrating competency through one's prior coursework;
• by taking a course for grade credit (acceptable courses are listed below, subject to change);
• by taking the final exam in one of these courses, if permitted by the instructor.

Students who have earned a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science are automatically deemed to have satisfied the competency requirement in all four areas. Students with no prior degree in CS may still be exempted from one or more of the four competency requirements based on their prior coursework. Requests for such exemptions are to be accompanied by documentation concerning the relevant prior coursework (course website, detailed syllabus, list of assignments when possible) and will be judged on a case-by-case basis by the DGS in consultation with the faculty in the relevant area.

Each area is required to offer students at least one of option 2 or 3. Whichever method is chosen, the requirement must be fulfilled with acceptable performance, as judged by the Field. For option 1, acceptable generally means with a grade of B+ or higher for graduate courses, A- or higher for 4xxx-5xxx courses.

The acceptable courses are:

• Artificial Intelligence: CS 4700/5700, CS 4780/5780 
• Programming Languages: CS 4110/5110, CS 4120/5120, or CS 6110
• Systems: CS 4410/5410, CS 6410, or 6412
• Theory: CS 4820/5820 or CS 6820

This requirement must be fulfilled by the time of the A exam.

The Breadth Requirement

Ph.D. students must take at least five 5000/6000-level courses for grade credit. Note that only certain 5000 level courses count. These courses must cover at least three different CS areas and all three CS research styles. The requirement is intended to expose students both to the research problems and techniques associated with different research areas, and also to the different value systems of various computer science research styles that differ in how they evaluate and validate research results.

Courses taken to satisfy the competency requirement can be used to count towards the breadth requirement. Courses at the 7000 level do not count, nor do courses from other fields (however, see Exceptions below).

The areas are as follows:

• Algorithms and theory of computation , including algorithms, complexity theory, cryptography, logical and type-theoretic foundations of computer science.
• Artificial intelligence , including robotics, computer vision, natural language processing, information organization and retrieval, and machine learning.
• Systems , including concurrency, parallel computing, networks, distributed computing, and data management.
• Programming languages and methodology , including applied logic, automated reasoning, and compilers.
• Scientific computing and applications , including graphics and computational biology.

The research styles are the following:

• Theoretical . The theoretical research style is characterized by constructing formal models of computation that are validated primarily by mathematical proof.
• Systems . The systems research style focuses on how to improve computing platforms by making them faster, more reliable, more secure, etc. Validation is primarily empirical or experiential.
• Applied . The applied research style develops new methods for using computers to solve problems of interest. Validation is achieved primarily by demonstrating empirically that these methods are effective for the problem.

The following table summarizes the breadth requirement. It represents the classification of CS graduate courses into areas and research styles. Students must take five 5000/6000-level courses, covering at least three rows of this table and all three columns.

Please find course listing information here:

http://https://www.cs.cornell.edu/courseinfo/listofcscourses

*CS5820 will count for breadth during the Fall 2021 semester only.

*CS 5740 (Ith), 5650 (Ith), 5786, 5830, 5850 approved through Spring 2022.

As with the competency requirement, the breadth requirement must be fulfilled with acceptable performance, as judged by the Field. A grade of B or better is generally acceptable.

The list of courses that satisfy the area and research style requirements of the breadth requirement are subject to change as faculty develops new courses.

The Project Requirement

Ph.D. students are required to satisfy the project requirement by writing a significant piece of software. One way to satisfy the project requirement is by taking a course with a significant coding component and having the instructor for the course certify that the project satisfied the project requirement. The student is typically expected to get a grade of B- or better in the course. The project requirement can also be satisfied by projects outside of classes, for example, as part of independent research, your thesis research, or as part of a summer job. In these cases, the chair of your special committee needs to certify that you satisfied the project requirement.  *Note external projecs require a deliverable or artifact that can be inspected by your Chair of your special committee.

The Teaching Requirement

Ph.D. students must serve as a teaching assistant for at least two semesters or teach a course for at least one semester. Contact with students is valuable both as preparation for a possible academic career and for the experience in communicating ideas to groups, which is important in any setting, academic or otherwise.

We recognize that the Field requirements as stated above may not be universally appropriate, especially in nontraditional areas such as computational biology that may require significant coursework outside of computer science. In such exceptional cases, students are encouraged to formulate an alternative course of study in consultation with the special committee and to present a proposal to the Field for approval.

As a Ph.D. student, you must be in residence for at least six semesters, or four if you already hold a Master's degree at the time of enrollment. The advisor or DGS awards one residence unit after the satisfactory completion of each semester of full-time study. Fractional units may be awarded for unsatisfactory progress.

The Special Committee

Before the start of your fourth semester, you must form a special committee. The special committee consists of a chair and two or more minor members.

When you specify the members of your committee, you must specify the areas of concentration they represent. These must be areas officially recognized by the Graduate School associated with the committee member's field. The Field of Computer Science has five official areas of concentration, listed here along with their associated subareas:

• operating systems
• fault tolerance
• distributed systems
• database systems
• digital libraries
• machine architecture
• parallel computing

Theory of Computation

• complexity theory
• cryptography
• human-computer interaction
• information retrieval
• natural language processing
• computer vision
• machine learning
• knowledge representation and reasoning

Programming Languages and Logics

• programming methodology
• programming environments
• program logic and verification
• automated reasoning
• type theory and program analysis
• programming language design

Scientific Computing and Applications

• computer graphics
• computational biology and bioinformatics
• scientific computing

The chair of your special committee represents your major area of concentration and is normally your thesis advisor. The chair can be any member of the Field of Computer Science. The Computer Science area is only for graduate students in other fields who wish to minor in Computer Science. It may not be specified as either a major or minor area of concentration for Ph.D. students in CS.

The two minor members of your special committee represent your minor subjects (see The Minor Requirement below).

While it suffices to have only three people on your special committee, there are many advantages to having more. Your committee members can often provide useful advice. Being on your committee also means they are more likely to know your work better, which helps if you want them to write letters of reference for you. Note that only three special committee members need to be from Cornell. The rest can be from other institutions or from industry.

The Minor Requirement

The minor requirement is a Graduate School requirement, not a CS Field requirement. All Ph.D. students at Cornell must have two minors. For Ph.D. students in Computer Science, the Field requires one of these to be external to Computer Science and one to be internal.

The external minor must be in a field other than CS. The minor requirements are up to the minor field. Related fields such as Operations Research, Applied Mathematics, Cognitive Science or Electrical and Computer Engineering are common choices. However, any minor field is acceptable. When you choose your minor field, you must also choose an area of concentration in that field and minor advisor who is a member of that field. The external minor advisor serves on your special committee and will work with you in setting your minor requirements. Typically, this involves knowledge of 3-4 graduate courses in the field, but expectations can vary depending upon the field. Before settling on a minor field, a student should find out about that field's requirements.

There are no additional requirements for the internal minor, except that the minor area of concentration must be different from the major area of concentration.

The A exam (Admission to Candidacy Exam) is an oral exam. It is a final test of your preparedness for undertaking thesis research. The content and coverage of the A exam is determined by the special committee and discussed with the student beforehand. Often, the student at an A-exam will describe the problem to be attacked in the thesis and give some preliminary research results. But an A-exam might instead have the student present an in-depth survey of a research area. Occasionally the A-exam serves as an opportunity to present completed research that is unrelated to the thesis topic. Some committees expect the student to prepare a written document prior to the exam, which might cover content that will be discussed at the exam or complement that content.

Students normally aim to take the A exam in their third year of graduate study. Students are required to have completed the competency requirement and to have at least two units of residency prior to the A exam. In addition, students must attempt the A exam before beginning their seventh semester of study. (More details of the university's requirements can be found in Cornell's Guide to Graduate's Study.) Although students have normally made substantial progress towards completing the breadth requirement before taking their A exam, it is not necessary to have completed this requirement before the A exam. (Note that your minor advisor may require you to have taken some courses in your minor before your A exam; you should check with them.)

The B exam is your thesis defense. It is strongly recommended that a draft of your thesis be provided to your committee three to four weeks prior to the B exam. In most cases, it should require only minor editing after the exam. However, during a B exam, the committee may ask for revisions, in which case it is possible that the student will pass the B exam but not yet have full approval of the thesis itself. The Ph.D. degree is awarded after you have passed the B exam and filed an approved dissertation with the University, and completed all the other requirements above. The University requires a minimum of two units of residency between the A exam and the B exam. Most students complete their B exam within four to six years after their arrival at Cornell.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are answers to some of the more common questions and concerns that students have. Again, you are encouraged to consult with your advisor or the Director of Graduate Studies if you have concerns not covered here.

What should I do over the summer?

There are lots of opportunities. Some popular options include doing research with a faculty member, often your advisor or potential advisor (this is particularly appropriate as you get further along in the program), teaching a course, or doing a summer internship. We believe that it is in your interest to spend one or more summers as an intern in an industry research lab or at some other University. Doing so exposes you to other perspectives on the field and to the priorities driving the industry; it can really help later when you enter the job market. We'll suggest many options and can help you find a good match to your interests. Your advisor may also have contacts that would lead to interesting internship opportunities. For foreign students, internships should satisfy the requirements for practical training under a student visa, hence no special visa approvals should be required. Most students spend at least one or two summers as interns, usually during their first three years at Cornell.

What happens at the annual Field meetings?

The Field of Computer Science meets annually to review each student's progress. The DGS summarizes progress towards requirements, presents a summary of courses taken and grades received, and indicates whether the student has taken or is scheduled to take an A exam. For students who have been at Cornell for a few semesters, the emphasis of the discussion is on progress toward identifying a research topic, forming a special committee, and launching a research program that will lead to a dissertation. Normally, the student's current advisor will briefly describe the student's recent progress.

The goal of this meeting is to understand how we can best help the students establish themselves as researchers, publish their work, and graduate within the normal time period. If a consensus emerges that a particular student may not be heading toward successful completion of the degree program, the field will discuss appropriate action, which always depends on the specific situation. While students are occasionally asked to leave the program, this happens very rarely. In any case, no student is ever asked to leave the program without first being given a warning and time to correct the situation, except in the case of serious violations of the University code of conduct.

I took some courses as an undergraduate prior to coming to Cornell that appear to be identical to the ones listed under the competency requirement. Can I get out of those parts of the requirement?

Yes, possibly. Requests for such exemptions are to be accompanied by documentation concerning the relevant prior coursework (course website, detailed syllabus, list of assignments when possible) and will be judged on a case-by-case basis by the DGS in consultation with the faculty in the relevant area.

I was enrolled as a Ph.D. student at another institution for two years before transferring to the Ph.D. program at Cornell. I took several graduate courses as part of my studies. Can I count these towards my requirements here?

Maybe. You should negotiate the transfer of credit with the DGS and your advisor, who will consult with relevant faculty to decide whether it is appropriate to treat the prior coursework as a substitute for Cornell Ph.D. requirements.

How do I create a special committee?

Most students enter Cornell with a good idea of what area they want to specialize in. Those who do not still have strong areas of interest. By reading recent research papers, faculty web pages, and course descriptions, you should pick courses taught by faculty members you might enjoy working with. Focus on areas for which you believe you have talent, good ideas, or interest. Being a TA for a faculty member with whom you may want to work is often a good idea, especially if the course is in the general area of your interests and talents.

Faculty members are generally available to talk to graduate students about potential research topics in their area, and most students will talk to a few before joining a research group. It is common for a faculty member to suggest working with the student for a period of time, perhaps a semester, before considering the relationship "official". Some students will approach a potential advisor soon after arriving on campus, but others may take some time to shop around. All students should try to identify an advisor by the end of their first year at Cornell.

If your interests change over time, or if things just are not working out, you or your committee chair (advisor) may decide to reconstitute your committee. This is not considered a bad thing and will not leave a blot on your record. All field members have an interest in seeing our students do the best and most innovative work they are capable of, and if this means changing advisors or topics, so be it.

Do I need to complete my graduate coursework prior to taking the A exam?

Most students who take an A exam will have satisfied the majority of their field requirements, and many will have completed their minor. (For some minor fields, this is a requirement; read the rules published by the minor field that you select!) The special committee will typically let you schedule the A exam prior to the completion of your coursework.

What is the rationale for having an external minor requirement? Some fields at Cornell don't require that.

The competency and breadth requirements relate to the CS field itself, but we want our students to be scholars familiar with a world beyond their area in CS. The minor requirement reflects that philosophy. Note that the CS Field accepts any proposed minor, even one completely unrelated to the student's program of study.

How do I report on my progress towards satisfying the requirements?

This is not your problem. The graduate office maintains a file on each student which includes a checklist for the various requirements. Each year, prior to the annual review of student progress, the graduate office will update these checklists. Of course, if you think that your record is missing pertinent information (e.g., if you are told you need to take a course that you have already taken), you should let us know.

I am primarily interested in [vision/graphics/HCI/security/architecture] and was disappointed to see that the competency requirement emphasizes other areas. Why am I being penalized, in the sense that a theory, systems or languages student would have fewer requirements than I do?

The competency requirements reflect the field's consensus that the corresponding courses cover a core set of concepts and material with which any computer scientist needs to be familiar and comfortable, simply to be able to participate in normal dialogue with other computer scientists. We do not view this as a "penalty" on people who work outside these core areas, but rather as a type of common background that provides a context for interacting with colleagues.

The requirements are designed to be flexible. Our course requirements work out to fewer than one per semester for an average student. Obviously, some courses will prove to be more interesting or more directly relevant than others, but our hope is that many students will discover new areas of interest by taking courses outside of a narrow research focus.

In any case, there is the Exceptions clause; if you can make a strong case that the requirements as we have stated them will inhibit your progress in research in your chosen area of study, and if you are able to formulate a good-faith alternative program in consultation with your advisor, then the Field will be happy to entertain a proposal.

Why are there requirements in [AI/programming languages/theory...] and not in [graphics/databases/...]

We recognize that computer science is evolving rapidly. Areas that were considered central ten years ago may be more peripheral now. While the areas for the competency requirement represent the faculty's consensus of material that every computer scientist should know, this is a topic we frequently revisit.

Ph.D. in Computer Science

Ph.d. program requirements.

The PhD degree requires 72 graduate-level credits, including:

• no 5000-level CS courses
• these credits traditionally cannot be transferred in, you must actually take at least 6 credits of coursework at UVA to get a UVA PhD
• CS 8897 and CS 9897 (Graduate Teaching Instruction) cannot be used to satisfy this 24-credit requirement (but see below)
• at least 12 credits in any combination of CS 8897 and CS 9897 (Graduate Teaching Instruction), corresponding to two semesters as a full-time, 20 hour per week TA (see Chapter 3.2)
• Completion of the Qualifying Examination (see Chapter 5)
• Completion of the PhD Proposal (see Chapter 6.3)
• Completion of the Oral Defense of the written Dissertation (see Chapter 6.4)
• Finally, complete the “ Graduate Student Leave Request ” form (see Section 2.5) to leave the program.

These requirements have significant overlap with the MCS and MS degree requirements; many students choose to earn one of those Master’s degrees as part of their PhD studies.

Application Requirements

Computer science background requirements.

The Department of Computer Science does not require that applicants hold a bachelor's degree in Computer Science. However, applicants are expected to have a strong background in Computer Science. A suitable background would include courses in the following core areas:

• Data Structures
• Discrete Mathematics
• Assembly Language and Computer Organization
• Programming in a procedural language such as C, C#, C++, or Java.

Applicants are also expected to have taken several (but not necessarily all) courses in specialized areas:

• Operating Systems
• Programming Languages
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Networks
• Automata and Formal Languages
• Software Engineering

A year of college-level Calculus is also required. In general, experience gained working is not considered equivalent to successful completion of the courses listed above.

Grade Point Average

There is no minimum GPA required for admission. However, most applicants who are offered admission to our program have a GPA of at least 3.3 (out of 4.0). The grades in Computer Science, mathematics and related courses are more important than the overall GPA.

GRE scores are optional. 

Letters of Reference

If possible, letters of references should be written by faculty at a university previously attended. Letters of reference from Computer Science faculty are preferred, but references from employers are welcome. References should pay particular attention to academic achievements and evidence of independent, creative problem solving.

TOEFL/IELTS Scores

• If you are a permanent resident of the U.S., TOEFL is not required
• If you received a 4-year degree at an English-speaking institution (whether or not the institution is in the U.S.), TOEFL/IELTS is not required.
• If you received a 4-year degree at a non -English-speaking institution and a Master's degree from an English-speaking institution, TOEFL/IELTS is required. 
• Note that if you have a solid command of written and spoken English, TOEFL/IELTS waivers are possible! Contact via email,  [email protected] , explaining why you believe TOEFL/IELTS can be waived (include evidence such as verification of duties as a Teaching Assistant that required significant interactions in English, copies of expired TOEFL/IELTS scores, presentations at conferences in English, etc.). 

It is unusual that we offer admission to an applicant with an overall TOEFL score below 90 / IELTS below 6.5. Scores can be sent electronically to UVa at institution code B875. Some students with lower scores may be required to complete the UVA Summer English for Academic Purposes Program prior to admission.

Application Evaluation

Applications are evaluated based on the following factors:

• Background in Computer Science (including project work)
• Grade Point Average (GPA)
• Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
• Letters of reference
• Personal statement
• TOEFL/IELTS scores

Applications are evaluated in their entirety. A weakness in one factor might be mitigated by strength in another.

Financial Aid / Tuition 

Occasionally, the school of Engineering offers Master Fellowships. More information can be found on the Engineering Cost Aid webpage: https://engineering.virginia.edu/future-grads/graduate-admissions/cost-aid , and you can learn more about UVA Fellowships here: https://citizenscholars.virginia.edu/fellowships  

PhD students are usually admitted with a financial aid package in the form of a First-Year Research Assistantship that allows students to explore research with various faculty members and find their best match. It is expected that students will join a research group by the end of their first year and then be supported as a Research Assistant (RA). This financial aid package includes a competitive stipend, tuition, fees, and health insurance coverage. Details of this award are given at the time of your notification of acceptance into the Computer Science PhD program.  

You are encouraged to apply to outside sources for fellowships or you can apply for federal assistance by filling out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid .

The UVA Tuition and Fees page includes the costs per academic year by school. 

CS Admissions Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do i apply.

Please visit this Web page to apply.

When is the application deadline?

See details in the section above (Admissions).

How much does it cost to apply? Can this fee be waived?

Visit this UVA Engineering FAQ page for details on the cost to apply, and learn if your fee can be waived.

Is the TOEFL/IELTS required?

International students must have an outstanding command of the English language in order to enroll at the University of Virginia. The TOEFL/IELTS exam is required of all applicants if the language first learned and spoken in the home is not English, and they are not permanent residents. However, TOEFL/IELTS is not required if the applicant has received a 4-year degree at an English-speaking institution (whether or not the institution is in the U.S.). (If the applicant has a 4-year degree from a non-English-speaking institution and a Master's degree from an English-speaking institution, TOEFL/IELTS is still required.) It is unusual that we offer admission to an applicant with an overall TOEFL score below 90 / IELTS below 6.5. 

I scored less than 22 on the Speaking section of TOEFL. Can I still apply?

We review all applications thoroughly, along a number of dimensions. It is unusual that we offer admission to an applicant with an overall TOEFL score below 90/ IELTS score of 6.5.

Where do I send my GRE and/or TOEFL/IELTS scores?

The Institution code for School of Engineering and Applied Science of the University of Virginia for the GRE is 5820. The code for TOEFL is  B875. There is not a specific code for the Department of Computer Science.

I'm taking TOEFL/IELTS or GRE after your deadline (Dec 15). If I apply will these scores make it into my application and be seen by the admissions committee?

We will start evaluating applications soon after the Dec 15 deadline. Applicants should submit the most complete application they can, based on the information they have at the time (e.g., current test scores, even if new test scores are anticipated).Those applications that are complete will be considered first. We will continue to evaluate applications into early next year, until we have completed our offers. As we are reviewing applications, we will certainly consider updated scores as the arrive at the University of Virginia. There is no need to email us to tell us that new scores are being sent.

Should I mail or should I upload my materials with my application?

We strongly discourage applicants from mailing in any items that can be uploaded to avoid delays in your application review, and we ask that you not send duplicate copies of previously uploaded documents. If you still need to mail documents to our office, please send them to: For US Postal: Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Science Admissions P.O. Box 401103 Charlottesville, VA 22904 For UPS/FEDEX:      Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Science Admissions      1001 Emmet Street North      Room 209B Carruthers Hall      Charlottesville, VA 22903

I’ve submitted my application and all supporting materials. Why does my application status still show as incomplete?

We will fully review your application with unofficial test scores and unofficial transcripts. Your application will only show as "complete" when your application has been submitted, your official scores and transcripts have been received and all three letters of recommendations have been received. An application is complete for review with unofficial transcripts and self-reported scores, though the checklist will still show incomplete. Please note that all official transcripts are received in our main admissions office and scanned or entered into our system manually. If you feel that your materials should have been received by now, but are NOT showing up when you login to your account, please note that the Graduate Admissions Office processes a very large number of applications and it may take longer than expected for your documents/information to appear online (in your account). It is very likely that your materials have been received, but have not been loaded into our application system yet.

If I email you my information (e.g., GPA, GRE scores, etc.) before I apply, can you tell me the chance of being accepted?

The graduate admissions committee considers many factors in an application, including more than just GPA and test scores. In particular, letters of reference and your personal statement are extremely important. Therefore, we are unfortunately unable to provide any information before the committee considers your full application.

I still have other questions. Is there anyone available to help me?

Yes! For program/degree specific questions, please send an email to [email protected]. For application support and specific questions regarding the application process, please contact: Central Graduate Admissions [email protected] 434-243-0209

The information contained on this website is for informational purposes only.  The Undergraduate Record and Graduate Record represent the official repository for academic program requirements. These publications may be found here .

College of Computing

Ph.d. cs admissions requirements.

The application deadline for the Ph.D. in Computer Science is December 15th. The basic requirements for admission to the program are as follows:

• General Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores are optional. Recently, accepted applicant scores have averaged 80%, 90+%, 90+% respectively on the verbal, quantitative and analytical sections.
• The desirable minimum undergraduate GPA is 3.5/4.0.
• The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) test is required for candidates whose native language is not English and who have not studied in the United States for at least one year. The required minimum is 600 (paper test) or 250 (computer test); however, most candidates are well above this score.
• We will also accept IELTS beginning in Spring 2020.  A minimum overall score of 7.5 is required, with minimum section scores as follows:  Reading 6.5, Listening 6.5, Speaking 6.5, Writing 5.5.
• Completion of the  online application

The application requires three recommendation letters from people closely acquainted with the student about academic competence. Letters from the academic community are preferred.

In general, there are many more qualified applicants than there are places in the program. The challenge for the College every year is to select a class from a very qualified pool. The College looks for compelling reasons to admit candidates. We welcome all pertinent information that would assist us in making an objective and informed decision on your admission.

All application materials should be submitted to the Institute's Graduate Admissions Office and must be received by the application deadline to ensure adequate consideration of your application.

*Note that our Master's (M.S.) program is separate from our Ph.D. program. If the eventual degree you seek is a Ph.D., you will need to apply directly to the doctoral program.

Ph.D. candidates are typically offered a research or teaching assistantship which includes a stipend and tuition remission.

The Master's program does not offer financial aid to the majority of students. Aid will be based on qualifications for the program, not need.

Dean's Messages

Gt computing helping stories.

Doctorate (PhD)

Note: Students entering the PhD program prior to Spring 2020 are eligible to follow the old rules shown here , but are almost certain to prefer the current rules shown on this page.

A student pursuing the Ph.D. degree is expected to exhibit a comprehensive knowledge of a broad cross section of the computer science discipline and to contribute significant new knowledge to the discipline through the research contribution contained in the doctoral dissertation. A PhD student must complete a minimum of 90 credits of graduate study, of which at least 27 must derive from graded courses, with a minimum GPA of 3.0. The PhD program is intended to be completed in about five years from entering the graduate program with a BS degree in Computer Science or a related field, or about four years if the student already has an MS degree in Computer Science or a related field. This is possible because students who begin the PhD program already in possession of a Masters may be able to count as many as four courses toward their course requirement (see section  Transfer Credits ).

To fulfill graduation requirements for the Ph.D. degree, students must satisfy the breadth requirement, adhere to an appropriate credit distribution, enroll in the graduate seminar, comply with the ethics requirement, and complete the major milestones for the degree, including the preliminary exam, research defense and final defense.

Breadth Requirements

To encourage Ph.D. graduates to exhibit sufficient breadth of computer science areas, Ph.D. students must take CS courses at the 5000 and 6000 levels that span four (4) different areas. Transfer courses may be used to satisfy the breadth requirement. The available courses and areas are listed  here .

Graduate Seminar Requirement; Graduate School Ethics, Inclusion, and Diversity Requirements

The Graduate School requires that all graduate students satisfy two sets of requirements: one addressing training in  Scholarly Ethics and Integrity , and one addressing  Inclusion and Diversity . The CS Department also requires students to take a minimum number of instances of CS5944 Graduate Seminar.

Students entering the program in Summer 2019 or after must do the following.

• Take some course that makes an explicit part of its syllabus satisfaction of all aspects of both sets of Graduate School requirements (ethics training, and inclusion and diversity training). Within CS, starting with Fall 2019, both CS5014 Research Methods and CS5024 Ethics and Professionalism in Computer Science will include material to satisfy both requirements. CS students may seek approval to satisfy the requirement with another course whose syllabus explicitly addresses both Graduate School requirements.
• Take CS5944 Graduate Seminar twice.

Students entering the program prior to Summer 2019 may satisfy the requirements by using the rules listed above, or they may use the following rules. (Please note that if you want to use the rules above, you must have taken the appropriate course in Fall 2019 or after. Earlier instances of the courses do not cover the required training, and so cannot be used.)

• Participate in the orientation session offered by the GD. This orientation is done the week before classes start in the Fall and Spring semesters.
• Responsible Conduct of Research
• Conflict of Interest Training
• Take CS 5944 Graduate Seminar three times.
• Students will be required to submit evidence of completion of these milestones in their annual student activity report (see section  Annual Evaluation ).

Credit Distribution Requirements

Note: Each of the lines above are individual, distinct, constraints. All constraints must be satisfied. The columns are not meant to “add up”.

Additional credit hours may be taken in any category, but do not count toward degree requirements. Substitutions for degree requirements are allowed only under rare or exceptional circumstances. Requests for substitutions must be made to the GD.

All courses must be at the 5000 level or above with at most two 4000-level courses included. If a CS 4000 level course is included, it must be from the list of CS 4000 level courses approved for graduate credit. Credits from CS5894 Final Examination cannot be used to satisfy any Ph.D. credit requirements. Credits from CS5944 Graduate Seminar, CS5974 Independent Study, CS5904 Project and Report, and CS7994 Research and Dissertation cannot be used to satisfy any Ph.D. coursework credit requirements. At least two CS 6000 level courses are required and between one and three cognate courses are required. See the department website for a  list of approved cognate courses .

Advisor and Committee

All graduate students have access to a faculty advisor who can help with both academic advising (i.e., issues related to getting a degree) and career advising. PhD students, and MS students under the thesis option, should select a faculty member to act as their research and course advisor as early as possible in their academic career and definitely by the time their plan of study is due (see  Plan of Study ). The advisor must hold a Virginia Tech faculty position with either a tenured/tenure track, emeritus, collegiate faculty, or courtesy appointment in the Department of Computer Science, and hold a PhD or equivalent terminal degree.

In place of a single advisor, PhD or MS Thesis students can instead choose an advisor and a co-advisor. In this case, at least one of these two must hold a Virginia Tech faculty position with either a tenured/tenure track, emeritus, collegiate faculty, or courtesy appointment in the Department of Computer Science, and hold a Ph.D. or equivalent terminal degree. The advisor chairs the student’s advisory committee.

The composition of a PhD advisory committee must be designed taking into account the following considerations:

• The committee must have at least five members (including the advisor or co-advisors).
• At least four members of the committee must hold a PhD or equivalent terminal degree. Any member without a PhD or equivalent terminal degree must have nationally recognized expertise in their field and have research experience.
• At least three members must hold tenured/tenure track, collegiate faculty, professor of practice (approved to serve on PhD committees) or emeritus positions in the Department of Computer Science.
• If the answer is yes, please inform your graduate coordinator to double check their status with VT.
• If the answer is no, secure a copy of the potential external member’s current CV (websites are acceptable) and forward that information to your graduate coordinator.
• Your graduate coordinator will then use that information to get the potential external member approved to serve on your committee.

A PhD advisory committee must have five members by the time that the preliminary exam is scheduled. However, we will process an initial Plan of Study with only four members of the committee identified.

The GD serves as the de-facto interim advisor for Ph.D. students who have not yet selected a research advisor or who need additional academic advising. The GD can provide signatures and other official approvals as required.

Note: The department is committed to support some of the travel expenses for an external member to visit campus and attend one of the official graduate exams of a dissertation committee. However, the budget for these situations is limited, there are travel authorizations required before the outside member travels, and other approvals. No honorarium can be paid to the visitors, only travel expenses. Consult the GC before making arrangements for travel.

Note: External members must be pre-approved to serve in university PhD committees. This is a step that the student must complete before filing the Plan of Study. The  policy on external members  is described in the  Graduate School Catalog . The form needed is available at the  Graduate School forms page .

PhD Procedural Milestones

Students seeking a PhD must successfully complete four major milestones: the Qualifying Process, the Preliminary Proposal, the Research Defense, and the Final Defense.

Qualifying Process

The PhD qualifying process is completed early in a student's doctoral studies and is the first of four milestones which must be completed successfully to earn the PhD degree. The qualifying process must be completed within 24 months of entering the Ph.D. program. Students who received an M.S. degree in Computer Science at Virginia Tech must complete this stage within 15 months of entering the Ph.D. program. Extensions to these time limits may be negotiated, but extensions are intended to apply to students who take leave from the University, or are part-time students.

It is important to keep in mind that the Ph.D. qualifier is a “process” rather than just an “exam”. It involves two components: excellence in breadth and excellence in depth. Breadth is assessed through classwork achievement. Depth is assessed through a combination of research achievement and the results of a qualifying exam (in the student’s cognizant area of specialty). A Ph.D. student must demonstrate excellence in both breadth and depth to be considered qualified. The qualifying process is completed once the student completes both components. The Breadth requirement may be completed before or after the Depth requirement, there is no necessary order to their completion.

Excellence in Breadth

This score is assessed on a binary scale (pass/fail). To pass this requirement, a student needs to take four CS courses spanning three areas, not to include Area 0 (that is, an Area 0 course may count as one of the four courses, but not one of the three areas) and receive a GPA of at least 3.5 averaged across these four courses. Only 5000-level and above CS courses eligible to be used on a CS graduate plan of study are considered. At least three 5000-level courses must be included. These courses must be graded on an A-F scale. Transferred courses are not considered.

Excellence in Depth

This score is assessed on a points system using two components: research achievement and a qualifying exam. Each component can provide up to 3 points. Out of the total possible 6 points, a student must obtain 3 points to pass the excellence in depth requirement. Note that it is possible to pass the excellence in depth requirement using only one of the two components (i.e., either research achievement or the qualifying exam).

Research achievement score: This score is assessed by the GD by soliciting input from the faculty regarding a student's research ability. In addition, the student may submit a written description of his or her research achievements. This score will then be assigned based on the individual's research record and the faculty recommendations. Guidelines for scoring:

• 3: Student has a non-trivial publication record. Traditionally, this is publication of at least one paper in a top-tier, peer-reviewed conference or journal, and typically with additional submissions or publications. While this might be for work done prior to entering our program, it is expected that some research work (Independent study, GRA, or major volunteer effort) will have been done here. Alternatively, the student has completed a MS thesis in CS at Virginia Tech, or a peer institution, and has had at least one paper published in a peer reviewed conference or journal. To gain this score, some VT CS faculty member must endorse the student, and be willing to act as PhD advisor.
• 2: Student has demonstrated research ability through satisfactory performance on an Independent Study project, a graduate research assistantship (GRA) assignment, or an equivalent volume of work on a volunteer basis. This might have been done at another university, and there might be minor publications. To gain this score, some VT CS faculty member must endorse the student, and be willing to act as PhD advisor.
• 1: Recommendations from faculty who have personal knowledge of a student's research ability, based on class projects, papers, or presentations, indicate that the student is able to do credible research.
• 0: No evidence of research achievement.

Qualifying exam score: A PhD qualifying examination committee may be formed in any area recognized by the Department. There is at most one committee per area in a given year and is constituted based on student interest (hence, due to insufficient student interest, some areas might not offer qualifying exams in some years). The examination will be either written or oral (or both), with format and procedures as the examination committee sees fit. Students are normally eligible for only one attempt at the exam.

Guidelines for assessing the qualifying exam score are as follows:

• 3: Excellent performance, beyond that normally expected or required for a PhD student.
• 2: Performance appropriate for students preparing to do PhD-level work. Prime factors for assessment include being able to distinguish good work from poor work, and explain why; being able to synthesize the body of work into an assessment of the state-of-the-art on a problem (as indicated by the collection of papers); being able to identify open problems and suggest future work.
• 1: While the student adequately understands the content of the work, the student is deficient in one or more of the factors listed for assessment under score value of 2. A score of 1 is the minimum necessary for an MS-level pass.
• 0: Student's performance is such that the committee considers the student unable to do PhD-level work in Computer Science.

Attempting or using a qualifying exam in a given area to get qualified does not “tie” a student to Ph.D. research in that area. For instance, a student might get qualified using scores from the qualifying exam in the HCI area but might opt to pursue a Ph.D. in the area of algorithms and theory. It is presumed that the student’s advisor (and advisory committee) are adequately positioned to judge the suitability of the student’s proficiency to undertake Ph.D. research in a given area and the Preliminary Proposal Exam is an opportunity to ascertain the same.

Since the Ph.D. qualifying exams are offered early in the calendar year, the GD will attempt to assign initial valuations to all who take the exam, and give feedback via email on current standing to those students. If at that point a student has six points, a letter to that effect will be issued automatically. At the end of Spring semester, the GD will attempt to update those valuations based on Spring grades, again issuing a qualification letter if the student is qualified. Aside from immediately after the exam and at the end of Spring semester, evaluation will only be conducted when initiated by the student. There are two cases where a student will initiate an evaluation. (1) If the student determines that he/she can obtain six points without taking the exam, they should contact the GD and provide appropriate documentation to support receiving the points. (2) If at some point after the Spring semester evaluation the student feels he/she has a case for six points, they can contact the GD to do an evaluation. When the qualifier case is clear cut for a given student, the GD will make an immediate determination. Cases that are not clear cut will be referred to the full committee.

As stated earlier, the PhD qualifying examination also serves as one of the two methods whereby an MS coursework-only option student may pass their MS degree final examination.

In consultation with their advisor, once a student completes the requirements for qualification, the student must submit the Request to be Qualified form, available in the  forms page  of our website.

Constituting the Qualifying Exam Committee: A PhD qualifying examination committee may be formed in any area recognized by the Department . Each year, the GD will appoint a chair for each examination committee from among the volunteers for that semester. A committee consists of three or more faculty members.

The PhD Qualifying Examination is given during a period spanning the end of Fall semester and the start of Spring semester of each year. During early Fall semester, students interested in taking the exam should discuss potential research areas with faculty members so that examination areas of mutual interest can be discovered. Examination committees must post the reading list for their exam by November 1. The exam is normally administered during January and February, with scores reported to GPC by mid February.

Each examination committee will publish a suitable reading list by November 1. It is not a requirement that the papers broadly cover the area, or be "seminal papers" in the area. A list containing papers with results spanning a wide spectrum in regards to quality and relevance is desirable to gauge the student's ability to judge quality and importance of results. The body of work should serve as a good introduction to one or more aspects of the area, but is also selected in part to serve as a vehicle for the exam. For example, a committee giving an exam in algorithms might choose one year to assign a set of papers on NP-complete problems in bioinformatics. The following year, the papers assigned by that committee might be on a completely different topic.

The exam is meant to probe the student's understanding of the content of the papers, the student's ability to synthesize the content into a meaningful understanding of the issues involved, and from there, the student's ability to determine potential "next step" paths of research (based on the papers assigned). In general, the exam is testing the student's ability to critically analyze the material, make judgments regarding the quality and relevance of the results, as well as deriving ideas for future research directions for the specific subtopic addressed in the papers.

All qualifier exams should have a written component. Students should receive feedback on their writing skills. An oral component is recommended, but optional. All exams should be graded by at least two graders, or three graders if one of the graders is the student's advisor.

All tenure track faculty are expected to participate on qualifier exam committees, consistent with the number of their PhD student advisees. Ideally, faculty will not need to serve on an exam committee more often than two years out of three. We recommend, but not require, that faculty participate on committees during the years when they have advisees taking that exam.

At the end of the examination process, the committee must arrive at a scoring in the range 0 to 3 (integer only), and report this score to the GD by the deadline. If a student takes the exam and gets zero points, then GPC might recommend at the Green Thursday review that the student leave the program, or might allow the student another chance to take the exam.

Preliminary Exam

The Preliminary Proposal Exam is the second of four milestones to be completed by a PhD student. The CS Department's Preliminary Proposal Exam serves as the University's required Preliminary Exam. The Preliminary Proposal Exam should occur as early as possible after completing the PhD Qualifying Process. Ideally students will complete the Preliminary Exam at around the end of their sixth semester in the PhD program, and roughly two years before their expected graduation. Passing the Preliminary Exam is required for Candidacy as recognized by the Graduate School.

See  Scheduling an Exam  for details on the mechanics of scheduling the prelim exam with the grad school.

The Preliminary Proposal Exam is an oral presentation and examination expected to last between one and three hours. The actual conduct, content, and scope of the Preliminary Proposal Exam are under the control of the student's advisory committee. However, the intent of the Preliminary Proposal exam is to assess the student's readiness to begin independent research on the proposed problem. In particular, it seeks to answer two questions:

• Does the work proposed appear satisfactory to qualify as completing a PhD? This means that the proposed work is not so ambitious as to be implausible for a PhD student, yet is ambitious enough to warrant granting of a PhD if completed.
• Is the student adequately prepared to do the proposed work? In particular, does the student have an adequate grasp of the current state-of-the-art in the proposed research area? This is likely to be determined in part by a literature review, which should also be useful to the student at the time of writing the dissertation.

It is expected that, to satisfy these objectives, the student will prepare a document and submit it to the committee sufficiently in advance of the exam that the committee members have adequate time to review it. This document will likely consist of (a) a literature review and discussion of relevant work, including relevant prior work by the student, and (b) a research plan describing the work to be completed and its significance. To whatever extent is reasonable, it is advisable that the document include a timeline for completion and description of any equipment, supplies, or support necessary for successful completion. This document should be thought of as a proposal (a traditional NSF proposal with a 15 page limit is a good model for the document), and not as a draft of a dissertation.

Depending on the will of the committee, the Preliminary Proposal Exam may be limited strictly to a presentation and discussion of the student's presentation and document. In addition the committee may, but certainly is not obligated to, chose to ask questions to test the student's background knowledge in the relevant areas of Computer Science. Ideally, the student and advisor will discuss and reach an agreement on the format and scope of the exam well in advance. By passing the student's research proposal, the committee is certifying that, if the student does the stated work in a satisfactory manner, it will prove adequate for a dissertation topic. Note that once the Preliminary Proposal Exam has been completed, there is no necessary requirement that the student's final dissertation adhere to the proposal. The student and committee are free to change the direction of the work as it progresses, based on mutual consent, if they deem that appropriate.

The student is considered to have failed the exam if two or more members of the examination committee give negative votes. If performance on the Preliminary Proposal Exam is unsatisfactory, one full semester must lapse (a minimum of 15 weeks) before the administration of a second examination. The Preliminary Proposal Exam cannot be attempted more than twice.

Research Defense

The Research Defense is the third of four milestones that must be completed for the PhD degree. The Research Defense has a recommended deadline of 12-18 months from completion of the Preliminary Proposal Exam, and approximately 3-6 months prior to the Final Defense.

The Research Defense will typically last about an hour. The actual conduct, content, and scope of the Research Defense are under the control of the student's advisory committee. The Research Defense should take place once the student has completed most of the work for the dissertation. It is likely that significant writing will yet remain, but no significant problems (other than perhaps mechanical data collection, routine software development, or routine usability testing) should remain to be solved.

The Research Defense is meant to be an opportunity for the committee to review the key results and verify that a satisfactory body of work appears to have been completed. The committee should understand what has been and what remains to be accomplished as part of the dissertation, and to agree within itself whether completion of the work as described by the student, or a revision as determined by the committee at the Research Defense, will result in successful completion of the dissertation.

It is expected that the student will prepare a document and submit it to the committee sufficiently in advance of the exam that the committee has sufficient time to review it. If the committee is expected to read and comment on a significant amount of material then it should be given to the committee two weeks in advance of the meeting. But such a long document is not typical. The document will likely consist of a brief review of the proposed work plan for the dissertation (possibly revised since the time of the Preliminary Exam), and a description of the student's progress towards completing the plan. Key results and their significance should be presented clearly, but briefly. The document should clearly detail what work remains to be done, and the timeframe for its completion. It is not intended that this document be a draft of the dissertation. For some committees, the document might simply be a list of accomplishments and remaining tasks. The student might also submit to the committee copies of papers published or submitted for publication. It is up to the committee to specify how much information it needs to determine if dissertation work is on track.

The Research Defense will typically be the committee's last major opportunity to review the student's progress and work prior to the Final Defense. As such, any major objections or reservations regarding the research plan and progress should be expressed at the Research Defense. Under normal circumstances the expectation is that, if the work completed at the time of the Research Defense is deemed satisfactory, and if the dissertation is completed in the manner specified at the Research Defense, then the result will be deemed satisfactory at the Final Defense.

Note that the Research Defense plays no official role within the University. The Department requires that students pass the Research Defense in a timely manner to remain in good standing. Aside from this, it is up to the student and the committee to determine the next step should a student be considered by the committee to have failed the Research Defense.

Final Defense

The last of the four stages for the PhD degree is the Final Defense. It has a recommended deadline of 3-6 months from completion of the Research Defense. During this examination the candidate makes an oral presentation of his or her research work and defends the significance and accuracy of this work in response to questions from the student's committee. The committee, in closed session, determines whether the student has successfully completed the examination.

See  Scheduling an Exam  for details on the mechanics of scheduling the final exam with the grad school.

If a student fails the final defense, he/she must wait 6 months before attempting the defense again (Graduate School stipulation). The final defense can be attempted at most twice.

As part of the Final Defense process, the student must submit the ETD.

MS Along the Way

Successful completion of an M.S. degree in computer science is not a pre-requisite to register as a Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech. Upon entering the graduate program, students are classified as M.S. or Ph.D. based on their stated degree objective.

Students on a Ph.D. track can opt to obtain an M.S. during their course of study, i.e., “along the way”. They may use either the coursework or thesis option. PhD students who have completed the PhD Qualifier Process and who have a valid Plan of Study that satisfies the PhD requirements complete the requirements for the MS Coursework option by merely completing a CS5974 Independent Study course, typically on a topic related to their dissertation work, and following the instructions shown here . Note that each degree requires its own Plan of Study, so a second plan of study must be filed for the MS degree.

Virginia Tech will allow a given course to count for at most two degrees or certificates. Thus, any course that you transferred to Virginia Tech from outside may not be used toward both the MS and the PhD degree. Likewise, a course may not be used for the MS degree, the PhD degree, and also a VT certificate.

Typical Schedule

The table below shows a suggested distribution of courses and other responsibilities over the years that is typical for a student to complete a Phd. Note that this assumes the student starts in the Fall. Also of note is that some of the order of courses shown is a recommendation, not a requirement. For example, whether you take the courses for breadth early in a program of study or later is up to you.

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The CS Policies/Procedures Manual is online and is incorporated in the CS Grad website. The website contains all current information on the CS policies/procedures, in addition to other helpful information and links. 

The Purdue Graduate School manual contains the minimum requirements, but CS policies may exceed the Grad School requirements and are considered the primary policy to follow in those situations.

The doctoral program is designed to prepare students for a career in computer science research. The program includes coursework to provide core computer science knowledge, coursework to provide knowledge in the intended area of research, and extensive research training and experience.

Invitation to participate:

Information Session on the CS Doctoral Requirements with the Graduate Study Chair

Thursday, September 14th, at 5:30 pm in LWSN 3102

The doctoral program requirements are:

• One research orientation course
• Ethics Training
• Two initial research courses
• Core course requirement
• Advisory Committee
• Area-specific requirements
• Research credits
• Preliminary Examination
• Annual Review

Graduation Candidacy Information

Changes in Requirements

Policies and Procedures Manual

Sample Ph.D. Timeline

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1. Research Orientation

The research orientation requirement consists of three parts: (a) the research orientation course, (b) the ethics training, and (c) the initial research courses.

a. Research Orientation Course

Students must, in their first year, take “ CS 59100 Research Seminar for First-Year Graduate Students ”.  This course introduces students to the research of CS faculty and includes lectures on how to conduct, present, and review research.

b. Ethics Training

Students must complete this multiple part training in the first year.

• Students must be present for the ethics lecture that is part of " CS 59100 Research Seminar for First-Year Graduate Students ".
• Go to  CITI Program: Responsible Conduct of Research .
• Register with “Purdue University” as your Organization Affiliation;
• Complete the  Course Responsible Conduct of Research Training – Faculty, Postdoctoral, and Graduate Course
• Forward the certificate of completion to the Graduate Office by email at  [email protected]
• participation  in discussions with colleagues on RCR topics related to their specific research programs (e.g., through group meetings, coursework, orientations, professional development activities, or other organized events.) OR
• participation/viewing panel discussions around topics identified as most relevant by the College of Science researchers. There will be a one hour event each spring semester to fulfill this. These will be announced by the Grad Office whenever available.
• Each student researcher is responsible for self-reporting their activities here: https://webapps.ecn.purdue.edu/VPR/RT/login

Further information on Responsible Conduct of Research

c. Initial Research Courses

Students must take two initial research courses by the end of their third semester.  Students take an initial research course by registering for at least 3 credits of “CS 69900, Research PhD Thesis”. To register for research, use the Scheduling Assistant in myPurdue. Only one initial research course can be taken per semester or per summer.  Each student must identify a faculty supervisor and work with that faculty supervisor to define and conduct a research project. At the end of each course, the student must write a report that is formally evaluated by the faculty supervisor. The two initial courses may be supervised by the same or by different faculty members .

Beginning PhD students (in first two years) doing research with a faculty member other than their initial advisor may discuss whether to formally change the advisor of record. If both the initial advisor and the proposed new initial advisor agree, an email to the grad office can be sent to request an update. Email confirmation from both advisors is needed before myCS can be updated. Students in their third year and beyond should have a plan of study approved identifying their permanent advisor. See Plan of study below for additional details. 

2. Core Course Requirement

Students must satisfy this requirement by the end of their fourth semester by passing one theory core course and one systems core course with an average grade of at least 3.5.

The theory core course must be chosen from the following set: {“CS 58000 Algorithm Design, Analysis, And Implementation”, “CS 58400 Theory of Computation and Computational Complexity”, "CS 58800 Randomized Algorithms"}.

The systems core course must be chosen from the following set: {“CS 50300 Operating Systems”, “CS 50500 Distributed Systems”, “CS 53600 Data Communication and Computer Networks”}.

For the purpose of this requirement, a grade of A+, A, A-, B+, B, and B- counts as 4.3, 4.0, 3.7, 3.3, 3.0, and 2.7, respectively, must be earned.

3. Plan of Study

Students must submit a draft plan of study by the end of the fifth week of their fifth semester (not including summer semesters), and are expected to revise it and to submit as final, as directed by the CS Graduate Office, by the end of classes that semester. The plan of study lists (a) the student’s advisory committee, and (b) the courses the student plans to use to fulfill the degree requirement. The draft of the plan of study is submitted electronically and must be approved by the student's advisory committee and by the CS Graduate Committee, see Instructions for Filing a Plan of Study .

a. Advisory Committee

The student must identify a Ph.D. research supervisor and then consult with the research supervisor to define an advisory committee. The advisory committee consists of

• the student’s research supervisor (a.k.a. “major professor”, or “advisor”), who serves as chair.
• two or more additional faculty members.
• a research supervisor who is not a CS faculty member may be approved as a co-chair along with a co-chair from CS.
• a majority of committee members must be CS faculty . Faculty from other Purdue West Lafayette departments may be approved to serve on the committee.
• committee members from outside Purdue West Lafayette may be approved, but they must be in addition to the required three committee members from Purdue West Lafayette.

The plan of study must include at least six graduate level CS courses and only CS graduate courses, with a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.5. The six courses must be taught by a faculty member whose primary appointment is in the CS department. The courses must include the two courses used to satisfy the core course requirement. The remaining courses must be three-credit, level 50000 or 60000, non-individual CS courses. CS 50100, 50010, 50011 and certain CS 59000/69000/59200/59300 courses may not be used.

Students admitted to the doctoral program Fall 2017 or later may list at most one approved variable title CS 59000/69000/59200/59300 lecture course. Please check the Variable Title Courses page to determine if a course has been approved for inclusion on a PhD plan of study.

All courses included in the plan of study must have a student evaluation component, and they must be graded in the usual manner so they can be used to compute the GPA. In particular, courses graded on a pass/no pass or satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis cannot be included in the plan of study. A student receiving a grade lower than C- in a course on the plan of study will have to repeat or replace the course. If a course is repeated, only the last grade, even if lower, is used to compute all GPAs involving that course.

Courses taken as a graduate student from other institutions may be accepted with the approval of the student's advisory committee , the Graduate Committee, and the Graduate School.  The minimum acceptable grade for such courses is B- or the equivalent. Please refer to these  Instructions for Transfer of Courses (PDF).  Requests must be submitted to the CS grad office within the first six weeks of the fall or spring semester.

The courses on the plan of study cannot have been used to satisfy requirements for an undergraduate degree, nor can they cause the student's doctoral plan of study to include courses used for more than one master's degree.

4. Area-Specific Requirements

Students must satisfy any additional requirements specific to their area of research . Students must consult with their major professor to ascertain area-specific requirements.  Students are responsible for knowing and completing area-specific requirements by the assigned deadlines.

5. Research

Ph.D. research experience is planned, supervised, accumulated, and demonstrated by forming an advisory committee , by taking graduate level computer science courses , by conducting thesis research, by passing a preliminary examination, and by writing and defending a thesis.

a. Research Credits

The credits used to satisfy the Ph.D. degree credit requirement consist of (1) all credits for the courses that appear on the plan of study, and (2) all “CS 69900 Research Ph.D. Thesis” credit hours with a grade of S. At least 90 total credit hours are required. For example, if a plan of study lists 18 credits, an additional 72 research credits of CS 69900 with a grade of S are required.

At least one-third (i.e. 30) of the total credit hours used to satisfy the Ph.D. degree credit hour requirement must be earned while registered for doctoral study at Purdue West Lafayette.

b. Preliminary Examination

Students must pass a preliminary examination that tests competence in the student’s research area and readiness for research on a specific problem. The content of the examination is at the discretion of the examining committee. The examination may include a presentation by the student of papers relevant to a chosen research topic, an oral examination over advanced material on the student’s research topic, a presentation by the student of the student’s preliminary research results, or a proposal of thesis research.

The examining committee consists of the student's advisory committee , and of an additional member, who is not on the advisory committee, who is approved by the Graduate Committee.

The preliminary examination can be taken as soon as the plan of study is approved, and as late as two semesters before the semester in which the thesis defense is held. The student should consult with their advisory committee to decide when to take the preliminary examination (e.g. if a final exam is taken Fall 2021, the prelim exam would have needed to have happened Fall 2020). 

Please see the Procedure for Arranging a Preliminary Examination.

The thesis must present new results worthy of publication. At least two academic sessions of registration devoted to research and writing must elapse between the preliminary and final doctoral examinations. The student must defend the thesis publicly and to the satisfaction of the examining committee, which consists of the student's  advisory committee  and of one additional faculty member who represents an area outside that of the thesis, and who is approved by the graduate committee.

The thesis should be defended at the latest by the end of the fourth semester following the one in which the student passes the  preliminary examination .

Defense Procedure Instructions

Thesis Format

In preparing a PhD dissertation, please read the graduate school templates information at:  http://www.purdue.edu/gradschool/research/thesis/templates.html  and choose the LaTeX Template. For the review of the format, schedule a Formatting Consultation prior to your defense at  https://www.purdue.edu/gradschool/research/thesis/appointment.html  .

Thesis Deposit Process

6. Annual Review

Each doctoral students’ academic and research progress is evaluated annually by their major professor and the Graduate Committee.  Students receive written feedback and guidance to support progress.

The Ph.D. requirements described above apply to all students entering or re-entering the Department of Computer Science at West Lafayette ("the Department") as degree-seeking graduate students in the summer session of 2016 or later. Here is an archive of the 2013 , 2010 ,  2009 ,  2006 ,  2002  and  2001  Doctoral Program Requirements.

Students are governed by the degree requirements in effect when they enter the Department as degree-seeking students.  For students re-entering, the date of the most recent re-entry determines the degree requirements.  Students who wish to take advantage of subsequent changes may apply to the Graduate Committee to be governed by all degree requirements in effect at a specified subsequent time.  Choosing features from different sets of requirements is not permitted.

For information about the commencement ceremony, please visit www.purdue.edu/commencement .

In order to graduate, you must declare candidacy for the semester in which you intend to graduate by the designated deadline. You declare candidacy by using the Scheduling Assistant within myPurdue and registering for either CAND 99100, 99200, or 99300 (Form 23 is no longer used). 

If you are declaring candidacy for multiple degrees (both PhD and MS) within the same semester, please register for candidacy for one degree, and then contact [email protected],  to let them know information on the second degree. Candidacy will only show on your schedule for one degree, but we will work with the Registrar's Office and Grad School to make sure expectation for both degrees is recorded in their systems.

CAND 99100: This the candidacy to register for if you are currently taking any courses and/or research. Doctoral students must register for research in proportion to their efforts during each session, and must be registered for at least one credit of research in this semester. Research registration should be commensurate with actual research and writing efforts. (International students registering for candidacy and less than full-time, need to request approval for a Reduced Course Load from ISS; at least one credit if not funded or at least three credits if funded.)

Special candidate registration may be allowed for those students needing to only deposit (CAND 992) or defend/deposit (CAND 993). If allowed, please note:

• Early deadlines apply (you can find the deadline calendar on the Grad School website,   https://www.purdue.edu/gradschool , and select Academic Calendar).
• Students cannot be registered for any credits in this semester (research or coursework).
• Students MUST be registered in research the semester prior to enrolling in one of these candidate types (including summer if research (which includes writing/formatting thesis) was performed).
• Students may still hold an RA appointment (and TA appointment, if remaining for the full semester despite defending and/or depositing early).
• Candidates who register for this special registration and who do not meet the early deadline, will be switched by the Grad School to CAND 991 and required to register for credits.  If you’re funded or on Research in Absentia, you need to make sure you are funded for a minimum of 3 credits, so check your schedule if you miss the early deadline and notify  [email protected]  immediately to assist you with modifying the number of registered credits.

CAND 993  (Exam-Only Candidacy): Candidacy for those that ONLY need to defend AND deposit their thesis.  Please note that there is a fee to register in CAND 993.

PLEASE NOTE: Being registered as a candidate does not automatically register you for the commencement ceremony itself. If you plan to participate in commencement, you must respond by using the Commencement tab on myPurdue. It will be added to your myPurdue account after a specified date in the semester you have registered as a candidate.

Graduation Deadline Calendar: https://www.purdue.edu/gradschool/about/calendar/deadlines.html

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Sample Ph.D timeline

Department of Computer Science, 305 N. University Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907

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Computer Science Ph.D. Requirements

Complete these Ph.D. in Computer Science requirements.

Admission Requirements

• Master’s degree, normally in an engineering or science related field with an overall graduate GPA of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale), or a Bachelor’s degree, normally in an engineering or science related field with an overall undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) and the Graduate Record Examination General Test.
• Expertise in a high level programming language and a basic knowledge of data structures.
• Basic knowledge of formal languages, automata, and computability.
• Basic knowledge of computer architecture or operating systems.
• Basic knowledge of calculus, statistics, and linear algebra.
• Satisfy the School of Graduate Studies’ English Language Proficiency requirements as listed in the Graduate Academic Information section.

The School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science recognizes that the prerequisite expertise identified above may be acquired in a variety of ways. Students who do not meet all of the requirements may be admitted with qualified status with the obligation to meet the remaining requirements early in their graduate study.

Degree Requirements

Students seeking the Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science degree must satisfy all general requirements set forth by the School of Graduate Studies. In addition, they must meet the following requirements set by the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science:

 1.    Degree requirements for students with an approved Master degree: 

• Complete a minimum of 24 credit hours of CSCI 999 Dissertation Research
• Complete a minimum of 15 credit hours of EE, CSCI, or EECS graduate level coursework
• Complete 3 credit hours of EECS 500 graduate seminar with a passing grade
• Complete 18 credit hours of elective credits that consists of any combination of additional courses and/or additional Research credits as approved by the student’s Faculty Advisory Committee.
• Form a Faculty Advisory Committee in the first semester in the program.  The chair of this committee must be approved by the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Graduate Committee.
• Successfully complete the Graduate Qualifying Examination (GQE) consisting of a thorough review of a selection of publications that are relevant to the student’s research area and assigned by their Faculty Advisory Committee.  The GQE should be completed after the student has completed at least 18 credit hours of doctoral study, but prior to the completion of 27 credit hours.
• Successfully complete the Comprehensive Examination consisting of both the written proposal and an oral defense. The comprehensive examination should be completed after the student has completed at least 36 credit hours of doctoral study, but prior to the completion of 45 credit hours.
• Oral Final Examination which includes a defense of the student’s dissertation.  The oral defense of the student’s dissertation must take place at least one semester after satisfactory completion of the comprehensive examination.
• Submission of the dissertation document, approved by the student’s Faculty Advisory Committee.
• At least two high quality peer reviewed journal articles and two peer reviewed conference papers, as first author, must be published or accepted for publication.  These publications must be submitted with the consent of the student’s academic advisor.  If a student completes all other requirements, but is unable to satisfy the publication requirement, a waiver request may be submitted to the SEECS graduate committee for review and approval.

2.     Degree requirements for students with an approved Bachelor degree:

• Complete a minimum of 36 credit hours of CSCI 999 Dissertation Research
• Complete a minimum of 30 credit hours of EE, CSCI, or EECS graduate level coursework
• Complete 3 credit hours of EECS 500 with a passing grade
• Complete 21 credit hours of elective credits that consists of any combination of additional courses and/or additional Research credits as approved by the student’s Faculty Advisory Committee.
• Successfully complete the Graduate Qualifying Examination (GQE) consisting of a thorough review of a selection of publications that are relevant to the student’s research area and assigned by their Faculty Advisory Committee.  The GQE should be completed after the student has completed at least 36 credit hours of doctoral study, but prior to the completion of 45 credit hours.
• Successfully complete the Preliminary Exam consisting of both the proposal document and an oral defense of this proposal.  The comprehensive examination should be completed after the student has completed at least 63 credit hours of doctoral study, but prior to the completion of 72 credit hours.

Graduate Admissions Requirements

In addition to meeting these program requirements, you must also meet the UND School of Graduate Studies admissions requirements to apply for this program.

Graduate Requirements

Computer Science Ph.D. Requirements Disclaimer

The requirements on this page are pulled from UND’s academic catalog and may not reflect future terms. Updates are published annually in April.

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• PhD Requirements

Introduction

This page defines the requirements set forth by the Department of Computer Science for a student to earn a graduate degree in computer science, and to remain in good standing in the graduate program. These requirements are designed to allow students the flexibility to create programs of study that match their particular interests and needs, with the recognition that computer science is an evolving and interdisciplinary field. However, each student’s program of study and progress toward the degree must meet these minimum requirements. The Director of Graduate Studies (DGS, [email protected] ) is responsible for monitoring satisfactory progress toward the degree and certifying completion of degree requirements to the Duke Graduate School as a representative of the Faculty of Computer Science.

Besides the requirements of the Department presented in this document, there are other requirements and regulations mandated by the Graduate School, many of which are not presented here. They include, for example, specific deadlines to file to receive a degree in a given semester, as well as rules governing language proficiency, minimum  GPA, and minimum and maximum periods of residency at Duke. In the event that anything you read in these pages conflicts with Graduate School policies, then those policies shall apply at the discretion of the Dean of the Graduate School.

Selected Graduate School Policy and Procedure Pages:

• Academic Policies
• Guide for the Electronic Submission of Dissertations (PDF)
• Preparing to Graduate
• Responsible Conduct of Research
• Standards of Conduct

By the end of the second semester in the PhD program, every student must identify a faculty member who agrees to serve as an advisor. The advisor must be a full member of the Graduate Faculty (as defined in Appendix A of the Appendix section below) who holds a primary or secondary appointment in Computer Science. When naming an advisor, the student must submit a short description of research progress to date, and a one page description of the research topic area in which the faculty member has agreed to advise the student. Upon termination of an advising relationship, the student must name a new advisor within one semester, by following the procedure above . Note: Declare the advisor and upload the research topic area description and progress to date through Gradcentral.

Each graduate student must nominate a set of members of the Graduate Faculty who agree to act as the student’s supervisory committee. The supervisory committee is a standing committee chaired by the student’s advisor, and must meet the additional requirements on composition and approval specified for various degree milestones. Although the supervisory committee is a standing committee, the student must explicitly request that the committee be approved before each milestone. Declare the committee and request approval before each milestone through Gradcentral . 

Note: As one continues to develop and refine research ideas, additions or changes to the supervisory committee are permitted and sometimes expected.

Research Initiation Project (RIP)

Each PhD student must complete a substantial Research Initiation Project (RIP) before the end of the second year. The student conducts the research under the supervision of a faculty advisor and a supervisory committee approved for RIP. Do all steps for the RIP milestones using Gradcentral. The committee must include, besides the advisor, at least two other faculty members with appointments in Computer Science, or other members approved by the DGS. The DGS must approve the committee and any changes to it at least one week before an RIP milestone.

RIP has two required milestones:

• A project proposal and public presentation are due by the end of the second semester. The committee provides guidance and feedback, and assesses the readiness of the student in carrying out the proposed research. Note:  In case of scheduling difficulties, the public presentation may be deferred, upon approval by the DGS, up to the end of the second week of the third semester; however, the complete proposal document must be delivered to each committee member by the end of the second semester.
• A  final report and public defense of the completed work are due before the end of the second year. The committee evaluates whether the student is making good progress, and whether the student has demonstrated the ability to do novel research, which is the goal of the PhD program. The committee may require, at its discretion, an additional milestone involving a written progress report and public presentation by the middle of the fourth semester. Written documents for all RIP milestones must be uploaded to Gradcentral at least two weeks prior to the respective presentation dates. If the outcome of the committee evaluation at the second RIP milestone is negative, the student will be placed on one-semester departmental probation. (Refer to Good Standing section below.)

Preliminary Exam

Each PhD student must pass a preliminary exam, which entails a public presentation before an approved committee on the research progress to date and a plan for subsequent years leading up to the dissertation defense. The preliminary exam assesses a student’s preparation to continue in his or her chosen field, as well as the likelihood of successful completion of a dissertation. A preliminary exam report must be uploaded to Gradcentral at least two weeks prior to the exam date. The committee must include, besides the advisor, at least three other members of the Graduate Faculty. Do all steps for the Preliminary exam using Gradcentral .

At least three  of the committee members must have appointments in Computer Science. At least one of the committee members must be from outside Computer Science or hold an appointment in another department . The DGS and the Graduate School must approve the committee at least one month (30) days before the exam date.  Any changes must be approved at least one week before the exam date. A PhD student must pass the preliminary exam and file the committee-approved report with the DGS office before the end of the third year. An extension beyond the end of the third year requires petition to the DGS and approval of a dean. Failure to pass the preliminary exam and file the approved report before the end of the fourth year will result in termination from the PhD program. Before the preliminary exam, the student must complete the qualification requirement. See next section after Milestones.   Upon passing the preliminary exam, the student advances to PhD candidacy.

NOTE: Please see Appendix B, Milestone Documents and Presentation Guidelines section below for more details about the expected length and content of a preliminary exam.

Dissertation

Each PhD candidate must complete a doctoral dissertation and defend it in a public presentation  before an approved committee. The candidate must deliver the full dissertation to each committee member through Gradcentral at least four weeks prior to the defense; minor modifications suggested by the committee may be incorporated within 30 days after the defense and by the semester deadline for the degree. The dissertation must be formatted and submitted for publication to the Graduate School in accordance with their regulations. The requirements on committee composition and approval are the same as those for the preliminary exam.  In addition, the DGS and the Graduate School must approve the committee before the student can apply for graduation in DukeHub. The dissertation defense should be completed within two calendar years of the preliminary exam. A dean must approve extensions beyond four calendar years.

See Appendix B below for information about Guidelines for Milestone Documents and Presentations.

Please see PhD Course Requirements for detailed information.

PhD students are required to participate in the teaching mission of the Department for one semester during their first three semesters.  Most students will TA for at least 2 semesters. This requirement can be met by satisfactorily serving as a teaching assistant or instructor for a Computer Science course. In either case, at the end of the semester, the faculty member supervising the course will submit feedback on the student’s service. Based on this feedback and the evaluations by the students in the course, the Department’s Teaching Excellence Committee assigns a rating of excellent , satisfactory , or unsatisfactory for the service. Unsatisfactory performance must be made up with another term of service.

The Department will award a graduating PhD student a Certificate of Distinction in Teaching if the following conditions are met:

• The student has successfully served in the teaching mission of the Department for three semesters (or the equivalent in effort), where 1) at least one semester of service is for an undergraduate Computer Science course at the introductory level; and 2) at least one semester of service is as an instructor.
• The student is nominated for this distinction by at least one faculty member who has supervised the student on teaching.
• The student must submit a teaching portfolio and have it approved by the Teaching Excellence Committee. The portfolio should include a 2-page teaching statement and supporting documents such as sample instructional materials created by the student.

Every student is required to discuss research progress in a formal capacity with all the members of their supervisory committee at least annually. In a given year, this requirement can be met by a full committee meeting, or by a series of one-on-one meetings with each member of the committee. The Department conducts an annual progress review of all graduate students. Each student is required to submit a set of written materials as input to the annual review (see Appendix D for deadlines and details). Faculty members provide written feed-back on these materials. In the case when a student fails to make satisfactory progress, the Faculty may place the student on departmental probation (see section below on Good Standing.) The progress review documents are uploaded and evaluated using Gradcentral .

See Appendix C for additional details about the procedure for the Annual Progress Review.

All entering graduate students must attend and participate in the first offering of CPS 701S after their matriculation. This “immigration course” clarifies the goals and requirements of the graduate programs and exposes the students to methods, best practices, and ethical and professional issues for research in computer science. The Department’s Admissions Committee and DGS pair each entering student with a member of the Faculty who will act as a faculty mentor, before an advisor is identified.

The faculty mentor shall meet with the student early in each semester, and additionally as appropriate. The responsibility of the faculty mentor is to discuss the student’s research interests and goals, and guide the student toward a suitable match with an advisor. The faculty mentor also reports on the student’s progress as input to the annual progress review if the student has not yet identified an advisor.

For additional, more detailed information, please see Mentoring for CS Graduate Students .

Students maintain good standing in the graduate program by complying with the requirements and regulations set forth by the Department, the Graduate School, and the University. A student who is not in good standing can be placed on departmental probation , e.g., by the supervisory committee or Faculty for lack of progress, or by the DGS because for failure to meet degree requirements or violation of the Department’s House Rules .

The terms of probation will specify a concrete set of goals for the student to accomplish within a deadline. The probation period gives the student a chance to address issues raised by the committee or the Faculty. Failure to meet the goals by the deadline will result in termination from the program.

Within 10 days of receiving a decision of departmental probation or termination from the program, students have the right of a formal appeal in writing to the Department Chair. The appeal will be heard by the Department’s Graduate Curriculum Committee or a special committee appointed by the Chair.

Clarification of Terms

The Graduate School classifies Graduate Faculty into two categories: full members and term members . All tenure-track faculty members at Duke are full members of the Graduate Faculty; other cases of full membership require approval of the Dean. Faculty members who are not full members of the Graduate Faculty, as well as expert researchers outside Duke University, may serve as term members; such memberships must be nominated by the DGS and approved by the Graduate School. Note: Inclusion of expert researchers outside Duke in supervisory committees is common, and is encouraged when appropriate. Students should notify the DGS office in advance so there is enough time to collect from external committee members information required for nominating them for membership in the Graduate Faculty.

The i-th semester (into a graduate program) refers to the i-th semester (Fall or Spring) since the student’s date of matriculation into the program. Summer terms are not counted.

The n-th year (into a graduate program) refers to the n-th year since the student’s date of matriculation into the program. The year starts from the first day of class in a Fall or Spring semester (depending on the semester of matriculation), and ends on the last day of the final examinations in the following Summer term or Fall semester (respectively). Note: Unless pre-approved otherwise, a Leave of Absence from the program does not stop the clock as far as the graduate requirements are concerned.

Regular courses include those approved by the University for repeated periodic graded offerings. CPS 590 offerings, if graded, are also considered regular courses. CPS 701S and CPS 791 are not regular courses.

Guidelines for Milestone Documents and Presentations

Table 2 gives the standard length guidelines for documents and presentations required by the various degree milestones. These standard lengths are only guidelines. Minor deviations are common and expected. Supervisory committees have discretion to request or permit significant deviations from the standard length guidelines, although these must be negotiated in advance.

Students should allow adequate time to incorporate review comments from the advisor before submitting a document to the committee, and adequate time to incorporate review comments from committee members before the document is due. The document for a milestone must be delivered to all committee members for final review well in advance of the public presentation, unless they agree to accept it later; see the section Completing the Milestones for the lead time required for various milestones. The approved final versions of all milestone documents must be filed at the DGS office.

Public presentations associated with degree milestones should proceed in three phases: 1) the student gives a prepared talk and answers questions from the supervisory committee and other attendees; 2) the student discusses the work with the committee in a private session; and 3) the committee discusses the work in a private session. Other faculty members may attend the private sessions with approval of the committee.

Students are responsible for negotiating with committee members to schedule and announce each public presentation and to file the necessary paper-work in conformance with published deadlines. The DGS office assists with this process. Note: Students should begin the scheduling process early. Scheduling is often time-consuming and difficult toward the end of a semester, and the Graduate School requires the student to apply for graduation in DukeHub by a deadline well before the end of the semester in which a degree is received.

Additional guidelines on the documents and presentations for specific milestones are provided below. The supervisory committee has discretion to set standards for content of documents and presentations. It is critical that students discuss expectations with each committee member in advance. Stu-dents may provide additional material such as supplementary report text or publications for consideration by the committee.

PhD RIP It is expected that a successful RIP will lead to publishable work. Students are encouraged to publish RIP final reports externally, with approval of the committee.

PhD Preliminary Exam A preliminary exam re-port should 1) define a research problem suitable for dissertation research, 2) survey the literature in the area, 3) present the student’s preliminary research in the area, and 4) outline objectives and plans for continuing research. The prepared talk should summarize the content of the report and may provide additional supporting detail in selected areas. The report and presentation together should provide sufficient detail for the committee to judge four criteria for a successful defense: 1) the proposed research is of suitable scope and scale for a PhD dissertation; 2) the candidate has mastered previous work in the area; 3) the candidate’s preliminary research demonstrates sufficient aptitude and mastery of research methods and tools; and 4) the candidate meets standards of scholarship and presentation necessary to earn a doctoral degree.

Students may publish preliminary exam reports externally with approval of the committee.

PhD Dissertation and MS Thesis PhD dissertations and MS theses present research that makes a substantial contribution to knowledge. The supervisory committee has full discretion to define content standards for dissertations, theses, and their presentation.

The Graduate School publishes all dissertations and theses. Students must format these documents according to standards set by the Graduate School, and must submit a draft document to the Graduate School for a format check before a Final Exam Card required for the defense can be issued. See the Graduate School website for details.

In some situations, public access to dissertations and theses should be embargoed (i.e., restricted) for a period of time. Students must consult their supervisory committees for the appropriate embargo option. Project-Based MS Students pursuing the project (non-thesis) option for their MS degree must request from their advisor a note to the Graduate School, at the time they apply for graduation in DukeHub, stating that they are ready to graduate. The supervisory committee has full discretion to define content standards for the MS project reports and their presentation.

Table 2: Guidelines on lengths of milestone documents and presentations. Document lengths in this table assume the standard (double-spaced) thesis format defined by the Graduate School. However, there is no departmental requirement to use the standard thesis format for documents submitted to supervisory committees; some faculty members may prefer a single-spaced format with wide margins. Also, note that there are no standard length guidelines for MS theses/reports and PhD dissertations; individual  circumstances vary widely.

Procedure for Annual Progress Review

The Department conducts an annual progress review of graduate students. The purpose of the review is to recognize and reward achievement, deliver constructive guidance to students, and assess the effectiveness of the graduate program. The DGS office gathers information from students and faculty and maintains records for each student as well as progress measures for the graduate program as a whole. The DGS and the Department’s Graduate Curriculum Committee prepare this material for discussion during an annual progress review meeting of the faculty.

Students must submit written material as input to each annual review. through Gradcentral . These materials include 1) an updated curriculum vitae, 2) a brief (1- or 2-page) research summary with a bibliography of the student’s publications and works-in-progress, and 3) a short (1-page) progress statement including a self-assessment of progress for the previous year, a statement of goals for the following year, and an updated schedule of planned milestone completions. This process of planning and documenting progress and accomplishments will be valuable for students, and it will facilitate more detailed feedback from the Faculty. Each year, the DGS office publishes deadlines and additional guidelines for submitting these materials.

Faculty mentors or advisors and supervisory committee members report on student progress at each annual review. Faculty advisors must provide written feedback for students on the materials submitted for review. Instructors of graduate courses should also provide feedback on students’ course performance since the last annual progress review. Faculty post comments in Gradcentral.

In a typical year, supporting materials from students will be due by the end of the fall semester, and reports from faculty advisors and supervisory committee members will be due within two weeks after the beginning of the spring semester. The Faculty will complete the annual progress review by mid-February.

An important function of the annual progress review is to identify students who are not making adequate progress in the judgment of the Faculty as a whole. As a result of the review, the Faculty may place at-risk students on departmental probation (see section on Good Standing), with a probation period of no less than eight weeks.

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Doctor of Philosophy Program

.cls-1{fill:#a91e22;}.cls-2{fill:#c2c2c2;} double-arrow program for the doctor of philosophy degree in cse.

The Doctoral degree is awarded for superior academic and research performance. Consequently, only students who have demonstrated outstanding scholastic ability and research potential will be admitted to the academic and research program leading to the Doctorate. The program of study for the Ph.D. is to be developed by the student in close consultation with his/her academic advisor. Students are encouraged to work out their plan of study as soon as possible so that all requirements may be met.

• Program Requirements: PhD Major/Minor

The Graduate School rules require that advisors for students in the Ph.D. program be Category P Graduate Faculty members, but it is permissible to have a Category M Graduate Faculty member as a co-advisor. The co-advisor may be the functioning advisor. In such cases, a Category P person should be included as an integral member of the research team early in the student's research, so there is a meaningful collaboration involving the Category M functioning advisor and the Category P advisor. The Graduate School requires that the Category P advisor sign the examination and thesis approval forms.

The requirements for a Doctoral degree in Computer Science and Engineering are determined in part by general Graduate School requirements for a Ph.D. degree, and in part by specific requirements stipulated by the department. The student should refer to the Graduate School Handbook for residency requirements, regulations concerning transfer of credit from other institutions, and for credit-hour requirements stipulated by the Graduate School.

Prior to entering the first stage of study toward the Doctoral degree, a student has to successfully complete the Ph.D qualifying process (see  Section 3 ) as well as take CSE6891 (1 crhr S/U graded) during their first Autumn term.

During the first stage of Ph.D. study, the student is required to undertake a program of study in a major area and two minor areas, and to formulate a dissertation proposal. At least 10 cr-hrs of coursework in the major area and 6 cr-hrs in each of the minor areas are required. This coursework cannot include graduate core classes that were used for the qualifying process. All of the 10 credits towards the major and at least 5 credits for each minor need to be from graded graduate classes. The student's research advisor serves as the advisor for the program of study in the major area. The student, in consultation with the research advisor, chooses the two minor areas of study and the minor area advisors. The courses comprising the program of study for the minor areas must be approved by the minor area advisors.

The first stage of study toward a Doctoral degree is completed when the student has received credit for a total of 60 cr-hrs of graduate work in a program prescribed by the student's advisor and has passed the Candidacy Examination (see  Section 5 ) to be formally admitted to candidacy. At least three months prior to taking the Candidacy Examination, a proposed schedule of study should be submitted to the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee for consideration.

The second stage is devoted primarily to research and seminars, the preparation of the dissertation, and the Final Examination (see  Section 6 ). The Final Examination is oral and deals intensively with the portion of the candidate's field of specialization in which the dissertation falls, though it need not be confined exclusively to the subject matter of the dissertation.

Overall Requirements

The CSE Ph.D. Qualifying Process consists of two components: one is coursework, and the other is research. To pass the Qualifying Process, a student needs to demonstrate satisfactory performance on both components: (1) Be competent and knowledgeable on fundamental principles of computer science and engineering, and (2) show promise for conducting original research in the areas of computer science and engineering.

For the coursework component, a student needs to achieve the average GPA of 3.3 or above on four CSE courses that include a required Algorithms course (CSE 6331) and three other courses chosen by the student in consultation with the faculty advisor  [1] . The three courses can be chosen from the seven categories listed below with at most one course from a single category. Note that a student may count one Qualifying course in this new Qualifying Process towards the major/minor course requirements in the Candidacy Exam. For the research component, a student is required to work with their faculty advisor and demonstrate satisfactory research progress  [2] .

Course Categories

The seven categories of CSE courses include: (1) Artificial Intelligence and Data Mining (CSE 6521, CSE 5523, CSE 5526, CSE 5243, CSE 5245) (2) Graphics and Visualization (CSE 5542, CSE 5543, CSE 5544, CSE 5545, CSE 5546) (3) Computer Networking (CSE 5462, CSE 5463) (4) Security and Privacy (CSE 5471, CSE5472, CSE 5473, CSE 5474) (5) Computer Systems (CSE 6431, CSE 6421, CSE 6333, CSE 5242, CSE 5441) (6) Software Engineering and Programing Languages (CSE 6341, CSE 5343) (7) Computer Theory (CSE 6321, CSE 6332, CSE 5351)

Procedures and Timeline

A Qualifying Process has two checkpoints: the first is by the end of Year 1  [2]  and the second is by the end of Year 2 [3] . In the first checkpoint, a student reports the grades of the Qualifying courses that have been taken. The student will comment on their progress towards identifying a research advisor and making research progress.

Early in the program, a student should identify research advisor(s) for the Ph.D. study. This may be the same as the initial academic advisor assigned by the Department, or a different faculty member.  The research advisor must be a member of the graduate faculty with “P” advising status in CSE. A student should declare the research advisor,  even if she or he is the same as the initial academic advisor,  by filing a Change of Advisor Form. This form is available through the Electronic Signature application called Docusign. The process begins by clicking on the following link which will send you an email and guide you in filling out the information needed: Change of Advisor Form . The research advisor will provide academic and research advice once the change of advisor form is submitted.

In the second checkpoint, a student reports the grades of the Qualifying courses that have been taken. The student’s faculty advisor will be contacted subsequently to provide input on the student’s research progress. Based on the student’s course work performance and the advisor’s research assessment, the Grad Studies Committee will notify the student of the Qualifying Process result at the second checkpoint. Both checkpoint forms can be found at  the CSE Portal .

If a student does not achieve the GPA requirement with the first four courses, a student may (a) retake the same course (required for Algorithms), (b) take a different course in the same course category, or (c) take a course in another course category.  This should be done in consultation with the faculty advisor. 

Students may file the second checkpoint form once they have achieved satisfactory performance on both coursework and research components, which could be earlier than the end of Year 2. Students should consult with their research advisor before submitting the second checkpoint form.

To maintain the status of “Good Standing” in CSE [4] , a Ph.D. student is expected to pass the Qualifying Process by the end of Year 2. Otherwise, a student who is not in good standing will not have a guaranteed appointment as a graduate teaching associate. A student who continues to not return to good standing in a timely way (e.g., by the end of the third year) may be dismissed from the Ph.D. program in Computer Science and Engineering after a conversation among the student, advisor, and graduate studies committee.

Implementation

This new Ph.D. Qualifying Process will be effective starting from  Autumn 2022.  Specifically, a student who is enrolled in the Ph.D. program of CSE in Autumn 2022 or after can only take this new Ph.D. Qualifying Process. For a smooth transition, a student who was enrolled prior to Autumn 2022 may choose to take this new Qualifying Process or the old Qualifying Exam.

Definitions and Criteria

• Faculty advisor : A student’s initial academic advisor assigned by the Department, or the research advisor chosen by the student.
• The criteria of satisfactory research performance : The most common way of satisfying this requirement is for the student to be a leading or significant contributor on a paper published, accepted, submitted, or in preparation to submit to a venue in Computer Science. Faculty advisors may provide evidence that the student has satisfied this requirement in other ways, such as making a significant contribution in research artifacts such as released software packages.
• The end of Year x : Two weeks after the end of 2*x non-summer terms since a student’s initial enrollment in the Ph.D. program of Computer Science and Engineering at Ohio State University.
• Good Standing in CSE : In addition to  the requirements from the Grad School , a Ph.D. student in CSE is required to pass the Qualifying Process by the end of Year 2. Students must also demonstrate English proficiency through one of the approved mechanisms listed on  the “English as a Second Language” website  by the end of Year 1.

Additional Notes

• While there is no accelerated option in the new policy of the PhD Qualifying Process, the accelerated option is still applicable to a student who was enrolled prior to Autumn 2022 if the student chooses to take the Qualifying Exam in the old policy.
• A student cannot transfer the credits of a Qualifying course from their prior institutes. If a student took a Qualifying course in the undergraduate program at Ohio State, the course can be counted towards the requirement of the Qualifying Process. However, the course credits cannot be counted towards their Ph.D. degree requirement except for the situations (such as the BS/MS program) allowed by the Graduate School.

The Qualifying Examination is administered Autumn and Spring semesters. Satisfactory performance on this examination, or qualification through the acceleration option listed below, is necessary for admission to the first stage of study towards the Doctoral degree.

The Qualifying Examination is based on the material covered in the graduate core areas. Specifically, students need to take the exam in algorithms (CSE 6331), either computability and unsolvability (CSE 6321) or programming languages (CSE 6341), and either operating systems (CSE 6431) or computer architecture (CSE 6421). Students who have previously studied this material are not required to take the corresponding core courses(s) in the CSE Department; they need only demonstrate their competence in these areas by satisfactory performance on the Qualifying Examination.

At the time students take the examination, they must have been admitted to the CSE Department and not be on probation. A student whose enrollment eligibility has been deactivated by the Graduate School may, if subsequently reactivated, be required to re-take the Qualifying Examination.

A student who fails the qualifying examination for the first time must retake the examination the next semester that it is offered. Students must petition the Graduate Studies Committee to retake the examination in any other semester or to retake the examination more than once.

Acceleration Option for Qualifying Exams : Students who complete the three graduate core classes (algorithms, either computability and unsolvability or programming languages, and either operating systems or computer architecture) with a GPA of 3.6 or better will be automatically granted a "conditional pass" in the qualifying examination. These students will need to demonstrate substantial research progress during their second year spring evaluation to remove the condition. One clear mechanism for demonstrating such progress is to have an accepted or submitted paper as a significant contributor, working on a project with their advisor.

Fill out the online form in the CSE Portal to apply for the Accelerate option. Advisor must approve it online.

This section further specifies the procedure set forth for the Candidacy Examination in the Graduate School Handbook. That section must be read in conjunction with this document for a full understanding of the rules governing the Candidacy Examination. The Candidacy Examination is a very important means by which the faculty can ensure that the prospective student has the necessary breadth and depth in chosen areas within computer and information science and cognate areas. The student is expected to demonstrate superior knowledge in his or her chosen areas.

To be eligible for the Candidacy Examination, the student is required to select one major area and two minor areas. The student may choose any of the pre-defined major or minor areas specified in the "Guidelines for the Ph.D. Candidacy Exam Major/Minor Areas". To demonstrate mastery in the two minor areas, the student is required to obtain a GPA of 3.3 or higher in the letter-graded courses taken in each of two minor areas. To demonstrate mastery in the major area, the student is expected to prepare a dissertation proposal. The student and the student's major advisor may suggest two examiners who are competent in the student's major area. In the Candidacy Examination, the student will be examined in written and oral format over the major area and the dissertation proposal.

The student is required to submit to the Graduate Studies Committee a proposed schedule of study for the candidacy examination at least three months in advance of the examination. The schedule should include the choice of major and minor areas, counter-signed by the student's major and two minor advisors, and the student's preliminary dissertation proposal, counter-signed by the student's major advisor and two other faculty members who will serve on the Candidacy Examination Committee. The schedule must also indicate those courses and individual studies already accomplished in each of the major and minor areas, together with additional work planned at this time. The Graduate School must be notified before the written portion of the Candidacy Examination begins. The form of the schedule of study can be  downloaded here .

After the student's proposed schedule of study has been approved by the Graduate Studies Committee, the Candidacy Examination should be scheduled in consultation with the examination committee. At least 2 weeks prior to the scheduled oral examination date, the student should declare formally the intent to take the oral portion of the Candidacy Examination. This Declaration of Intent form must be signed by the student's major advisor and the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee before transmittal to the Dean of the Graduate School for approval.

The Examination Committee consists of at least four faculty members, including the student's major advisor, two other members of the Graduate Faculty approved by the Graduate Studies Committee for this function, and a departmental representative appointed by the Graduate Studies Committee.

The Candidacy Examination consists of two parts, namely, a written examination and an oral examination. The precise times and places of the administration of the Examination will be determined by the Examination Committee, but the entire Examination must be administered within a three-month period.

The written portion is administered and evaluated by the student's Advisory Committee. It is conducted in the following steps.

a. The student prepares a written dissertation proposal. The proposal should be concise and precise, and should include the following:

• Title and abstract
• Significance of the problem
• Scope and objectives of the research
• Methodology
• Expected results and conclusions

Students are encouraged to include in the written portion any preliminary results that support the dissertation proposal. The dissertation proposal must be submitted to all members of the Advisory Committee.

b. On receiving the dissertation proposal, the major advisor compiles a written examination for the student, taking into consideration questions posed by and comments received from the rest of the Advisory Committee.

The written examination consists of two parts. The first part asks questions related to the submitted dissertation proposal. The purpose of this part is to examine whether the dissertation proposal has substantial depth to lead to quality research and whether the student is well prepared to conduct the research outlined in the proposal. The student may be asked to revise the proposal in accordance with the suggestions received. The second part examines the student on his overall breadth and depth in his major area.

c. On receiving the written examination, the student submits written answers to the questions (and possibly a revised dissertation proposal, if so requested) to all members of the Advisory Committee.

d. The Advisory Committee evaluates the written portion including the dissertation proposal. If, based on the written portion, the Advisory Committee members see no possibility for a satisfactory overall performance on the Candidacy Examination, the Advisory Committee records an "unsatisfactory" on the Candidacy Examination report form and returns it to the Graduate School.

The oral candidacy examination shall last approximately two hours. In addition, a 30-45 minute presentation on the proposed research must be made prior to the oral examination, but after the candidate has made their written proposal available to the committee. As per Graduate School rules, the two hour oral examination is strictly an examination and may not include a formal oral presentation of the dissertation proposal. During this oral examination, the student should be prepared to defend his or her dissertation proposal and to answer questions on a range of topics including the area of specialization and general fundamentals of computer science. Examinees may use prepared slides in answering questions about their proposal. A passing grade requires a unanimous vote of the examination committee.

Notice of the time and place of both the oral portion of the Candidacy Examination and the presentation prior to that will be given to all faculty of the Department.

The student is considered to have passed the Candidacy Examination only when the decision of the Examination Committee is unanimous. The student's performance is evaluated and reported to the Graduate School as "satisfactory" (implying admission to candidacy) or "unsatisfactory" (implying failure and denial of admission to candidacy). When a failure is reported, the student may be permitted to take a second examination if recommended by the Candidacy Examination Committee. No student will be permitted to take the Candidacy Examination more than twice. The advisor is also reminded that a copy of the report to the Graduate School must be sent to the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee for the Departmental record and student file.

After a student has passed the Candidacy Examination, the advisor of the student will nominate a Dissertation Committee to consider the merit of the dissertation. The members of the Dissertation Committee should be kept informed of the progress of research, thus giving them opportunities to make constructive suggestions for improvement of the dissertation.

The Dissertation Committee will consist of the advisor and two other members of the Graduate Faculty approved by the Graduate Studies Committee for this function. Normally, the Dissertation Committee must be approved no later than in one semester in advance of the anticipated graduation date. It is suggested that the Dissertation Committee be chosen from the committee which administered the Candidacy Examination.

The Graduate School should be consulted on the various deadlines for submission of the dissertation as well as for regulations governing the mechanics of its preparation. The Graduate School is to be informed of the Dissertation Committee members and the subject of the dissertation in the semester of expected graduation.

The Final Oral Examination is held after the approval of the draft of the dissertation by the Dissertation Committee. Generally, the Dissertation Committee and a Graduate School representative will constitute the Final Oral Examination Committee. The examination will be oral and will deal intensively with the portion of the candidate's field of specialization, though it need not be confined exclusively to the subject matter of the student's dissertation. A unanimous vote of the Final Oral Examination Committee is required for the student to pass.

It is expected that the dissertation be made available, and an announcement of the examination be made, at least one week in advance of the Final Oral Examination. The examination is open to the general public. Non-committee members should be permitted to ask questions. It is expected that the Chair of the Committee will control the ordering and kind of questions asked to ensure fairness and reasonable progress of the examination and to ensure that members of the Examination Committee have sufficient opportunity to question the candidate.

Students intending to pursue study towards a Ph.D. may apply directly to the Direct Ph.D. track. In the Direct Ph.D. track, students focus on research and study in selected areas of concentration from the beginning of their graduate studies, thereby facilitating more rapid progress towards the degree.

n addition to the standard requirements of the Ph.D. program, as detailed earlier, Direct Ph.D. students are required to satisfy the following progress requirements:

• Complete all the core courses during the first year of study and either qualify through the acceleration option, or appear for the Qualifying Examination by the first semester of the second year in the program. Students unable to meet this requirement should petition in advance to the graduate studies chair, with support of their advisor.
• Take at least 3 research cr-hrs in the form of independent study, research seminars ("Advanced Topics in ..."), or thesis research every semester, commencing from their second semester.
• Identify their research advisor and the major/minor areas of study by the end of the Spring semester of their first year (or their second semester, if they enter the Direct Ph.D. track in a different term). Students may change research advisor or major/minor areas, with the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee.

Students in the Direct Ph.D. track can obtain a Masters automatically by passing the Ph.D. Candidacy Examination. A student in the Direct Ph.D. track is not eligible to take the Department's Masters Comprehensive Examination or to apply for a Masters by writing and defending a Masters thesis. However, a student who is unable to make adequate progress in the Direct Ph.D. track after two years in the program may petition the Graduate Studies Committee to transfer to the Research (Thesis) Track of the Masters program.

Computer Science and Engineering

College of Engineering and Applied Science » Academics » Departments » Computer Science » Majors & Programs » Ph.D in Computer Science & Engineering Ph.D. Degree

Why study Computer Science and Engineering?

The Computer Science and Engineering doctoral program has excellent research and teaching facilities including research laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment in the areas of computer science, software systems, artificial intelligence, neural networks, and more. Every graduate laboratory has a mix of computers running the latest versions of Solaris, Linux, or Windows.

There are five possible research groups.

• The Data and Knowledge Management group studies the storage, retrieval, and mining of data in databases.
• The Experimental Computer Systems group studies computer systems perspective, including operation systems, compilers, computer architecture, networking, and wireless communications.
• The Intelligent Systems group focuses on designing and analyzing an intelligent algorithm or system using any of the theoretical formalisms.
• The Internet Computing and Information Science group examines technologies for computing and communication across Internet or any other networked system, and the Quantum Computing group studies the growing field of Quantum Computing.

Admission Requirements

• GRE - Required of all international students; GRE is exempt for students that earned a degree from an ABET    accredited university (or equivalent   accreditation) in the USA with a GPA of 3.0+
• Transcript(s) and Degree Certificates (unofficial transcripts are used for admissions review, only admitted applicants submit official transcripts)
• GPA minimum 3.0 or equivalent
• Statement of Purpose
• Two letters of recommendation
• International students - English Proficiency Test: TOEFL (minimum 92) or IELTS (minimum 6.5)
• Guide: Computer Science and Engineering PhD

Application Deadlines

Early Admission

General Admission

Application deadlines and additional application information can be found at the CEAS Office of Graduate Studies .

Contact Information

Find related programs in the following interest areas:.

• Computers & Technology
• Engineering

Program Code: 20DOC-CSE-PHD

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PhD | Qualifying Examination

Main navigation.

The qualifying examination tests a student's depth of knowledge and familiarity in their area of specialization. Qualifying exams are generally offered in all areas covered by the written comprehensive exam. It is possible for a student to request a qualifying exam in an area not already offered, such as one that cuts across current divisions. The feasibility of this request is determined on a case-by-case basis by the PhD program committee. A student should pass a qualifying exam no later than the end of their third year.

A student may take the qualifying exams only twice. In some cases a conditional pass is awarded. When the designated conditions have been met (such as CAing for a certain class, taking a course, or reading additional material in a specific area), the student is credited with the pass. If a student fails the qualifying exam a second time, the PhD program committee is contacted because its an indication that the student is not "making reasonable progress". This is cause for dismissal by default from the PhD program. The qualifying exams are a University requirement and are taken very seriously. Therefore, sufficient time and in-depth preparation must be given to the quals area that the student chooses, to ensure success.

The format of the qualifying exams varies from year-to-year and area-to-area, depending on the faculty member or quals chair in charge of each specific exam. Examples are in-class written exams, "take-home" written exams, oral exams, written assignments and/or a combination of the above. The quals chair administers the exams and the results must be submitted to the PhD program officer, as they will enter the information into the University's Axess (PeopleSoft) and Departmental database systems. Passing the qualifying exam certifies that the student is ready to begin dissertation work in the chosen area. If a student wishes to do dissertation work in an area other than their qualifying exam area, the student's advisor and/or the faculty in the new area will determine whether an additional exam is required.

Information about the Qualifying Examination

The student's advisor needs to email [email protected] (and cc faculty who were on the Quals committee) the qual results.

• The candidate student must form a committee of 3 faculty members.  A committee needs to have (at least) 2 core AI faculty on it.  Upon request, we can consider having 1 core AI and (at least) 1 AI-affiliated faculty.  In all cases, at least 1 core AI faculty must be present.
• The student is asked to prepare a 30-minute presentation on a research project the student is working on.
• The student supplies to each committee member a short report summarizing the student’s research project and a list of references that is related to such a project. Report and list of references are due to the committee members 3 days before the exam.
• During the first half hour the student presents the research project.
• The second half hour comprises a 30min QA session related to the research project by the committee. During such sessions committee members can (but are not necessarily committed to) ask questions related to any of the papers in the list of references. This gives the opportunity to committee members to assess general mastery of the area the student is working on.
• Statistical Machine Learning (Percy Liang)
• Natural Language Processing (Dan Jurafsky)
• The candidate’s advisor/s should be a member/s.
• At least one member must be a Stanford CS faculty.
• Two members must be working in Computational Biology.
• One member will be non-computational from an affected field of biomedicine.
• At least two members must be doing work directly relevant to the candidate’s work.
• 30 minutes presentation on their research.
• 30 minutes presentation on 3 papers which are jointly picked by the quals committee and the student, relating to the student’s current and future research directions.
• After the exam has been taken, the candidate will email the CS PhD Student Services Admin, cc’ing all members of their quals committee, with the exam’s outcome.
• HCI (Michael Bernstein)
• InfoQual (Jure Leskovec)
• The physiqual will now consist of exams with faculty in 5 areas:  vision, geometry, math, graphics and robotics .
• The second part of the physiqual (which consists of a talk on a few selected papers) will no longer be part of the physiqual, given that there is requisites for the thesis proposal .
• For students who have already taken the second oral portion of the physiqual, we  suggest that their advisors exempt them through the thesis proposal requirement. As the current language of the thesis proposal requirement would seem to allow this.
• Form a panel of 3 professors (CS systems faculty). Select 3-4 papers, in consultation with the panel, in an area not identical to your thesis work for you to read, review and synthesize over a period of 3 weeks. Depending on the panel's advice, you may need to execute a small implementation project. For example, a project might answer a related research question, reproduce or compare results in a novel setting, or quantitatively investigate the implications of certain design decisions.
• The exam has a written and an oral component. Three weeks after selecting the papers, turn in a 5-10 page report (not counting references) as well as pointers to any software or hardware artifacts created as part of the project (if any). Approximately one week after submitting the report, make an oral presentation to the panel, followed by questions.
• Analysis of Algorithms
• Form a panel of three professors, select 3-4 papers in an area related (but usually not identical) to your thesis work for you to read, review and synthesize over a period of a month (30 days). Write a report on your review/synthesis, give it to the committee, and also make an oral presentation to the committee, followed by questions.
• The candidate student must form a committee of 2-3 faculty members, where at least one is a Visual Computing faculty member.
• The student and the committee agree on a list of at least 5 papers in the student’s research area of interest.
• During the first half hour, the student presents a lecture on the topics in the said papers and any relevant background.
• The second half hour comprises a 30min Q&A session where committee members can ask questions related to the lecture and any of the said papers. This gives the committee an opportunity to assess the general mastery of the research area the student is working on.

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Ph.D. in Computer and Information Science

About the program.

University of Michigan-Dearborn’s College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) is a leader in providing quality graduate programs in an environment integrated with research, engineering practice and continuing professional education. The Ph.D. program addresses the growing need for meaningful research in computer and information science as well as computational professionals with advanced knowledge and technical skills. 

This Ph.D. program of the Rackham Graduate School of the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor is located, administered, and offered by UM-Dearborn. The program observes the standards for admissions, registration, degree requirements, awarding of degrees, and other administrative policies and regulations established by the Executive Board of the Rackham Graduate School. 

Program Overview

The Ph.D. in CIS is a full-time, research-based degree designed to address the growing needs of society for scientific and engineering professionals with advanced knowledge, technical skills and abilities to conduct original and high-quality translational research in Computer and Information Science.

Students are admitted for full-time study and all admission offers are for the Fall and Winter terms only. 

Program Description

The Ph.D. in Computer and Information Science is a research-oriented degree for students interested in a research and development career, which will target industries and organizations, especially those in the local area. The program offers concentrations in data management, data science, systems and security, and software engineering. These concentration areas align with the research strengths of our faculty.

The Ph.D. CIS program will follow the guidelines of the Rackham Graduate School and consists of at least 36 credits of coursework beyond the bachelor’s degree and at least 24 dissertation credits.

There are three types of students who will be admitted to the Ph.D. CIS program:

• Complete at least 36 credit hours of coursework, including 30 credit hours toward the completion of the MS degree, and at least 24 dissertation credits, and can earn an M.S. CIS, M.S. DS, M.S. SWE, M.S. CIA or M.S. AI along the way to their Ph.D. CIS.
• Complete at least 6 credits of coursework and at least 24 dissertation credits.
• Complete at least 18 credits of coursework and at least 24 credits of thesis research.

Students with insufficient background in computer and information science who are accepted into the program will be assigned remedial courses to complete.

Each student is guided by a research advisor and a dissertation committee and has to pass the following major milestones:

• Identifying the faculty advisor and research topic
• Completion of required coursework
• Curriculum exam
• Research proficiency exam
• Advancement to candidacy
• Forming the dissertation committee
• Passing the dissertation proposal examination
• Completion of required research credit hours
• Preparation of a written dissertation and its oral defense

The target typical time of degree completion is five (5) years.

Program Goals

Learning Goal 1: Students will have the necessary analytical skills that enable them to develop creative solutions for complex computer and information science problems.

Learning Goal 2: Students will have the ability to conduct high-quality original basic and translational research in areas of computer and information science.

Learning Goal 3: Students will be well prepared for the varied responsibilities and opportunities of research careers in areas of computer and information science.

Admission Requirements

Admission to the Ph.D. degree is offered to exceptional students who have completed, with distinction, a Bachelor’s or a master’s degree in computer and information science or a closely related field. Working engineers can be accepted with a master’s degree. All students are required to submit an application to be considered for the admission into the program.

• DEGREE REQUIREMENT: A bachelor’s or master's degree in engineering, applied mathematics, computer science, or physical science, from an accredited program.
• ELIGIBILITY: To be eligible for the program students are required to have completed three semesters or 12 credit hours of calculus and a course in linear algebra.
• COURSE PREREQUISITES/DEFICIENCIES: One course in data structures, one course in computer organization, one course in operating systems, and one course in calculus-based probability and statistics.
• GPA REQUIREMENT: A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher on a 4-point scale for the B.S. degree and 3.5 or higher on a 4-point scale for the master’s degree.
• GRE SCORE: GRE general test scores are no longer included in the admissions process for Rackham’s doctoral programs as of the 2022–2023 admissions cycle.
• ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: For non-native English speakers, recent scores of an advanced English proficiency exam, such as a TOEFL or IELTS. Required minimum overall scores are 84 for Internet-Based TOEFL, 6.5 for IELTS.
• LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION: Three letters of recommendation, at least one of which must come from former faculty.

The application must also include an academic statement of purpose indicating the intended field or fields of research, and a personal statement that describes the background and life experiences, including cultural, geographical, financial, educational or other opportunities or challenges that motivate the decision to pursue a Ph.D. degree at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

Funding Support

We understand the financial commitment of continuing your education.  Our Ph.D. program adheres to the CECS full-funding model for Ph.D. students. All Ph.D. students receive full-funding in the form of an appointment as a Graduate Student Instructor (GSI), Research Assistant (GSRA), or a combination of both which covers: a monthly stipend, health insurance, and tuition waiver.

Students admitted to the program are fully funded for up to five years. Funding is guaranteed based on continued good academic standing and adequate progress towards the Ph.D. degree.

Program Policies

In addition to the Rackham Graduate School policies for doctoral students, as a doctoral student in CIS, you need to know the requirements, timeline, and processes for Pre-candidacy years 1 and 2, the Qualifying Exam at the end of year 2, Proposal Exam, and eventually your Dissertation Defense. See the Path to Degree section below.

Also, an Annual Progress Report completed by you and your faculty advisor must be submitted for review to the CIS Ph.D. Committee in May of each year. 

The CIS Ph.D. Committee and your Faculty Advisor are the main resources for information and guidance throughout your program. The CIS Committee is chaired by Dr. Jinhua Guo and includes Drs. Anys Bacha, and Zheng Song . 

Registration and Enrollment Requirements

Registration policy.

Students must register before the first day of classes.   A student who registers  on or after the first day of classes  (not including course adds, drops, or changes to initial registration)  will be charged a late registration fee. 

Ph.D. Continuous Enrollment Requirement

Students in Ph.D. programs must register for each fall and winter term until final completion of degree requirements unless they have received an authorized leave of absence or have been approved for extramural study. 

Required Registration to Complete Milestones

• A student who takes candidacy or preliminary exams in a spring or summer half term must register in that half term.
• A student who defends the dissertation and/or finalizes degree requirements in a spring or summer half term must register for the full spring/summer term and submit the final dissertation and all materials by the published deadline to avoid registering for another term.
• Pre-candidates preparing for qualifying exams may be enrolled in 980, “Dissertation/pre-candidate,” for the number of credit hours that reflect their effort and as required by outside agencies such as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 

Candidacy Registration and Enrollment Requirement

• Ph.D. candidates will be registered for 990, “Dissertation/candidate,” which consists of 6 credit hours for a full term.
• Ph.D. candidates register in the fall and winter terms for six credit hours of 990/Dissertation Candidate.  Part-time enrollment is not permitted.
• A student who defends in either the spring or summer half term must register for 6 credit hours of 990 for the spring/summer full term, or for both 3 credits in the spring half-term and 3 credits in the summer half-term.
• A candidate who registers for a course (other than the 990) must seek prior approval from the faculty advisor and also register for 990.
• When a candidate registers for a course during the fall, winter, or spring and summer half-terms but does not register for 990, the Registrar’s Office will add the 990 to the term and assess any required tuition.

Path to Degree

Please refer to the  Path to Degree  page for the procedures and forms for the following:

• date/deadlines
• milestone exams
• dissertation committee
• dissertation proposal
• dissertation
• final oral defense

Ph.D. Student Handbook

Our ph.d. students.

The Ph.D. CIS program offers concentrations in data management, data science, systems and security, and software engineering. Each student must select one of the four research concentration areas. Each student develops a personalized Plan of Study at the beginning of the program. Each year the Plan of Study and student's progress is reviewed with the faculty advisor. 

Plan of Study

Satisfactory progress requirements.

Only letter-graded courses at the 500+ level count toward the degree. Courses completed with a grade lower than B+ or a "U" grade are not accepted. The only exception is the Cognate course which requires a minimum B grade and the Depth area courses which requires a minimum A- grade. 

To advance to candidacy, the cumulative coursework GPA (Grade Point Average) must be 3.5 or above on the 4.0-scale.

Coursework Requirement

Breadth requirement.

The breadth requirement is satisfied by taking three courses (9 credit hours), one from each of three of the four concentration areas below. All Ph.D. breadth courses must be completed with a grade of B+ or better within 3 full terms (1.5 years) for a student with a relevant master's degree or 4 full terms (2 years) for all other students. A student who does not complete coursework within the required deadline can be placed on academic probation unless the student petitions the Ph.D. CIS committee to request additional time because of extenuating circumstances. Students placed on academic probation are given a new deadline by the Ph.D. CIS committee to complete the coursework.

Depth Requirement

The depth requirement is satisfied by taking four courses (12 credit hours). At least one and at most two of these courses can be CIS 791—Advanced Guided Study for Doctoral Students (Directed Study course below). The remainder of these courses must be in the same concentration area, below, and must be different from the courses taken for the breadth requirement. Each of these Ph.D. depth courses must be completed with a grade of A- or better and may not be completed via equivalency. At least one of these courses must be 600-level.

Mathematics Requirement

The student must take CIS 505 (Algorithm Design and Analysis) and at least one other advanced mathematics course. CIS 505 must be taken within the first two semesters after enrollment in the Ph.D. CIS program. These latter mathematics courses can be used to meet the cognate course requirement.  The other required mathematics course must be selected from the list provided below.

Cognate Requirement

At least 4 credit hours of coursework must be outside the computer and information science area.  See the Cognate section below for ways to satisfy this requirement. A list of cognate course is provided in the approved program courses section. (See policy below)

Directed Study Research Requirement

A commitment from an approved CIS faculty member to act as one’s research advisor is a requirement of the qualification stage. All students who aspire to receive a Ph.D. must demonstrate a potential for conducting original research. This is accomplished by completing either 3 or 6 credit hours of a research-oriented directed study (CIS 791—Advanced Guided Study for Doctoral Students) prior to the Research Proficiency Exam. These must be taken while in residence on the UM-Dearborn campus.

Ph.D. students must complete 3 credits of CIS 791 within their first two semesters (Fall and Winter Semesters) of the Ph.D. CIS program.

Required Research Methodology and Seminar Courses

• Ph.D. Research Seminar (CIS 798): This seminar will be offered in the fall and winter semesters. Continuous attendance will be required of all of the program’s students, including those at the pre-candidacy level. Every Ph.D. student is required to attend and actively participate in seminars each semester until graduation. In addition, each Ph.D. student is required to present a one-hour seminar about his/her research on a pre-assigned research topic, as well as lead a follow-up discussion on the future trends in his/her field. This seminar course will have no credit hours. Passing the course will be based on participation and attendance (at least 3 seminars per semester).
• Students also complete the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) and Scholarship Training workshops.
• Students appointed as graduate student instructors (GSIs) are required to attend the approved GSI Teaching Orientation.
• This course carries no credit. It is required for all doctoral students in the first year of enrollment and prior to taking the qualifying exam. Passing is based on participation and attendance and passing the RCR exam.

Approved Program Courses

Advanced math courses.

• CIS 505: Algorithm Design and Analysis ( required )
• MATH 504: Dynamical Systems
• MATH 5055: Integral Equations
• MATH 512: First Course in Modern Algebra
• MATH 514: Finite Difference Methods for Differential Equations
• MATH 515: Approximation of Functions
• MATH 516: Finite Element Methods for Differential Equations
• MATH 520: Stochastic Processes
• MATH 523: Linear Algebra with Applications
• MATH 525: Mathematical Statistics II
• MATH 551: Advanced Calculus I
• MATH 552: Advanced Calculus II
• MATH 554: Fourier Series and Boundary Value Problems
• MATH 555: Functions of a Complex Variable with Applications
• MATH 558: Introduction to Wavelets
• MATH 562: Mathematical Modeling
• MATH 583: Discrete Optimization
• MATH 584: Applied and Algorithmic Graph Theory
• MATH 592: Introduction to Topology
• STAT 530: Applied Regression Analysis
• STAT 535: Data Analysis and Modeling
• STAT 545: Reliability and Survival Analysis
• STAT 560: Time Series
• STAT 590: Topics in Applied Statistics

Four Concentration Areas Courses

AREA 1. DATA MANAGEMENT

• CIS 534: The Semantic Web
• CIS 536: Text Mining and Information Retrieval
• CIS 556: Database Systems
• CIS 5570: Introduction to Big Data
• CIS 562: Web Information Management
• CIS 569: Wireless Sensor Networks
• CIS 586: Advanced Data Management
• CIS 658: Research Advances in Data Management

AREA 2. DATA SCIENCE

• CIS 511: Natural Language Processing
• CIS 555: Decision Support and Expert Systems
• CIS 559: Principles of Network Science
• CIS 568: Data Mining
• CIS 5700: Advanced Data Mining
• CIS 579: Artificial Intelligence
• CIS 581: Computational Learning*
• CIS 582: Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence
• CIS 583: Deep Learning
• CIS 585: Advanced Artificial Intelligence
• CIS 679: Research Advances in Computational Game Theory and Economics
• CIS 685: Research Advances in Artificial Intelligence

AREA 3. SYSTEMS AND SECURITY

• CIS 527: Computer Networks
• CIS 535: Wireless Technologies and Pervasive Computing
• CIS 537: Advanced Networking and Distributed Systems
• CIS 540: Foundation of Information Security
• CIS 544: Computer and Network Security
• CIS 545: Data Security and Privacy
• CIS 546: Security and Privacy in Wireless Networks
• CIS 548: Security and Privacy in Cloud Computing
• CIS 549: Software Security  
• CIS 552: Information Visualization and Virtualization
• CIS 563: Modeling of Computer-Based Systems
• CIS 571: Web Services
• CIS 574: Compiler Design
• CIS 578: Advanced Operating Systems
• CIS 584: Advanced Computer and Network Security
• CIS 589: Edge Computing
• CIS 624: Research Advances in Computer and Network Security
• CIS 647: Research Advances in Networking and Distributed Systems

AREA 4. SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

• CIS 553: Software Engineering
• CIS 565: Software Quality Assurance
• CIS 566: Software Architecture and Design Patterns
• CIS 575: Software Engineering Management
• CIS 577: Software User Interface Design
• CIS 580: Data Analytics in Software Engineering
• CIS 587: Computer Game Design and Implementation I
• CIS 588: Computer Game Design and Implementation II
• CIS 678: Research Advances in Software Engineering

Cognate Courses

Required Cognate Courses • 4 credit hours of coursework, outside the computer and information science department.

Electrical and Computer Engineering

• ECE 528: Cloud Computing (3 credits) • ECE 531: Intelligent Vehicle Systems (3 credits) • ECE 533: Active Auto Safety Systems (3 credits) • ECE 537: Data Mining (3 credits) • ECE 542: Introduction to Robotic systems (3 credits) • ECE 552: Fuzzy systems (3 credits) • ECE 575: Computer Architecture (3 credits) • ECE 5781: Real-Time Operating Systems (3 credits) • ECE 579: Intelligent Systems (3 credits) • ECE 5752: Reconfigurable Computing (3 credits) • ECE 5792: Unsupervised Machine Learning (3 credits) • ECE 5831: Pattern Recognition and Neural Networks (3 credits) • ECE 644: Advanced Robotics (3 credits) • ECE 679: Advanced Intelligent Systems (3 credits)

Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering

• IMSE 514: Multivariate Statistics (3 credits) • IMSE 5205: Engineering Risk-Benefit Analysis (3 credits) • IMSE 5215: Program Budget, Cost Estimation & Control (3 credits) • IMSE 548: Human Factor (3 credits) • IMSE 559: System Simulation (3 credits) • IMSE 519: Quantitative Methods in Quality Engineering (3 credits) • IMSE 561: Total Quality Management (3 credits) • IMSE 567: Reliability Analysis (3 credits) • IMSE 605: Advanced Optimization (3 credits) • IMSE 606: Advanced Stochastic Processes (3 credits)

Mathematics and Statistics

• MATH 504: Dynamical Systems (3 credits) • MATH 5055: Integral Equations (3 credits) • MATH 512: First Course in Modern Algebra (3 credits) • MATH 514: Finite Difference Methods for Differential Equations (3 credits) • MATH 515: Approximation of Functions (3 credits) • MATH 516: Finite Element Methods for Differential Equations (3 credits)                                                      • MATH 520: Stochastic Processes (3 credits) • MATH 523: Linear Algebra with Applications (3 credits) • MATH 525: Mathematical Statistics II (3 credits) • MATH 551: Advanced Calculus I (3 credits) • MATH 552: Advanced Calculus II (3 credits) • MATH 554: Fourier Series and Boundary Value Problems (3 credits) • MATH 555: Functions of a Complex Variable with Applications (3 credits) • MATH 558: Introduction to Wavelets (3 credits) • MATH 562: Mathematical Modeling (3 credits) • MATH 583: Discrete Optimization (3 credits) • MATH 584: Applied and Algorithmic Graph Theory (3 credits) • MATH 592: Introduction to Topology (3 credits) • STAT 530: Applied Regression Analysis (3 credits) • STAT 535: Data Analysis and Modeling (3 credits) • STAT 545: Reliability and Survival Analysis (3 credits) • STAT 560: Time Series (3 credits) • STAT 590: Topics in Applied Statistics (3 credits) Mechanical Engineering • ME 552: Sustainable Energy Systems (3 credits) • ME 560: Experimental Methods in Design (3 credits) • ME 565: Mechatronics (3 credits) • ME 567: Reliability Considerations in Design (3 credits) • ME 580: Advanced Engineering Materials (3 credits) • ME 584: Mechanical Behavior of Polymer (3 credits) Psychology • PSYC 530: Psychology in the Workplace (3 credits) • PSYC 548: Psychological Assessment I (4 credits) • PSYC 561: Learning and Memory (3 credits) • PSYC 563: Sensation and Perception (3 credits) • PSYC 565: Individual and Group Tech in Clinical Health Psychology (3 credits)

Cognate Requirement Policy

At least 4 credit hours of coursework must be outside the computer and information science area. The second mathematics class (see above) can be used to satisfy all or part of this requirement. Other ways of satisfying this requirement are,

• Completion of at least 4 hours of approved cognate credits, which must be from outside the CIS department. The minimum acceptable grade for a cognate course is a B. The list of approved cognate courses can be found below.
• Completion of a University of Michigan master’s degree, which includes a cognate component. This coursework must have been completed no more than 5 years before admission to the Ph.D. CIS program.
• Completion of a relevant master’s degree from another university that had coursework that meets the expectation of the program cognate requirement, without transferring the credit to the transcript. This coursework must have been completed no more than 5 years before admission to the Ph.D. CIS program. These courses do not apply toward the minimum 18 (or 36) credit hours in residence at UM-Dearborn required for the degree and do not appear on the university transcript.

Exams, Milestones and Timeline

Students are required to achieve candidacy within 2 years and pass the dissertation proposal examination within 3 years of enrollment in the program. students are expected to complete the degree within 5 years of enrollment in the program. the total time for completing the degree is limited to seven years after enrolling in the program. extensions of the time limits in justified cases are to be handled in accordance with the rackham guidelines., pre-candidacy:.

• Breadth courses
• Depth courses
• Advanced Math courses
• Directed Study Research course
• Required Seminar courses
• Completion of a 4-credit cognate course with a minimum B grade.

Qualification Exams : 

Requires completion of the Curriculum Exam and the Research Proficiency Exam. Both Ph.D. qualification exams must be completed within 3 full terms (1.5 years) for a student with a relevant master's degree or 4 full terms (2 years) for other students. A Ph.D. student must have:

• Completed related coursework 
• A 3.5/4.0 GPA overall,
• A 3.5/4.0 GPA for all CIS courses and
• A working relationship with a CIS faculty member as a research advisor to sign up for these exams

The two qualification exams should be taken in sequence: the Curriculum Exam is completed first. Students should take the Research Proficiency Exam at most one semester after passing the curriculum exam.

Candidacy:  Achieving candidacy for the Ph.D. CIS requires:

• Completing the required coursework
• Successful qualification as defined above
• Completing the RCR training workshops provided by the UM-Dearborn campus
• Dissertation Chair or Co-Chairs
• Submitting the candidacy application form

Once candidacy is achieved, a student has to register for at least six (6) credit hours of CIS 990 (Doctoral Dissertation Research) in each fall and winter semester.

Dissertation Proposal Examination : The dissertation proposal examination requires:

• Achieving candidacy
• Identifying a research advisor and agree on an appropriate topic
• Approved Dissertation Committee
• Submitting and defending a proposal for the doctoral research content

The examination must be completed within a year of passing the qualifying examination.

Dissertation and Defense:  The Dissertation and Oral Defense requires:

• Completing the required dissertation research credit hours
• Conducting an original research
• Preparation and submission of a written dissertation
• A Pre-defense meeting
• An Oral Defense of an approved written dissertation

The dissertation defense may not be scheduled in the same academic term as the dissertation proposal examination.

Students are expected to complete the degree within two years of passing the dissertation proposal exam and within five years of achieving candidacy, but no more than seven years from the date of the first enrollment in the Ph.D. CIS program.

Qualifying Exam

Curriculum exam:.

The goal of this examination is to ensure that students have a good understanding of the fundamentals of computer and information science. The examination will include the following steps:

• The student selects three (3) CIS graduate courses during the first semester of the program. One course should be in the area of the student’s research. The two other courses should be in separate areas.
• These three (3) courses should be approved by the Ph.D. CIS program committee to ensure that the student has proper fundamental knowledge in CIS for his/her study in the program.
• For each of the three courses, if the student receives at least an A- in this course, the written exam is waived. However, if the student receives a grade lower than A- in this course, a 1-hour-long written exam on the course material, together with the underlying undergraduate material, is taken by the student.
• For students who do not pass this exam in the first time, an additional oral exam is conducted.

Research Proficiency Exam:

The student’s ability to conduct independent research is evaluated through a written report of a project done in CIS 791, followed by a 90-minute oral exam by three faculty members. The student’s research advisor cannot be among the three faculty. The Ph.D. CIS committee selects the three faculty members based on the student’s research area. The student should prepare a 45-minute presentation, followed by up to 45 minutes of questions. Examiners will be given the written report on the Directed Study at least one week before the examination, and each examiner will submit a written report on the examination. The student must submit four copies of the written report to the Ph.D. CIS program committee director at least one week before the research proficiency exam.

Forming the Dissertation Committee

Dissertation committee.

The composition of a dissertation committee adheres to the Rackham guidelines (see the Rackham dissertation handbook).

• The dissertation committee will consist of four members, including at least three tenure-track members (appointment as Professor, Associate Professor, or Assistant Professor) of the instructional faculty affiliated with a Rackham doctoral program.
• The student’s dissertation advisor, who must be a member of the graduate faculty of the department, will serve as chair or co-chair.
• Of the additional members, two must hold at least 50% appointment as tenured or tenure-track faculty of the Department of Computer and Information Science, with at least one being a member of the CIS graduate faculty.
• The third committee member (cognate member) must be from outside the department: a faculty member with at least 50% appointment from a Rackham Doctoral program other than Ph.D. in CIS.
• The composition of the dissertation committee must be approved by the Ph.D. program committee and requires Rackham approval. 
• tenure or tenure-track members of the University’s instructional faculty who are not affiliated with a Rackham doctoral program;
• research faculty;
• instructors and lecturers;
• similarly qualified University faculty or staff, or person from outside the University; and
• former University faculty members who have moved to a faculty position at another university.

In the cases when it is justified by the nature of the student’s research and by approval of the program committee, the dissertation work can be co-supervised by two co-chairs. Both co-chairs must hold at least 50 percent appointments as tenured or tenure-track faculty. One of them must be a member of the graduate faculty of the CIS department. The other can be from the CIS department or a department other than CIS.

Dissertation Proposal and Dissertation Research

Please refer to the path to degree for the procedures and forms for the dissertation committee, dissertation proposal, dissertation, and final oral defense. , dissertation proposal examination.

The main objective of the dissertation proposal examination is to ensure sufficient strength and feasibility of the proposed research topic, as well as the suitability of the student’s background and skills regarding the topic.

The examination consists of a written dissertation proposal and its open-to-the-public presentation by the student. The examination is conducted by the dissertation committee. As a rule, the dissertation committee continues overseeing the student’s work to the stage of the final dissertation defense.

Dissertation Research

After passing the dissertation proposal examination, the student may proceed with the dissertation research and the writing of the dissertation. The dissertation should document the original contributions made by the candidate as a result of independent research. This research work should be of archival quality. In advance of graduation, all members of the student's dissertation committee must approve the dissertation. To obtain this approval, a student must submit a written copy of the dissertation to the dissertation committee and defend the research work at a final oral examination open to other faculty, students, and the interested public. Students must be registered for CIS 990 the full spring/summer term if defending the dissertation after May during the spring/summer term.

The dissertation must strictly follow the Rackham Graduate School Dissertation guidelines as described in the Dissertation Handbook Guidelines for copyrighting, publishing and distributing, dissertation embargo and distribution limitations.

Students are expected to complete the degree within two years of passing the dissertation proposal exam, but no more than seven years from the date of the first enrollment in the Ph.D. CIS program. The Ph.D. CIS committee conducts annual reviews to evaluate progress toward degree completion. Students defending the dissertation must be registered in the 990 Dissertation Research course.

Dissertation Research Requirement

• Students who have completed the coursework requirements but have not reached the candidacy status should register for CIS 980 (Pre-Candidacy Dissertation Research). A maximum of 12 credits may be completed in CIS 980 Pre-Candidacy course. 
• Students who have  achieved candidacy  should register for six (6) credits in CIS 990  (Doctoral Dissertation Research).

Note that the actual completion of the dissertation project is likely to take several years at full-time enrollment thus, requiring more than the minimum number of credit hours.

Final Oral Defense

Upon completion of the dissertation work, the student initiates the last step toward the degree—the dissertation defense process. The process follows the official guidelines and consists of the following main stages:

• Preparation of a written dissertation formatted in accordance with the guidelines,
• Pre-Defense meetings with the members of the program committee,
• Written evaluations of the dissertation by the dissertation committee members presented to the Ph.D. program committee,
• Public seminar and open question session held by the student
• Private deliberations by the committee,
• Final oral examination report and certificate of approval prepared by the dissertation committee and submitted to the Ph.D. program committee.
• Post-Defense meeting with the CECS Graduate Education Office

Publication Requirement

The Ph.D. CIS program is designed to give a student a comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of the computer and information science field, as well as training in research methods. Therefore, based on the student’s dissertation research, the student is required to have published at least 1 paper in a top-quality, peer-reviewed, professional conference or journal in the field, prior to scheduling the final oral examination. The department will provide a list of acceptable top-quality conferences and journals in all CIS research areas.

Program Contacts

Kimberly LaPere

Related resources.

• Current Students
• Graduate Catalog
• CECS Graduate Education Office

Computer and Information Science

Office hours.

Study Postgraduate

Phd in computer science (2023 entry).

Course code

2 October 2023

3-4 years full-time; Up to 7 years part-time

Qualification

Computer Science

University of Warwick

Find out more about our PhD in Computer Science.

The PhD in Computer Science offers exciting opportunities to do cutting-edge research in an internationally renowned environment. The results of the 2021 REF rank Warwick Computer Science 4th out of 90 UK Computer Science departments. This cements our position as one of the top Computer Science departments in the UK, a position we have held for some time under different assessment methodologies.

Course overview

The PhD program is suitable for skilled and highly-motivated students to do research at the frontiers of Computer Science in a broad range of theoretical and applied topics. The program is meant to train students for high-profile jobs in both Academia and Industry.  

Find a supervisor

General entry requirements, minimum requirements.

2:i  undergraduate degree (or equivalent) and preferably an MSc in a related subject.

English language requirements

You can find out more about our English language requirements Link opens in a new window . This course requires the following:

English language requirements  Band A   IELTS overall score of 6.5, minimum component scores not below 6.0.

International Students  

We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.

For more information please visit the  international entry requirements page .  

International qualifications

For more information, please visit the international entry requirements page Link opens in a new window .

Additional requirements

There are no additional entry requirements for this course.

Our research

Research themes.

The current research themes include:

• Artificial Intelligence and Human-Centred Computing
• Applied Computing
• Data Science, Systems and Security
• Theory and Foundations

Full details on our current research is available on the Computer Science website. Link opens in a new window

Before you make a formal application, your proposal is emailed to a potential supervisor for their consideration. You may not be considered for a research degree if you do not have (and we could not identify) an academic willing to supervise your research.

Explore the research interests of our academic staff. Link opens in a new window

You can also see our general University guidance about finding a supervisor. Link opens in a new window

Tuition fees

Tuition fees are payable for each year of your course at the start of the academic year, or at the start of your course, if later. Academic fees cover the cost of tuition, examinations and registration and some student amenities.

Taught course fees   Research course fees

Fee Status Guidance

The University carries out an initial fee status assessment based on information provided in the application and according to the guidance published by UKCISA. Students are classified as either Home or Overseas Fee status and this can determine the tuition fee and eligibility of certain scholarships and financial support.

If you receive an offer, your fee status will be stated with the tuition fee information, however we are awaiting guidance from the UK government regarding fee status for EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals and their family members living in the UK for academic year 2021/22 onwards. We are not able to confirm the fee status for these students until the relevant eligibility criteria have been confirmed. Once we have received further information from the UK government, we will provide you with an update on your fee status and let you know if any additional information is required. If you believe your fee status has been incorrectly classified you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire (follow the instructions in your offer) and provide the required documentation for this to be reassessed.

The UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) provides guidance to UK universities on fees status criteria, you can find the latest guidance on the impact of Brexit on fees and student support on the UKCISA website .

Additional course costs

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Computer Science at Warwick

What are computers capable of? How do we use them to solve major world problems? What are their limitations?

Computer Science at Warwick offers you a community of excellence across the breadth of computer science. Join like-minded thinkers and friends who relish the challenges of shaping future technology.

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Our Postgraduate Taught courses

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Ph.D Computer Science

Updated on - Jul 13, 2023

PhD in Computer Science is a 3-5 year doctorate course that aims to guide students to conduct advanced research and bring new approaches related to programming languages, computer systems, and algorithms. The course focuses on imparting knowledge regarding literature review, research methods, data analysis technics, etc., required to conduct research in the area.

Table of Contents

About phd in computer science course, phd in computer science eligibility criteria, phd in computer science admission 2023, popular entrance exams for phd in computer science, phd in computer science fees details, types of phd in computer science courses, top phd in computer science colleges in india, phd computer science syllabus and subjects, integrated phd in computer science course details, ph.d. computer science course comparison, courses after phd in computer science, career options after doctor of philosophy in computer science course, phd in computer science salary in india, ph.d. in computer science scholarships, skills to excel as a phd computer science graduate, ph.d computer science course details.

PhD Computer Science full form is a Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science that falls under the umbrella degree of PhD . It is a doctorate-level degree that deals with the study and research in the computer science field including areas like security, database systems, computational theory, etc. The PhD Computer Science duration is three years , which can be maximum extended to 5 years.

PhD Computer Science Admission 2023 requires students to have a minimum of 55% in postgraduate degree and should qualify for the entrance exams such as UGC-NET, RET, DET, etc, as an additional criterion by colleges. PhD Computer Science syllabus covers a range of topics such as computer architecture, data field, and structures, research methodology, literature review, etc.

PhD in Computer Science doctorates has a vast range of career opportunities in the area of research, education, the IT & service industry, government departments, etc. The average salary of a Ph.D. Computer Science graduate is in the range of INR 5-12 LPA.

Why Choose the PhD Computer Science Course?

The demand for Ph.D. Computer Science is high among educational institutions and IT firms in both private and public sectors. Below listed are detailed points regarding why one should PhD in Computer Science course:

• Graduates of the PhD Computer Science degree in India pursue rewarding careers in IT firms, banking, educational institutions, research and development, and many more.
• As per BLS report the demand for professionals having expertise in computer science and research scientist in the field is predicted at a rate of 21% from 2021-31.
• The demand for data scientists is projected to higher demand by 36% between the years 2021-31 , as per the reports by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• As the IT and Business services market is projected at US$ 19.93 billion by 2025, the demand for skilled professionals will be high in demand.
• After completion of the course, students can work in prominent colleges and companies like IITs, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc.
• For students who want to build their career in developing apps for mobile devices, and develop websites the PhD Computer Science course is beneficial.

Who Should Pursue a Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science Course?

Below listed are points regarding who should pursue a PhD Computer Science course:

• Individuals who want to pursue a career in academia, research institutions, or industry can enroll in the course.
• Students who want to excel in topics like computer science theories, methodologies, and algorithms can pursue this course.
• Students having skills like problem-solving, research skills, and analytical skills can pursue PhD Computer Science courses.

Read More: PhD Computer Science Job Opportunities & Scope

The eligibility for PhD in Computer Science course may differ based on the college requirements but certain standard criteria need to be fulfilled by the students as mentioned below:

• The candidate should have passed a Master's degree in a related field with a minimum of 55% marks from a recognized university.
• The OBC/ST/ST candidates are given a relaxation of 5-10% marks as per the college policy.
• There is no upper age limit to enroll in the course.
• The candidate needs to clear the entrance exams such as UGC NET, SET, DET, etc.

PhD Computer Science admission is done on a merit and entrance exam basis . Listed below is the procedure to get admission for the PhD Computer Science course:

• Step 1:  The candidate needs to meet the eligibility criteria for the course as set by colleges.
• Step 2: The student has to fill out the college application form in they wish to apply.
• Step 3: The students need to clear the entrance exam at the national or university level as per the college requirement.
• Step 4: After the student application form is assessed they need to present the research proposal if required by the university.
• Step 5: There are various colleagues that conduct the Personal interview process if the proposed route for selection is not followed.
• Step 6: Finally the candidate if selected needs to pay the fees and complete the document verification process.

For enrollment in the PhD Computer Science course, students must take a national, state, or college-level examination. The following are some of the most popular Ph.D. Computer Science entrance exams:

The average PhD in Computer Science course fees are in the range of INR 5,000-2 LPA. Below listed are some of the best colleges offering PhD Computer Science with the breakdown of their fees:

The course is available to students in full-time and part-time modes in various colleges. Below is the PhD Computer Science courses details:

PhD in Computer Science course is highly regarded and opted by students due to the vast demand for skilled professionals in academics and industry. The students can take admission to the PhD in CSE-related courses in prominent colleges in India through the entrance exams and merit scores.

Top PhD in Computer Science Government Colleges in India

The top government colleges in India offering a PhD Computer Science are shown in the table below:

Top PhD in Computer Science Private Colleges in India

Below is a list of private Ph.D. in Computer Science colleges in India:

Top PhD Computer Science Colleges by City

Top PhD in Computer Science Colleges by State

PhD in Computer Science syllabus focuses on the study of computer security, database systems, compilers, software engineering, and computational theory in addition to topics related to a Doctorate of Philosophy in Computer Science. To know the detailed topics students can download PhD Computer Science syllabus PDF from the respective college's website.

Below listed are a few general PhD in Computer Science subjects:

• Database Systems
• Computer Networks
• Research Design and Methods
• Literature Review
• Advanced Mathematics and Statistics
• Advanced Algorithms for Graph and Combinatorial Optimization Problems
• Machine Learning: Theory and Practice

Read More: PhD in Computer Science Syllabus & Subjects

The integrated PhD in Computer Science and related field is offered by various colleges in India. The courses can be opted right after completion of a bachelor's degree with a duration of 5-6 years in total depending on the course combinations. Below is a list of a few integrated courses:

• M.Tech+ PhD Computer Science and Engineering
• MCA+ Ph.D. Computer Science
• M.Sc+ PhD Computer Science

PhD Computer Science course offers students great career prospects in terms of employment opportunities, development of skill sets, knowledge, etc. There are various other courses giving students similar benefits as mentioned below:

PhD Computer Science vs M.Sc Computer Science

The table below showcases the differences between PhD in Computer Science and M.Sc in Computer Science:

Read More: M.Sc Computer Science

PhD is one of the highest levels of qualification one can pursue, but candidates in order to be relevant in the industry and upgrade their skills sets can enroll in various certification courses as mentioned below:

• Post Doctoral Research
• Advanced Certification Course in Information Systems Security
• Specialization Course in Artificial Intelligence
• Education Development Programs

The career options for PhD Computer Science graduates are vast ranging from professors in universities to Data scientists in research centers. Students who earn a doctorate degree in computer science may pursue the following careers:

• Senior Developer and Architect
• Project Manager
• AI Researcher
• Consultants
• Machine Learning Engineer
• Senior Research Scientists

PhD Computer Science graduates salary ranges between INR 5-12 LPA,  which can be increased as they acquire more skills and experience. The salary varies depending on the industry graduates decide to work such as academic institutions, research centers, the IT industry, etc.

Read More: PhD Computer Science Salary

Students who want to do a Ph.D. can get a number of scholarships in their field from government and private colleges based on their financial background, income, etc. Below is a list of a few scholarships available to students:

• IIT Roorkee Chemistry Department of Post-Doctoral Fellowship
• National Post Doctoral Fellowship 
• MOMA Scholarship 
• Tata Innovation Fellowship
• Post Matric Scholarship for Scheme for Minorities
• Swami Vivekananda Scholarship
• Aikyashree Scholarship 
• Maulana Azad Scholarship 
• DCE Scholarship
• National Overseas Scholarship for Scheduled Tribe Students
• WBMDFC Scholarship

Read More: PhD Scholarships

Graduates of the Doctorate of Philosophy in Computer Science program should excel in fundamental learning and practical skills related to their professions in order to suceed in their careers. Below listed are a few skills required by a Ph.D. Computer Science graduate:

• Networking Skills
• Portfolio Building Skills
• Presentation Skills
• Interview Skills
• Collaboration Skills
• Listening Skills
• Communication Skills
• Data Analysis
• Mathematics
• Programming

What is PhD in Computer Science duration?

PhD in Computer Science is three years, which can be maximum extended to five years.

How to do PhD in Computer Science?

The PhD in Computer Science eligibility in India required the candidate to complete the master's degree with a minimum of 55% marks and pass the national, state, or university-level entrance exam.

What are the job opportunities after Ph.D in Computer Science?

After completion of PhD in CS (Computer Science), graduates can work as Assistant Professor, Software Engineer, Researcher, Data Scientist, etc.

What is the average Ph.D. in Computer Science graduate salary in India?

The average PhD in Computer Science graduate salary is in the range of INR 5-12 LPA.

Can I do PhD Computer Science after MCA?

Yes a PhD in Computer Science can be completed after MCA with a minimum of 55% marks from a recognized university.

Is there any entrance exam for PhD Computer Science?

Yes, a candidate should clear UGC-NET, SET, CSIR NET or any university-level exam such as BHU-RET, LPUNEST, etc.

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