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Computer Science Ph.D. Program

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The Cornell Ph.D. program in computer science is consistently ranked among the top six departments in the country, with world-class research covering all of computer science. Our computer science program is distinguished by the excellence of the faculty, by a long tradition of pioneering research, and by the breadth of its Ph.D. program. Faculty and Ph.D. students are located both in Ithaca and in New York City at the Cornell Tech campus . The Field of Computer Science also includes faculty members from other departments (Electrical Engineering, Information Science, Applied Math, Mathematics, Operations Research and Industrial Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Computational Biology, and Architecture) who can supervise a student's Ph.D. thesis research in computer science.

Over the past years we've increased our strength in areas such as artificial intelligence, computer graphics, systems, security, machine learning, and digital libraries, while maintaining our depth in traditional areas such as theory, programming languages and scientific computing.  You can find out more about our research here . 

The department provides an exceptionally open and friendly atmosphere that encourages the sharing of ideas across all areas. 

Cornell is located in the heart of the Finger Lakes region. This beautiful area provides many opportunities for recreational activities such as sailing, windsurfing, canoeing, kayaking, both downhill and cross-country skiing, ice skating, rock climbing, hiking, camping, and brewery/cider/wine-tasting. In fact, Cornell offers courses in all of these activities.

The Cornell Tech campus in New York City is located on Roosevelt Island.  Cornell Tech  is a graduate school conceived and implemented expressly to integrate the study of technology with business, law, and design. There are now over a half-dozen masters programs on offer as well as doctoral studies.

FAQ with more information about the two campuses .

Ph.D. Program Structure

Each year, about 30-40 new Ph.D. students join the department. During the first two semesters, students become familiar with the faculty members and their areas of research by taking graduate courses, attending research seminars, and participating in research projects. By the end of the first year, each student selects a specific area and forms a committee based on the student's research interests. This “Special Committee” of three or more faculty members will guide the student through to a Ph.D. dissertation. Ph.D. students that decide to work with a faculty member based at Cornell Tech typically move to New York City after a year in Ithaca.

The Field believes that certain areas are so fundamental to Computer Science that all students should be competent in them. Ph.D. candidates are expected to demonstrate competency in four areas of computer science at the high undergraduate level: theory, programming languages, systems, and artificial intelligence.

Each student then focuses on a specific topic of research and begins a preliminary investigation of that topic. The initial results are presented during a comprehensive oral evaluation, which is administered by the members of the student's Special Committee. The objective of this examination, usually taken in the third year, is to evaluate a student's ability to undertake original research at the Ph.D. level.

The final oral examination, a public defense of the dissertation, is taken before the Special Committee.

To encourage students to explore areas other than Computer Science, the department requires that students complete an outside minor. Cornell offers almost 90 fields from which a minor can be chosen. Some students elect to minor in related fields such as Applied Mathematics, Information Science, Electrical Engineering, or Operations Research. Others use this opportunity to pursue interests as diverse as Music, Theater, Psychology, Women's Studies, Philosophy, and Finance.

The computer science Ph.D. program complies with the requirements of the Cornell Graduate School , which include requirements on residency, minimum grades, examinations, and dissertation.

The Department also administers a very small 2-year Master of Science program (with thesis). Students in this program serve as teaching assistants and receive full tuition plus a stipend for their services.

Doctoral Program

The primary focus of the doctoral program is research, with the philosophy that students learn best by doing—beginning as apprentices and becoming junior colleagues working with faculty on scholarly research projects. The faculty in the department conduct research in all areas of computer science. The doctoral degree requires a dissertation based on the candidate’s original research, which is supervised by a faculty member, and all students in the doctioral program are actively engaged in research throughout the program.

The PhD is the Computer Science Department’s primary doctoral program.  PhD students are expected to be full-time on-campus during every fall and spring academic semester from initial enrollment until the dissertation has been distributed to their defense committee, except during leaves of absence approved by the university.  PhD students spend at least half of their time on research under the direction of their faculty adviser from their first day in the program and devote themselves full time to research after coursework and other preliminaries have been completed. PhD students are also expected to participate in departmental and laboratory activities full time throughout the program, except possibly for summer internships elsewhere, and the department does not consider admission of part-time PhD students. The policy on outside activities by PhD students is here .

DEPARTMENTAL INFORMATION FOR DOCTORAL STUDENTS

• Program Requirements
• MS leading to PhD
• Milestones Chart
• Milestones Registration Form: Candidacy, Thesis Proposal, Thesis Defense
• Doctoral Course Import Forms
• Doctoral Algorithms Prerequisite Form
• Data Science Specialization Option  (further details here )

SCHOOL/UNIVERSITY INFORMATION FOR DOCTORAL STUDENTS

• Registration
• SEAS Doctoral Fieldwork (CPT) Policy
• Time-Off Policy for Doctoral Students on Appointment in the Sciences and Related Research Fields

GENERAL DOCTORAL INFORMATION AND ADVICE

• CAREER Club
• Computer Science Open Data
• Computer Science Graduate Job and Interview Guide
• Background in case you ever need to teach online with two days notice
• The Definitive ‘what do I ask/look for’ in a PhD Advisor Guide
• The Thesis Whisperer
• Prem Devanbu’s Review Anti-Patterns
• Computer Science Rankings
• Michael Ernst’s Compilation of Great Advice
• Productivity Tips for PhD Students
• Getting Admitted to a Top PhD Program
• Tips on the Interview Process
• Networking on the network
• Advice on research and writing
• More advice on writing
• Corporate Lab or Academic Department, Which Fits?
• How To Survive A Thesis Defense
• 10 easy ways to fail a PhD
• Dealing with plagiarism
• Academic job site
• Computing Research Association
• IEEE Computer Society

(link suggestions appreciated; send email to [email protected] )

Last updated on July 11, 2024.

Find open faculty positions here .

Computer Science at Columbia University

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In the News

Press mentions, dean boyce's statement on amicus brief filed by president bollinger.

President Bollinger announced that Columbia University along with many other academic institutions (sixteen, including all Ivy League universities) filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York challenging the Executive Order regarding immigrants from seven designated countries and refugees. Among other things, the brief asserts that “safety and security concerns can be addressed in a manner that is consistent with the values America has always stood for, including the free flow of ideas and people across borders and the welcoming of immigrants to our universities.”

This recent action provides a moment for us to collectively reflect on our community within Columbia Engineering and the importance of our commitment to maintaining an open and welcoming community for all students, faculty, researchers and administrative staff. As a School of Engineering and Applied Science, we are fortunate to attract students and faculty from diverse backgrounds, from across the country, and from around the world. It is a great benefit to be able to gather engineers and scientists of so many different perspectives and talents – all with a commitment to learning, a focus on pushing the frontiers of knowledge and discovery, and with a passion for translating our work to impact humanity.

I am proud of our community, and wish to take this opportunity to reinforce our collective commitment to maintaining an open and collegial environment. We are fortunate to have the privilege to learn from one another, and to study, work, and live together in such a dynamic and vibrant place as Columbia.

Mary C. Boyce Dean of Engineering Morris A. and Alma Schapiro Professor

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Computer Science PhD

The Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) offers two graduate programs in Computer Science: the Master of Science (MS), and the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).

Master of Science (MS)

The Master of Science (MS) emphasizes research preparation and experience and, for most students, is a chance to lay the groundwork for pursuing a PhD.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The Berkeley PhD in EECS combines coursework and original research with some of the finest EECS faculty in the US, preparing for careers in academia or industry. Our alumni have gone on to hold amazing positions around the world.

Contact Info

[email protected]

215 Cory Hall

Berkeley, CA 94720

At a Glance

Department(s)

Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences

Admit Term(s)

Application Deadline

December 9, 2024

Degree Type(s)

Doctoral / PhD

Degree Awarded

GRE Requirements

Computer Science

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Computer Science is an area of study within the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Prospective students apply through Harvard Griffin GSAS; in the online application, select “Engineering and Applied Sciences” as your program choice and select "PhD Computer Science" in the Area of Study menu.

In the Computer Science program, you will learn both the fundamentals of computation and computation’s interaction with the world. Your work will involve a wide range of areas including theoretical computer science, artificial intelligence and machine learning, economics and computer science, privacy and security, data-management systems, intelligent interfaces, operating systems, computer graphics, computational linguistics, robotics, networks, architectures, program languages, and visualization.

You will be involved with researchers in several interdisciplinary initiatives across the University, such as the Center for Research on Computation and Society, the Institute for Applied Computational Science, the Data Science Initiative, and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society.

Examples of projects current and past students have worked on include leveraging machine learning to solve real-world sequential decision-making problems and using artificial intelligence to help conservation and anti-poaching efforts around the world.

Graduates of the program have gone on to a range of careers in industry in companies like Riot Games as game directors and lead scientists at Raytheon. Others have positions in academia at University of Pittsburgh, Columbia, and Stony Brook.

Standardized Tests

GRE General:  Not Accepted

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Questions about the program.

Email forwarding for @cs.stanford.edu is changing. Updates and details here .

Academics | PhD Program

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The PhD degree is intended primarily for students who desire a career in research, advanced development, or teaching. A broad Computer Science, Engineering, Science background, intensive study, and research experience in a specialized area are the necessary requisites.

The degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is conferred on candidates who have demonstrated to the satisfaction of our Department in the following areas:

• high attainment in a particular field of knowledge, and
• the ability to do independent investigation and present the results of such research.

They must satisfy the general requirements for advanced degrees, and the program requirements specified by our Department.

Program Requirements

On average, the program is completed in five to six years, depending on the student’s research and progress.

Progress Guidelines

Students should consider the progress guidelines to ensure that they are making reasonable progress.

Monitoring Progress

Annual reviews only apply to PhD students in their second year or later; yearly meetings are held for all PhD students.

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.

Starting in 2024-2025, Computer Science courses that previously had 3-digit course numbers now have 4-digit numbers.  The SEAS 4-year course planner tool shows both previous and current numbers for each course.  In general, where this documentation mentions a "middle digit", it now should be read as refering to the "second digit".

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.  Note that CS 2281r is an exception; it is not a theory course). 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 2281r is an exception and is not 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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PhD Program

In many ways, the PhD program is the cornerstone of Computer Science at Boston University.  Our PhD students serve some of the most central roles of our department, from pursuing sponsored research together with supervising faculty members as Research Assistants, to serving as Teaching Fellows in support of our undergraduate and graduate curriculum.

Pursuing the PhD degree enables you to become an expert in a technical subfield of Computer Science and advance the state of the art by contributing original research in that discipline. Most PhD students also gain practical experience in the classroom, as well as, becoming a visible member of the research community by publishing research and delivering oral presentations at conferences and research seminars.

Upon completing your PhD degree, you will be able to set your own research direction, teach and advise students, and work at the forefront of cutting-edge research in academia or at an industrial laboratory.

Learning Outcomes

• Produce and defend original research in the field of Computer Science.
• Master broad knowledge of Computer Science across algorithms, software, systems, theory of computation, and in one of the areas of artificial intelligence, computer graphics, cryptography & security, and data science .
• Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of a particular subject area within Computer Science.
• Actively participate in the Computer Science research community, for example by attending academic conferences and submitting research results for publication in professional conferences and journals.
• Be able to effectively communicate the results of research.

We invite you to learn more about our program through the links below.

PhD Program Information

• Program Milestones
• Breadth Requirements
• Subject Exams
• Specimen Curriculum

Fellowships & Awards

• Computer Science Fellowship Opportunities
• Research Excellence Award
• Teaching Excellence Award
• Teaching Fellow Expectations

More Information

• PhD in Computer Science – Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (GRS) Bulletin
• Graduate School of the College of Arts and Sciences (GRS) PhD Requirements
• Graduation Calendar
• PhD Profile for Computer Science

Apply Today

To apply to the Ph.D. program, please fill out an online application .

Deadline: December 15 for Fall admission.

With questions about admissions, please contact us at [email protected] .

Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science

Doctoral programs.

In any of the Ph.D. programs across our seven departments, you'll be matched with an advisor based primarily on mutual research interests and begin a research project on day one. All our Ph.D. students receive full financial support while in good academic standing, which helps ensure freedom to explore regardless of funding hurdles. We also believe that it's vital for advisors and students to work as peers, and the inherent flexibility of our programs means students often work with more than one faculty member and many other students during their time in SCS.

Together, our research environment and interdisciplinary mindset produce graduates who emerge into the world ready to tackle its biggest problems.

• Doctoral Programs Home

Interested in Applying?

• Graduate Admissions Overview
• Frequently Asked Questions

Program Contact

Robert Frederking Associate Dean for Doctoral Programs

Explore Our Ph.D. Programs

Ray and stephanie lane computational biology department, computer science department, human-computer interaction institute.

Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interaction

Language Technologies Institute

Ph.D. in Language and Information Technologies

Machine Learning Department

Robotics institute.

Ph.D. in Robotics

Software and Societal Systems Department

Ph.D. in Societal Computing (SC) Ph.D. in Software Engineering (SE)

Dual Degree Ph.D. Programs

The carnegie mellon portugal program (cmu portugal), ph.d. in computer science/dual degree portugal, ph.d. in human-computer interaction/dual degree portugal, ph.d. in language and information technologies/dual degree portugal, ph.d. in robotics/dual degree portugal, ph.d. in societal computing/dual degree portugal, ph.d. in software engineering/dual degree portugal.

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Doctor of Philosophy - Computer Science

Advisory committee.

The Ph.D. advisory committee is the same as the Master of Science in Computer Science degree except that it must have a minimum of four members, a majority from the department and at least one from another department.  This is a STEM program.

Degree Plan

The degree plan should be completed by the student in consultation with the chair and the advisory committee. Requirements for the Ph.D. in computer science degree include:

• At least 30 credit hours of graded graduate coursework (excluding 681, 684, 685 and 691).
• Three breadth CSCE courses, one selected from each of these sets: Theory (627, 629), Systems (605, 611, 613, 614 and 678) and Software (604, 606, 634, 655, 656, 670, 671, 672 and 713). These must be passed with a grade of B or better. These count toward the requirement of 30 hours of graded graduate coursework.
• At most, six credit hours of approved non-CSCE graded graduate coursework (excluding 681, 684, 685, 691). This counts towards the requirement of 30 hours of graded graduate coursework.
• One to two credit hours of CSCE 681 (Graduate Seminar).
• At least 18 credit hours of CSCE 691 (Research). Normally, the number of CSCE 691 hours will be increased to meet the required total number of credit hours.
• A total of at least 96 credit hours (or at least 64 credit hours if the student has a prior approved and related master’s degree).

Courses That Cannot Be Used on Any Degree Plan:

• In CSCE, we do not allow 601, 602, 603, 701, 705, 706, 707, 708, 709.
• In ECEN, we do not allow 714, 749.
• In STAT, we do not allow 624 and 654.
• In MATH, we do not allow 679.
• In CYBR, we do not allow 601.
• Any course that contains material required of our undergraduate computer science or computer engineering majors.

Other Degree Plan Information:

• Texas A&M undergraduates who have taken 410 cannot use 611 on their degree plan. If the Texas A&M undergraduate receives an A in 410, they satisfy the Systems breadth requirement for the CPSC degrees.
• Texas A&M undergraduates who have taken 431 cannot use 606 on their degree plan. Texas A&M undergraduates who receive an A in 431 satisfy the Software breadth requirement for the CPSC degrees.
• Texas A&M undergraduates who have taken 420 cannot use 625 on their degree plan. This course is not stacked normally but overlaps by about two-thirds (2/3).
• Texas A&M undergraduates who receive an A in 411 satisfy the Theory breadth requirement.
• 401/701 (always)
• 402/702 (always)
• 403/703 (always)
• 410/611 (sometimes)
• 413/713 (always)
• 421/633 (always)
• 433/627 (always)
• 435/735 (sometimes) 
• 440/640 (sometimes)
• 445/656 (always)
• 447/679 (always)
• 451/652 (always)
• 452/752 (always)
• 463/612 (always)
• 465/765 (sometimes)
• 469/614 (always)
• 477/703 (always)
• Texas A&M undergraduates can receive credit for both courses in an undergrad/grad course pair under Fast Track.
• Prerequisites listed for CSE graduate coursework are given to inform students of the knowledge they are expected to have to be successful in the graduate course. While the department does not block registration based on prerequisites for graduate courses, students are still responsible for ensuring they are prepared to meet course prerequisites. If students have concerns regarding preparation for a particular class, they should contact the instructor of the graduate course for more information regarding expectations.

CSCE 684 Hours:

• Any international student who wishes to go on to do curricular practical training must have one credit hour for each semester they are on the internship of CSCE 684 on their degree plan. Any CSCE 684 hours are in addition to the required total credit hours of the degree plan.
• If you are an international student, we recommend you place at least one credit hour of CSCE 684 on your degree plan when you submit it. This way if you receive an internship offer, you will not be rushing to have 684 added to your degree plan.
• Domestic students do not need to register when they are on an internship. However, if they are gone for a year without registering, they must apply for a leave of absence. Otherwise, they will need to reapply for admission.

For additional information and clarification, please see the graduate catalog and the department’s graduate program webpage .

Ph.D. in Computer Science

Please visit the UVA Graduate Record webpage for Ph.D. degree requirements. 

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 .

Doctor of Philosophy Degree

The purpose of the Doctor of Philosophy program in computer science is to prepare students for research and teaching positions in universities and colleges, and for research and leadership positions in industry and government. The primary aim of the program is to train students in the methods of scientific inquiry and independent research.

This is accomplished through advanced coursework and active participation with the faculty in their research programs. Doctor of Philosophy students are expected to have a broad knowledge of all fields of computer science and have a deep understanding of at least one of its areas. In addition to this requirement, a Doctor of Philosophy student must be up to date in all the developments in his/her major area of specialization. The most important component of the Doctor of Philosophy program is learning to perform independent and significant research in one's area of specialization.

Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree typically are completed in four to six years, depending on whether or not a student enters the program with an MS in computer science.

To ensure sufficient breadth at the graduate level, PhD students must complete at least 8 graduate courses offered by the Computer Science department (four by the end of their first year) with a GPA of at least 3.5, and a grade in each course of at least 3.0. The 8 courses must include at least two courses each in two of the three areas (Systems, Applications, Foundations/Theory) and one course in the third area. The remaining three courses can be selected from other graduate courses offered by the department, and in some cases, from other departments as needed to advance research. The Course Classification list is below.

The set of courses that students plan to take must be endorsed by their research advisor and the faculty Graduate Advisor. An approved study plan must be on file as part of completing the PhD degree requirements and advancing to candidacy. Please submit a PhD Study Plan to the Staff Graduate Program Advisor (SGPA) for review, or schedule an appointment with the SGPA to review your PhD Study Plan. 

PhD Study Plan

 For complete details on the PhD program, see the Graduate Student Handbook linked from this page:  https://www.cs.ucsb.edu/ index.php/education/graduate/ resources

With the approval of the Computer Science department's Graduate Advising and Affairs Committee (GAC), a PhD student may petition for exceptions for up to 3 of their 8 required Computer Science 200-level courses. These may be courses taken at another university, or from another department at UCSB. It is strongly preferred that you request exceptions for courses to fulfill electives over area requirements. This is an internal process and does not require approval from the Graduate Division.  

To begin the process, you should write a paragraph explaining why this particular course is essential to your PhD studies. If it is a non-UCSB course, please provide a syllabus and/or course description to a faculty member in the department who teaches a course of similar material. The course need not be an exact equivalent of a course at UCSB but must be found to be comparable to graduate level courses in the department. The course exception must then be approved by 1) the “owner” of the course at UCSB, 2) your faculty advisor, and 3) the GAC. If the course is a UCSB course from another department, you make skip getting approval from the course “owner” but steps 2 and 3 still apply. Once you have the agreement of the course “owner” at UCSB (if applicable) and your faculty advisor, send the corresponding materials and approvals to the Graduate Student Advisor in the CS office, where it will then be sent to the GAC for review. A grade of B or equivalent must have been obtained in the excepted course in order for it to be considered for fulfilling one of your course requirements. Verification of course grade must be submitted to the GAC. Please also make sure you have an up-to-date PhD Study Plan on file, indicating how this course will be used to fulfill your course requirements.

All PhD students must enroll in CS 595N Faculty Research Seminar in the Winter quarter of their first year. In this seminar the Faculty will present their research focus to introduce students to the breadth of research within the department and to help students in identifying potential advisors. In addition to completing CS 595N, a PhD student must complete at least 4 units of CS 596, Directed Reading and Research, in their first year. PhD students are encouraged to get in the habit of registering for a minimum of four (4.0) 596 units every quarter. Once you complete your course requirements, you will register for a minimum of eight (8.0) 596 units every quarter until you graduate. Furthermore, all new graduate students must establish a GPA in their first quarter at UCSB. For CS students, this means completing at least one CS 2xx numbered course in your first quarter with a grade of B or better. 

Graduate Courses & Their Area Classifications (Foundations/Theory, Systems, or Applications).

Graduate Courses

To engage students in research during their first year, 4 units of CS 596 Directed Research is required.

Research is about pushing the limits of our understanding in the field of computer science. This can involve the design and execution of experiments, the proving of new theorems, the solving of open problems, the gathering and analysis of data sets, the invention of novel systems, the creation of new algorithms, the discovery of new applications of computing and/or among many other things. Students must manage their time wisely between research, course work, teaching, and growing their personal networks. It is important to start the process of finding a research adviser early, and to stay engaged with both other students and their PhD committees throughout the process.

After selecting an area of research, a student forms a doctoral committee to supervise dissertation research. The doctoral committee must be chaired by a ladder faculty member from the Department and should include a minimum of 3 UC ladder faculty; 2 (including the chair) must be in Computer Science, although faculty from other UCSB departments may also be members. In special circumstances, non-UCSB faculty may be members.

Teaching Assistant Requirement

All PhD students must work as a Teaching Assistant (TA) for a minimum of one quarter for a Computer Science undergraduate course.

PhD students must successfully complete three examinations:

Major Area Examination (qualifying examination)

Thesis Proposal

Dissertation defense.

Major Area Examination (MAE)

After the doctoral committee approves a student's proposed major area, a major area examination tests the student's knowledge of this area and any necessary supporting areas. The intent of the MAE is to ensure the student has done a thorough examination of related work in their chosen field, to ensure sufficient background preparation to begin meaningful research; and to help the committee ensure the student’s selected research area has enough opportunity for meaningful contribution. The MAE must be completed by the end of the third year of study for the student to remain in good academic standing in the department. As a part of this oral examination, a student submits a set of relevant papers (a "Reading List," submitted in advance of your MAE to all committee members) from the major area and prepares a brief presentation. Passing this examination allows this student to advance to candidacy for the doctoral degree. Note: although a student may complete the MAE talk/exam without first completing all PhD degree course and TA requirements, a student cannot officially "Advance to Candidacy" until all of these requirements are met and a completed, signed PhD Study Plan is on file with the CS Student Affairs office. If this is the case, a student's advancement paperwork will be held and not signed nor submitted to UCSB's Graduate Division until all requirements are completed and verified. The MAE cannot be combined with any other oral examination, including the Proposal.

After passing the major area examination, a student prepares a dissertation proposal that describes the dissertation topic, summarizes the relevant background literature, and presents a comprehensive research plan for the doctoral dissertation. The thesis proposal examination determines the feasibility of the research plan and the appropriateness of the research topic. The outcome of the proposal can be viewed as a contract between the student and the committee – the committee and the student should agree on a set of work that, if completed to the satisfaction of the committee, will result in the awarding of the PhD degree to the student.  The Department strongly recommends that the proposal be completed by the end of the student’s fourth year. Further, the Department strongly recommends that the proposal be completed at a minimum of one year before the student’s dissertation defense.

The final examination is the defense of the candidate's dissertation, which consists of a public seminar and an evaluation by the candidate's doctoral committee on whether the student has successfully defended the dissertation. Students are expected to have completed their dissertation and defended their thesis by the end of year 5 (or soon thereafter). Students should be nearing graduation by the end of 15 quarters, and are expected to completed their PhD degree in a maximum of 18 quarters to remain in good academic standing. For detailed information about filing your dissertation, please pay close attention to the details provided by UCSB's Graduate Division, which you can find here: https://www.graddiv.ucsb.edu/academic-services/filing

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Graduate Program

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For Prospective Graduate Students:

Welcome ! Thank you for your interest in the Computer Science Department at Princeton. This site is designed to give information on our graduate study program and the requirements for the Master of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) . Candidates may apply directly to the Ph.D. program after completion of a bachelor's degree; a master's degree is not required for admission.

Admission to Princeton is for the fall semester only. We do not offer evening, weekend, or summer courses. We do not have a distance learning program. Normally a student admitted for graduate study is expected to have completed a bachelor's or master's degree in engineering, science, or mathematics; a degree in computer science is not required.

The application deadline for Fall 2025 is December 15, 2024  for all applicants. It is important that all materials reach the University by the deadline dates.

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Fall 2023 or Later

These guidelines apply to students who started the PhD program in the Fall 2023 or Later. For earlier guidelines, please see Fall 2015 to Spring 2023 guidelines .

For a breakdown of CS PhD program milestones, please see Ph.D. Milestones for Computer Science students .

1. Introduction

The PhD degree at the USC Computer Science department prepares students for a career in research. The goal of the program is to nurture talented minds via research and formal coursework, to produce future thought leaders in computer science. The program accepts students who have completed a four-year Bachelor's degree in a relevant field; a Master’s degree is not a requirement for entry. Once admitted to the program, a student must complete a set of requirements to graduate with the PhD degree. These requirements are described next.

2. Unit Requirements

A student is required to complete a total of at least 60 units, at least 40 of which must be at the 500 level or above (beyond the bachelor’s degree and including the required courses as listed in the requirements below). A student must maintain a 3.0 GPA to remain in good academic standing.

3. Course Requirement

Mandatory courses: Each student is required to complete CSCI 670 (4 units), and two semesters of CSCI 697 (1 unit each, 2 maximum). In addition, students are required to pass two semesters of CSCI 698 (1-2 units each, no maximum) as part of a teaching requirement. CSCI 698 is coursework related to a teaching requirement and is described in Section 6.

In addition to the mandatory courses, each student must complete five (5) CSCI courses at the 500 level and above, each of 4 units. No more than two (2) of these courses (8 units total) may be at the 500 level; the remaining must be CSCI courses at the 600 level. Directed Research units or thesis credits do not satisfy this requirement.

Students are strongly advised to take at least one of their elective courses in an area of Computer Science that is different from their proposed area of research. The PhD advisor is expected to provide guidance on this matter to the student. The CSCI 670 course requirement may be waived only by taking the midterm and final exams with the ongoing class (no homeworks or quizzes), and achieving satisfactory scores.

CSCI 697 and CSCI 698 may not be waived.

4. Biannual Review

Every Fall and every Spring semesters, the faculty will review each PhD student in the program. This is a rigorous review. Each student must submit a current CV and a list of publications and/or achievements. Each student’s faculty advisor will also submit a written statement assessing the student’s research and progress. The review, based on these inputs, will result in an evaluation of:

• “At or exceeds expectations”,
• “Mostly at expectations and improvements needed” (with a specific list of improvements for each student), or
• “Below expectations” (with a specific list of actions that must be taken).

After the first two semesters, students who do not have a faculty advisor will automatically receive a “Below expectations” evaluation.

Students must earn a “At or exceeds expectations” or “Mostly at expectations and improvements needed” evaluation on the most recent review before they will be allowed to take the Qualifying Examination or Dissertation Defense.

For each student who earns a “Below expectations” review, the student’s faculty advisor (if any) and the Associate Chair for PhD Affairs will develop a remediation plan to be completed within 12 months.

Two consecutive “Below expectations” reviews or failure to achieve the remediation plan may be used as grounds for removing a student from the PhD program.

5. Seminar and Thesis Proposal Attendance Requirement

Each PhD student must attend four (4) Department seminars and/or PhD Thesis Proposals each semester.

6. Teaching Requirement

All PhD students must pass CSCI 698: Teaching Practicum in two or more semesters before they can graduate with a PhD. Enrollment in CSCI 698 requires a PhD student to concurrently serve as a TA for a Computer Science or Data Science class. Every student must TA for two semesters to fulfill the teaching requirement. Every student must TA at least one undergraduate class, unless by exceptional approval by the Associate Chair for PhD Affairs.

7. Qualifying Examination

All doctoral students must pass a Qualifying Examination in Computer Science. Before passing the Qualifying Examination, students must have completed all their course requirements.

The Qualifying Examination is administered by a guidance committee consisting of the dissertation advisor and four (4) other faculty members. The student’s dissertation advisor will act as the chair of the guidance committee. The committee must include at least three (3) faculty members who have an appointment in Computer Science, and at least one committee member must be tenured in the Computer Science Department. The committee must also include one tenured/tenure track USC faculty member from another department whose primary appointment is not in Computer Science. All guidance committees must be approved by the Associate Chair for PhD Affairs, the Dean’s office, and the Graduate School. The guidance committee may include faculty from other universities, in addition to the five members from USC.

The Qualifying Examination has two parts: Written and Oral. A student must have an “At or exceeds expectations” or “Mostly at expectations and improvements needed” result from the most recent Biannual Review and at least a 3.0 GPA in order to attempt the Qualifying Examination.

Students may take the Written portion of the Qualifying Examination prior to completing their course requirements. The Written portion of the Qualifying Examination should be taken during the student’s 4th semester in the PhD program. The Written portion is in the form of a paper. Students must work with their Qualifying Examination committee to determine the topic and scope of the paper. The criteria for the paper written in fulfillment of the Written portion of the Qualifying Examination are as follows:

• Minimum 15 pages in the ACM Computer Science Style.
• Writing style must be of publishable quality, as determined by the guidance committee.
• Must include at least 30 scholarly references.

The student will pass the Written part of the Qualifying Examination with their committee’s consensus. If a student does not pass the Written portion of the Qualifying Examination, they may retake it one additional time. The student must retake the Written portion of the Qualifying Examination within at least six (6) and at most 12 months of the initial attempt.

The Oral portion of the Qualifying Examination must be taken by the end of a student’s 3rd year.   The exam can be held publicly or privately at the discretion of the Committee Chair.   The Oral portion of the Qualifying Examination will assess a student’s ability to provide a 30-minute presentation on the topic covered in the Written portion and to show adequate mastery of that topic, reflected both in the quality of the presentation and the ability to answer questions from the committee. The student will not be allowed to take the Oral portion of the Qualifying Examination without having passed the Written portion. If a student does not pass the Oral portion of the Qualifying Examination, they may retake it one additional time. The student must retake the Oral portion of the Qualifying Examination within at least six (6) and at most 12 months of the initial attempt. Postponement of any part of the Qualifying Examination will be treated on a case-by-case basis by the Associate Chair for the PhD Program

8. Thesis Proposal

The thesis proposal presents a summary of planned future research to be carried out until graduation, contextualized by work already completed. Like for the Qualifying exam, the Thesis Proposal consists of two parts: a written part, in the same format as the written portion of the Qualifying Exam, and an oral presentation. The written part must be submitted to the student’s faculty committee at least two weeks before the scheduled oral presentation. The thesis proposal committee is administered by a guidance committee consisting of the dissertation advisor and four (4) other faculty members. The student’s dissertation advisor will act as the chair of the guidance committee. The committee must include at least three (3) faculty members who have an appointment in Computer Science, and at least one committee member must be tenured in the Computer Science Department. The committee must also include one tenured/tenure track USC faculty member from another department whose primary appointment is not in Computer Science.

The oral part of the Thesis Proposal is a presentation open to the public. The presentation must be announced at least one week in advance. The announcement must include the presentation title and abstract, the venue, date and time, as well as the names of the guidance committee members. The presentation is expected to be 45 minutes long at a minimum, with time for questions at the end. All current PhD students are encouraged to attend and participate in the public questions-and-answers session. A portion of the questions-and-answers session may be closed at the discretion of the student’s guidance committee.

The Thesis Proposal must be made by the end of a student’s 5th year in the program, although it is strongly recommended that students do so by the end of their 4th year. Only students who have passed the Qualifying examination (both Written and Oral), may schedule a Thesis Proposal presentation. The guidance committee will assess the thesis proposal for novelty, substance, and feasibility, and decide whether to approve the proposal. If a student’s Thesis Proposal is not approved, the student may make one additional proposal. The student must make the additional Thesis Proposal within at most six (6) months of the first attempt.

9. Dissertation and Defense

A dissertation involving original research completes the requirements for a PhD degree. A Defense of the dissertation must be held as a public oral examination. The Defense must be announced at least one week in advance. To schedule the Defense, the student must have passed the Thesis Proposal. The Defense announcement must include the dissertation title and abstract, the venue, date and time for the examination, as well as the names of the dissertation Defense committee members.

The student must provide the complete written dissertation to the committee at least five (5) business days before the scheduled defense.

The dissertation defense committee must have at least three (3) members, of which at least two must have an appointment in Computer Science. The student’s dissertation advisor will chair the committee. At least one committee member must be tenured in the Computer Science Department. The committee must also include one tenured (or tenure-track) USC faculty member from another department whose primary appointment is not in Computer Science.

Specific upload deadlines and instructions can be found on the USC Graduate School Thesis Center website https://graduateschool.usc.edu/current-students/thesis-dissertation-submission/ .

10. Time Limits

A student must pass the Qualifying Examination within four years of being admitted to the PhD program. The dissertation Defense must be completed within seven years of being admitted to the PhD program (six if the student arrives with a relevant Master’s degree).

After seven years in the PhD program, the student may not be eligible for any Teaching Assistantship funding from the Computer Science department. An extension to either time limit (Qualifying Exam and Defense) requires approval of two-thirds of the Computer Science faculty. In no case may the granted extensions exceed the time limits set by the USC Graduate School.

11. Absences

Doctoral students may be granted a maximum of 24 months (not necessarily consecutive) leave-of-absence by the Department Chair, or by a committee appointed by the Department Chair with the approval of the Graduate School. During these absences, the clock defining the time limits for the qualifying and defense examinations is suspended. The clock is resumed when the student returns from the leave-of-absence. Any leaves longer than 24 months, or leave applied for within four months of the expiration of a time limit, requires an approval of two-thirds of Computer Science faculty. Absences longer than 24 months also require USC Graduate School approval.

12. Transfer Requirements

Students with a relevant MS degree from another university may transfer up to 30 units towards their PhD degree. At most two courses may be substituted for the allowed two 500- level courses in the course requirement. No substitutions are allowed for the 600-level courses.

13. Petitioning for MS Degree

After satisfying the PhD course requirements and completing a minimum of 32 units with a GPA of 3.0, a current CS PhD is eligible to petition for a Master's degree in Computer Science.  This will require the approval of your faculty advisor(s) and the Associate Chair of the department.

14. Existing Students and the new PhD Requirements

These requirements shall apply to all students admitted to the Computer Science PhD program for Fall 2023 or thereafter. Students admitted prior to Fall 2023 may choose to have these requirements applied to them. To do this, the student must submit to the Department an approval letter signed by the student’s PhD advisor.

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Doctor of Philosophy Program

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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

.cls-1{fill:#a91e22;}.cls-2{fill:#c2c2c2;} double-arrow Foreward

This brochure, together with the Graduate School Handbook, contains a complete description of requirements and procedures for the Ph.D. degree in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE). These requirements and the procedures for obtaining the degree are determined in part by the Graduate School, and in part by the Department. Petitions for exception to these requirements should be channeled through the departmental Graduate Studies Committee.

The material in this brochure is oriented primarily for students pursuing the Ph.D. program. Such students must be regular students, admitted to the CSE Department, and conform to Graduate School regulations; special students and students enrolled in Continuing Education must first remove any restrictions. Removal of restrictions is regulated by the Graduate School and the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee.

These procedures and requirements are subject to revision. Applicants should consult material periodically issued by the Graduate School and the Department, their advisor, or the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee for any changes or interpretation of policy. The Graduate School also maintains a counseling office for students enrolled in Ph.D. Programs.

Program for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in CSE

Each student entering the graduate program in Computer Science and Engineering is initially assigned a tentative academic advisor. Students' degree programs and all courses taken by students must be approved by their academic advisors. Students should consult their advisors as soon as possible after arriving on campus, and periodically thereafter until, upon developing a specific specialty interest, the student chooses a permanent advisor in that specialty area. This choice should be made as soon as practical.

The assignment of students to research advisors is performed by mutual agreement of the student and faculty member. The intent of this explicit agreement is to make students aware of the importance of early interactions with faculty in topic areas of mutual interest. Students are free to change their advisors when mutual research interests change. A "Change of Advisor" 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 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.

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Computer Science PhD

On this page:.

• Introduction
• 1 Research process
• 2 What is this career path?
• 3.1 You learn cutting edge research skills
• 3.2 Potential for large impact from research
• 3.3 Other benefits
• 4 Reasons not to do a computer science PhD
• 5 Entry requirements
• 6.1 Want to use a CS PhD to make the world a better place? We want to help.

A computer science PhD offers the chance to become a leading researcher in a highly important field with potential for transformational research. Especially consider it if you want to enter computer science academia or do high-level research in industry and expect to be among the top 30% of PhD candidates.

Most people qualified to do a computer science PhD should seriously consider doing a PhD focussed on Machine Learning, which we cover in another profile .

• • Potential for large impact from your research.
• • Opportunity to become an expert in AI.
• • Freedom to pursue research topics that most interest you.
• • Very smart colleagues.
• • Helps you enter technical jobs in industry, providing a backup to academia (though if industry is your aim, it's probably better to enter directly)
• • Less than 10% end up with tenure-track jobs.
• • Takes a long time (5-7 years), with relatively low pay.
• • Doing highly open-ended research provides little feedback which can be unmotivating.
• • About half of those who enter industry afterwards don't end up with research positions.

Key facts on fit  

If you are interested, try out doing computer science research by doing a dissertation as an undergraduate or taking up research assistant jobs in a professor’s lab. Then read this advice on how to get in.

Sometimes recommended

We recommend this career if it is a better fit for you than our other recommended careers.

Review status

Based on a shallow investigation 

Table of Contents

Research process

For this profile, we read eight blogs by computer scientists on whether to do the PhD and reviewed the Taulbee survey ( the full list ). See all the other research we did in our wiki .

What is this career path?

In this profile we focus on doing a Computer Science PhD in the US, which usually takes 5-7 years. There is relatively low emphasis on taking classes – typically you only take classes when they are relevant to your research, and these can be in disciplines outside of computer science, including statistics, operations research, maths, psychology and linguistics. 1 The PhD is heavily research focused – by the end you write a dissertation which is a long and in depth exploration on a topic that you become an expert on.

Why do a computer science PhD?

You learn cutting edge research skills.

The most commonly cited advantage of a computer science PhD is that you learn highly advanced research skills:

• You learn the skill of choosing promising areas of research that are at the edges of a field: “Doing a PhD will force you to cast away from shore and explore the boundary of human knowledge. There’s a real trick to picking good problems, and developing a taste for it is a key skill if you want to become a technical leader.” 2
• You become fluent in both written and verbal technical communication: “I’ve noticed a big gap between the software engineers I’ve worked with who have PhDs and those who don’t in this regard. PhD-trained folks tend to give clear, well-organized talks and know how to write up their work and visualize the result of experiments. As a result they can be much more influential.” 3 This is a skill that’s important for entering data science .
• You learn to run experiments and interpret the results and get every aspect of your methodology closely critiqued.
• You learn how to read and critique research papers.

Potential for large impact from research

• During your PhD you get to work on the hardest problems at the edge of human knowledge, in a field with a strong track record of transformational research , in spite of its short history as an academic discipline. “PhD research is about opening up new avenues of enquiry, and working on problems that the rest of the world hasn’t even articulated yet. If you do it right, you can have tremendous impact.” 4 A computer science PhD opens up the potential to carry on with this research in academia or in industry.
• You have lots of freedom over what research topics to work on during your PhD (though if you want to continue to academia, you’ll need to initially focus on the topics that will most aid your career). 5
• Artificial Intelligence is one of the most important trends of the next century and is currently the most popular area of specialisation among computer science PhD’s. 6 We think it’s especially important that more people work on making sure the development of AI is done safely, and there’s increasing funding available for researchers with this aim, making it a promising area to enter . A computer science PhD opens up jobs focused on AI safety in industry (for example at DeepMind ), non-profits such as the Machine Intelligence Research Institute , and academia. If you want to work on this research, see our full review of the area .

Other benefits

• You often become the leading world expert on the area of your dissertation.
• You gain a much deeper understanding of complex computer science topics, which can help with reaching technical leadership positions in industry, which are in-demand and well-paid. 7 People with PhD’s also frequently get more freedom in their subsequent jobs than those with bachelor’s or master’s degrees. 5
• Highly intelligent peers, and close mentorship and feedback from some of the smartest people on earth.
• PhD level research can be extremely satisfying. You can discover previously completely unknown knowledge, you gain deep understanding of your area and you get to prioritise accuracy and truth over functionality and speed much more than you do in industry. 8
• It is generally easier to move from a computer science PhD into industry than it is to move from industry into a PhD. 9

Reasons not to do a computer science PhD

• It takes a long time: “Nobody finishes in four years. The typical time to completion is around five or six years, but there is a long tail — I reserve the term “paleo-student” for someone who has been at it more than 10 years.” 10
• You don’t get wide exposure to different career areas during this time – you only learn about academic computer science.
• Currently only around 30% of computer science PhDs get jobs in academia, with less than 10% getting tenure track positions. 11 To get a tenure-track position it is increasingly necessary to do one or more post-docs first, meaning you face even more time with relatively low pay. 12
• Currently only around 55-65% of those who get jobs in industry after their PhD get research positions (suggesting it may have been better for them to enter industry directly). 13 Overall, only around half of computer science PhD’s get research positions immediately after their PhD’s whether this is in academia or in industry. 14
• The PhD is extremely unstructured – you do highly open-ended research with no clear guidelines on progress or how to organise your time. “Research can be very rewarding and very frustrating. Most students describe graduate school as a roller-coaster with tremendous highs and tremendous lows.” 15
• The pay is not that high – median stipends range from $17,000 to $29,000. 16

Entry requirements

You need an undergraduate degree in computer science or a closely related field like engineering, maths or physics (or another major as long as you took a lot of CS classes). A master in computer science can help you enter if your major wasn’t in computer science and you haven’t taken many CS classes. 17

You also typically need:

• Previous research experience
• Excellent letters of recommendation from researchers who can comment on your research ability
• A high GPA (3.5-4.0) in computer science and maths classes and quantitative reasoning GRE scores over 650. 18

Who should most strongly consider a computer science PhD?

You should only consider a computer science PhD if you are incredibly motivated to do high-level computer science research. All the advice we read was emphatic on this point. Here is a representative quote:

The only reason to do a PhD is because you love doing research. If you don’t love research, don’t bother — it is not worth the time, money (in terms of opportunity cost vs. making a real salary in industry), or stress. 19

To get a sense of what academic research in computer science is like, try reading published papers (see for example this paper and this paper ).

Given that only 10% end up with tenure track positions and of those that enter industry immediately after the PhD only 50% end up with research positions, it’s unclear whether the PhD is worth the considerable costs for the bottom 50% or so of candidates.

Overall, especially consider a computer science PhD if:

• You meet the entry requirements.
• You’re highly motivated to do computer science research.
• You expect to be among the top 30% of PhD candidates.
• You want to go into computer science academia or do high-level research in industry, especially if you want to work on artificial intelligence .

Want to use a CS PhD to make the world a better place? We want to help.

We’ve coached dozens of people entering a CS PhD, and can often put you in touch with relevant experts for more guidance, particularly in AI/ML.

Get in touch

Notes and references

• “In contrast, a Ph.D. program typically requires typically less than 10 courses during the entire 6 years (at CMU there are 5 required “core” courses, and 3 required “electives”). The emphasis in the Ph.D. is not on classes, but rather on research. A Ph.D. student will typically take classes only when she feels that they will be useful in her research. The classes she takes may not even be in CS at all. They may be in Statistics, Operations Research, Math, Psychology, Linguistics, or anything else useful for her particular research topic.” Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science – Carnegie Mellon University ↩
• Matt Welsh – Do you need a PhD? ↩
• Matt Welsh – So, you want to go to grad school? ↩
• “Once you have a PhD — and even during the process of getting one — you are able to be your own boss. Rather than working on someone else’s vision, you are the one to define the vision. This is especially true if you pursue an academic career after grad school, but is also the case in many industrial research labs. Typically, people with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees aren’t afforded so much freedom.” Matt Welsh – So, you want to go to grad school? ↩
• “Artificial intelligence, networking, software engineering and databases, in that order, continue to be the most popular areas of specialization for doctoral graduates.” Computing Research Associating 2014 Taulbee Survey ↩
• “I do think that doing a PhD is useful for software engineers, especially those that are inclined to be technical leaders. There are many things you can only learn “on the job,” but doing a PhD, and having to build your own compiler, or design a new operating system, or prove a complex distributed algorithm from scratch is going to give you a much deeper understanding of complex Computer Science topics than following coding examples on StackOverflow.” Matt Welsh – Do you need a PhD? ↩
• “For all the frustrations, research can be extremely joyous. For some people, the joy of research is the joy of discovering something new that no one knew about. You might be discovering a new algorithm, a new operating system design idea, a new idea for maximizing the performance of disk arrays, etc.. For others, there’s the joy of truly understanding. You’ve probably noticed that in classes a professor or book will stop just when things are getting really interesting and say, “the rest is beyond the scope of this class.” In research, you can take a problem as far as you want and understand everything about it. For many, the joy of research comes from being able to make an impact – to change the way systems are built and design them in a smarter way. There’s also the joy of doing it right. In a company, the aim is to get a working product and ship it out quickly. In research, you can take your time and plan out your project so that you are proud to defend every one of your design decisions. Research is not about simple heuristics or quick hacks. Many people also relish the joy of being the authority on an area and of having their work read and cited by others.” Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science – Carnegie Mellon University ↩
• “In my experience, it is quite rare to make the jump from industry to grad school. First off, industry pays so much better than the PhD student stipend that it is quite hard to make this transition. Also, to get into a top PhD program, you need good letters from CS professors, and letters from industry don’t really count. After you’ve been gone for a couple of years it’s hard to get those stellar letters from the professors that may have loved you back when you were in college; newer, brighter, more energetic students have taken your place and you are long forgotten (although maybe Facebook will change all that). Industry experience rarely helps a graduate application, especially if you’re some low-level engineer at a big company writing tests all day.” Matt Welsh – So, you want to go to grad school? ↩
• “Only 27.3 percent of 2013-14 graduates took North American academic jobs, an all-time low since we began tracking this in 1989-90. The fraction taking tenure-track positions in North American doctoral granting computing departments held fairly steady at 7.6 percent for 2013-14 graduates. The fraction taking positions in North American non-Ph.D.-granting computing departments dropped from 2.1 percent to 1.9 percent. The fraction taking North American academic postdoctoral positions dropped from 14.9 percent to 11.6 percent” “The proportion of Ph.D. graduates who were reported taking positions outside of North America, among those whose employment is known, rose to 9.4 percent from 8.2 percent for 2012-13 graduates. About 37 percent of those employed outside of North America went to industry (slightly higher than reported last year), about 26 percent went to tenure-track academic positions (about the same as reported last year) and almost 20 percent went to academic postdoctoral positions (a higher rate than reported last year).” Computing Research Associating 2014 Taulbee Survey ↩
• “Tenure-track positions are increasingly requiring candidates to do one or more postdocs: This trend has been documented by Anita Jones in the article The Explosive Growth of Postdocs in Computer Science (ACM Digital Library subscription required). Since 2007, hiring of Ph.D.’s in academia is increasingly dominated by postdoc positions rather than tenure-track positions. The requirements for a tenure-track position appear to have been redefined to make one or more postdocs nearly mandatory. This has been the case in other disciplines for a long time, but it is relatively new for Computer Science. This delays a Ph.D.’s career and forces people who want to become professors to endure several more years of low pay and status.” Ronald T. Azuma – So long, and thanks for the Ph.D.! ↩
• “Among those doctoral graduates who went to North American industry and for whom the type of industry position was known, about 56 percent took research positions. This is down from the 64 percent reported last year.” “Of the doctoral graduates who went to non-North American industry positions, the positions were research by a three-to-one margin over those that were not research, the same ratio reported last year” Computing Research Associating 2014 Taulbee Survey ↩
• Table D4a. Detail of Industry Employment. Computing Research Associating 2014 Taulbee Survey ↩
• Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science – Carnegie Mellon University ↩
• Table G2. Fall 2014 Academic-Year Graduate Stipends by Department Type and Support Type. Computing Research Associating 2014 Taulbee Survey ↩
• “The only cases I recommend doing a Masters are for students that aren’t quite prepared to get into a top-ranked PhD program, for example, because their undergrad major is in something other than CS. (Note that if your undergrad major is in an area closely aligned with CS, such as engineering, math, or physics, or you took a lot of CS classes despite majoring in something else, you probably don’t need a Master’s.)” Matt Welsh – So, you want to go to grad school? ↩
• Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science – Carnegie Mellon University and Matt Welsh – Tips on Getting into Grad School ↩

Texas A&M University Catalogs

Doctor of philosophy in computer science.

Work leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)  in Computer Science is designed to give candidates a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of their professional field and training in methods of research. The final basis for granting the degree shall be the candidate’s grasp of the subject matter of a broad field of study and a demonstrated ability to do independent research. In addition, the candidate must have acquired the ability to express thoughts clearly and forcefully in both oral and written communication. The degree is not granted solely for the completion of coursework, residence, and technical requirements, although these must be met.

Steps to Fulfill a Doctoral Program

Program Requirements

• Student's Advisory Committee

Degree Plan

Transfer of credit, research proposal, preliminary examination, preliminary examination format, preliminary examination scheduling, preliminary examination grading, failure of the preliminary examination, retake of failed preliminary examination, final examination, final examination grading, dissertation, student’s advisory committee.

After receiving admission to graduate studies and enrolling, the student will consult with the head of their major or administrative department (or chair of the intercollegiate faculty) concerning appointment of the chair of the advisory committee. The student’s advisory committee will consist of  no fewer than four members of the graduate faculty  representative of the student’s several fields of study and research, where the chair or co-chair must be from the student’s department (or intercollegiate faculty, if applicable), and  at least one or more of the members must have an appointment to a department other than the student’s major department . The outside member for a student in an interdisciplinary degree program must be from a department different from the chair of the student’s committee.

The chair, in consultation with the student, will select the remainder of the advisory committee. Only graduate faculty members located on Texas A&M University campuses may serve as chair of a student’s advisory committee. Other Texas A&M University graduate faculty members located off-campus may serve as a member or co-chair (but not chair), with a member as the chair.

If the chair of a student’s advisory committee voluntarily leaves the University and the student is near completion of the degree and wants the chair to continue to serve in this role, the student is responsible for securing a current member of the University Graduate Faculty, from the student’s academic program and located near the Texas A&M University campus site, to serve as the co-chair of the committee. The Department Head or Chair of Intercollegiate faculty may request in writing to the Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate and Professional School that a faculty member who is on an approved leave of absence or has voluntarily separated from the university, be allowed to continue to serve in the role of chair of a student’s advisory committee without a co-chair for up to one year. The students should be near completion of the degree. Extensions beyond the one year period can be granted with additional approval of the Dean.

The committee members’ signatures on the degree plan indicate their willingness to accept the responsibility for guiding and directing the entire academic program of the student and for initiating all academic actions concerning the student. Although individual committee members may be replaced by petition for valid reasons, a committee cannot resign  en masse . The chair of the committee, who usually has immediate supervision of the student’s research and dissertation or record of study, has the responsibility for calling all meetings of the committee. The duties of the committee include responsibility for the proposed degree plan, the research proposal, the preliminary examination, the dissertation or record of study and the final examination. In addition, the committee, as a group and as individual members, is responsible for counseling the student on academic matters, and, in the case of academic deficiency, initiating recommendations to the Graduate and Professional School.

The student’s advisory committee will evaluate the student’s previous education and degree objectives. The committee, in consultation with the student, will develop a proposed degree plan and outline a research problem which, when completed, as indicated by the dissertation (or its equivalent for the degree of Doctor of Education or the degree of Doctor of Engineering), will constitute the basic requirements for the degree. The degree plan must be filed with the Graduate and Professional School prior to the deadline imposed by the student’s college and no later than 90 days prior to the preliminary examination.

This proposed degree plan should be submitted through the online Document Processing Submission System located on the website  http://ogsdpss.tamu.edu . A minimum of 64 hours is required on the degree plan for the Doctor of Philosophy for a student who has completed a master’s degree. A student who has completed a DDS/DMD, DVM or a MD at a U.S. institution is also required to complete a minimum of 64 hours. A student who has completed a baccalaureate degree but not a master’s degree will be required to complete a 96-hour degree plan. Completion of a DDS/DMD, DVM or MD degree at a foreign institution requires completion of a minimum of 96 hours for the Doctor of Philosophy. A field of study may be primarily in one department or in a combination of departments. A degree plan must carry a reasonable amount of 691 (research). A maximum of 9 hours of 400-level undergraduate courses may be used toward meeting credit-hour requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy.

Additional coursework may be added by petition to the approved degree plan by the student’s advisory committee if it is deemed necessary to correct deficiencies in the student’s academic preparation. No changes can be made to the degree plan once the student’s Request for Final Examination is approved by the Graduate and Professional School.

Approval to enroll in any professional course (900-level) should be obtained from the head of the department (or Chair of the intercollegiate faculty, if applicable) in which the course will be offered before including such a course on a degree plan.

No credit may be obtained by correspondence study, by extension or for any course of fewer than three weeks duration.

For non-distance degree programs, no more than 50 percent of the non-research credit hours required for the program may be completed through distance education courses.

To receive a graduate degree from Texas A&M University, students must earn one-third or more of the credits through the institution’s own direct instruction. This limitation also applies to joint degree programs. 

Courses for which transfer credits are sought must have been completed with a grade of B or greater and must be approved by the student’s advisory committee and the Graduate and Professional School. These courses must not have been used previously for another degree. Except for officially approved cooperative doctoral programs, credit for thesis or dissertation research or the equivalent is not transferable. Credit for “internship” coursework in any form is not transferable. Courses taken in residence at an accredited U.S. institution or approved international institution with a final grade of B or greater will be considered for transfer credit if, at the time the courses were completed, the courses would be accepted for credit toward a similar degree for a student in degree-seeking status at the host institution. Credit for coursework taken by extension is not transferable. Coursework  in which no formal grades are given or in which grades other than letter grades (A or B) are earned (for example, CR, P, S, U, H, etc.) is not accepted for transfer credit . Credit for coursework submitted for transfer from any college or university must be shown in semester credit hours, or equated to semester credit hours.

Courses used toward a degree at another institution may not be applied for graduate credit. If the course to be transferred was taken prior to the conferral of a degree at the transfer institution, a letter from the registrar at that institution stating that the course was not applied for credit toward the degree must be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School.

Grades for courses completed at other institutions are not included in computing the GPA. An official transcript from the university at which transfer courses are taken must be sent directly to the Office of Admissions.

The general field of research to be used for the dissertation should be agreed on by the student and the advisory committee at their first meeting, as a basis for selecting the proper courses to support the proposed research.

As soon thereafter as the research project can be outlined in reasonable detail, the dissertation research proposal should be completed. The research proposal should be approved at a meeting of the student’s advisory committee, at which time the feasibility of the proposed research and the adequacy of available facilities should be reviewed. The approved proposal, signed by all members of the student’s advisory committee, the head of the student’s major department (or chair of the intercollegiate faculty, if applicable), must be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School at least 20 working days prior to the submission of the Request for the Final Examination.

Compliance issues must be addressed if a graduate student is performing research involving human subjects, animals, infectious biohazards and recombinant DNA. A student involved in these types of research should check with the Office of Research Compliance and Biosafety at (979) 458-1467 to address questions about all research compliance responsibilities. Additional information can also be obtained on the website  http:// rcb.tamu.edu .

Examinations

The student’s major department (or chair of the interdisciplinary degree program faculty, if applicable) and their advisory committee may require qualifying, cumulative or other types of examinations at any time deemed desirable. These examinations are entirely at the discretion of the department and the student’s advisory committee.

The preliminary examination is required. The preliminary examination for a doctoral student shall be given no earlier than a date at which the student is within 6 credit hours of completion of the formal coursework on the degree plan (i.e., all coursework on the degree plan except 681, 684, 690, 691, 692, 693, 695, 697, 791, or other graduate courses specifically designated as S/U in the course catalog). The student should complete the Preliminary Examination no later than the end of the semester following the completion of the formal coursework on the degree plan.

The objective of preliminary examination is to evaluate whether the student has demonstrated the following qualifications:

a.     a mastery of the subject matter of all fields in the program;

b.     an adequate knowledge of the literature in these fields and an ability to carry out bibliographical research;

c.     an understanding of the research problem and the appropriate methodological approaches.

The format of the preliminary examination shall be determined by the student’s department (or interdisciplinary degree program, if applicable) and advisory committee, and communicated to the student in advance of the examination. The exam may consist of a written component, oral component, or combination of written and oral components.

The preliminary exam may be administered by the advisory committee or a departmental committee; herein referred to as the examination committee.

Regardless of exam format, a student will receive an overall preliminary exam result of pass or fail. The department (or interdisciplinary degree program, if applicable) will determine how the overall pass or fail result is determined based on the exam structure and internal department procedures. If the exam is administered by the advisory committee, each advisory committee member will provide a pass or fail evaluation decision.

Only one advisory committee substitution is allowed to provide an evaluation decision for a student’s preliminary exam, and it cannot be the committee chair.

If a student is required to take, as a part of the preliminary examination, a written component administered by a department or interdisciplinary degree program, the department or interdisciplinary degree program faculty must:

a.     offer the examination at least once every six months. The departmental or interdisciplinary degree program examination should be announced at least 30 days prior to the scheduled examination date.

b.     assume the responsibility for marking the examination satisfactory or unsatisfactory, or otherwise graded, and in the case of unsatisfactory, stating specifically the reasons for such a mark.

c.     forward the marked examination to the chair of the student’s advisory committee within one week after the examination.

Students are eligible for to schedule the preliminary examination in the Academic Requirements Completion System (ARCS) if they meet the following list of eligibility requirements:

Student is registered at Texas A&M University for a minimum of one semester credit hour in the long semester or summer term during which any component of the preliminary examination is held. If the entire examination is held between semesters, then the student must be registered for the term immediately preceding the examination.

An approved degree plan is on file with the Graduate and Professional School prior to commencing the first component of the examination.

Student’s cumulative GPA is at least 3.000.

Student’s degree plan GPA is at least 3.000.

At the end of the semester in which at least the first component of the exam is given, there are no more than 6 hours of coursework remaining on the degree plan (except 681, 684, 690, 691, 692, 693, 695, 697, 791, or other graduate courses specifically designated as S/U in the course catalog). The head of the student’s department (or Chair of the Interdisciplinary Degree Program, if applicable) has the authority to approve a waiver of this criterion.

Credit for the preliminary examination is not transferable in cases where a student changes degree programs after passing a preliminary exam.

If a written component precedes an oral component of the preliminary exam, the chair of the student’s examination committee is responsible for making all written examinations available to all members of the committee. A positive evaluation of the preliminary exam by all members of a student’s examination committee with at most one dissension is required to pass a student on their preliminary exam.

The student’s department will promptly report the results of the Preliminary Examination to the Graduate and Professional School via the Academic Requirements Completion System (ARCS) within 10 working days of completion of the preliminary examination.

If an approved examination committee member substitution (one only) has been made, their approval must be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School via ARCS. The approval of the designated department approver is also required on the request.

After passing the required preliminary oral and written examinations for a doctoral degree, the student must complete the final examination within four years of the semester in which the preliminary exam is taken. Exams taken in between terms will expire at the end of the term that ended prior to the exam. For example, a preliminary exam taken and passed during the Fall 2023 semester will expire at the end of the Fall 2027 semester. A preliminary exam taken in the time between the Summer and Fall 2023 semesters will expire at the end of the Summer 2027 semester.

First Failure

Upon approval of a student’s examination committee (with no more than one member dissenting), and approval of the Department and Graduate and Professional School, a student who has failed a preliminary examination may be given one re-examination. In accordance with Student Rule 12.5, the student’s department head or designee, intercollegiate faculty, or graduate advisory committee should make a recommendation to the student regarding their scholastic deficiency.

Second Failure

Upon failing the preliminary exam twice in a doctoral program, a student is no longer eligible to continue to pursue the PhD in that program/major. In accordance with Student Rule 12.5.3 and/or 12.5.4, the student will be notified of the action being taken by the department as a result of the second failure of the preliminary examination.

Adequate time must be given to permit a student to address inadequacies emerging from the first preliminary examination. The examination committee must agree upon and communicate to the student, in writing, an adequate time-frame from the first examination (normally six months) to retest, as well as a detailed explanation of the inadequacies emerging from the examination. The student and committee should jointly negotiate a mutually acceptable date for this retest.  When providing feedback on inadequacies, the committee should clearly document expected improvements that the student must be able to exhibit in order to retake the exam.  The examination committee will document and communicate the time-frame and feedback within 10 working days of the exam that was not passed.

Candidates for the doctoral degrees must pass a final examination by deadline dates announced in the  Graduate and Professional School Calendar  each semester. A doctoral student is allowed only one opportunity to take the final examination.

No unabsolved grades of D, F, or U for any course can be listed on the degree plan. The student must be registered for any remaining hours of 681, 684, 690, 691, 692, 791 or other graduate courses specifically designated as S/U in the course catalog during the semester of the final exam. No student may be given a final examination until they have been admitted to candidacy and their current official cumulative and degree plan GPAs are 3.00 or better.

Refer to the  Admission to Candidacy  section of the graduate catalog for candidacy requirements.

A request to schedule the final examination must be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School via ARCS a minimum of 10 working days in advance of the scheduled date. Any changes to the degree plan must be approved by the Graduate and Professional School prior to the submission of the request for final examination.

The student’s advisory committee will conduct this examination. Only one committee member substitution is allowed with the approval of the Graduate and Professional School. If the substitution is for the sole external member of the advisory committee - with an appointment to a department other than the student's major department - then the substitute must also be external to the student's major department. In extenuating circumstances, with the approval of the Graduate and Professional School, an exception to this requirement may be granted.

The final examination is not to be administered until the dissertation or record of study is available in substantially final form to the student’s advisory committee, and all concerned have had adequate time to review the document.  Whereas the final examination may cover the broad field of the candidate’s training, it is presumed that the major portion of the time will be devoted to the dissertation and closely allied topics. Persons other than members of the graduate faculty may, with mutual consent of the candidate and the chair of the advisory committee, be invited to attend a final examination for an advanced degree. A positive vote by all members of the graduate committee with at most one dissension is required to pass a student on their exam. A department can have a stricter requirement provided there is consistency within all degree programs within a department. Upon completion of the questioning of the candidate, all visitors must excuse themselves from the proceedings.

The student’s department will promptly report the results of the Final Examination to the Graduate and Professional School via the Academic Requirements Completion System (ARCS) within 10 working days of completion of the final examination. The Graduate and Professional School will be automatically notified via ARCS of any cancellations.

A positive evaluation of the final exam by all members of a student’s advisory committee with at most one dissension is required to pass a student on their final exam. If an approved committee member substitution (1 only) has been made, their approval must be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School via ARCS.

The dissertation,  which must be a candidate's original work demonstrates the ability to perform independent research . Whereas acceptance of the dissertation is based primarily on its scholarly merit, it must also exhibit creditable literary workmanship. Dissertation formatting must be acceptable to the Graduate and Professional School as outlined in the Guidelines for Theses, Dissertations, and Records of Study.

After successful defense and approval by the student’s advisory committee and the head of the student’s major department (or chair of intercollegiate faculty, if applicable), a student must submit the dissertation in electronic format as a single PDF file to https://etd.tamu.edu/ . Additionally, a dissertation approval form with original signatures must be received by the Graduate and Professional School through the Academic Requirements Completion System (ARCS). Both the PDF file and the completed ARCS approval form must be received by the deadline.

Deadline dates for submitting are announced each semester or summer term in the Graduate and Professional School Calendar (see Time Limit statement). These dates also can be accessed via the  Graduate and Professional School website .

Each student who submits a document for review is assessed a one-time thesis/dissertation processing fee through Student Business Services. This processing fee is for the thesis/dissertation services provided. After commencement, dissertations are digitally stored and made available through the Texas A&M Libraries.

A dissertation that is deemed unacceptable by the Graduate and Professional School because of excessive corrections will be returned to the student’s department head or chair of the intercollegiate faculty . The manuscript must be resubmitted as a new document, and the entire review process must begin anew. All original submittal deadlines must be met during the resubmittal process to graduate.

Additional Requirements

Continuous registration, admission to candidacy.

• 99-Hour Cap on Doctoral Degree

Application for Degree

A student who enters the doctoral degree program with a baccalaureate degree must spend one academic year plus one semester in resident study at Texas A&M University. A student who holds master’s degree when they enter a doctoral degree program must spend one academic year in resident study. One academic year may include two adjacent regular semesters or one regular semester and one adjacent 10-week summer semester. The third semester is not required to be adjacent to the one year. Enrollment for each semester must be a minimum of 9 credit hours each to satisfy the residence requirement. A minimum of 1 credit hour must be in a non-distance education delivery mode. Semesters in which the student is enrolled in all distance education coursework will not count toward fulfillment of the residence requirement.

To satisfy the residence requirement, the student must complete a minimum of 9 credit hours per semester or 10-week summer semester in resident study at Texas A&M University for the required period. A student who enters a doctoral degree program with a baccalaureate degree may fulfill residence requirements in excess of one academic year (18 credit hours) by registration during summer sessions or by completion of a less-than-full course load (in this context a full course load is considered 9 credit hours per semester).

Students who are employed full-time while completing their degree may fulfill total residence requirements by completion of less-than-full time course loads each semester. In order to be considered for this, the student is required to submit a Petition for Waivers and Exceptions along with verification of employment to the Graduate and Professional School. An employee should submit verification of employment at the time they submit the degree plan. See  Registration .

See  Residence Requirements .

All requirements for doctoral degrees must be completed within a period of ten consecutive calendar years for the degree to be granted. A course will be considered valid until 10 years after the end of the semester in which it is taken. Graduate credit for coursework more than ten calendar years old at the time of the final oral examination may not be used to satisfy degree requirements.

After passing the required preliminary oral and written examinations for a doctoral degree, the student must complete the final examination within four years of the semester in which the preliminary exam is taken. Exams taken in between terms will expire at the end of the term that ended prior to the exam. For example, a preliminary exam taken and passed during the fall 2019 semester will expire at the end of the fall 2023 semester. A preliminary exam taken in the time between the summer and fall 2019 semesters will expire at the end of the summer 2023 semester.

A final corrected version of the dissertation or record of study in electronic format as a single PDF file must be cleared by the Graduate and Professional School within one year of the semester in which the final exam is taken. Exams taken in between terms will expire at the end of the term that ended prior to the exam. For example, a final exam taken and passed during the fall 2022 semester will expire at the end of the fall 2023 semester. A final exam taken in the time between the summer and fall 2022 semesters will expire at the end of the summer 2023 semester. Failure to do so will result in the degree not being awarded.

A student in a program leading to a Doctor of Philosophy who has completed all coursework on their degree plan other than 691 (research) are required to be in continuous registration until all requirements for the degree have been completed. See  Continuous Registration Requirements .

To be admitted to candidacy for a doctoral degree, a student must have:

• completed all formal coursework on the degree plan with the exception of any remaining 681, 684, 690 and 691, or 791.
• a 3.0 Graduate GPA and a Degree Plan GPA of at least 3.0 with no grade lower than C in any course on the degree plan,
• passed the preliminary examination (written and oral portions),
• submitted an approved dissertation proposal,
• met the residence requirements. The final examination will not be authorized for any doctoral student who has not been admitted to candidacy.

A student is required to possess a competent command of English. For English language proficiency requirements, see the Admissions section of this catalog. The doctoral (PhD) foreign language requirement at Texas A&M University is a departmental option, to be administered and monitored by the individual departments of academic instruction.

99-Hour Cap on Doctoral Degrees

In Texas, public colleges and universities are funded by the state according to the number of students enrolled. In accordance with legislation passed by the Texas Legislature, the number of hours for which state universities may receive subvention funding at the doctoral rate for any individual is limited to 99 hours. Texas A&M and other universities will not receive subvention for hours in excess of the limit.

Institutions of higher education are allowed to charge the equivalent of non-resident tuition to a resident doctoral student who has enrolled in 100 or more semester credit hours of doctoral coursework.

Doctoral students at Texas A&M have seven years to complete their degree before being charged out-of-state tuition. A doctoral student who, after seven years of study, has accumulated 100 or more doctoral hours will be charged tuition at a rate equivalent to out-of-state tuition. Please note that the tuition increases will apply to Texas residents as well as students from other states and countries who are currently charged tuition at the resident rate. This includes those doctoral students who hold GAT, GANT, and GAR appointments or recipients of competitive fellowships who receive more than $1,000 per semester. Doctoral students who have not accumulated 100 hours after seven years of study are eligible to pay in-state tuition if otherwise eligible.

Doctoral students who exceed the credit limit will receive notification from the Graduate and Professional School during the semester in which they are enrolled and exceeding the limit in their current degree program. The notification will explain that the State of Texas does not provide funding for any additional hours in which a student is enrolled in excess of 99 hours. Texas A&M University will recover the lost funds by requiring students in excess of 99 hours to pay tuition at the non-funded, non-resident rate. This non-funded, non-resident tuition rate status will be updated for the following semester and in all subsequent semesters until receipt of a doctoral degree. Please see the  Tuition Calculator  at the non-resident rate for an example of potential charges.

The following majors are exempt from the 99-Hour Cap on Doctoral Degrees and have a limit of 130 doctoral hours:

• Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
• Biomedical Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Counseling Psychology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Health Services Research
• Medical Sciences
• Microbiology
• Neurosciences (College of Medicine)
• Oral and Craniofacial Biomedical Sciences
• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Public Health Sciences
• School Psychology

For information on applying for your degree, please visit the  Graduation  section.

Graduate Coordinator

Dr. Ruting Jia

Jacaranda Hall (JD) 3343 18111 Nordhoff St. Northridge, CA 91330-8332

Phone: (818) 677-6967

Department Chair

Xiaojun (Ashley) Geng

Jacaranda Hall (JD) 4509 18111 Nordhoff St. Northridge, CA 91330-8332

Phone: (818) 677-2190

Need Advisement?

Students with general queries regarding the Electrical or Computer Engineering programs can visit the ECE Department at  Jacaranda Hall 4509  or call  818-677-2190

M.S. Computer Engineering

The complexity of software and hardware systems calls for today’s computer engineers to be experts in power consumption, security and reliability — not just functionality. As a Masters of Computer Engineering student with the Electrical and Computer Engineering department, you’ll be working on hardware, software and networking systems for the computers of today and tomorrow. Gain the training through our program you’ll need to enter and advance in the computer engineering and information technology fields, along with gaining management opportunities and sourcing lucrative positions at larger firms.

Why Earn a Master's in Computer Engineering?

The complexity of software and hardware systems calls for today’s computer engineers to be experts in power consumption, security and reliability — not just functionality

Gain the training you need to enter and advance in the computer engineering and information technology fields.

A master's degree can prepare you for management positions and high-paying jobs at larger firms.

For Admission to the Graduate Program

• A Baccalaureate degree in a technical field  * (e.g., Engineering, Physics or Mathematics from an accredited university or college) with an overall GPA of at least  2.75 .
• Have at least a  2.7  undergraduate grade point average in the last sixty semester units or ninety quarter units attempted.
• International students are required to submit a brief statement of purpose and  3  letters of recommendations.

*Regardless of undergraduate degree, all students must fulfill with a 3.0 GPA or higher.*

Please check the "Prerequisite Courses" accordion item for more information on Mathematics, Physics, and Electrical Engineering courses required for the program.

Prerequisite Courses

** The ECE Graduate Coordinator will determine which course(s) will be required.

For Advancement to Classified Graduate Status

• Fulfill University requirements for classified status.
• Complete prerequisite courses with 3.0 GPA or higher.
• Submit a tentative program of graduate study approved by the ECE graduate coordinator.
• Minimum grade in any course taken must be "C" or better while maintaining an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher

For the Degree:

• Completion of 30 units under either the  Thesis Plan  or the  Project Plan .  Note:  Students may not take a course (counting toward an MSEE degree) which is the same or equivalent to a course taken toward ones undergraduate program.
• Formal approval of granting the degree by the Engineering Faculty.

Thesis Plan:

• 24 units of course work applicable to the M.S. degree, of which at least 15 units must be 500/600-level ECE courses. Select a minimum of 12 units of Electrical and Computer Engineering courses and a minimum of 6 units of Computer Science courses plus 6 units selected from Electrical and Computer Engineering or Computer Science courses.
• 6 units of ECE 698(Thesis) and a successful oral defense of the thesis before the thesis committee.

Project Plan:

• 27 units of coursework applicable to the M.S. degree, of which at least 18 units must be 500/600-level ECE courses. Select a minimum of 12 units of Electrical and Computer Engineering courses and a minimum of 6 units of Computer Science courses plus 9 units selected from Electrical and Computer Engineering or Computer Science courses.
• 3 units of ECE 698 (Graduate Project) culminating in a comprehensive report.

Graduate Program:

The 30 units of coursework in the graduate program must form a cohesive plan of graduate study that consists of suggested and courses from Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science. The 30 units may include one graded unit of ECE 699A (Internship) as an elective course. Any additional enrollment in ECE 699A can only be taken on a Credit/No Credit (CR/NC) basis and will not be included in the 30 units required for the degree.

Admission Procedure and University Rules

Application forms can be accessed through  Cal State Apply  and are submitted online. The code number for the MSCompE is  562445M . Application deadlines for admission are set by the Office of Admissions .

All applicants, regardless of citizenship, whose preparatory education was principally in a language other than English must receive a minimum score of 550 on the paper-based, 213 on the computer-based or 79/80 on the Internet-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or a score of 6.5 or higher on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Besides TOEFL and IELTS, CSUN currently accept other tests such as Duolingo. All acceptable English language tests and minimum scores are listed on the  International Prospective Students  page.

Continuing students in either Post Baccalaureate or Graduate status may change their objective and seek admission to a MS in Computer Engineering by filling out a change of objective form that can be obtained from the Office of Admissions and Records.

It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of all University regulations and restrictions such as:

• No more than 9 units of transfer or extension work
• No more than a total of 9 units of ECE 400-level Digital course and/or Comp 400-level courses taken in residence can be counted toward Master in Computer Engineering
• Probation and Disqualification
• Repeat of courses rules
• Advancement to Candidacy
• Academic leave
• 7-years time limit for the completion of the degree
• Graduation with Distinction

For details on the above, students are advised to attend one of the ECE graduate orientation meetings to meet with the Graduate Coordinator. Prior to the formation of their Graduate Committee, graduate students are advised by the Graduate Coordinator. After the formation of their Graduate Committee, graduate students are advised by their Committee Chair. All courses taken towards the MS degree must be approved by the Committee Chair and the Graduate Coordinator. 

Required Courses (30 units)

For this degree, the student must define a program that conforms to the general M.S. in Computer Engineering degree requirements as established by the Department.

Students are advised to meet with an advisor as soon as possible to plan their program. No more than a total of 9 units of ECE 400-level Digital courses and/or Comp 400-level courses taken in residence can be counted toward Master in Computer Engineering.

Students may not take a course (counting toward MSCompE degree) which is the same or equivalent to a course taken toward one’s undergraduate program.

Students must select a minimum of 14 units of 500 or 600-level required Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) courses listed below:

• ECE 520/L System on Chip Design and Laboratory (3/1)
• ECE 524/L FPGA/ASIC Design and Optimization Using VHDL and Lab (3/1)  or  ECE 526/L Digital Design with Verilog and System Verilog and Lab (3/1)
• ECE 620 Advanced Switching Theory (3)
• ECE 621 Computer Arithmetic Design (3)  or ECE 622 Digital Systems Structure (3)

and a minimum of 6 units of 500 or 600-level Computer Science (COMP) elective courses in the following list:

• COMP 522 Embedded Applications (3)
• COMP 528 Mobile Computing (3)
• COMP 528L Mobile Computing Lab (1)
• COMP 529/L Advanced Network Topics and Lab (2/1)
• COMP 541 Data Mining (3)
• COMP 542 Machine Learning (3)
• COMP 560 Expert Systems (3)
• COMP 565 Advanced Computer Graphics (3)
• COMP 587 Software Verification and Validation (3)
• COMP 620 Computer System Architecture (3)

If students choose to do the Graduate Project (3 units of  ECE 698C ), the remaining 7 units must either be from Electrical Engineering or Computer Science courses.

If students choose to do the Thesis (6 units of  ECE 698C ), the remaining 4 units must be either from Electrical Engineering or Computer Science courses.

All graduate programs in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering must be approved by the faculty advisor and the Graduate Coordinator.

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About , McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University

Academics   /   graduate   /   ms in computer science master of science in computer science.

Expand your view of CS and customize your study to match your career goals

Situated within the McCormick School of Engineering, the Department of Computer Science (CS) at Northwestern University equips students with the technological expertise to build computer science solutions for a better future. Driven by the CS+X Initiative, the department broadens the scope of CS impact by actively fostering transformational relationships between computer science and intersecting fields at Northwestern’s top-ranked schools.

Earn your master’s degree in computer science in our supportive, inclusive, and enthusiastic community that enables you to personalize the program to fit your own research interests and career aspirations. You’ll study alongside our PhD students in our integrated classrooms and perform world-class research with faculty who have developed new ideas and achieved results in all areas of computer science. At the same time, you’ll broaden your definition of CS by working with CS+X faculty who create interdisciplinary connections between computer science and other disciplines ranging from economics to law to art.

Questions about our program? Visit our contact page >

Request Info Learn How to Apply

Marcelo Worsley

Associate professor of computer science.

“By including critical discussions of the field and authentically collaborating with the community, we can develop better designs and change perceptions of what is valuable in computing experiences.”

Why Northwestern?

Benefit from our culture, community, and proximity to Chicago’s growing tech sector

Broaden your view of computer science

In our CS+X environment , you’ll have the opportunity to uncover new areas of study while taking advantage of our robust research connections across Northwestern’s top-ranked schools including medicine, business, journalism, music, and more.

Find community in our department and student groups

When you join Northwestern CS, you’re entering a community, not just a classroom. You’ll not only find ample opportunities to network with fellow students, faculty members, staff, and even professionals in the CS field, but you’ll also to form supportive friendships.

Easy access to Chicagoland research and industry partners

Situated along the lake, 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, Northwestern’s unique location offers unsurpassed access to research partnerships and networking opportunities at neighboring tech organizations.

The basics at-a-glance

Students work with the MS program director to develop plans of study to meet their individual goals. Students can focus on a course degree plan or supplement coursework with a formal research master’s thesis or application project.

The degree can be completed in 3-4 quarters, while some students may take longer.

12 units of graduate-level credits required

Complete either a 12 course degree plan or 9 courses plus a thesis or application project.

View courses

Optional master’s thesis or application project

Students can earn 3 course credits for master’s thesis or application project.

Customize your degree for your interests

Work with advisors to design a course plan to fit your areas of interest and career aspirations.

View Full Curriculum Details

Focus in one of our areas of research excellence

Click on an area to learn more about our current work.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Computer engineering, human-computer interaction and information visualization, career paths.

Let us help you envision and advance your potential

In addition to preparing students for PhD studies, Northwestern computer science master’s degree graduates are recruited by employers in nearly every industry. Our career advisors in Engineering Career Development and Northwestern Career Advancement assist students with career development and placement.

Common career paths include:

Software development and engineering

Information technology consulting, database and systems analysis, data analytics, financial risk analysis and trading, where our alumni work.

Request Your Program & Application Guide

Request a customized program guide about the master of science in computer science.

Request Your Program Guide

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Christopher A. Voigt, PhD

Pushing the scale of genetic engineering.

Application of synthetic biology to address humanity's greatest challenges in manufacturing, environment, health and agriculture.

Genetic engineering is undergoing a revolution, where next-generation technologies for DNA and host manipulation are enabling larger and more ambitious projects in biotechnology. Automated DNA synthesis has advanced to where it is routine to order sequences >100,000bp where every base is user-specified, the turnaround time is several weeks, and the cost is rapidly declining. Recently, this facilitated the synthesis of a complete 1 Mbp genome of a bacterium and its transfer into a new host, resulting in a living cell. However, while whole genomes can be constructed, the ability to design such systems is lagging. The focus of my lab is to develop new experimental and theoretical methods to push the scale of genetic engineering, with the ultimate objective of genome design. This will impact the engineering of biology for a broad range of applications, including agriculture, materials, chemicals, and medicine.

Areas I Research

Prof. Voigt obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics at the California Institute of Technology. He continued his postdoctoral research in Bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley. His academic career commenced as an Assistant and Associate Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California-San Francisco. Chris Voigt joined the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT as Associate Professor in 2011.