PhD in Computer Science
Degree Requirements
All students completing a PhD degree must fulfill the following minimum requirements:
Complete all of the computer science (CS) course work requirements of the Master’s degree in CS or have an MS degree in CS from another institution. The required 15 hours at the 8000- level must be regular CS courses, excluding Research or Problems courses. The student must maintain an overall GPA of at least 3.4/4.0 in their graduate level course work (excluding Research and Problems courses). Earn a minimum of 72 credit hours of course work and research past the student’s Bachelor's degree.
Qualifying and Comprehensive Examination Process
Students will need to pass a qualifying examination process to be admitted to candidacy in the CS PhD program within two years of program enrollment and will need to pass a comprehensive examination covering their areas of expertise within five years of program enrollment.
Students will complete a doctoral dissertation on a topic approved by the candidate’s advisory committee and defend the dissertation in a final oral examination.
Students will have at least one journal paper submitted, accepted or published, as approved by the advisor.
Students will present on a research topic as part of the CS Seminar Series at some point between passing the qualifying exam and the dissertation defense. This policy is effective for entering PhD students in Spring 2013 and after.
Seminar Attendance
The approval of the D4 form is tied to the attendance records for the department's seminar series. PhD students are required to attend a total of at least twenty EECS Seminar Series presentations. Master's students who add the PhD program can apply their seminar attendance as part of their Master's program toward the attendance requirement for doctoral students. Students will submit a list of research publications with the D4 form.
D Forms
After the successful completion of the Qualifying Process, the D1 Qualifying Exam Results and Doctoral Committee Approval form should be submitted to the Graduate School, followed by the D2 Plan of Study for the Doctoral Degree form. The D3 form Doctoral Comprehensive Examination Results is submitted when the student has completed the Comprehensive Exam. Graduate School policy requires the completion of the Comprehensive Exam within five years of starting the PhD program. At least seven months must pass between the Comprehensive Exam and the dissertation defense, which is followed by submission of the D4 Dissertation Defense form. PhD students must submit a list of publications to the graduate committee prior to the dissertation defense.