Primary Faculty: Professors BUCHANAN (University Professor; Director, W.M. Keck Center; Co- director, Center for Parallel, Distributed and Intelligent Systems), CHANG (Co-director, CPDIS), CHIARULLI, DALEY, GUPTA, MELHEM (Director of Graduate Studies), SOFFA, TREU (Chair; Co-director, CPDIS), VanLEHN; Associate Professors CHRYSANTHIS, CHUANG, KALYANASUNDARAM, MOORE, MOSSÉ, POLLACK (Director, Intelligent Systems), PRUHS, ZNATI; Assistant Professor MOIR; Senior Lecturers McCARTHY, NOVACKY (Assistant Chair); Lecturer RAMIREZ

Affiliated Faculty (Adjunct faculty and those with primary appointments in other areas): Professor LI (Engineering); Associate Professors COOPER (Medicine), LEVITAN (Engineering)

Emeritus Faculty: Professor DWYER; Associate Professor BERZTISS

Computer science is an academic discipline that evolved in response to the need to understand the nature, effective use, and potential applications of digital computers. A basic core of knowledge about computer capabilities and limitations has developed, and a great variety of problems have become apparent. Computer science departments are concerned with contributing to the material in this basic core, solving the problems, and disseminating the results.

The principal interest of the computer science specialist is the development of techniques that can ultimately be incorporated into a computing system to make it more effective or efficient, or to make it accessible and helpful to a larger population of users. This interest leads to the study of ways of representing information, algorithms for manipulating information, programming languages in which to express algorithms, operating systems that monitor the flow and processing of information in a computing system or network, designs of powerful, new computer architectures, mathematical theories that give theoretical limits on the capabilities of computers, and ways to extend the domain of their applicability. The Department of Computer Science offers programs of graduate study leading to the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Computer Science:

• Master of Science program, with thesis or non-thesis options; two specialized tracks (in Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence) are available within that program;
• Doctor of Philosophy program.

Admission to Graduate Studies
To be considered for admission to graduate study in the Department of Computer Science, a student must have received a bachelor’s degree with at least a B average from an accredited college or university. Those who have been working professionally in the computer field may be given special consideration. However, the professional computer scientist must be knowledgeable in a number of areas besides programming. Thus, the applicant whose enthusiasm for programming has led to the acquisition of considerable programming skill at the expense of satisfactory academic achievement is generally not regarded favorably. Students are required to submit general GRE scores. The advanced GRE score in computer science is recommended. For foreign students, the TOEFL score is also required.

Prerequisites for Graduate Study
To be admitted to full graduate status, an applicant should minimally have completed the following courses or their equivalents.

In Computer Science: A total of at least six courses.

1. All of the following core courses:
   1. Discrete Structures (CS 0441)
   2. Information or Data Structures (CS 0445)
   3. Computer Organization/Assembly Language (CS 0447)
2. One in each of the following advanced course categories:
   1. Theory of computer science (CS 1510 or CS 1511)
   2. Programming languages design (CS 1520 or CS 1621)
   3. Systems software (CS 1550 or CS 1651)

In Mathematics: A total of at least five courses.

1. Three calculus courses (Math 0220, 0230, 0240)
2. One course in linear algebra (preferably Math 1180, or Math 0280)
3. One course in probability and statistics that explicitly requires calculus as a prerequisite (Stat 1151 or 1152)

Part-time graduate students are welcome, but the Department of Computer Science cannot guarantee that a degree can be earned solely through attendance in late afternoons and evenings.

A number of financial aid opportunities are available on a competitive basis. Many of these positions are teaching assistantships or fellowships requiring approximately 20 hours of work per week in conjunction with the department’s curriculum. A foreign student needs a TOEFL score of at least 600 in order to be considered for a teaching assistantship or fellowship. Because of substantial amounts of research funding awarded to Department of Computer Science faculty, they also offer a number of graduate research assistantships. Other opportunities, such as special fellowships, occur with varying frequency.

Financial need should be indicated on the application form. The Department of Computer Science is anxious to provide assistance whenever warranted and possible, but the applicant must be eligible for full graduate status in order to be considered for an assistantship or fellowship. Each such appointment is normally supplemented with a scholarship to cover tuition.

The University also pays the annual premium for individual medical insurance for a Teaching Assistant, Teaching Fellow or Graduate Student Researcher who holds an appointment during the Fall and Spring Terms.

Completion of the following courses:

1. Three required courses:
   1. CS 1510 or CS 1511*
   2. CS 2410 or CS 2510
   3. CS 2210 or CS 2710
2. Five elective, graduate-level courses in CS.
3. Either:
   1. A six-credit (minimum) MS thesis (CS 2000), or
   2. A three-credit MS project (CS 2910), and one additional course.

Thesis/project requirement: This satisfies the FAS comprehensive requirement.

1. For the thesis option, a written thesis is required, with a final oral examination conducted by the faculty advisor and a thesis committee.
2. For the non-thesis option, a project report must be produced and defended before the faculty advisor.

1. All courses except project or thesis must be taken for a letter grade.
2. The student must receive a grade of C or better for each course, and must maintain an overall average of B or better.
3. Other requirements, options and procedures are detailed in the department’s current Regulations for Graduate Study.

Completion of the following courses:

1. CS 2110, CS 2150, CS 2210, CS 2410, CS 2510, and CS 2710. These six courses represent the “core” areas and are required.
2. Any additional six graduate (2000-level or higher) courses, including at least two at the 3000 level. None of these six courses can be independent studies, directed research, or thesis or dissertation research.

NOTE: All courses must be taken for a letter grade. The student must receive a grade of B or better in each of the core courses, and a grade of C or better in each of the six additional courses. In addition, he or she must maintain an average of B or better. Only 2000- or 3000-level courses are acceptable; 1000-level courses and below do not count toward the PhD degree.

PhD Preliminary Examinations: These are designed to determine that a student in the PhD program has the breadth of knowledge to undertake independent research in computer science. The student is expected to:

1. Take at least one core-area exam per year starting in the third term of full-status registration.
2. Pass four out of the six core area exams within three years after full-status registration. A student may attempt each area exam twice.

Comprehensive Examinations: After completing most of the additional courses and seminars comprising the remainder of the program and after selecting a dissertation topic, the student must pass both an oral comprehensive examination and an examination of his/her dissertation proposal. The purpose of the comprehensive examination is to determine that a student has sufficient depth of knowledge in a specialized area of computer science to undertake dissertation research on a topic in that area. The purpose of the dissertation proposal presentation and examination is for the student’s faculty committee to (a) judge the dissertation topic and the student’s preparedness for it, and (b) give substantive feedback to the student on the topic and the methods of research to be used. Normally, the comprehensive examination should be completed within one to two years of passing the preliminary examinations.

Residency Requirement: The student is required to spend at least two successive terms in full-time graduate study during the degree program. This residency requirement must be satisfied by the end of the term in which the comprehensive examination is taken.

Dissertation: The research block requires that the student perform research and write a dissertation describing an original investigation in his/her area of specialization. An open, oral defense of the dis­sertation is also required.

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