School of Informatics and Computing

Program E-mail: info [at] cs [dot] indiana [dot] edu

Program URL: www.cs.indiana.edu

Curriculum

Curriculum
Courses
Faculty

Degrees Offered

Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy

Special Program Requirements

(See also general University Graduate School requirements.)

Admission Requirements

Admission to all graduate programs is by approval of the school’s graduate admission committees. Requirements for admission: baccalaureate degree (not necessarily with a concentration in computer science) and Graduate Record Ex­amination (subject test also desirable). Undergraduate course prerequisites may be satisfied by equivalent or more advanced courses, and in some cases by professional experience. Prereq­uisites common to all graduate requirements are course work in computer structures and organization, discrete structures and computing theory, and data structures.

Master of Science Degrees

(See School of Informatics and Computing Bulletin)

Doctor of Philosophy Degree

Course Requirements

A total of 90 credit hours of graduate-level course work is required. These courses are defined as any course listed in this bulletin that carries graduate credit. Note that no computer sci­ence courses in the A500-A598 range may be counted toward the 90 credit-hour requirement or toward the 24 credit-hour requirement specified as follows.

Computer Science Course Requirements

Ph.D. candidates must take at least 24 credit hours, normally eight courses, in computer science at the 500 level or above, subject to the following conditions:

1. P requirement: At least one must be a P course, with a substantial programming or software development com­ponent.
2. Essentials requirements: Of the eight courses, there must be at least one course in Foundations/Logic (indicated by middle digits 0/1) and one course in Software/Hardware Systems (indicated by middle digits 3/4). Both of these courses must be passed with a minimum grade of B+.
3. Area distribution requirements: Of the eight courses, there must be at least one course each in six of the nine areas (indicated by the middle digit 0-8 in advanced computer science courses).
4. Research course conditions: The Y790 course is excluded from these six area courses and cannot fulfill the P require­ment, but up to 6 hours of Y790 may be counted toward the 24 credit-hour requirement. Y890 and G901 are ex­cluded from the 24 credit hours in this requirement.
5. A grade average of B (3.0) is required for computer science courses, in addition to the University Graduate School’s requirement of a B (3.0) average for all courses taken.

Minor Area Requirement

Three options are available:

1. An external minor awarded by another Indiana University department or graduate program approved by the Com­puter Science Program.
2. An internal minor: 9 computer science credits, in courses other than reading and research, and in an area other than the student’s specialization. The area and the courses must be approved by the student’s advisory committee. These 9 credits cannot be counted toward the six-course require­ment.
3. An individualized interdisciplinary minor, as prescribed by this bulletin: at least 12 credits spanning at least two de­partments, to be recommended by the student’s advisory committee and approved by the dean in advance of any course work.

Qualifying Examination

The qualifying examination is given by the first semester of the student’s third year in the program. This examination is admin­istered by the advisory committee and is expected to have a written and an oral component.

Thesis Proposal

Given after completion of the qualifying examination, consisting of an oral presentation of a written research plan for the dissertation. This examination is given by the research committee.

Dissertation

A written elaboration of significant original research, which must be successfully presented to the research committee in a defense of dissertation as described in this bulletin.

Ph.D. Minor in Computer Science

Doctoral students in other departments may complete a minor in computer science by satisfying one of the following options:

1. Three computer science courses totaling not fewer than 9 credit hours at the 500 level or above. A500-level courses and 400-level courses are excluded with these exceptions: A595 (B401), B403, P423, P436, P438, B441, P442, and B443 are ap­proved for graduate credit toward the Ph.D. minor.
2. A593, A594, and any two courses totaling 6 credit hours or more from the list: A595, A596, plus the computer science courses meeting the requirements of the first option.