1996 Graduate Requirements - Computer Science
Effective Fall 1996-Spring 2001
The Computer Science (CS) Department offers a graduate program leading to the master of science (M.S.) and doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees. Our student/faculty ratio is low, making it possible for us to give students individual attention and for students to pursue programs that fit their individual needs.
The field of computer science is a dynamic discipline, and its central role in modern society is widely acknowledged. It deals with the issues of representing and using knowledge, encoding and transmitting messages, and computing and communicating symbolic information. Computer scientists try to find techniques for understanding the behavior of complex systems involving the interaction of many components, for organizing volumes of data, and for coordinating the activities of multiple agents. They enunciate principles of structure and process that govern information, just as the laws of physics govern the physical universe. Researchers create new languages to express computational processes unambiguously and succinctly. They develop conceptual tools for analyzing and synthesizing complex symbolic systems and use new technologies to realize abstract algorithms.
From the multitude of interrelated topics that comprise computer science, we have chosen the following areas in which to concentrate our research efforts:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Computer Graphics and Image Processing
- Computer Systems
- Theoretical Computer Science
The theory of computation, including the analysis of algorithms and complexity, underlies studies in all of these research areas.
Requirements for the Master's Degree
The masters program is organized so that a student can complete the degree in one year, although students are normally expected to take two years. The details of the M.S. requirements are as follows:
Course Requirements
Each student is required to take a minimum of nine CS or CE graduate courses, as follows:
- The core sequence: CS 201, Analysis of Algorithms ; CE 202, Computer Architecture ; and CS 203, Programming Languages and Environments. These courses cannot be used to satisfy the breadth requirement.
- Three additional courses selected from any of the breadth categories. No more than one course from any one area may be used to satisfy this requirement.
- Three elective courses selected from CS or CE 200-level (graduate) courses, which may include both 297, Independent Study / Research, and 299, Thesis Research.
- The course of study must be approved by the students adviser. Substitutions of courses from other disciplines will be allowed for the elective requirement if approved by the students adviser and the CS graduate director.
Thesis
Each student must write a masters thesis. A student submits a written thesis proposal to a CS or CE faculty member. If the faculty member accepts this proposal, he or she becomes the students adviser and is in charge of supervising the writing of the masters thesis. When the thesis is completed, it is submitted to and must be accepted by a review committee consisting of the thesis adviser and at least two additional readers.
Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree
Although we encourage our students to acquire a masters degree as an intermediate step toward a Ph.D., the masters degree is not a requirement for a Ph.D. degree. The requirements for the Ph.D. are as follows:
Degree Course Requirements
- Each student is required to take a minimum of eleven CS or CE graduate courses, as follows: The core sequence: CS 201, Analysis of Algorithms; CE 202, Computer Architecture; and CS 203, Programming Languages and Environments. These courses cannot be used to satisfy the breadth requirement.
- Three additional courses selected from any of the breadth categories. No more than one course from any one area may be used to satisfy this requirement.
- Five elective courses selected from CS or CE 200-level (graduate) courses, excluding 297, Independent Study / Research, and 299, Thesis Research.
- The course of study must be approved by the students adviser. Courses from other disciplines may be used to fill the elective requirement with prior approval of the students adviser and the CS graduate director.
Examination and Dissertation
Each student writes a Ph.D. dissertation. The dissertation must show the results of in-depth research, be an original contribution of significant knowledge, and include material worthy of publication. As the first step, a student submits a written dissertation proposal to a CE or CS faculty member. By accepting the proposal, the faculty member becomes the dissertation supervisor. The dissertation proposal is publicly and formally presented, in an oral qualifying examination given by a four-member faculty committee approved by the graduate committee and the graduate council. The student must submit his or her written dissertation proposal to all members of the committee and the graduate assistant one month in advance of the examination.
Students are advanced to candidacy after they have completed the course requirements, passed both the preliminary and qualifying examinations (or just the qualifying examination if passed prior to the end of the student's third year in the program), cleared all Incompletes from their records, and paid the filing fee. Students who have not advanced to candidacy by the end of their fourth year will be placed on academic probation.
Each Ph.D. candidate submits the completed dissertation to a reading committee at least one month prior to the dissertation defense. (The reading committee, which should be formed the quarter after advancing to candidacy, consists of the dissertation supervisor and two readers appointed by the graduate committee upon the recommendation of the dissertation supervisor.) The candidate presents his or her research results in a public seminar sponsored by the dissertation supervisor. The seminar is followed by a defense of the dissertation to the reading committee and attending CE and CS faculty, who will then decide whether the dissertation is acceptable or requires revision. Successful completion of the dissertation fulfills the final academic requirement for the Ph.D. degree.
Transfer Credit
With the approval of the adviser and the graduate director, Ph.D. students who already have a masters degree from another institution may substitute up to three graduate-level courses from their previous university. Petitions for transfer credit from another institution are not considered until a student has completed at least one quarter at UCSC.
Petitions for course substitutions must designate a specific CE/CS graduate-level course. They should be submitted along with the transcript from the other institution or UCSC extension. For courses taken at other institutions copies of the syllabi, exams, and other course work should accompany the petition. Such petitions are not considered until the completion of at least one quarter at UCSC.
A total of at most three courses may be transferred from concurrent enrollment and other institutions.
Review of Progress
Full-time students are expected to complete both the core and breadth course requirements within two years. Each year, the faculty reviews the progress of every student. Students not making adequate progress towards completion of degree requirements (see Graduate Handbook for policy on satisfactory academic progress) are subject to dismissal from the program.
During the review, a students performance in all courses is evaluated to determine whether he or she should continue in the Ph.D. program or pursue a masters degree. This decision is based upon how well the student has distinguished himself or herself in all courses taken and whether he or she has shown the ability to pursue independent research.