Computer Science and Engineering

The Computer Science and Engineering department spans multiple areas of research including design, architecture, and applications of computing systems; the organization of operating systems, storage, and databases, as well as the languages used to program them and the techniques used to ensure their secure operation; theory; data science; networking; wireless and mobile communication; internet of things; network security; pervasive computing; and technology management.

Computer Engineering focuses on the design, analysis, and application of computers and on their applications as components of systems. The UCSC Department of Computer Engineering sustains and strengthens its teaching and research program to provide students with inspiration and quality education in the theory and practice of computer engineering. 

Computer Science is the study of the theoretical and practical aspects of computer technology and computer usage. Areas of research in the CSE department include analysis of algorithms, artificial intelligence, pattern recognition and retrieval, machine learning, neural networks, computer graphics, computer animation, scientific visualization, computer and sensor vision, image processing, image synthesis, multimodal human-computer interaction, programming languages and environments, software engineering, Web and Internet engineering, real-time embedded systems, computer security, databases, parallel and distributed computation, operating systems, and storage systems.

In cooperation with other departments on campus, CSE also offers a strong research group in bioinformatics, computational biology, biomolecular engineering, and human genome mapping. The CSE department enjoys a close relationship with the Electrical and Computer Engineering, Applied Mathematics, and Statistics departments. Faculty members carry out joint research projects, supervise students, and teach courses for these departments. The M.S. degree requires either a master's thesis or an approved project and is usually completed in two years, although it is possible to complete the program in one year. The Ph.D. degree is usually completed in five years.