The Department of Computer Science and Engineering offers a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, after completion of the following degree requirements. It provides a research-oriented education in preparation for a career in research, industry, or academia and explores the fundamental aspects of computer science and engineering as well as their applications.
Satisfactory completion of CS 287 (Colloquium in Computer Science) each quarter of enrollment.
Course Work
The course requirements for the Ph.D. degree ensure that Ph.D. students are exposed to fundamental concepts and tools (core requirement), a deep up-to-date view of their research specialty area (depth requirement), and an advanced, up-to-date view of some topics outside their area (breadth requirement). Students are expected to complete all of these course requirements in the first two years of the program. These requirements consist of 44 quarter units of approved graduate or upper-division undergraduate courses, satisfying all four of the following coursework categories. All of these courses must be taken for a letter grade, and no course can be counted toward more than one category. Students who have completed similar courses elsewhere may petition for a waiver of a required course or for substitution of an alternative course.