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Graduate students who have exhibited a high degree of scholastic proficiency and given evidence of ability for independent scholarly work may consider extending their goals toward the degree of doctor of philosophy. The preliminary requirements for admission to the program include the following:
Applicants must include GRE general exam scores, two letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose, and all relevant academic records, in addition to the completed application form.
The Ph.D. program consists of 3 Parts: A) Courses and qualifying exams; B) Selection of an adviser, survey of research area, and oral presentation of survey paper; C) Preparation and defense of a scholarly dissertation which embodies an original research contribution. In order to maintain Ph. D. candidacy reasonable progress must be made, including taking and passing the qualifying exam in a timely manner.
A) Courses and Qualifying exam Courses:
A minimum of 90 units of graduate work beyond the BS degree, including at least 24 units of dissertation, and at least 60 units of course work is required for the Ph.D. degree. Qualitative rather than quantitative considerations will determine the final approval of the program of graduate study; however, the following should be included: a. The basic MS requirement in computer science; b. A major concentration in a computer science area; c. A minor concentration in an area other than computer science (a minimum of four courses). Requirements b and c must be approved by the Department of Computer Science. Qualifying exam: The qualifying exam is given once a year, and consists of three parts: 1) Algorithms and Theory of Computation, 2) Architecture and Operating Systems, 3) Programming Languages and Compilers, and Computer Applications. The exams are based on a reading list, available from the department. Each section of the exam is largely, but not entirely, supported by several courses. However, the reading list of the exam, not the syllabus of the supporting courses, determines the required knowledge. Students entering Poly with a Bachelor’s degree will normally take the exam within two years. Students entering Poly with a Master’s degree in Computer Science are advised to take the qualifying exams within a year from entering the Ph.D. program.
B) Choosing an adviser and the formation of a committee:
After passing the qualifying exam, students should begin preparing to conduct thesis research. The first step is choosing an adviser, and agreeing on a research area. In a second step a faculty committee, chosen by the head of the program, will be formed. To develop depth of knowledge in a specific area and to demonstrate written and oral communication skills, each Ph.D. student must write a survey paper and give an oral presentation to the committee. The committee will judge the paper based on the writing, the content, the critical thinking exhibited, the oral presentation, and the student’s ability to answer questions in the area surveyed. The topic of the survey paper will be chosen in consultation with the adviser, who will also instruct the student about the format and acceptable content of the survey paper. The paper should be completed within one year of finishing the qualifying exams. In order for the student to be able to complete the survey paper requirement in a timely manner, students whose spoken or written English language skills are deficient are required to remedy these deficiencies as soon as possible. One way to do this is by taking ESL and/or public speaking courses offered by the Humanities department.
C) Dissertation:
The third, and most substantial, aspect of the Ph.D. program is the thesis. The thesis must embody a significant original research contribution and must be written in accepted scholarly style. The
research should be conducted in close consultation with the student’s adviser and committee. It is strongly recommended that at least one paper on the research be submitted to a refereed archival
journal. When the adviser feels that sufficiently significant research results have been obtained and that the thesis has been written in an acceptable way, a thesis defense, consisting of an oral presentation by the candidate and questions by the committee, will be scheduled.
Additional requirements for the Ph.D. thesis are available from the office of the Dean of Graduate Studies.