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Doctoral Degree
Overview
The Ph.D. is a degree reserved for students who demonstrate both a comprehensive understanding of computer science and an ability to do creative research. Each Ph.D. student will produce a significant piece of original research, presented in a written dissertation and defended in an oral examination. The expected level of quality is such that one or more conference or journal articles could be based on the research described in the dissertation. Along the way students will likely generate several other research papers, many of them co-authored with their dissertation adviser and other graduate students.
The structure of the Ph.D. program is intended to facilitate the process of learning how to do research. Early in the program students will be mainly concerned with required courses intended to build a foundation of knowledge that is essential for advanced research. As soon as possible, sometimes as early as their first year in the program, students will work on a directed research project under the close supervision of a faculty member. In the later stages of the program, students will take fewer courses and spend most of their time exploring their dissertation area in order to learn how to identify and solve open problems. The final step is to propose an independent research project, do the research, and then write and defend a dissertation.
The information on this page is a general outline of the steps leading up to the granting of a Ph.D. degree. For more details and for a list of specific requirements, refer to the Computer and Information Science section of the UO Bulletin.
Course Requirements
- Ph.D. students who enter the program without a Masters degree in computer science are required to take 48 credits in graduate classes.
- Core Courses
- (12 credits): Algorithms and Complexity (CIS 621), Structure of Programming Languages (CIS 624), Advanced Operating Systems (CIS 630)
- Cluster
- (12 credits): a required course plus two depth courses from a list of approved clusters. This list is updated yearly. Ph.D. students must earn a minimum of B- and an overall GPA of 3.5 in the six courses they use to satisfy the core and cluster requirements.
- Electives
- Ph.D. students must take an additional 24 credits of graduate-level courses, 12 of which must be from 600-level courses. Courses numbered 510 which appear on the approved course list may be included in any 500-level credits. For graduate level courses taken in other departments on campus, a petition to the Graduate Education committee is required. Students who enter with a Masters degree may petition the Graduate Education Committee to waive any of the above course requirements, indicating how their prior graduate work corresponds to the above courses. See the Graduate Coordinator for the petition.
- Minimum Annual Enrollment
- Ph.D. students are expected to enroll in at least six credits worth of 600-level courses each year. These six credits can be any 600-level course used to complete the core, cluster, or elective requirements, as described above. Note that Research (CIS 601), Dissertation (CIS 603), and Readings (CIS 605) can not be used to satisfy this requirement.
Directed Research Project (DRP)
Each student must complete a Directed Research Project (DRP) under the close supervision of a faculty member. The goals of the DRP are two-fold: One is to give a Ph.D. candidate an early opportunity for a research experience on a limited basis and under supervision of a faculty committee. The other is to give an early assessment of the candidate's research potential in the department's environment. The DRP must be initiated by the third quarter of residence for students admitted with master's degree in CS and by the sixth quarter for others.
The DRP is supervised by a faculty member and evaluated by a faculty committee selected by the student and advisor and approved by the Graduate Education Committee. The research project comprises:
- The definition and expected results of the project in the form of a Directed Research Project Contract
- Delivery of the materials constituting the results of the project and oral presentation of the results
- A private oral examination by the committee members
Oral Comprehensive Exam
A final step before beginning work on the dissertation research is an oral comprehensive exam. The student chooses an area of research and works closely with an adviser to learn the area in depth by surveying the current research and by learning research methods, significant achievements, and how to pose and solve problems. The student gradually assumes a more independent role and prepares for the oral comprehensive examination, which tests depth of knowledge in the research area. The graduate education committee appoints the oral comprehension examination committee, typically three members, after considering nominations from the student and the adviser. The examination comprises:
- A survey of the area in the form of a position paper and an annotated bibliography
- A public presentation of the position paper
- A private oral examination by committee members
After the oral comprehension examination, the committee decides whether the student is ready for independent research work; if so, the student is advanced to candidacy.
Dissertation and Defense
The final phase in a student's Ph.D. program is the dissertation. The student identifies a significant unsolved research problem and submits a written dissertation proposal to the dissertation committee.
The dissertation committee, which typically comprises three department members, is appointed by the graduate education committee after considering nominations from the student and the adviser. In addition to members from the department, the dissertation committee typically includes an outside examiner. This outside examiner should be a leading researcher in the candidate's field who is not at the University of Oregon. The outside member should be selected a year before the candidate's dissertation defense, and certainly no later than six months before. The department makes every effort to bring the outside examiner to campus for the dissertation defense.
The dissertation committee, which guides and evaluates the student's progress through completion of the degree, may request an oral presentation similar to the comprehensive examination to allow questions and answers about the proposed research.
The student then carries out the required research. The final stage is writing a dissertation and defending it in a public forum by presenting the research and answering questions about the methods and results. The dissertation committee, augmented by outside members according to university regulations, may accept the dissertation, request small changes, or require the student to make substantial changes and schedule another defense.
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