Computer Science Degree

The UCI General Catalogue is the official guide to all degree and graduation requirements; the information below is intended for general planning purposes only.

Computer Science (CS) (M.S. and Ph.D.)

The Computer Science degree is a broad and flexible program which offers students opportunities for graduate study in the full spectrum of intellectual activity in computer science. more »

Fall 2012 to Current Course Requirements
Degree Core:

The set of core and elective courses chosen by a student must be approved by the student's research advisor before advancement to candidacy. Faculty associated with each research area will provide suggested curricula for that area to guide students in their selection of courses. These curricula will also help Ph.D. students to prepare for their candidacy examination (see below) which must be taken in a specific research area.

Students must complete at least 47 units of course work with an average GPA of at least 3.5 for Ph.D. students and 3.0 for M.S. students. Students must receive a B or better in each course counted towards meeting this requirement. In addition, four of the courses used must come from the set of Core Courses listed below, and each of the four must come from a different Core area.
  • Required:
    • Three quarters of CS 200S
  • Core Courses: select four areas from the list of seven below. From each area, select at least one of the courses listed for that area:
    • CS 260, CS 261 or CS 263: Data Structures and Algorithms
    • CS 250A or CS 244: Architecture/Embedded Systems
    • CS 241, CS 243 or CS 230: System Software
    • CS 271 or CS 273A: Artificial Intelligence
    • CS 232, CS 203 or CS 212: Networks/Multimedia
    • CS 222 or CS 223: Database Systems
    • CS 206 or CS 211A: Scientific and Visual Computing
Electives

Students must also take seven elective courses which can be any set of CS, Informatics or Statistics courses, including the above core courses, but excluding 290, 298, 299, or any course with a suffix of "S".

Two of these courses can be graduate courses offered by a department outside of ICS with written consent of the advisor. (M.S. students must obtain written consent from the Computer Science Vice Chair for Graduate Studies).

Two of the courses can be undergraduate courses from the following list: CS 111, CS 112 CS 122A, CS 132, CS 142A, CS 143A, CS 152, CS 161, CS 171, CS 178, ICS 161, ICS 162, ICS 163, ICS 166. Students may not retake courses they have used toward an undergraduate degree and receive credit toward the graduate requirements.

Similarly, students may not take and count undergraduate courses in areas where they have already moved into graduate-level coursework. (The purpose of these undergraduate elective options are to help students to remedy undergraduate background deficiencies).

No more than two undergraduate courses or CS 295s may be taken to satisfy elective course requirements.

M.S. students completing the thesis option must take two quarters of CS 298 (4 units each) with a thesis advisor; these may substitute for two electives.

Ph.D. students are requried to serve as teaching assistants for at least two quarters.

MS Thesis/Examination

Each student must 1) pass a comprehensive examination given by CS faculty. The examination covers the core requirements and is given within each core course, or 2) turn in a thesis which will be defended and approved in accordance with UCI Senate Policy.

Research project for the Ph.D. Degree

Ph.D. students must find a faculty advisor and successfully complete a research project with that faculty member by the end of their second year. In coordination with this project the student must take at least one independent studies course (CS 299) with the advisor. By the end of the second year, the student must present the outcome of the research in a technical report, which must be approved by the advisor.

Ph.D. Candidacy Exam

The objective of the candidacy exam is to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of an area of computer science and readiness to carry out independent research at the doctoral level in that area. The student must complete all course requirements and the research project prior to advancing to candidacy.

All requirements for candidacy including the candidacy exam must be completed by the end of the third year (or, for students with a previous MS in computer science or a related field, by the end of the second year). If the student does not pass on the first trial, they will be allowed until the end of the first quarter of the next year to advance to candidacy.

The candidacy committee will consist of five faculty members, the majority of whom must be members of the student’s program, to administer the exam according to UCI Senate Policy. Please see the ICS Graduate Office for policies regarding the advancement committee membership.

The student takes an oral exam, administered by the five-member committee, during which s/he is tested on knowledge relevant to the chosen area of specialization. Each area is defined by a set of topics and reading list, which are available in the documents below:

Dissertation Topic Defense

The student must produce a substantial written document representing the dissertation plan. This must include the proposed dissertation abstract, a dissertation outline, and a detailed plan for completing the work.

A dissertation defense committee is formed in accordance with UCI Senate Policy. The dissertation committee must unanimously approve the student’s proposal. At the discretion of the student’s advisor, the student may be required to give an oral presentation of the proposed plan to the committee. This must be completed by the end of the fourth year.

Doctoral Dissertation and Final Examination

Ph.D. students are required to complete a Ph.D. dissertation in accordance with Academic Senate policy. In addition, they must pass an oral dissertation defense which consists of a public seminar presenting results followed by a private examination by the doctoral committee and other interested members of the faculty of the Computer Science department.

More about the degree...

The field of computer science is concerned with the design, analysis and implementation of computer systems as well as the use of computation as it is applied to virtually every field of study and use in the everyday world.

Computer systems can range in scope from tiny embedded systems to the internet as a whole. Research in computer science involves mathematical analysis, empirical experimentation and the implementation of proto-type systems.

Core research areas include artificial intelligence and machine learning, bio-informatics, computer architecture, embedded systems, graphics and visual computing, databases and information management, multimedia, networked and distributed systems, programming languages and compilers, security and cryptography, design and analysis of algorithms, scientific computing, and ubiquitous computing.

To refer to the 2011 Degree Requirements please click here.

To refer to the 2010 Degree Requirements please click here.