The UCI General Catalogue is the official guide to all degree and graduation requirements; the information below is intended for general planning purposes only.
Concentration in Informatics - Software Track (INF-SW), (M.S. and Ph.D.)
Software research at UCI is aimed at creating new software technology and solutions, furthering the information revolution. Perspectives of engineering, science, mathematics, and human-computer interaction guide the work. The central goal of all the research is improvement in software development, evolution, deployment, quality, and cost-effectiveness. more »
- Fall 2007 - Current Degree Requirements
- Fall 2006 - Spring 2007 Degree Requirements
- Fall 2004 - Spring 2006 Degree Requirements
Students must complete the Survey courses, Informatics Core courses, Informatics Breadth courses and a focus track.
Software Informatics Track (INF-SW):
- Survey of Research and Research Methods:
- INF 201: Research Methodology for Informatics
- Note: Students in the MS program may substitute for INF 201 either two quarters of Seminar in Informatics Research (INF 208S) or one additional Informatics course numbered 200-299.
- Two quarters of Seminar in Informatics (Informatics 209S)
- Informatics Core Courses (select three) :
- Informatics Breadth:
- Two four-unit graduate courses in ICS, CS or Statistics, outside of Informatics.
- Electives (select three):
- INF 213: Formal Specification and Modeling
- INF 215: Software Analysis and Testing
- INF 217: Software Processes
- INF 219: Software Environments
- INF 221: Software Architecture
- INF 223: Applied Software Design
- INF 233: Knowledge-Based User Interfaces
- INF 235: Advanced User Interface Architecture
- INF 295 by Software faculty; no more than two 295s are permitted.
- Software Breadth :
- Three graduate courses outside of Software, drawn from a list maintained by the Software faculty (PDF, 52kb).
- ** MS students pursuing the thesis option may substitute two of these courses with two quarters of Inf 298 Thesis Supervision.
Each student must find an Informatics faculty advisor and successfully complete a research project with that faculty member by the end of the second year. The research project should be done over at least two quarters of independent study or thesis supervision (Informatics 299 or 298) with that faculty.
Each student must pass a written assessment. Students in the SW and ICT tracks must pass a written examination regularly administered by the department. This examination is based on predetermined reading lists maintained by the SW and ICT faculty. Students in the UBICOMP and GEN tracks must describe the research project in a publication-quality report, which must be approved by three UBICOMP and Informatics faculty.
Each student must pass the oral advancement to candidacy examination, which assesses the student’s ability to conduct, present, and orally defend research work at the doctoral level.
Students in the UBICOMP and GEN tracks, additionally to questions about the presented research, will also be asked questions about a predetermined list of papers. In the case of UBICOMP, that list is maintained by the UBICOMP faculty; in the case of GEN, that list is to be determined by the student’s committee.
The student must present a dissertation plan that includes the proposed dissertation abstract, a dissertation outline, a comprehensive survey of related work, and a detailed plan for completing the work. This plan must be unanimously approved by the dissertation committee.
The student is required to complete a doctoral dissertation in accordance with Academic Senate Policy. The student must also pass an oral dissertation defense which consists of a public presentation of the student's research followed by an oral examination by the student's doctoral committee. The dissertation must be approved unanimously by the committee.
All courses must be passed with a grade of B or better. M.S. and Ph.D. course requirements for each concentration are listed below.
NOTE: M.S. students pursuing the thesis option, two four-unit courses in Thesis Supervision (INF 298) must be substituted for two of the Software electives.
- Required:
- ICS 200: Seminar in Research in ICS (2 units)
- INF 231: Human-Computer Interaction (4 units)
- INF 211: Software Engineering (4 units)
- INF 261: Social Analysis of Computing (4 units)
- INF 209s: Three quarters of Seminar in Informatics (6 units)
- Two four-unit graduate lecture courses in ICS, outside of the field of Informatics
- Select five from the following (20 units):
- INF 233: Knowledge-Based User Interfaces
- INF 213: Formal Specification and Modeling
- INF 221: Software Architecture
- INF 215: Software Analysis and Testing
- INF 217: Software Processes
- INF 223: Applied Software Design Techniques
- INF 235: Advanced User Interface Architectures
- INF 219: Software Environments
- 295: Special Topics taught by Software area faculty; no more than two.
- *Breadth (12 units):
- Students need to choose three graduate courses outside of Software, drawn from a list maintained by the Software faculty.
All courses must be passed with a grade of B or better. M.S. and Ph.D. course requirements for each concentration are listed below. Please keep in mind that every student completing a degree in one of these eight areas must take the following core courses:
- One course from Theory selected from:
- One course from Architecture/CAD/Hardware selected from:
- One course in Software and Systems selected from:
NOTE: M.S. students pursuing the thesis option, two four-unit courses in Thesis Supervision (INF 298) must be substituted for two of the Software electives.
- Required:
- Select five from the following (20 units):
- INF 233: Knowledge-Based User Interfaces
- INF 213: Formal Specification and Modeling
- INF 221: Software Architecture
- INF 215: Software Analysis and Testing
- INF 217: Software Processes
- INF 223: Applied Software Design Techniques
- INF 235: Advanced User Interface Architectures
- INF 219: Software Environments
- 295: Special Topics taught by Software area faculty; no more than two.
- *Breadth (12 units):
- Students need to choose three graduate courses outside of Software, drawn from a list maintained by the Software faculty.
Software has transformed society in dramatic and powerful ways. From the World Wide Web to pilotless vehicles to spreadsheets, software systems inform, control, and enhance daily activities.
Software research at UCI is aimed at creating new software technology and solutions, furthering the information revolution. Perspectives of engineering, science, mathematics, and human-computer interaction guide the work. The central goal of all the research is improvement in software development, evolution, deployment, quality, and cost-effectiveness.
Specific research emphases of the software faculty include: analysis and testing, software understanding, empirically guided analysis, environments, software architectures, hypermedia, workflow, user interface software, process, formal methods, specification languages, extensible component-based software systems, distributed event-based systems, and programming languages.
A valuable and unusual feature of the concentration is the opportunity to work with the Software group's industrial partners. These companies provide opportunities for internships, support research projects, and provide a test-bed for evaluation of new ideas.
Graduates of the program have taken careers in research universities, industrial research laboratories, colleges, and industry.
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