Procedures & Requirements for Graduation - Computer Science PhD

Satisfactory performance of the student is judged not only by course grades and dissertation credit, but also by performance on a series of examinations described below.

Qualifying Examination

The qualifying examination consists of two parts, one oral examination and one written examination.

The oral qualifying  examination is an oral presentation with a written report that surveys the literature in the planned research area that a student may pursue. A few example papers, recommended by the PhD program committee will be posted and available to students for reference. The examining committee will be organized by the advisor if identified by the student, or by the program director if the advisor has not been chosen by the student. The examining committee consists of three faculty members from the host department.

The topic of the exam will be determined by the student's advisor in consultation with the examining committee. If the student does not have an advisor at the moment, the topic will be determined by the PhD program committee.

Students having any sponsorship via the advisor's research funding or departmental teaching should pass the oral exam by the end of the first year after admission to the program. Other PhD students should pass the oral qualifying examination by the end of the second year after admission to the program. The advisor or the program director may request one additional year and one more time for a student to pass the examination.

Waiver to the oral qualifying exam will be given if a student, as the first author, has one paper published or accepted for publication at a peer-reviewed international journal, or at a technical conference with selection rate <=40%.  

The written examination for the Computer Science focus area consists of four required topics: Computer Architecture, Operating Systems, Advanced Software Engineering, and Algorithms.

The examination takes place twice a year for all students in May and December.

A student can take the examination up to two times: Students only need to retake the failed topics in the subsequent attempt. Students having any sponsorship via the advisor's research funding or departmental teaching should pass all topics by the end of the second year after admission to the program. Other PhD students should pass all topics by the end of the   third year after admission to the program. The advisor or the program director may request one additional year and one more time for a student to take the examination with a sound reason; for example, the student has made significant progress in research with good publication(s). The request needs the approval of the PhD-CS program committee.

Syllabi and sample questions for the written exam are available here (Syllabi , Samples) for study purposes.

Waiver to the written qualifying examination will be given if the student has passed the required courses (CS 5200, CS 5500, CS 5300 and CS 5720) of the four qualifying examination topics at UCCS with a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or above. The program committee will decide if the grade of a transferred class can be used. Courses cannot be retaken to increase the GPA in order to qualify for the waiver.

Comprehensive Examination

The purpose of the comprehensive examination is to ensure that the student possesses the following:

• Sufficient grasp of the fundamentals of the chosen dissertation area to begin research, normally achieved through a thorough study of the current literature on the topic.
• Ability to conduct research.
• Ability to exchange ideas and information with members of the Advisory Committee.

PhD students cannot enroll in more than 24 credit hours of dissertation prior to passing the comprehensive exam.  Comprehension of existing literature and course material pertinent to the dissertation research, as well as the reasonableness of the unknown or undeveloped concepts that the student proposes, will be assessed by the Advisory Committee. The responsibility of the Advisory Committee is to review the research proposal and the qualifications of the student to complete the research successfully. If the research and the approach are found to be significant and appropriate and the student is judged capable of completing the research, the Advisory Committee will approve the research direction. If the Advisory Committee does not find the student ready to begin dissertation research, it must suggest further preparation by the student and plan on a subsequent comprehensive examination.

A passing grade in the examination is given if at least four of the five members of the Committee, including the student's advisor, vote affirmatively.

Final Examination (Dissertation Defense)

The dissertation must be based on original investigation. It must demonstrate mature scholarship and critical judgment, as well as a familiarity with the tools and methods of research. It must be written on the subject approved in the comprehensive examination.

Although publication is not the only criterion, generally, it is expected that a Ph.D. candidate at the dissertation defense stage has at least one significant article published or accepted for publication in peer-reviewed sources, such as well-recognized international journals and highly-selective international conference proceedings. The department criterion defines a significant publication as having ALL three of these characteristics: 1) Multiple formal written reviews, 2) Publication in a venue with < 40% acceptance rate, and 3) Indexed in major library databases.   If a candidate's publications do not meet these criteria, the candidate's advisor can request the committee to also consider other justifiable criteria including grants, patents, major software packages in widespread use, etc. All those achievements should be largely based on the study and research during the degree work.

After the dissertation has been completed, a final exam on the dissertation and related topics is conducted. This exam, which is conducted by the Advisory Committee, is oral and is open to anyone who wants to observe. More than one negative vote by members of the Advisory Committee disqualifies the candidate in the final exam. In case of failure, the final examination may be retaken after a period of time determined by the Advisory Committee.