Graduate Program - PhD
This guide is intended to give you a simple overview of the requirements for a Ph. D. degree in Computer Science. For a more complete discussion of the rules and exceptions, please see Chapter 3: From Matriculation to Graduation of the Graduate Administrative Handbook, published by the Graduate School. All incoming PhD students must register for an orientation course: CSC600 (Computer Science Graduate Orientation).
- Requirements
- Registration and Residence
- Advisory Committee and Plan of Graduate Work
- Curriculum
- Course Work
- Colloquium Attendance
- Written Prelim Exam
- Oral Prelim Exam
- Final Oral Exam
- Dissertation
- Patent Agreement
- Minors
- Diplomas
Requirements
In addition to completing required coursework as well as that specified by the Advisory Committee (54 or more credits beyond the MS, or 72 total credits without an MS), PhD students must demonstrate breadth of knowledge, pass a series of examinations, and write a substantial original scholarly dissertation.
A student's Written Preliminary Examination is usually based on work performed in six credits of CSC 890, Doctoral Preliminary Exam. It may also be based on other research or a Master's thesis. The work for this exam must be substantially that of the student with minimal help from the advisor. The purpose of this exam is to measure research aptitude, preparation (including knowledge of a specialization area), and methodology. It is expected that the student will have conducted an extensive literature search of a problem area, identified a possible research problem and obtained some preliminary research results in that area. The examining committee seeks to determine if the student is capable of doing PhD level research. The student must take this exam for the first time before the start of the 5th semester (previous MS degree) or the 6th semester (no previous MS degree).
In the Oral Prelim Exam, the student is expected to present a proposal for their dissertation research. They are expected to outline the expected research topics for their dissertation. The student should have made progress on that research so as to convince their committee that the research is both significant and feasible. As the research progresses after passing the Oral Prelim Exam, it may be necessary for the research topics to change modestly, but the students advisory committee should be appraised of and approve the changes. As indicated by the name, this is a preliminary proposal for research and it is not intended that the major part of the research be already completed.
The Final Oral Examination is a public dissertation defense. Its purpose is to ensure that the student's completed work is indeed substantial and original, and to celebrate the student's scholarly attainment. Typically the student's oral presentation is one hour long. It is followed by a period for questions from the Advisory Committee and the audience.
Registration and Residence
After a student is admitted to the Graduate School and enrolls for the first
time, he/she is required to maintain continuous registration, i.e., be
enrolled each semester, excluding summer sessions, until he/she has either
graduated or his/her graduate program has been terminated. Exceptions to
this rule can be found in the Graduate Administrative Handbook.
There are minimum registration requirements for all Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants, and Fellows who are eligible for the tuition support plan and health insurance. These students must register for 9 hours or more for at least 8 Fall and/or Spring semesters. (6 semesters for doctoral students who hold a master's in a relevant field. Other circumstances can require up to 10 full-time semesters, see the Graduate Administrative Handbook.) After this time, they must register for 3 hours or more each Fall or Spring semester as long as they have an assistantship or fellowship that makes them eligible for the tuition support plan and health insurance.
A student working toward a doctoral degree is expected to be registered for graduate work at NC State for at least 6 semesters beyond the baccalaureate degree. One residence credit is earned for each semester which carries 9 or more credit hours. At least two residence credits must be secured in continuous residence (registration in consecutive semesters) as a graduate student at the University, but failure to take courses in the summer does not break continuity. Please see http://www.ncsu.edu/grad/handbook/section3_15.php for the complete discussion of residence credits.
All students admitted to doctoral programs are allowed a maximum of six calendar years from admission to the doctoral program to attain candidacy for the degree, and a maximum of ten calendar years to complete all degree requirements.
Advisory Committee and Plan of Graduate Work
All students in the Ph. D. program must have a graduate advisor who is a member of the Graduate Faculty in Computer Science. The graduate advisor is appointed by the Director of Graduate Programs. The graduate advisor serves as chair or co-chair of the committee.
The committee will consist of at least four Graduate Faculty members, one of whom represents the minor field if a minor has been declared. Even if a minor has not been declared, at least one committee member must have an affiliation outside the department (this requirement is usually easy to satisfy since many of the CSC faculty are also affiliated with other programs, such as CPE, OR, etc.). The committee is indicated on the Plan of Graduate Work, which is submitted when the student has completed 12 hours of graduate coursework. In this way, the committee is officially recommended by the DGP, and must be approved by the Graduate School at the time of the approval of the Plan of Graduate Work.
The Plan of Graduate Work should:
- include both a list of the course work to be undertaken (in all programs) and the dissertation topic.
- be developed by the student and his/her advisory committee.
- be approved by the committee and the DGP of Department Head prior to submission to the Gradute School for final approval.
- be submitted upon completion of 12 hours of the doctoral program.
The template for the Doctoral Plan of Graduate Work can be downloaded from this location and then printed and submitted in hard copy.
Curriculum
The NC State Graduate School requires all PhD candidates to complete 72 credit hours. The Department of Computer Science requires students to take four core courses and two CSC 700 level courses. These requirements mandate a total of six graded CSC courses.
If a PhD candidate has earned a Master's degree from NC State Computer Science, this student may count up to 36 hours earned from this degree toward the doctoral program. If a candidate experienced a break in enrollment during their Master's studies at NC State, they may only count 18 hours toward the PhD.
A candidate with a Master's degree in Computer Science or a closely related area from an institution other than NC State may count up to 18 hours.
Course Work
Doctoral degrees at NC State require a minimum of 72 graduate credit hours beyond the bachelor's degree. For a student who has a master's degree, a maximum of 18 hours of relevant graduate credit may be applied toward this minimum, upon the recommendation of the student's Graduate Advisory Committee and the DGP. If a student completes a master's degree at NC State and continues for a doctoral degree without a break in time, up to 36 credit hours taken while in master's status may, upon approval, be used to meet minimum requirements for the doctoral degree.
To graduate, a student must have a minimum 3.0 average on all graduate course work, as well as all courses on his or her Plan of Graduate Work. This policy is strictly enforced. Any student with a GPA less than 3.0 cannot hold an assistantship. A student's graduate study will be terminated if 18 or more credit hours at the 400 level or above have been attempted with a GPA of less than 3.0.
Core Course Requirements
*PhD students are required to take two courses in each category listed below,
for a total of four core courses, during their first three semesters (or first
27 hours in the case of part time students) and attain a GPA of 3.5 in these
core courses. PhD students are required to declare their core courses in their
plans of work (and point out prerequisite-based substitutions, as in "CSC 720 is
used in place of CSC 520 for a Systems course"). However, the replacement course
and the core course must be in exactly the same area so that, for example CSC
513 cannot be used
to replace CSC 501
even though CSC 501
is a prerequisite for CSC
513. You may use CSC 573 or CSC 576 in place of CSC 570 since they are in the same area. No special topics courses (CSC 59x or 79x ) are allowed to
satisfy any core course requirements.
Category 1
Theory: CSC 505 (Algorithms), CSC 512 (Compiler construction), CSC 565 (Graph theory), CSC 579 (Performance evaluation), CSC 580 (Numerical analysis), CSC 707 (Theory of computation).
Category 2:
Systems: CSC 501 (Operating systems), CSC 506 (Parallel architectures), CSC 510 (Software engineering), CSC 520 (Artificial intelligence), CSC 540 (Database systems), CSC 562 (Graphics), CSC 570 (Networks).
PhD Course Requirement Summary |
Credit Hours |
Core courses (four) |
12 |
Computer Science 700-level courses (two) |
6 |
Written Qualifying Exam (CSC 890/CSC 690) |
6 |
Orientation Course (CSC 600) |
1 |
Computer Science graduate electives, Computer Science research credits |
47 |
Total |
72 |
Courses cannot be double counted for the core and the 700-level requirements.
All Computer Science credits must be at or above the 500 level. At most 3 credits outside Computer Science may be at the 400 level.
Colloquium Attendance
Several times each semester, researchers from inside and outside the University make hour-long public presentations on their work. Each PhD student must attend eight such presentations and complete and return a Colloquium Attendance Form for each. The list of colloquia approved for this purpose is found here.
Written Prelim Exam
A student's Written Preliminary Examination is usually based on work performed in six credits of CSC 890, Doctoral Preliminary Exam. It may also be based on other research or a Master's thesis. The work for this exam must be substantially that of the student with minimal help from the advisor. The purpose of this exam is to measure research aptitude, preparation (including knowledge of a specialization area), and methodology. It is expected that the student will have conducted an extensive literature search of a problem area, identified a possible research problem and obtained some preliminary research results in that area. The exam is not expected to measure research accomplishments as such. The examining committee seeks to determine if the student is capable of doing PhD level research. The student must take this exam for the first time before the start of the 5th semester (previous MS degree) or the 6th semester (no previous MS degree).
The student should register for six credits for this exam (in CSC890, "Doctoral Preliminary Exam"). These six credits can be spread over any semester up to and including the semester the exam must be taken. The student must have an advisor by the time of the exam. The student is expected to work independently, with guidance from the advisor. The exam topic must be approved by the advisor in advance. There must be both a written report and an oral presentation. The report should be around 7000 words. It is not acceptable to use a joint paper with the advisor as the written report since this represents joint work with the advisor rather than the student’s independent work. The oral presentation is open to all faculty and students in Computer Science.
The student, in consultation with the advisor, must submit to the DGP the names of five CSC faculty (other than your advisor) who have expertise in your topic. The student must also submit the title and a preliminary abstract of the paper. The DGP will create the examination committee consisting of the advisor, one of the five faculty from the topic area and one departmental faculty person. This should be done at least two months before the exam (more lead time is needed for end-of-the-semester or summer exams.)
The examiners use a review form that should include detailed, specific comments in the categories (i) originality, (ii) technical quality, and (iii) presentation quality (includes the oral presentation). Click here for a copy of the evaluation form used by faculty (PDF) for CSC 690/890. The student will be informed of the outcome of the exam immediately following the exam.
If the outcome of the exam is failure, the exam committee will determine if a retake is allowed. If a retake is allowed, failure of the retake will result in termination of the student's Ph.D. program.
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Oral Prelim Exam
Upon satisfactory completion of the written prelim exam and after completion of
all required courses and all courses relevant to the Preliminary Oral
Examination, the student submits a Request to Schedule the Preliminary Oral
Examination, at least two weeks prior to the desired examination date. The
student must have completed their Plan of Work (POW) at least one month prior to
the Oral Prelim examination date. This examination is conducted by the student's
advisory committee and is open to all Graduate Faculty members and Computer
Science students. The oral examination is designed to test the student's ability
to relate factual knowledge to specific circumstances, to use this knowledge
with accuracy and promptness, and to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding
of the field of specialization and related areas.
In the Oral Prelim Exam, the student is expect to present a proposal for their dissertation research. They are expected to outline the expected research topics for their dissertation. The student should have made progress on that research so as to convince their committee that the research is both significant and feasible. As the research progresses after passing the Oral Prelim Exam, it may be necessary for the research topics to change modestly, but the students advisory committee must be appraised of and approve the changes. As indicated by the name, this is a preliminary proposal for research and it is not intended that the major part of the research be already completed.
A unanimous vote of approval by the members of the advisory committee is required for the student to pass the Oral Prelim Exam. Approval may be conditioned, however, on the successful completion of additional work in some particular field(s). Failure to pass the preliminary oral examination terminates the student's work at this institution unless the examining committee recommends a reexamination. No reexamination may be given until at least one full semester has elapsed, and only one reexamination is permitted.
Final Oral Exam
The final oral examination is scheduled after the dissertation is complete
except for such revisions as may be necessary as a result of the examination,
but not earlier than one semester or its equivalent after successful completion
of the preliminary oral exam, and not before all required course work has
been completed or is currently in progress. The student submits a Request
to Schedule the Doctoral Oral Examination, at least 2 weeks prior to the
desired exam date, indicating that he or she wishes to schedule the final
oral examination.
The examination consists of the candidate's defense of the methodology used and the conclusions reached in the research, as reported in the dissertation. It is conducted by the student's advisory committee and is open to the University community.
A unanimous vote of approval of the advisory committee is required for passing the final oral examination. Approval may be conditioned, however, on the student's meeting specific requirements prescribed by the student's advisory committee. Failure of a student to pass the examination terminates his or her work at this institution unless the advisory committee recommends a reexamination. No reexamination may be given until one full semester has elapsed and only one reexamination is permitted.
Dissertation
The doctoral dissertation is the document presenting the results of the student's original investigation in the field of primary interest. It must represent a contribution to knowledge, adequately supported by data, and be written in a manner consistent with the highest standards of scholarship. Publication is expected.
The dissertation will be reviewed by all members of the advisory committee and must receive their approval prior to submission to the Graduate School. Information on the required form and organization of the dissertation, in addition to other regulations, is presented in the University's Thesis and Dissertation Guide. At the time of the dissertation's submission to the Graduate School, the student is also required to submit one copy each of the Survey of Earned Doctorate form and University Microfilms International Agreement form and to complete a brief, standard questionnaire about his or her experience as a graduate student at NC State. Students are encouraged to keep a copy of the Checklist for Submission of Theses and Dissertations to make sure they observe all the required steps.
The University also requires that all doctoral dissertations be microfilmed by University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI, including the publication of the abstract in Dissertation Abstracts International. The cost of this service is paid by the student. After the dissertation is available to the public the dissertation is sent off to be microfilmed. When the microfiche copy is returned to NCSU, it is available in the NCSU library. The Graduate School is 100% electronic and requires no paper copies of dissertations. All students are encouraged to check with her/his committee chair and department to verify if a bound copy is required.
Submission of a thesis or dissertation to the Graduate School must take place at least four weeks prior to the last day of classes in the semester or summer session in which the degree is to be conferred. Specific deadline dates are published at least one year in advance in the Graduate School Calendar.
We have a copy of the LaTeX style sheets used by previous CSC students for writing their dissertations. You can find these files on the ETD website. These files are provided without support, i.e., you'll need to figure out how to use them on your own, or get help from a student who is further along. We also strongly recommend attending an ETD workshop conducted by the Thesis Editor. You can find workshop schedules here.
Patent Agreement
Doctoral students must sign a statement agreeing to abide by the University's
patent policies before their Plan of Graduate Work will be approved. All
students are asked to sign the Patent Agreement by the end of their first
semester of enrollment. Copies of the Patent and Copyright Procedures of
NC State is available in departmental offices and in the Graduate School.
Minors
A Minor is not required
Diplomas
To order a diploma, a student must file a Diploma Order Request form, available from either their Graduate Secretary or the Graduate School. The cards are normally due to the Graduate School Office by the end of the third week of classes during the fall and spring semesters and by the graduation deadline noted in the Graduate School Calendar for the second summer session graduation. Until a Diploma Order Request form is filed, a diploma cannot be ordered.
Students graduating in the spring are usually awarded their diplomas during the commencement exercises. The diplomas for those students graduating in the fall, at the end of second summer session, and those students receiving permission to receive the degree in absentia are mailed by the Department of Registration and Records, which is also responsible for the ordering of diplomas.