Graduate Study
The Department of Computer Science offers graduate work leading to the master of science degree in computer science and the doctor of philosophy in computer science.
Program Specific Admission Requirement
Applicants must meet the minimum standards of the university.
Acceptance will be based on the student's academic records.
High performing undergraduates in computer science can elect for Quick Start admission to the graduate program, allowing the sharing of up to six credit hours of 5000-level coursework toward the completion of both the B.S. and the graduate degree programs.
For the master's degree and the Ph.D. program, the following courses or their equivalent are considered preparatory for graduate work in computer science: COSC 3020, COSC 4100 or 4200, COSC 4740, and COSC 4780 or 4785. Students admitted to the program must show proficiency in these courses.
An applicant whose previous studies are in a field significantly removed from computer science may be admitted to the regular master's degree or the Ph.D. program on the condition that he or she take additional courses to remove deficiencies in his or her computer science background.
Admission to the master's degree program or the conferring of a master's degree will not constitute a de facto admission to the Ph.D. program.
M.S. Program
Each M.S. student will have a supervising committee of at least three members appointed. The committee will consist of at least two members of the computer science faculty and at least one non-COSC faculty member.
Both Plan A and Plan B students must complete the CORE REQUIREMENTS and the BREADTH REQUIREMENTS.
Both Plan A and Plan B students are required to formally defend (Plan A) or present (Plan B), their theses or papers, which describe their work, as a public colloquium before their supervising committees and a public audience. All defenses and presentations must be open and announced at least two weeks in advance. The thesis or paper must be distributed to the committee at least two weeks in advance of the defense or presentation. If the student does not pass the defense or presentation, the committee will instruct the student as to what needs to be accomplished (and by when) to pass.
Upon completion of the requirements for the Plan A or Plan B M.S. programs, a student enrolling in the Ph.D. program also meets the CORE REQUIREMENTS and the BREADTH REQUIREMENTS for the Ph.D. program. The Ph.D. oral qualifying exam may also be waived at the discretion of the student's Ph.D. supervising committee. Courses completed towards the M.S. degree may be counted towards the Ph.D. course requirements.
Plan A (thesis)
A total of at least 33 credit hours at the 4000 level or above must be completed. The student must complete a minimum of 29 hours of courses, including the CORE REQUIREMENTS and the BREADTH REQUIREMENTS, and a minimum of 4 hours of COSC 5960 (Thesis Research). At least 20 credit hours must consist of computer science department courses. At least 15 credit hours must be at the 5000 level, not including seminars, COSC 5050, Independent Study, and Research. No more than 6 hours of 4000-level computer science coursework may be counted toward the total credit requirement. Coursework from other departments may count towards degree requirements with the approval of the supervising M.S. committee.
Plan B (non-thesis)
A total of at least 33 credit hours at the 4000 level or above must be completed. The student must complete a minimum of 32 hours of courses, including the CORE REQUIREMENTS and the BREADTH REQUIREMENTS, and a minimum of 1 hour of COSC 5960 (Thesis Research). At least 20 hours must consist of computer science department courses. At least 15 credit hours must be at the 5000 level, not including seminars, COSC 5050, Independent Study, and Research. No more than 6 hours of 4000-level computer science coursework may be counted toward the total credit requirement. Coursework from other departments may count towards degree requirements with the approval of the supervising M.S. committee.
UW Coursework Requirements for M.S. Transfer Students: M.S. transfer students must complete at least 21 credit hours at the University of Wyoming. At least 12 credits of the CORE & BREADTH REQUIREMENTS must be taken at the University of Wyoming. No more than one class per category of breadth may be counted towards this 12-credit total. The research writing course and algorithms course credits may be counted toward this 12-credit total. Seminar credits may not be counted toward this 12-credit total.
|
Summary of Credit Requirements |
Plan A |
Plan B |
PhD |
|
Core: COSC 5110 and 5050 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
|
Core: COSC 5000 seminar |
2 |
2 |
4 |
|
Breadth: theory course, AI course, two systems courses |
12 |
12 |
12 |
|
Additional courses |
9 |
12 |
20 |
|
Thesis/Dissertation (COSC 5960/5980) |
4 |
1 |
12 |
|
Other credits (may include courses or COSC 5960/5980) |
0 |
0 |
18 |
|
Total |
33 |
33 |
72 |
Ph.D. Program:
Each doctoral student will have a supervising committee of at least five members appointed. The primary functions of this committee are to suggest coursework, to administer the qualifying, preliminary, and final examinations, and to oversee and evaluate the research of the candidate. The committee will consist of at least three members of the computer science department faculty and at least one non-COSC faculty member. The standards that this committee should consider when recommending programs of study are outlined in the following sections.
Coursework Requirements: A total of at least 72 credit hours at the 4000-level or above must be completed. A minimum of 42 of these credit hours must be taken as coursework, including the CORE REQUIREMENTS and the BREADTH REQUIREMENTS. A minimum of 12 hours of COSC 5980 (Dissertation Research) must be taken. No more than 6 hours of 4000-level computer science coursework and no more than 12 hours total of 4000-level coursework, may be counted toward the total credit requirement. Coursework from other departments may count towards degree requirements with the approval of the supervising Ph.D. committee. All course requirements MUST be completed or enrolled with satisfactory midterm progress prior to scheduling the Ph.D. Final Examination.
UW Coursework Requirements for Ph.D. Transfer Students: Ph.D. transfer students must complete at least 24 credit hours at the University of Wyoming. At least 12 credits of the CORE & BREADTH REQUIREMENTS must be taken at the University of Wyoming. No more than one class per category of breadth may be counted towards this 12-credit total. The research writing course and algorithms course credits may be counted toward this 12-credit total. Seminar credits may not be counted toward this 12-credit total.
Program: A program of original and innovative research will be undertaken by the candidate. At the end of this program, the candidate will document this research in a dissertation. The dissertation will present the details and results of the candidate's research in addition to providing a critical comparison with relevant previously-published works.
Each successful doctoral student must pass three examinations. These include a qualifying examination, a preliminary examination, and a final (dissertation) defense.
Qualifying Exam Criteria: The student must complete the CORE REQUIREMENTS and pass a closed oral examination on a research area administered by the supervising committee. Although closed to the public, faculty members of the Department of Computer Science are welcome to attend. The exam must be announced to the faculty at least two weeks in advance. The research area will be chosen in consultation with the committee. The student must demonstrate background knowledge of the state of the art in the area and preliminary work. This will involve, but is not limited to, presenting material and answering questions covering the relevant area knowledge. The format of the exam will be defined by the committee prior to the exam to allow for sufficient preparation. This examination is intended to motivate the candidate to review relevant literature extensively prior to pursuing the original and innovative portions of the research. Qualifying exam criteria must be completed within the first 4 semesters of enrollment in the Ph.D program. If the student does not pass the qualifying exam, the committee will instruct the student as to what needs to be accomplished (and by when) to pass. The closed oral examination requirement may be waived for a student who has completed an M.S. degree in COSC at UW if their M.S. presentation was at a research level that demonstrated background knowledge of the state of the art in the area, at the discretion of the supervising Ph.D. committee.
Preliminary Exam Criteria: Prior to scheduling the Preliminary Examination, the student must be making satisfactory progress towards completion of their course requirements, including the BREADTH REQUIREMENTS. A Preliminary Examination will consist of a presentation and defense of the already-completed portion of the dissertation research and the research that is proposed to complete the dissertation. The Preliminary Examination must be open and announced at least two weeks in advance. The preliminary examination must be completed within 8 semesters of enrollment in the Ph.D program. This examination is intended to motivate the candidate to make significant progress on work towards their Ph.D. dissertation and propose milestones for completion. If the nature of the proposed continued research and methodology is deemed to be sufficiently original and innovative by the supervising committee, then the committee will approve the research direction after having administered this examination. If the student does not pass the preliminary exam, the committee will instruct the student as to what needs to be accomplished (and by when) to pass.
Option for M.S. degree en route to Ph.D.: After completing the Qualifying Exam and Preliminary Exam, a Ph.D. student may additionally earn an M.S. degree after completing the remaining M.S. course requirements, including the BREADTH REQUIREMENTS. COSC 5980 may be substituted for COSC 5960 in the M.S. requirements at the discretion of the supervising committee. The M.S. degree will be granted only after completion of the preliminary exam. For an M.S. degree to be granted prior to completion of the preliminary exam, the student should enroll in the M.S. degree program and complete the remaining M.S. requirements.
Final Exam Criteria: Prior to scheduling the Ph.D. Final Examination (often referred to as a “defense”), all course requirements, including the BREADTH REQUIREMENTS, MUST be completed or enrolled with satisfactory midterm progress.The Final Examination (dissertation defense) will consist of an oral presentation by the candidate of his/her research and the results that were derived. At this examination, the candidate is expected to defend the research as being original and contributory to the discipline of computer science. The Final Examination must be open and announced at least two weeks in advance. The dissertation must be distributed to the supervising committee at least two weeks in advance of the Final Examination. If the student does not pass the final exam, the committee will instruct the student as to what needs to be accomplished (and by when) to pass.
Time to degree for part-time students: Exceptions to the completion deadlines for the Qualifying Exam and Preliminary Exam may be made for part-time students at the discretion of the supervising committee.
COMPUTER SCIENCE CORE REQUIREMENTS:
Each of the following must be completed with a B or better for COSC 5110 (algorithms) and a Satisfactory for COSC 5050 (research writing) and COSC 5000 (seminars):
● COSC 5110 Analysis of Algorithms
● COSC 5050 Research Writing for Computer Science
● COSC 5000 Seminars: 2 for M.S. students and 4 for Ph.D. students
Students are strongly encouraged to take COSC 5110 the first time it is offered after enrollment.
COMPUTER SCIENCE BREADTH REQUIREMENTS: Students must earn a grade of B or better in one class from the Theory category, one class from the Artificial Intelligence Category, and one class from each of two different Systems categories (e.g. one class from Programming Languages and Compilers and one class from Computer Graphics, Visualization, and Interaction). Although some courses may count under multiple categories, a course may only count once towards the breadth requirement. Thus there must be 12 credits taken to satisfy the breadth requirement. Only 5000-level computer science courses may count towards the breadth requirement.
Theory:
● COSC 5120 Theory of Computation
● COSC 5200 Computational Complexity
● COSC 5220 Languages and Automata
● COSC 5010/20 Theory topics courses as offered (must be approved by the department)
Artificial Intelligence:
● COSC 5550 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
● COSC 5555 Machine Learning
● COSC 5560 Modern Robots
● COSC 5010/20 Artificial Intelligence topics courses as offered (must be approved by the department)
Systems: Programming Languages and Compilers:
● COSC 5750 Computer Architecture
● COSC 5785 Compiler Construction
● COSC 5010/20 Programming Languages and Compilers topics courses as offered (must be approved by the department)
Systems: Computer Graphics, Visualization, and Interaction:
● COSC 5450 Computer Graphics
● COSC 5730 Mobile Device Programming
● COSC 5010 Human-Computer Interaction
● COSC 5010 Virtual Reality Environment Systems
● COSC 5010/20 Computer Graphics, Visualization, and Interaction topics courses as offered (must be approved by the department)
Systems: Networking, Distributed Computing, and Data Management:
● COSC 5750 Parallel and Distributed Systems
● COSC 5755 Network Applications
● COSC 5820 Advanced Database Systems
● COSC 5010 High Performance Computing
● COSC 5010/20 Networking, Distributed Computing, and Data Management topics courses as offered (must be approved by the department)
Academic Dishonesty
For cases in which a graduate student has admitted to an act of academic dishonesty or has been found culpable through university procedures according to University Regulation 6-802, the graduate committee will meet with the student and faculty member(s) involved to assess the severity of the act. Both the faculty member(s) and the student will be afforded the opportunity to present views and information relevant to the act. The graduate committee may then take action by recommending that the student be terminated from graduate study in the department (for flagrant violations) or that a letter of reprimand be sent to the student with a copy sent to the Office of the Registrar.
