Program Overview

Computer Science, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

The Ph.D. in Computer Science will educate and train students in core areas of computer science. Students will explore the advanced concepts of computer science theory, systems, and research. They will learn how to identify problems, set a research agenda, clearly identify and isolate good ideas, solve programming challenges creatively, and communicate in a clear and concise manner. Graduates will possess the necessary analytical, technical, and research skills of complex computer science topics in order to respond directly to the needs of industry, research laboratories, the public sector, academia, and government for effective, innovative, and productive engineers, professors, and researchers.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

1. Apply knowledge of the foundations of computer science
2. Apply knowledge of a specialized research area
3. Use principles of scientific inquiry and software design to evaluate scientific literature and formulate research hypotheses
4. Solve computational problems and discover or generate new ideas, concepts, techniques, and/or products in general and specialized areas of computer science
5. Write technical reports and scholarly papers in computer science
6. Present problems and solutions in computer science

Admission Requirements

• Degree: Ph.D.
• Semester(s) of entry: Fall, Spring
• Deadline dates: June 1 (February 15 for financial assistance) for Fall, November 15 for Spring
• Test requirements: GRE-General; TOEFL for international students
• Applications for matriculation to the Ph.D. program are evaluated by the departmental admissions committee on a rolling basis.
• Successful applicants typically have a GPA of 3.3 or greater and a combined score of 320 or greater (verbal and quantitative) on the GRE.
• Additional requirements for consideration for admissions into the Computer Science Ph.D. program:
  • Letter of intent clearly outlining research interests and relevant experience.
  • GRE (fewer than five years old).
  • Three letters of recommendation from instructors or professional references in the applicant's intended field of study.

Degree Requirements

In addition to the VCU Graduate School graduation requirements, students must meet the following requirements.

• Students can earn the Ph.D. in Computer Science through two routes: post-baccalaureate study and post-master's study.
• The Ph.D. curriculum requires completion of a minimum of 72 credit hours for students entering with a baccalaureate degree and a minimum of 54 credits for students entering with a master's degree.
• Only graduate credit hours count for the doctoral degree.
• At least half of the minimum required course work credit hours must be at the 600-level or higher.
• To graduate, degree applicants must achieve an overall minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

Curriculum Requirements

• Total graduate credit hours required for post-baccalaureate students is 72 (minimum).
• Total graduate credit hours required for post-M.S. students is 54 (minimum).
• The Ph.D. curriculum will prepare the program graduates for research and teaching careers in computer science, with emphasis on areas of cybersecurity and data science.
• The program consists of the following components:
  • Computer science core
  • Electives
  • Directed research requirement

B.S. to Ph.D. Curriculum

• Course:
  • CMSC 501: Advanced Algorithms
  • CMSC 603: High Performance Distributed Systems
  • CMSC 702: Computer Science Seminar
• Electives: Students will work with their research adviser to select the elective courses appropriate for their research focus area.
• Dissertation research requirement: Complete a minimum of 42 hours of combined dissertation course work.

M.S. to Ph.D. Curriculum

• Course:
  • CMSC 501: Advanced Algorithms
  • CMSC 603: High Performance Distributed Systems
  • CMSC 702: Computer Science Seminar
• Electives: Students will work with their research adviser to select the elective courses appropriate for their research focus area.
• Directed research requirement: Complete a minimum of 38 hours of combined dissertation course work.

Doctoral Requirements and Procedures

• Research adviser and dissertation committee: Students select a research adviser before they can be admitted into the graduate program, and a dissertation committee within 24 months of enrollment.
• Qualifying examination: The Ph.D. qualifying examination focuses on the knowledge fundamental to computer science and on problem-solving skills critical to the student's research area.
• Dissertation proposal and proposal defense: The dissertation proposal consists of the research plan and initial results.
• Admission to candidacy: Admission to doctoral degree candidacy is a formal statement regarding the student's academic achievements and their readiness to proceed to the final research phase of the doctoral program.
• Dissertation research: The student must complete at least 38 (students entering with M.S. degree) or at least 42 (students entering with B.S. degree) research and seminar credit hours conducting an original investigation under the guidance of the adviser and prepare a dissertation reporting the results of this research and comparing its significance in relation to existing scientific knowledge.
• Dissertation defense: The doctoral candidate will submit individual copies of the complete dissertation to the dissertation committee.
• Publication requirement: Peer-reviewed evidence of the quality of this work, in terms of at least one accepted journal paper or published high-quality conference paper in a student's research area and a second manuscript submitted for review to a journal or a high-quality conference must be approved by the dissertation committee and the CS graduate committee before the final oral examination can be scheduled.

Optional Training

Students enrolled in the program have an option to participate in additional non-technical training that will prepare them for future careers.

• Career and professional development course
• Preparing Future Faculty Program
• Leaders and Entrepreneurs Academy for Professional Development

Time to Degree

• The typical time to degree for full-time post-bachelor's students in the program is four years.
• The typical time to degree for full-time post-master's students in the program is three years.
• The typical time to degree for part-time post-master's students in the proposed degree program is six years.
• All requirements for the Ph.D. degree must be completed within eight years from the date of admission to the degree program.