Ph.D. in Computer Science

The primary emphasis of the Ph.D. program is to develop quality computer professionals capable of serving as researchers at research centers/institutions, faculty at various colleges and universities, or highly specialized computer professionals advancing the state of the art in industry as well as integrating computer systems for constructive use in the society.

About the Program

The vision of the ICS department is to be a "regional leader that is recognized worldwide in education, research and professional development in the areas of Computer Science and Software Engineering." The mission of the Department of Information and Computer Science is to:

Provide high quality undergraduate and graduate educational programs in the fields of Computer Science and Software Engineering.
Contribute significantly to the research and the discovery of new knowledge and methods in computing.
Offer expertise, resources, and services to the community.
Keep its faculty members current by providing opportunities for professional development.

Educational Objectives

In line with the vision and mission of the ICS Department, the educational objectives of the Program are to:

Produce specialized computer science expertise through which advanced technologies and their applications can be enhanced, transferred, and utilized in the Kingdom and possibly elsewhere.
Produce researchers who can investigate problems in different application domains and creatively develop and evaluate computational solutions.
Prepare graduates for careers as academicians with a strong foundation for further research and discovery work.
Improve KFUPM's research impact in computing-related areas.
Develop abilities for effective communication as researchers and educators.

Educational Outcomes

Upon completing this degree program, as educational outcomes, the graduate will:

Have a breadth of knowledge in different current and advanced computer science topics.
Be able to engage in and conduct independent research by synthesizing original ideas that are evaluated to be non-trivial contributions by other researchers.
Be able to use a variety of sources to analyze and integrate information and to conduct critical, reasoned arguments to solve problems and make decisions.
Be capable of self-learning and comprehending emerging scientific and engineering trends and tools in order to be able to propose specific improvements through developing and evaluating computational techniques and models to simulate, mode, analyze and solve problems of other disciplines.
Be able to communicate and present research and technical material to a range of audience both orally and in writing.
Be able to choose ethical courses of action in research and practice.

Program Features

Computer science is an enormously vibrant field. From its inception over half a century ago, computer science has become the defining technology of our age. Computers are integral to modern culture and are the primary engine behind much of the world's economic growth. The field, moreover, continues to evolve at an astonishing pace. New technologies are introduced continually, and existing ones become obsolete in the space of a few years.

Financial Assistance

Financial assistance is available to qualified candidates. Qualified applicants to the Ph.D. program may be hired as lecturers and will be expected to spend half of their time supporting teaching and research activities in the University, the remaining half devoted to their academic program. These positions provide the following:

Free tuition.
Monthly stipend.
Free essential medical care.
Free furnished housing
Prepaid air passage for initial travel to Dhahran at the start of contract.
Return up on completion of the degree.

Admission Requirements

The admission process starts with an application to the College of Graduate Studies. A student can apply for one of the following statuses:

Research Assistant (only foreign nationals),
Graduate Assistant (only Saudi nationals),
Full time graduate student,
Part time graduate student. All applicants must fill all related forms obtained forms which can either be obtained from College of Graduate Studies, or can be downloaded from together with the following:

A letter of intent
Graduation certificates
Transcripts
At least three reference letters
Official TOEFL scores report
General GRE scores report An MS applicant must have a BS in engineering or science from an institution whose undergraduate programs are at least comparable to those of KFUPM in both content and quality. All applicants must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 out of 4.

Core Background Requirements

In order for an applicant to be admitted to the MSCS program, he must have a strong background in the following core areas of computer science:

Data Structures
Computer Architecture
Algorithms
Programming Languages
Database Systems
Computer Networks
Operating Systems Similar course to "ICS 500: Research Methods and Experiment Design in Computing", is also a pre-requisite for admission. This requirement can be waived if adequate publication record is shown by the student at application time. Unsatisfactory background in any of these areas is considered a deficiency. Conditional admission may be granted to otherwise qualified students with some core background deficiencies. Students with deficiencies must take the corresponding appropriate course(s) at KFUPM. Such deficiencies cannot exceed four courses which must be completed with a grade of B or better before a change of status to regular is realized.

Program Requirements

The requirements of the proposed PhD program in Computer Science are summarized in the following table: | Min. Requirements | Notes | | --- | --- | | Major Area | 3 courses | At least one of the 3 courses must be 600-level | | Breadth Coverage | 3 courses from at least two areas other than the major area | | | CS Elective | 1 course from any of the four CS areas | | | General Electives | 3 courses - could be from ICS or related disciplines; at least two courses from outside the lists under the four CS subject areas | At least 2 of these must be taken from outside the lists under the four areas. Elective course can be taken from, for example, COE, EE, SE, and MATH, etc. | | Seminar | ICS 699: Seminar | Zero credit hour (P/F) | | Comprehensive Exam | Comprehensive Exam | | | Proposal | ICS 711: PhD Pre-Dissertation | 3 credit hour | | Dissertation | ICS 712: PhD Dissertation | 9 credit hour | The PhD degree in Computer Science will be awarded to candidates who fulfill the requirements specified by the Deanship of Graduate Studies, as well as the following additional requirements imposed by the Information and Computer Science Department:

Satisfaction of provisional status requirements; if any,
Satisfactory completion of the coursework requirements (30 credit hours),
Passing the written comprehensive examinations by the end of the 4th semester after joining the program (A graduate student is allowed to take these examinations only twice),
Passing the oral proposal public defense (ICS 711) in conjunction with the Seminar Course (ICS 699) by the end of the 5th semester after joining the program, and
Successful completion and defense of an original dissertation research work (ICS 712). A full-time PhD student is expected to spend about two years completing his required course work. The dissertation work is also expected to require about two years. The maximum period permitted to complete the PhD is five years for a full-time PhD student and seven years for a part-time student. A student must spend a minimum of one year in residence doing his PhD dissertation work.

Course List

AREA A: ALGORITHMS AND APPLICATIONS:

ICS 553: Algorithms and Complexity (3-0-3)
ICS 545: Arabic Computing (3-0-3)
ICS 546: Multimedia Information Management (3-0-3)
ICS 547: Digital Image Processing (3-0-3)
ICS 557: Advanced Machine Learning (3-0-3)
ICS 558: Introduction to Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (3-0-3)
ICS 582: Natural Language Processing (3-0-3)
ICS 583: Pattern Recognition (3-0-3)
ICS 611: Combinatorial, Approximation, and Probabilistic Algorithms (3-0-3)
ICS 614: Advanced Pattern Recognition (3-0-3)
ICS 615: Advanced Computer Vision (3-0-3)

AREA B: SYSTEMS AND LANGUAGES:

ICS 531: Advanced Operating Systems (3-0-3)
ICS 532: Performance Analysis and Evaluation (3-0-3)
ICS 533: Modeling and Simulation of Computing Systems (3-0-3)
ICS 535: Theory and Design of Programming Languages (3-0-3)
ICS 541: Database Design and Implementation (3-0-3)
ICS 630: Distributed Systems (3-0-3)
ICS 633: Semantics of Programming Languages (3-0-3)

AREA C: SECURITY AND NET-CENTRIC COMPUTING:

ICS 555: Cryptography and Data Security (3-0-3)
ICS 570: Computer Communication Networks (3-0-3)
ICS 571: Client Server Programming (3-0-3)
ICS 572: Distributed Computing (3-0-3)
ICS 573: High Performance Computing (3-0-3)
ICS 575: Application Development for Internet Based Services (3-0-3)
ICS 576: Concurrent and Parallel Processing (3-0-3)
COE 541: Local and Metropolitan Area Networks (3-0-3)
COE 542: High-Speed Networks (3-0-3)
COE 543: Mobile Computing and Wireless Networks (3-0-3)
CNW 550: Computer Network Design (3-0-3)
CNW 554: Modeling and Analysis of Computer Networks (3-0-3)
CNW 555: Protocol Engineering (3-0-3)
SEC 511: Principles of Information Assurance and Security (3-0-3)
SEC 521: Network Security (3-0-3)
SEC 524: Computer and Network Forensics (3-0-3)
SEC 528: Security in Wireless Networks (3-0-3)
SEC 531: Secure Software (3-0-3)
SEC 534: Database Security (3-0-3)
SEC 536: Web Application Security (3-0-3)
SEC 538: Trusted Computing (3-0-3)
SEC 544: Biometric Systems (3-0-3)
SEC 546: Embedded Systems Security (3-0-3)
SEC 548: Watermarking and Steganography (3-0-3)
SEC 595: Special Topics in Information Assurance and Security (3-0-3)
ICS 654: Advanced Topics in Computer Networking (3-0-3)

AREA D: SOFTWARE ENGINEERING:

SWE 515: Software Requirements Engineering (3-0-3)
SWE 516: Software Design (3-0-3)
SWE 526: Software Testing and Quality Assurance (3-0-3)
SWE 531: Secure Software (3-0-3)
SWE 532: Web Application Security (3-0-3)
SWE 536: Software Architecture (3-0-3)
SWE 539: Software Metrics (3-0-3)
SWE 566: Software Agents (3-0-3)
SWE 585: Empirical Software Engineering (3-0-3)
SWE 587: Software Project Management (3-0-3)
SWE 595: Special Topics in Software Engineering (3-0-3)
SWE 634: Real-Time and Distributed Software with Reusable Components (3-0-3)
SWE 638: Software Maintenance and Re-Engineering (3-0-3)
SWE 670: Formal Methods and Models in Software Engineering (3-0-3)
SWE 671: Global Software Engineering (3-0-3)

COMMON COURSES:

ICS 690: Special Topics in Computer Science III (3-0-3)
ICS 691: Special Topics in Computer Science IV (3-0-3)
ICS 699: Seminar (1-0-0)
ICS 701: Directed Research I (3-0-3)
ICS 702: Directed Research II (3-0-3)
ICS 711: PhD Pre-Dissertation (0-0-3)
ICS 712: PhD Dissertation (0-0-9)

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