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Graduate ProgramPhD RequirementsIntroductionThe PhD in Computer Science is the highest professional degree awarded by the Rensselaer Computer Science Department. With it students may advance to university teaching and research, and to careers in industrial research,with a solid foundation of knowledge and an ability to carry through original investigations in Computer Science. The major milestones in the Ph.D. program are:
Part-time students may take up to twice the time to meet these milestones. Students enrolled in the MS program concurrently with the PhD program are expected to work toward the above milestones from the time they enter the graduate program, rather than waiting until the MS is complete. Most students should be involved in research each semester, taking at least one research credit under supervision of their faculty advisor. PhD students register for CSCI-9990 Dissertation, which will only be allowed to count towards the PhD degree (not an MS degree). Year 1: The Qualifying ExamThe first year of the program is devoted to becoming involved in research and to preparation for a comprehensive Qualifying Exam to be completed by the end of the first year. Students should consult with their faculty advisor regarding both the requirements of their research project(s) and their plans for preparation for the Qualifying Exam. The purpose of the Qualifying Exam is to ensure that all graduate students have a solid understanding of the core concepts which should be mastered by anyone with a graduate degree in Computer Science. In order to pass the qualifying exam, students must pass each component. A student may pass a component in one of two ways:
Students have two attempts at each component. They may not take a course twice, but they may take the oral twice or may take the oral and the course once each. For students in the regular CS track, the components are:
For students in the Computational Science and Engineering track, the components are:
For students in the Computational Molecular Biology track, the components are:
Full-time students who have not passed the Qualifying Exam within one year of entering the Ph.D. program will be dismissed from the program. Part-time students will be allowed two years. Extensions to this deadline can be requested from the Graduate Curriculum Chair. Year 2: Research Qualifying Exam and CommitteeYear 2 is devoted to further research exploration, selection of a doctoral committee, and the Research Area Qualifying Exam. A student's research is overseen by a faculty advisor and a doctoral committee. The student may work with a research supervisor who is not a CS faculty member, but the work with that supervisor must also be overseen by an advisor who is a member of the Computer Science Department faculty. Both the research supervisor and the CS advisor will be members of the student's doctoral committee. The doctoral committee must include at least four full-time, tenure-track Rensselaer faculty members, and must have at least one "outside" member who is not a member of the Computer Science Department. Thus, if the person outside the department is not a full-time Rensselaer faculty member, then the committee will have at least five members. Faculty who are based in another department but have a joint appointment to CS are not considered outside the department. Students are encouraged to choose an outside member who is not part of the RPI faculty. The chair of the doctoral committee is normally the student's research supervisor and/or CS advisor. The committee chair must be a full-time, tenure-track member of the Rensselaer faculty. The names of the committee members are submitted for the approval of the Department Chair who then communicates them to the Graduate School. The research qualifying exam will be supervised by a preliminary committee consisting of the advisor and at least two other faculty members. The membership of the preliminary committee is informal and does not have to be approved by the Office of Graduate Education. The preliminary committee will be chosen based on who is likely to become a member of the doctoral committee, but when the time comes to choose the doctoral committee members, the choice need not be constrained by the membership of the preliminary committee. The preliminary committee will decide what a student must do for the research qualifying exam and whether the student passes or fails the exam. There are three forms the research qualifying exam can take:
The format of the exams and presentations is determined by the committee. If a student fails the exam, the committee will decide whether the student will be given a second chance or will be asked to leave the PhD program. When the research qualifying exam has been completed, the committee members should complete and sign the research qualifing exam form and submit the form to Terry Hayden. The Research Area Qualifying Exam must be passed by the end of the second year in the PhD program. Year 3: Candidacy ExamWorking with his or her advisor, the student spends the third year developing a detailed understanding of the chosen research area, and preparing a research proposal. It is expected that a student will schedule a Candidacy Exam near the end of year 3. The Candidacy Exam is an oral exam focusing on a thesis proposal and administered by the student's doctoral committee. The student begins by presenting the thesis proposal and then is questioned by the committee. Other faculty may attend the exam, but do not vote on whether the student passes the exam. Faculty members not on the committee should make their intention to attend the exam known early so that a copy of the thesis proposal can be given to them. The Candidacy Exam must be completed by the end of the third year in the PhD program. Year 4 and Beyond: Research Completion and DefenseAfter the Candidacy Exam has been passed, the student must complete the proposed research, write the dissertation, and defend the dissertation, all under the supervision of the student's doctoral committee. Throughout this time, the student should continue to discuss progress and results with committee members to reduce the possibility of "surprises" during the defense. The Dissertation Defense is an oral examination that includes a presentation by the student of the major results in the dissertation. A student's doctoral committee establishes the specific format for this examination. The presentation of research results by the student is open to the public. The student is responsible for making sure that the dissertation is typed according to Graduate School regulations. The manual "Thesis Writing," which defines these regulations, may be obtained from the Graduate School. Course RequirementsA student must complete 90 credits of course work and research beyond the undergraduate degree. These credits must be chosen with the advice and approval of the Computer Science advisor and must constitute a coherent plan of study reflecting the student's goals in obtaining a PhD in Computer Science. Of these 90 credits, between 45 and 60 must be course credits. If the student has a prior MS, that degree counts as 30 course credits, so a total of 60 additional credits will be needed for the PhD, of which between 15 and 30 must be course credits. Additional restrictions on these credits are described in the Rensselaer Catalog. Computational Science and Engineering TrackEach student must take:
They must further demonstrate mathematical sophistication by having taken at least eight credits of 4000- or 6000-level mathematics courses (exclusive of numerical analysis). Computational Molecular Biology TrackEach student should take courses in the following areas. This requirement can be satisfied by course work completed prior to entering the PhD Program.
Courses used for the qualifying exam may also be counted toward this requirement. Recommended courses for fulfilling this requirement are the qualifying exam courses and courses in database systems, computational molecular biology, and data mining. Additional Requirements
Students reading these requirements should also read the regulations laid down by the Graduate School, in the latest Rensselaer Catalog. Evaluation of Student ProgressThe progress toward degree of each graduate student in the department is reviewed each semester by the faculty to provide useful feedback to the student. At the end of each semester, all graduate students complete a form that records their progress towards their degrees (e.g., courses taken, papers published, talks, major results, etc.). The faculty advisor reviews this form and prepares a letter to be sent to the student commenting on the progress and establishing expectations for the future. The faculty meet and review the progress of each student and the content of the letter proposed by the advisor. Suggestions on changes to the letter are made. After the meeting, the letter is sent to the student. If a student receives two such letters in a row reporting unsatisfactory progress, the student is subject to dismissal from the PhD program. Note that students who enter the PhD program with a prior MS degree are expected to make faster progress through the PhD program than students who enter the program with no prior MS.
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