OLD Requirements for the Doctorate Prior to September, 2000

This page has been greatly revised in Summer 2000. Please refer to the revised version.

Introduction

This document is the complete set of requirements for a doctorate from the Computer Science department at the University of Chicago. If you have any questions regarding these requirements, please direct them to the Graduate Committee Chair, Laszlo Babai.

Advisors and Committees

Every graduate student must have an advisor who is responsible for monitoring their academic progress. An initial advisor is assigned to each student by the department when the student first enters the program. This temporary advisor has no further responsibilities once the student has become affiliated with a thesis advisor.

By the end of their first year, the student must have a thesis advisor. The thesis advisor directs the student in the preparation of their Master's paper, and chairs the examining committee at the Master's exam. The thesis advisor also directs the student's doctoral research, chairs the examining committee for the candidacy exam, directs preparation of the doctoral thesis, and chairs the examining committee for the doctoral defense.

The student/advisor relationship is a central aspect of the graduate program. To maintain the effectiveness of this relationship, it requires the ongoing consent of both parties -- either party can withdraw from the relationship by notifying the graduate committee chair. The completion of the Master's paper is a good time for the student to reevaluate the relationship. If a student has difficulty finding a thesis advisor, they should seek the help of the graduate committee chair or the department chair. The department chair must approve a nondepartmental advisor.

Before the Master's exam, each graduate student should also have an examination committee consisting of at least three members, including the student's thesis advisor. The committee must be acceptable to both the student and advisor, and at least half of the members of the committee must be members of the departmental faculty. As with the student/advisor relationship, membership in the examination committee requires the ongoing consent of the student and the committee member.

While advisors will monitor their students' progress, it is ultimately the students' responsibility that they meet each of the requirements in this document.

The graduate committee chair shall be notified of all changes in advisor or examination committee status.

Student Reviews

The faculty will meet each January to discuss the progress of each graduate student. Each student will receive a written evaluation of their progress shortly after this meeting.

The faculty will also meet before the end of the spring quarter. At this meeting the faculty will decide for each student whether that student is making sufficient progress to continue in the graduate program starting next fall.

Deadlines

The following requirements have specific deadlines:

  • The breadth requirement must be completed by the end of the second year.
  • The Master's paper and exam must be completed by the end of the seventh week of spring quarter of the second year.
  • The candidacy exam must be completed by the end of the third year.

Breadth Requirement

All students must complete the approved group of six courses with a grade of at least B in each course by the end of their second year. Currently, an approved sequence consists of six of the following eight courses with at least one course each in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Theory of Computation and Systems:

  • Artificial Intelligence:
    • CS 350 - Language, Representation and Memory
    • CS 352 - Planning, Action and Perception

  • Theory of Computation:
    • CS 370 - Algorithms
    • CS 385 - Introduction to Theory

  • Systems:
    • CS 322 - Architecture
    • CS 326 - Compilers for Computer Languages
    • CS 330 - Operating Systems

  • Numerical Methods:
    • CS 383 - Numerical Computation
  • Other:
    • CS 337 - Logic and Databases I
    • CS 338 - Logic and Databases II

A student with a suitable background may petition the graduate committee to replace the above courses with more advanced course work.

Course Requirement

In addition to the breadth requirement, each student must complete three additional approved graduate courses with a grade of B or better. Reading and research courses may not be used to fulfill this requirement. The advisor approves the selection of courses.

Master's Paper and Exam

Each student must complete a Master's paper and put a copy on public display by the end of the seventh week of spring quarter of the student's second year. The paper should show in-depth knowledge of a particular aspect of computer science including a study of the related literature.

When the student submits the paper, the student must give a public presentation and a private exam being able to give detailed answers to questions about the work described in the paper. The examination committee will administer this exam.

Candidacy Exam

Each student must pass a candidacy exam administered by the examination committee by the end of the student's third year. Before the exam, the student must have an exam proposal approved by each member of the examination committee. The student should post the approved proposal to the standard location (currently the uchi.cs newsgroup) at least two weeks before the exam. The committee will decide the format of the exam though usually the committee will administer a private oral exam that tests depth or breadth in areas related to the student's doctoral research.

If a graduate student changes advisor after completion of the candidacy exam, the new advisor may require the student to retake the exam.

Math Competency

Each student must exhibit competency in mathematical understanding. A student usually will fulfill this requirement by taking or having taken an upper level undergraduate course in abstract algebra or equally rigorous mathematics course. The student's advisor will administer this requirement.

Programming Competency

The department requires each student to show the ability to write medium size computer programs requiring significant organization and design. A satisfactory program would usually consist of more than 1000 lines of code. The student's advisor will administer this requirement.

Foreign Language Competency

The department requires each student to be able to read a technical paper in a foreign language with use of a foreign language dictionary. The student's advisor will administer this requirement.

Students, at their option, may use the University administered foreign language reading examination in a language approved by the advisor to fulfill this requirement.

Doctoral Thesis and Defense

The department requires each student to write a Doctoral thesis that includes significant original research in computer science.

The student must successfully defend his thesis in a public forum before the examination committee and any other interested faculty members. The examination committee will decide the format for the defense. The thesis defense must occur at least two weeks after the student has given proper notice. Proper notice consists of the following actions:

  1. The student must give a draft of the thesis approved by the advisor to each member of the examination committee.
  2. The student must give a thesis draft to the department's administrative assistant. The administrative assistant will register the thesis and put the copy on public display.
  3. The student must put an additional copy on display in the standard common area (currently the CS lounge).
  4. The thesis abstract must be posted to the standard location (currently the uchi.cs newsgroup).

University Requirements

In addition to the department requirements, every graduate student must fulfill all of the University requirements for a Doctoral degree including residency requirements, proper degree registration, payment of fines, etc. The University prints these rules each quarter in the Time Schedule. The University also publishes requirements for the formatting and acceptance of the Ph.D. dissertation. For additional information contact the Office of Academic Publications (acapubs@uchicago.edu, (312) 702-7404).

Transfer Students

Students transferring from a different graduate program may petition the graduate committee for having some of the above requirements fulfilled by work done at the previous institution.

Recordkeeping and Final Approval

Each time that a student changes advisors or his or her examination committee, that student should fill out the advisor and examination committee change form. For the Master's paper and exam, the candidacy exam, the math competency, programming competency and foreign language requirements and the doctoral thesis defense, the student should have the appropriate form filled out and give that form to the graduate committee chair. The graduate committee chair will record the information on these forms and place the forms in the student's permanent record.

While the department will make every effort to ensure the accuracy of student records, it is highly recommended that students make copies of all forms before turning them in to the graduate committee chair.

The graduate committee chair will oversee a database consisting of the progress that each student has made towards fulfilling his or her Ph.D. requirements. Once a year, students will receive their progress report. Each student should check these reports carefully for errors. Students may also request copies of their progress reports at any time.

After the student meets all the requirements, the student should get a final approval form signed by the chair of the graduate committee and the chair of the department. In order to receive a degree in a certain quarter, the student must submit an Application for Degree when they register for that quarter. The student must then submit the required material to the university by the appropriate date, normally the Friday three weeks before the convocation at which the student expects the degree. All of the university thesis requirements must be met.

Exceptions to the Requirements

Exceptions to these requirements will be made only in the most extenuating of circumstances. Minor exceptions require approval of the graduate committee. Major exceptions require approval of the entire faculty.