Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1997 19:46:18 GMT Server: NCSA/1.5 Content-type: text/html
Admission to the Ph.D. program is granted to students who have demonstrated the potential for meeting this twofold standard. Successful applicants must have superior academic records in Computer Science, solid scores on the Graduate Record Examination, and outstanding references from qualified people familiar with the applicant's capacity and potential.
Early and direct admission into the Ph.D. program is desirable.
The student need not have a master's degree when he or she starts
the Ph.D. program, nor need he or she acquire one. Students who
complete an M.S. degree in Computer Science at The University of
Iowa should note that it is necessary to obtain approval for a
change of status in order to continue their studies in the
Ph.D. program. The Department reviews a change of status request
just as it does an application for admission. Change of
Status forms are available in the departmental office.
Section 3.2 Course Requirements
Upon entering the Ph.D. program, the Department assigns each
student an academic advisor and a three-person Student Committee.
The academic advisor is a member of the Student Committee. As
described in Section 1.8,
changes in the academic advisor may occur; the current academic
advisor is always a member of the Student Committee. The student,
together with their academic advisor and Student Committee,
selects a course sequence which satsifies the departmental course
requirements while preparing the student for the dissertation
research, the Qualifying Examination/Presentation, and the
Comprehensive Examination.
The Graduate College requires a minimum of 72 semester hours of academic work beyond the bachelor's degree. Ph.D. students in Computer Science must complete a minimum of 54 semester hours of coursework and 18 semester hours of dissertation research (22C:299 Research for Dissertation). Some specialty areas may require additional preparation and/or more time in research.
Ph.D. students should schedule their courses carefully, in consultation with their advisor and Student Committee. Early selection of a special interest area is desirable. Students will be assigned advisors according to interest areas. If a student's interest changes but the student's advisor can easily be changed to someone in the new interest area. Students who are unsure of their long-term interests should consult their current academic advisor and their Student Committee for advice on their course scheduling and overall plan of study. In some manner, the student must have a serious plan with emphasis on the identification of an area of specialization.
The Department has the following course requirements for a Ph.D. degree. Note that the only courses that can be taken on S/U grading basis are those offered only on that grading basis.
I. 100-level Computer Science Courses. Each Ph.D. student must complete the following five courses with a grade of B or higher:
22C:116, 22C:122, 22C:123, 22C:135, 22C:153. With three of the five A- or higher.In addition, each Ph.D. student must take four additional 100-level courses as approved by his or her academic advisor. Note that a specialty area may require specific courses, so early planning and advice is important.
II. 200-level Computer Sciences Courses. Each Ph.D. student must take at least 18 semester hours of 200-level courses other than Research for Dissertation (22C:299). These 18 semester hours may include at most three semester hours of Readings for Research (22C:290).
III. Outside Sequence. The student must complete one sequence of three courses with minimum grades of B, at least one of which is at (or above) the 200-level, selected from one of the following areas of study:
If the student has satisfied any of the requirements listed above (including the outside sequence) as an undergraduate, he or she may petition the Graduate Committee to waive the requirement. The student may also use transfer credit to satisfy the requirements, but only if the Graduate Committee approves a petition to that effect; acceptance of transfer credit by the Graduate College is not enough. Petitions for waiver based on undergraduate work or transfer credit should specify the connection between the course(s) here and the course(s) taken elsewhere (including course number and title, textbook, course outline, when and where taken, and grade received).
Petitions for a different distribution of courses, for example, a substitution of advanced courses in mathematics or engineering for 200-level computer science courses, may be submitted to the Graduate Committee.
In addition to the above course requirements, registration in 22C:299 Research for Dissertation is, of course, part of the degree program. As noted earlier, typically this will account for about 18 semester hours.
The Department imposes no foreign language requirement.
Section 3.3 Ph.D. Qualifying Presentation/Examination
After completion of the five required 100-level courses, the
Ph.D. student selects a topic for their Qualifying Presentation.
The student selects a topic of special interest to the student
after consultation with their academic adviser and Student
Committee. It need not be the eventual research area but the
Presentation does provide the student an opportunity to explore a
potential research area and topic. After selection of a topic,
the student prepares a Prospectus for the topic and submits it to
their Student Committee for approval.
The Student Committee reviews the Prospectus and the student's academic performance using the departmental standard for Ph.D. students: minimum gpa of 3.3 and completion of the five required 100-level courses with no grade below B and with at least three grades of A- or higher. The Committee either approves the student's Prospectus or requires the student to do further work before resubmitting a Prospectus.
Contents of Prospectus: clear identification of the scope of the topic and the most relevant references; careful statement of the technical objective of the topic study; boundaries should be established to satisfy the guidelines/constraints of a 20 to 30 page report and a 45 minute presentation.
Objective: student demonstration of technical competence, ability for independent work, and potential for research; upon completion of the Report and Presentation, the Student Committee will review the student's overall performance. The student may be asked to revise the Report and/or repeat the Presentation.
The Student Committee submits a report and recommendation on the student's performance and qualifications to the Graduate Committee.
Concerning timing, an ideal schedule for the student would be to have the Prospectus approved by the beginning of the third semester and to make the presentation at the end of that semester. The requirement which is monitored by the Graduate Committee is that the Qualifying Presentation/Examination be completed by the end of the fourth semester in the program.
See Section 3.14 for the relation of
the Qualifying Presentation/Examination to the M.S. Final
Examination in the non-thesis program and to the M.S. Thesis.
Section 3.4 Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination
In addition to being a Departmental examination, the
Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination is required by the Graduate
College. The objective of the Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination is
to assure that each student pursuing Ph.D. level research has
sufficient breadth and depth of knowledge within a specialty area
and superior competence and understanding of computer science.
3.4.1 Expansion of the Student Committee
Upon completion of the Qualifying Presentation/Examination, the
student identifies a specialty area. The Student Committee is
expanded by adding faculty in the student's specialty area. A
minimum of five members is required, but the Committee may be
larger. This expanded Committee is appointed as the official
Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination Committee and is submitted to the
Graduate College by the Chair of the Graduate
Committee.
3.4.2 Conduct of the Comprehensive Examination
After the student has completed most of their coursework and other
preparation for their dissertation research, the student submits a
status report including a proposed plan of study and a brief
description of the proposed area for the dissertation research to
their expanded Student Committee. The Committee meets to review
the report and to agree upon the form of the Comprehensive
Examination which may have both written and oral parts. A
specification for the Examination and its scheduling is decided
upon by the Committee and conveyed to the student and to the Chair of the Graduate
Committee. At that point, an official Plan of Study and
Request for the Comprehensive Examination is submitted to
the Graduate College by the Chair of the Graduate
Committee.
In the preparation of the specification for the Comprehensive
Examination, the Student Committee considers both the preparation
for research and the breadth of preparation for a career as a
computer scientist. The conduct of the Examination reflects both
of these objectives but within the context of the student's
program. A student with a broad plan of study should expect more
emphasis on the question of research preparation; a student with a
more narrowly focused plan of study should expect an emphasis on
their general competence in computer science.
3.4.3 Residency and Status Requirements
A student must be registered in the University at the time they
take the Comprehensive Examination. Also, the Examination must be
successfully completed no later than the session prior to the
session of graduation. A student who is on probation cannot take
the Examination.
Section 3.5 Research Committee
Upon completion of the Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination, the
student's Committee now becomes a more narrowly based Research
Committee. The original members of the Student Committee who are
not within the student's specialty area are excused from the
Committee. Additional members may be added.
This Research Committee is composed of a minimum of five members: at least four from the Department of Computer Science; at least three of these four members, including the research advisor, should have interests in the student's specialty area or in interfaces between the specialty area and other research areas; and one member from outside the Department of Computer Science.
At some point in the dissertation research, the student presents a written dissertation proposal to their Research Committee as described in Section 3.9. This is normally done after some research results have been obtained and the boundaries of the dissertation can be identified and described within the proposal. The proposal must be submitted and approved by the Research Committee.
The Research Committee of a student must be approved by the Graduate Committee and is
officially appointed by the Chair of the Graduate
Committee when the Request for Final Examination is
submitted to the Graduate College. A minor technicality is that
the Graduate College requires an outside member on the Final
Examination Committee but not on the Comprehensive Examination
Committee. Depending upon the student's specialty area, the
Research Committee may be entirely composed of computer science
faculty, and then an additional outside member may be added for
the dissertation proposal and the final examination.
Section 3.6 Probation and Dismissal
Students in the Ph.D. program must maintain a GPA of at least 3.3
in courses leading to the Ph.D. degree. In order for courses to be
credited towards the degree, the student must earn grades of B or
higher in 100-level computer science courses and courses in the
outside sequence, and A, B, or C in other courses. A course may
only be repeated one time in attempting to improve a grade. If the
student does not attain the necessary grade, the Department will
drop him or her from the Ph.D. program. The Graduate Committee will
place a student on probation and notify him or her in writing if
the GPA falls below the minimum 3.3 requirement. He or she must
make up the deficiency within the next nine semester hours of
course work. Otherwise the Department will dismiss the student as
a Ph.D. candidate. The Second-Grade-Only option applies only to
undergraduates. Therefore, in computing a student's GPA, the
Registrar's Office will include both grades for a repeated
course. However, when computing a student's Computer Science GPA
for purposes of probation, the Department only includes the second
grade for a repeated course.
A student on probation is not permitted to take the Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination, defend a thesis, or receive the Ph.D. degree. A student is permitted to take the M.S. Comprehensive Examination if the GPA is 3.00 or higher.
Students wishing a formal review of their dismissal should refer
to Appendix G: Dismissal Review
Procedure.
Section 3.7 Credit Hour and Residence Requirements
The doctoral candidate is expected to have completed at least
three years of residence in a graduate college and a minimum of 72
semester hours of graduate credit. The student must spend at
least part of this residence in full-time involvement in his or
her discipline at this University, beyond the first 24 semester
hours of graduate work. A student can meet this requirement
either by: (a) enrollment as a full-time student (nine hours
minimum) in each of two semesters, or (b) enrollment for at least
six semester hours in each of three semesters during which the
student holds at least a one-third-time assistantship certified by
the Department as contributing to the doctoral program.
Enrollment in Research for Dissertation (22C:299) is acceptable
toward this residency requirement.
The Graduate Committee
will evaluate courses taken ten or more years prior to the
comprehensive examination to determine how much credit to allow
for such work. The Graduate
Committee will report its evaluation to the Graduate College when
the student submits his or her Plan of Study.
Section 3.8 Post-Comprehensive Registration
The student is required to register each semester after passing
the comprehensive examination until the University awards the
degree. If a student fails to register, he or she may not be
readmitted to candidacy until submitting an application approved
by his or her advisor, the Department Chair, and the Graduate
Dean. The Department may require the student to retake the
comprehensive examination.
Section 3.9 Dissertation Proposal and Dissertation
Each student must write a dissertation which is a significant,
original contribution to the field of Computer Science. The
student must submit a written dissertation proposal to the
Research Committee after formulation of the principal topics and
questions. The proposal should outline the context of the proposed
research, the kinds of questions to be addressed, and the work
that has already appeared in the literature on related
questions. It should justify the significance and originality of
the proposed research. The Research Committee will hold an oral
review of the proposal.
Section 3.10 Dissertation Deposit
The student must present one copy of the dissertation, in typed
manuscript or print, to the Graduate College for a check of formal
characteristics, prior to the date specified by the Graduate
College as the "first deposit" deadline. After approval by the
Graduate College and by the Final Examination Committee, the
student must deposit two final copies of the dissertation with the
Graduate College prior to the date published by the Graduate
College as the "final deposit" deadline. See the Graduate College
publication Requirements for the Graduate Theses for
additional information on deadlines and the required format for
theses. The student must also submit a copy to the Department,
which may be published as a technical report.
Section 3.11 Final Oral Examination
After the student completes the dissertation, the Research
Committee, acting as the Final Examination Committee, will
administer an oral examination, which makes a critical inquiry
into the purposes, methods, and results of the investigation, and
includes intensive questioning on areas of knowledge constituting
the immediate context of the investigation. This examination may
occur no sooner than the session following successful completion
of the Comprehensive Examination, and after the Graduate College
checks the first submission of the dissertation. The examination
must be held within five years of the completion of the
Comprehensive Examination.
Section 3.12 Application for Degree
The student must file an Application for Degree with the Registrar
not later than ten weeks after the start of the semester or one
week after the start of the summer session in which the degree
will be conferred. The student must have the application signed by
his or her advisor. Failure to file an application by that date
will result in a postponement of graduation to a subsequent
graduation.
Section 3.13 Enrollment in the Final Semester
The student must be enrolled during the session in which the
degree is to be conferred. Students who must register for the
session in which the degree is to be conferred but are away from
the University campus during that session may meet this
requirement by registering for independent study, research, or
thesis. Doctoral candidates who have completed all work except the
final examination may register for the post-comprehensive
registration described in Section XII, K of the Manual of Rules
and Regulations of the Graduate College, if such registration
is appropriate. Such students register under the Graduate College
number 000:000, Post Ph.D. Comprehensive Registration, for 0
s.h. credit.
Section 3.14 Receiving an M.S. Degree While in the Ph.D. Program
A student whose ultimate objective is a Ph.D. degree and who is
admitted directly into the Ph.D. program at the beginning of his
or her graduate work may opt to receive an M.S. degree along the
way. In such cases, the student should still attain an early
involvement in research and should remain focused upon the
Ph.D. program. Satisfaction of the M.S. degree requirements, in
particular, the M.S. Final Examination requirement, can be done by
using the Ph.D. Qualifying Presentation/Examination as the Final
Examination in the non-thesis program.
The Qualifying Presentation/Examination can be based upon work which is being used as an M.S. Thesis. In this case, the M.S. Thesis defense may be combined with the PhD Qualifying Presentation/Examination. However, prior approval by the Chair of the Graduate Committee is required. Another possibility is to use the Qualifying Presentation/Examination as an intermediate step towards an M.S. thesis; this order has the advantage of not delaying the Ph.D. qualification process until the M.S. thesis research is finished.
A student whose ultimate objective is a Ph.D. degree and who is admitted directly into the Ph.D. program at the beginning of his or her graduate work may opt to receive an M.S. degree along the way. In such cases, the student should still attain an early involvement in research and should remain focused upon the Ph.D. program. Satisfaction of the M. S. degree requirements, in particular, the M.S. Final Examination requirement, can be done by using the Ph.D. Qualifying Presentation/Examination as the Final Examination in the non-thesis program.
The Qualifying Presentation/Examination can be based upon work which is being used as an M.S. Thesis. In this case, the M.S. Thesis defense may be combined with the PhD Qualifying Presentation/Examination. However, prior approval by the Chair of the Graduate Committee is required. Another possibility is to use the Qualifying Presentation/Examination as an intermediate step towards an M.S. thesis; this order has the advantage of not delaying the Ph.D. qualification process until the M.S. thesis research is finished.