Introduction

Carnegie Mellon's Computer Science Ph.D. program aims to produce well-educated researchers, teachers, and future leaders in Computer Science. The Ph.D. degree is a certification by the faculty that the student has a broad education in Computer Science and has performed original research in the area.

This document is an informal description of the Computer Science Ph.D.  program; herein ``we'' refers to all the faculty and staff involved in the Ph.D. program. Currently, the Department Head is Jeannette Wing; the Associate Department Head is Sharon Burks; and the Director of Graduate Programs is Frank Pfenning.

To complete the Ph.D. degree, we require that each student

• Participate in directed research

• Pass 96 university units worth of graduate courses, with certain distribution requirements

• Serve as a teaching assistant at least twice

• Demonstrate oral and written communication skills

• Write and orally defend a thesis, a significant piece of original research in a specialized area of Computer Science

We are committed to the principle that students may achieve competence through a variety of methods, including courses, seminars, projects, and independent study. We consider each student's individual strengths, weaknesses, and interests in designing the best method for the student to fulfill these requirements. Our program is unique in that we encourage and expect students to engage in research from their first day in the Department.

To help students fulfill these requirements, we provide these educational opportunities:

• An active research environment

• The Immigration Course, intended to give an overview of the research interests of the faculty and to familiarize new students with the people and facilities of the Department

• A large number of graduate courses: regularly offered area courses in algorithms and complexity, artificial intelligence, computer systems, programming languages, and software systems; advanced graduate area courses; special topics courses; practicum courses; and reading seminars--together covering a broad range of areas in Computer Science

• The Emigration Course, intended to groom students for success in their post-graduate careers

The entire faculty meet twice a year to evaluate each student's progress. A student demonstrates progress by passing courses, doing directed research, teaching, fulfilling the skills requirements, and doing thesis work. While students are encouraged to shape an educational program to suit their needs, financial support and/or permission to continue in the Ph.D. program depends on satisfactory progress each semester along at least some of these dimensions.