Ph.D. Degree Program

Overview

The Ph.D. program is designed to prepare a student for a career in research. As such, it requires considerable of self-directed study and independent research. The Ph.D. program is individually designed for each student, requiring close cooperation between the student and his or her research advisor. Students are expected to identify thier area of research during the first year of study, obtaining a faculty advisor who will agree to supervise the dissertation research. The advisor may or may not be the acting advisor assigned to the student when initially admitted to the program.

Doctoral study must represent a minimum of two years full-time study beyond the M.S. and at least one year of full-time study must be completed at the Storrs campus. The Ph.D. program requires completion of the following major milestones:

Ph.D. Dissertation Proposal: The Ph.D. dissertation must make a significant scientific contribution to the discipline of computer science and engineering. After a research topic has been approved by the student's advisor, an initial investigation of the relevant literature in the area is undertaken to establish necessary background and to precisely identify the focus of research project. The initial investigation of the relevant literature in the area will culminate in the preparation of a dissertation proposal, a written discussion of relevant background and a definition of the thesis work. The proposal is presented to the student's advisory committee; on approval, the student may begin dissertation research.
Ph.D. Dissertation and Defense: The Ph.D. dissertation is comprised of a detailed scholarly exposition of completed research and background. The final draft of the Ph.D. dissertation must be presented to the advisory committee at least one month before the final copy is due in the graduate school. Ultimately, the thesis work is presented in a defense open to the public.
Ph.D. Publication Requirement: All doctoral students are required to publish at least 3 articles in full-length refereed conference venues prior to completion.

Time to completion Under normal conditions it is expected that on-campus Ph.D. students complete the work for the Ph.D. within four years of study after finishing the MS program.

Admission

See the How to apply page.

Specific requirements

Each Ph.D. program is unique. It must, however, conform to the Graduate School requirements that it represent a minimum of two years full-time study beyond the M.S. and at least one year of full-time study must be completed at the Storrs campus.

A Ph.D. student (with an M.S. degree in Computer Science and/or Computer Engineering) will normally take eight graduate courses as part of the formal Plan of Study. In addition, it is expected that each student will participate in a number of independent activities such as informal seminars, directed reading, and research to broaden his or her background and to prepare for the dissertation research.

In addition, the Ph.D. program requires that you successfully complete the following degree requirements:

Related Area
Residence Requirement
Plan of Study Submission
Ph.D. Publication Requirement
Ph.D. Dissertation Proposal
Ph.D. Dissertation Prospectus
Ph.D. Dissertation
Ph.D. Paper Exam Requirement

Related Area of Study

If a related or supporting area is chosen, the courses selected must comprise a coherent unit of advanced (i.e., 200's level not open to sophomores or above) work outside the major field of study and ordinarily outside the department in which the work of the major field is offered. The courses must be approved by the advisory committee as a part of the Plan of Study. Ordinarily, they must be taken at the University of Connecticut. No course credits will be accepted in transfer toward the related or supporting area unless approved by the Executive Committee before the courses are taken. With the approval of the advisory committee, however, the passing of an examination may be substituted for the course work.

With the consent of the advisory committee, a three-credit advanced course in mathematics or statistics passed satisfactorily at the University of Connecticut may fulfill the otherwise six-credit-minimum requirement if the student's preparation contains a suitably advanced prerequisite course (i.e., equivalent to a 200's level University of Connecticut course not open to sophomores) passed satisfactorily at this or another institution (although no course credits will be accepted in transfer).

Residence Requirement

A graduate student can fulfill the special demands of a doctoral program only by devoting a continuous period of time to concentrated study and patient research with a minimum of outside distraction or employment. During the second or subsequent years of graduate work in the field, at least two consecutive semesters or, with the consent of the advisory committee and the student, one semester together with a contiguous summer period consisting of Summer Session I and Summer Session 11 of full time study (six credits or the equivalent in each session) must be completed in residence. This residence period must be completed at the Storrs campus.

The essential criterion for full-time study as required for fulfillment of the doctoral residence requirement is whether the student is in fact devoting essentially full-time effort to studies, without undue distraction caused by outside employment. It is left to the advisory committee to determine whether a student's outside employment is a distraction that prevents the student from devoting essentially full-time effort to the planned program. The advisory committee shall record this determination on the Plan of Study together with a description of the nature, extent, and period(s) of employment in all cases of approved outside employment during the residence period.

Plan of Study Submission

The Plan of Study must be prepared in triplicate, signed by the student and the members of the advisory committee, and submitted to the Graduate Records Office for approval by the Executive Committee of the Graduate Faculty Council when the student has completed not more than 12 credits of course work to be applied to the degree. The student may not take the Ph.D. General Examination before the plan of study has been fully approved. Failure to present the plan on time may prolong the period of study for the degree. Before formulating and signing the plan, the major advisor should have on file and should consult for guidance a set of transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work the student has taken.

Courses elected shall be consistent with the student's objectives and related to the field in which the degree will be taken. Plans of study shall consist largely of courses at the 300's level or above. A limited number of credits at the 200's level (ordinarily not more than six), if not open to sophomores, may be accepted.

The plan shall designate any foreign language requirement in which the student is to be tested or any courses comprising a related area of study. Course credit by examination is not allowed as a means of accumulating credits to meet the requirements for advanced degrees at the University of Connecticut. If an examination is permitted to be used to fulfill a related- or supporting-area requirement for the Ph.D. degree, course credit is not given. No course credit is given for the dissertation or for research toward it. Although no credits actually are assigned, the dissertation is regarded as an important part of the student's program and is considered to represent at least one year of full-time graduate study.

Advanced course work taken on a non-degree basis at the University of Connecticut may be included on a Ph.D. Plan of Study provided the following conditions are met:

The grades earned in such course work are B or higher
Such course work is within the seven or eight year limit (whichever applies) for completion of Ph.D. degree requirements,
Such credits have not been applied toward any other degree here or elsewhere, awarded or to be awarded.

In any event, inclusion on the Plan of Study of non-degree course work requires the consent of the advisory committee and is subject to the approval of the Executive Committee.

After approval of the plan by the Executive Committee, any request for change must be submitted to the Graduate Records Office on an official form bearing the signatures of the members of the advisory committee and the student, for approval by the Executive Committee. The successful completion of all work indicated on the approved plan of study is a fundamental prerequisite to the conferring of the degree.

Once approved, the student and the advisory committee should reevaluate the Plan of Study regularly and modify it, following the established procedure, should that be necessary.

A plan of study form can be found here.

Ph.D. Publication Requirement

All CSE Ph.D. students are required to publish (or have accepted for publication), prior to their dissertation defense, a minimum of 3 conference level papers, where each paper is classified as a peer reviewed full conference article, i.e., submitted and reviewed as a full paper and not as an abstract. Further, a major advisor has the authority to establish a higher than 3 minimum number of publications for his/her students. Ph.D. candidates must make all publications available (with full citations) in electronic form on the web and (prior to the defense) and hard-copy form (at the defense). Ph.D. students admitted in fall 2002 or later must satisfy this publication requirement.

Ph.D. Dissertation Proposal

The Ph.D. dissertation must make a significant contribution to the computer science discipline. The selection of a dissertation topic and an advisor to supervise the research effort is the most critical part of the Ph.D. program. A general area of research is usually selected during the first year of Ph.D. study and an agreement is obtained from a faculty member to serve as the major advisor.

After selection of a research area has been approved, an initial investigation of the relevant literature in the area is undertaken to establish necessary background information and to define the exact problem to be studied. This initial investigation may also include a preliminary experiment to prove the feasibility of any experimental program that will be included in the research effort.

The initial investigation of the relevant literature in the area will culminate in the preparation of a dissertation proposal. It is expected that the student will work closely with his or her major advisor while preparing the proposal. Acceptance of this proposal by the student's advisory committee must be obtained before the student begins the proposed research effort.

A dissertation prospectus of the proposed research, using a special form obtained at the Graduate Records Office, must be submitted to the Chairman of the Area Review Committee for Engineering.

The dissertation research usually involves a substantial theoretical contribution verified by an experimental test of the validity and applicability of the theoretical results. Purely theoretical or mostly experimental research efforts are also acceptable provided they make a significant contribution to the understanding of a given area of computer science research.

It is very important that the student keep all members of the advisory committee informed of the progress of the research as it is performed. This may be done by informal meetings, the presentation of seminar talks, or the preparation of intermediate summary reports.

The final draft of the dissertation must be presented to the advisory committee at least one month before the final copy is due in the graduate school. In writing the dissertation, it is imperative that the student work closely with his or her major advisor. Experience has shown that many preliminary copies of the dissertation are needed before the final draft copy is ready for presentation to the advisory committee.

Ph.D. Dissertation Prospectus

Before preparation of the dissertation is well underway, the student must file a prospectus of the proposed research, using the special form obtainable at the Graduate Records Office and following guidelines included thereon. Failure to file the prospectus early may result in wasted effort on a dissertation if changes are required in the project. If human or animal subjects are involved in the proposed research, the major advisor certifies by signing the above-mentioned special form that all required institutional and external approvals have already been obtained and that documentary evidence of these approvals can be produced by the major advisor upon request.

Once approved by the student's advisory committee, the dissertation prospectus is submitted to the Area Review Committee for Engineering which is a subcommittee of the Executive Committee of the Graduate Faculty Council.

The Area Review Committee for Engineering examines the prospectus on the following bases:

Is the prospectus well written, well organized, and well argued?
Does the prospectus describe a project of appropriate scope?
Does the student demonstrate a knowledge of the subject and an understanding of the proposed method of investigation?
Does the student show awareness of the relevant research by others?
Does the student consider how the proposed investigation, if successful, will contribute to knowledge?

The Area Review Committee reports the result of its examination of a prospectus to the Executive Committee in the form of a recommendation to approve the prospectus, to return it to the student for revisions, or to disapprove the prospectus.

The prospectus must be submitted to the chair of the Area Review Committee for Engineering at least six months prior to the filing of the dissertation at the Graduate Records Office and must have been approved by the Executive Committee of the Graduate Faculty Council at least three months prior to the filing of the dissertation.

Ph.D. Dissertation