The Direct PhD in COSC consists of a minimum 72 credit hours, distributed as follows: 12 credit hours of Program Core courses, 24 credit hours of Program Technical Elective courses, 36 credit hours of Dissertation research and two zero credit PhD Research Seminar courses. The technical background of the student will be assessed by a Written Qualifying Examination (WQE), followed by a Research Proposal Examination (RPE) which the student must successfully complete to progress further in the program. The components of the direct PhD in COSC program are summarized in the table below.
All the courses that the students will take are at PhD level. The students will only be able to attempt听听PhD Written Qualifying Exam (WQE) after successfully completing a minimum of 27 credits of formal coursework.
Program Core (12 credit hours)
Students must complete four of the core courses listed below. The ENGR 701 must be one of the selected four courses.
| Code |
Title |
Cr. |
| ENGR 701 |
Research Methods in Engineering |
3 |
| COSC 781 |
Advanced Algorithm Design Techniques |
3 |
| COSC 787 |
Advanced Deep Learning System Design |
3 |
| CCEN/COSC 732 |
Machine Learning and Applications |
3 |
| COSC 788 |
Advanced Computer Networks |
3 |
The students must also complete the core courses listed below.
|
COSC 703
|
PhD Research Seminar I
|
0
|
|
COSC 704
|
PhD Research Seminar II
|
0
|
|
COSC 795
|
PhD Written Qualifying Examination
|
0
|
|
COSC 796
|
PhD Research Proposal Examination
|
0
|
Program Electives(24 credit hours)
Students must complete a minimum of eight technical elective courses from the list below.
Subject to the approval of the dissertation Main Advisor, up to two elective courses (6 credit hours) can be taken from another relevant PhD program in KU.
PhD in Computer Science elective courses (3 credits each)
| Theme |
Code |
Course Title |
| AI |
COSC 735 |
Advanced Computer Vision Paradigms |
| 听 |
COSC 740 |
Vision-Language Models |
| 听 |
COSC/CCEN 741 |
Large Language Models for Computing and Engineering |
| 听 |
COSC 742 |
Quantum Machine Learning |
| Cyber Security 听 听 听 |
COSC 723 |
Cyber Security in Internet of Things and Applications |
| 听 |
COSC 737 |
Network and Cyber Physical Systems Security |
| 听 |
COSC 739 |
AI-Machine Learning Systems for Cybersecurity |
| 听 |
COSC 702 |
Advanced AI-Driven Software Engineering |
| 听 |
COSC 738 |
High Performance Computing |
| Theory of Computing |
COSC 720 |
Quantum Computing |
| 听 |
COSC 722 |
Efficient Algorithms for Convex Programming |
| 听 |
COSC 794 |
Selected Topics in Computer Science |
PhD Research Dissertation (minimum 36 credit hours)
Students must complete a PhD Research Dissertation that involves novel, creative, research-oriented work under the direct supervision of a full-time faculty advisor from the Computer Science Department, and at least one other full-time faculty who acts as a co-advisor. The outcome of research should demonstrate the synthesis of information into knowledge in a form that may be used by others. The research findings must be documented in a formal Dissertation and defended successfully in a viva voce examination. Furthermore, the research must lead to publishable quality scholarly journal articles.
Dissertation
| COSC 799 |
PhD Research Dissertation |
36 |
Typical Study Sequence for Full-Time Students
| Year 1 |
ENGR 701 Research Methods in Eng. |
Technical Elective 1 |
| Core Course 1 |
Technical Elective 2 |
| Core Course 2 |
Technical Elective 3 |
| Core Course 3 |
COSC 799 PhD Research Dissertation |
| Year 2 |
Technical Elective 4 |
COSC 799 PhD Research Dissertation |
| Technical Elective 5 |
COSC 795 PhD Written Qualifying Exam |
| COSC 799 PhD Research Dissertation |
| Year 3 |
Technical Elective 6 |
Technical Elective 7 |
| COSC 703 PhD Research Seminar I |
COSC 799 PhD Research Dissertation |
| COSC 799 PhD Research Dissertation |
COSC 796 PhD Research Proposal Exam |
| Year 4 |
Technical Elective 8 |
COSC 703 PhD Research Seminar II |
| COSC 799 PhD Research Dissertation |
COSC 799 PhD Research Dissertation |
| Year 5 |
COSC 799 PhD Research Dissertation |
COSC 799 PhD Research Dissertation |
| Final Doctoral Dissertation Exam |
Written Qualifying Examination (WQE)
The WQE for a PhD in Computer Science consists of written examinations in three topical areas approved by the department. The topical areas are selected by the student with the approval of her/his advisor. The topical areas for a PhD in Computer Science are the following:
- Algorithms and Computing Theory
- Artificial Intelligence
- Computer and Network Security
- Computer Systems
- Software Engineering
Failing any of the above topical areas will result in the student failing the entire WQE. However, a failed WQE can be retaken only once and passed upon the next offering of the examination pending a written request from the student and the approval of the relevant department chair, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and the Dean of Graduate Studies. He/she will be required only to retake the exams in the topical areas that he/she failed during the WQE at the first attempt.
