PhD in Computer Science

The purpose of the graduate program in Computer Science is to facilitate the student's continued professional and scholarly development. The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) programs are designed to prepare the student to conduct research and development in an area of concentration.

Typical areas of concentration include:

1. Computer Systems: parallel processing, quality-of-service, and resource management in distributed systems, scheduling, and load balancing for parallel and distributed systems, tools for parallel programming, performance evaluation, fault-tolerant computing, interconnection networks, multimedia systems, real-time systems, memory system design;
2. Intelligent Systems: neural networks, machine learning, planning, scientific visualization, pattern recognition, natural language processing, multi-agent environments, decision support;
3. Software Engineering: requirements engineering, incremental delivery, conceptual modeling, scenario-based techniques, formal specifications, object-oriented software engineering, design methodologies, software testing, software maintenance, software re-engineering, software processes, real-time systems;
4. Database: temporal databases, object-oriented databases, database models and languages, distributed database systems, indexing and hashing techniques, conceptual modeling, data security, logic and databases, query optimization, relational design theory, user interfaces, data repositories.
5. Communications: networks, wireless communication, distributed computing, mobile computing, multimedia systems.

The Ph.D. in Computer Science continues the development of the student's research capability. Coursework selection in each student's program is designed to support the dissertation area selected by the student.

A minimum of two semesters of full-time study is required during the dissertation phase. There is no foreign language requirement.

Admission Requirements

The CSE graduate admission committee bases its decision for Ph.D. graduate admission on the following criteria (in no specific order):

• An overall GPA of 3.0 or higher in undergraduate coursework.
• A GPA of 3.2 or higher on CS-related coursework in the last two years of an undergraduate degree.
• For students holding an M.S. degree, similar criteria apply.
• Relevance of the student's degree(s) (background) to the CS curriculum.
• Rigor of the student's bachelor's degree and M.S. degree if applicable.
• Reputation of the university/college that the student has received his/her previous degrees from.
• GRE General Test: Admitted students typically earn the following scores on the GRE
  • GRE quantitative score of at least 160 for PhD
  • GRE verbal score of at least 150 for PhD
  • A sum of verbal and quantitative GRE scores of at least 310 for Ph.D. applicants.
• For Ph.D. applicants, three letters of recommendation are needed, as well as a statement of purpose. These should be addressed to Head of Ph.D. Admissions and emailed to [email protected]
• For Ph.D. applicants, the following are optional. Meeting these criteria will improve both a student's chances of securing admission and receiving financial support.
  • Publication in scholarly conferences/journals.
  • A percentile of 80 score or higher on the Computer Science subject GRE.

The above criteria are used as follows in relevance to the three possible admission decisions, i.e., Unconditional Status; Probationary Status; and Denied.

Additional information about admission requirements.

Degree Requirements

The Ph.D. in Computer Science continues the development of the student's research capability. Coursework selection in each student's program is designed to support the dissertation area selected by the student.

A minimum of two semesters of full-time study is required during the dissertation phase. There is no foreign language requirement.

The graduation requirements fall into three categories: completion of a specified number of graduate credits in appropriate subjects with an acceptable grade-point average, demonstration of understanding of the discipline of computer science as evidenced by examination, and completion of a substantial research effort documented in a doctoral dissertation.

The Ph.D. timeline gives a detailed roadmap with expected time limits that have to be met on the various milestones. The Ph.D. checklist shows major milestones for completing the degree requirements for students with and without master's degrees in computer science. The Graduate Studies Committee prefers applicants with master's degrees but does not require a master's degree for admission. The milestones that a student passes during the course of a doctoral program are diagnostic evaluation, basic and advanced coursework, comprehensive examination, research proposal, dissertation research and documentation, and dissertation defense. At least two consecutive semesters of residence are required and the final GPA must be at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.

Tuition and Affordability

UTA Tuition and Affordability Information

Priority Application Dates

Fall | March 15
Spring | August 15
Summer | February 15

Applications are accepted after the published priority date for each term, but for guaranteed consideration of admission please submit the application and associated materials by the priority date. However, it is important to apply well in advance of your intended start date to be eligible for program-specific funding opportunities such as assistantships and fellowships. Keep in mind that departmental application processing times vary greatly and some programs require applications up to one year in advance.