PH.D. DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
SUMMARY
To receive a PhD in Computer Science at NYU, a student must complete the requirements below:
1. COURSEWORK
To obtain a Ph.D. in Computer Science, a student must complete 72 credits of graduate credit (at least 32 in residence). 12 of these are satisfied via breadth requirements, while the remaining 60 must be satisfied through electives and research credits.
2. BREADTH REQUIREMENTS
The breadth requirement involves the completion of four courses, one in systems, one in applications, one in theory and one in an area of the student’s choice (picking from systems, applications, and theory). Students must receive a minimum cumulative GPA of A- (3.667) in each of these four courses and may not earn a grade lower than B+ in any individual course. Courses in each area satisfying the breadth requirement may vary from year to year and will be listed on the department’s website.
3. RESEARCH PROJECT
By the end of the first semester of their second year of study, each student must be involved in a research project under the guidance of a faculty research advisor. It is the responsibility of each student to find a faculty advisor and a research project, and to inform the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) about his/her choice of advisor. Students must inform the DGS if they change the research advisor.
4. QUALIFYING EXAM
Students are required to form an exam committee of at least three faculty members, one of which is the research advisor, and have that committee, an exam topic and a tentative date approved by the DGS by the end of the first semester of their second year of study. At least 2 of the members of the committee must be from the program faculty. The committee will have a designated chair who is not the student's research advisor.
The exam consists of an oral presentation of the student's research accomplishments. A student is expected to have conducted original research by the time of the exam. This research may have been carried out independently or in collaboration with faculty, research staff, or other students. Students are encouraged, but not required, to have publication-worthy results by the time of the exam. It is not sufficient for a student to present a survey of previous work in an area or a reimplementation of algorithms, techniques, or systems developed by others.
The committee, by majority vote, gives a grade as one of "High Pass", "Low Pass", or "Fail". A high pass is required to fulfil this requirement. This exam may be taken no more than twice.
4. DEPTH REQUIREMENT
The student must complete a special topics course at the Ph.D. level with a minimum course grade of A- OR an examination to demonstrate the student's knowledge of the research area. If a special topics course is used to satisfy the depth requirement, it cannot also be used to satisfy the breadth requirement.
If an exam is used to satisfy the depth requirement, the scope of this exam should be similar to a typical PhD-level special topics course. It should not be as broad as an introductory course nor as narrow as a thesis. This exam may be oral or written and is overseen by the same committee as is used for the qualifying exam. The requirement is that it seriously test the student's knowledge of a research area as distinct from the student's research accomplishments. The committee will define a syllabus, which must be approved by the DGS, and make the syllabus available to the student no later than two weeks before the exam.
The committee, by majority vote, gives a grade as one of "High Pass", "Low Pass", or "Fail". A high pass is required to fulfil this requirement. This exam may be taken no more than twice.
5. TEACHING
By the end of the third year of study, each student must have served as a recitation section leader of at least one course in the department. Courses on related topics outside the department may also be used to satisfy this requirement subject to approval by the DGS. The student must also participate in the department’s teacher training session during or prior to the semester in which they teach. In certain circumstances, the DGS may allow the student to satisfy this requirement by serving as a course assistant or as a grader. These exceptions will be determined by the DGS based on the availability of suitable recitations.
6. THESIS PROPOSAL
Students are required to form a thesis proposal committee and have the committee and a tentative date for the thesis proposal presentation approved by the Chair and the DGS by the end of the first semester of their third year of study. When a student is ready to start work on the PhD thesis, the student must (i) select, with the approval of his/her research advisor and the DGS, a thesis reading committee, and (ii) submit a written thesis proposal to the committee.
The student and the student's research advisor suggest the composition of the thesis reading committee for approval by the DGS and Department Chair. The committee must include at least three members. Any changes to the composition of the committee must be approved by the DGS and the Chair. The committee members can be regular computer science faculty, faculty from other departments, or individuals of like standing from outside the University. At least one member of the reading committee must be regular Computer Science faculty.
The thesis proposal should include a description of the research topic, an explanation of how the research will advance the state of the art, and a tentative research plan. After the thesis reading committee has approved the thesis proposal, the student should schedule a thesis proposal presentation, which may or may not be open to people other than faculty, at the discretion of the research advisor. Substantial subsequent changes to the thesis topic must be approved by the
thesis reading committee. The proposal must be defended no later than the end of the third year of study.
7. DISSERTATION
All students must write and defend a dissertation containing the student’s original and substantial research. The dissertation must be defended in front of a committee consisting of at least five members, three of which must be members of the Faculty of Arts and Science or the Faculty of the Tandon School of Engineering. The thesis committee must be selected at least 3 months before the dissertation defense takes place. At least four members must vote to approve the dissertation for it to pass.
The written thesis document must be submitted to the thesis committee 1 month prior to the scheduled defense date. After the thesis has been approved for defense by the committee, the thesis defense is announced. The announcement must precede the defense by at least one week. For the defense, the student will give an oral presentation describing the thesis research, which is open to the public. Following the oral presentation and an initial question and answer session,
the dissertation committee and faculty may ask the student further questions in a closed session.