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The M.S. in Computer Science is a research degree offered through the Graduate School. A student who has been accepted by the Graduate School is formally admitted to candidacy for the M.S. degree at the recommendation of the student's supervisory committee. Admission to candidacy occurs after the student:
An application for candidacy must be submitted to the Graduate School no later than the last day preceding the semester of graduation. For the degree to be conferred, the approved Program of Study form must be completed and the thesis completed and publicly defended.
Each of these steps is described below. Most of the steps involve completing and submitting a properly signed form. Forms and assistance are available from the Graduate Coordinator.
Supervisory Committee. An M.S. committee consists of three members. A committee typically consists of School faculty, but may include one qualified external member. The committee should be formed by the second semester of enrollment in the M.S. program.
Any School of Computing regular faculty member may serve as a supervisory committee chair. Research or adjunct faculty may chair supervisory committees if accorded that privilege by the regular faculty. Individuals who are not faculty members may serve on supervisory committees if nominated by the regular faculty on the committee, and endorsed by the Graduate Studies Committee and School Director.
Final approval of all supervisory committees must be granted by the Dean of the Graduate School. M.S. students must form this committee by the end of the second semester of study, although a committee may be revised later by petition to the Graduate Studies Committee.
Required Courses. The Computer Science M.S. program is not considered an ``entry level'' program; therefore, all incoming students will be expected to have demonstrated a basic understanding of fundamental concepts. Students with non-traditional backgrounds must show proficiency in or complete the courses listed as ``background''.
The curriculum requirements for M.S. students are designed to ensure that all students who receive an M.S. degree have a working knowledge of those topics in computer science that are deemed fundamental by the faculty. This comprises a basic education in the core areas of computer science and a deeper education in one or more areas in which they will perform research. A core area illuminates the ways that most applications are designed and implemented, examines the hardware and software systems that are needed to execute the applications, and analyzes the resulting performance of such applications. M.S. students are required to complete courses in each of these areas.
The figure below gives the background and required courses in each core area for M.S. students. It is assumed that all graduate students will have a thorough understanding of the material covered in the background courses. All M.S. students must take the required courses listed above, unless a waiver is obtained based on prior knowledge (e.g., completion of a similar course taken at another University). M.S. students are required to earn a grade of B or better in each required class, and achieve an overall GPA of 3.5 in those classes.
Program of Study. Course work listed on the approved Program of Study form must consist of at least 30 semester hours of graduate course work and thesis research. At least 6 semester hours of thesis research (CS 6970) and 20 semester hours of graduate course work must be included.
CS courses on the Program of Study must be numbered 6000 or above, excluding research credits (CS 6970); or they must be required courses. Of the required 20 semester hours, up to 6 may be in graduate courses outside of CS. At least one course in the Program of Study must be a CS course numbered 6000 or above, excluding independent study, seminars, research credit, and required courses.
At least 24 semester hours must be completed in resident study at the University of Utah. Students must be registered for a minimum of 3 semester hours during the semester in which the thesis is defended.
Independent study (CS 6950 and CS 7950) can be included in the Program of Study for the M.S. degree. Independent study for M.S. students will be allowed only when the project is self-contained and independent of thesis research. Course CS 6930 (Computer Science Seminar) may not be applied to the course requirements of the M.S. degree program.
A student may register for CS 6020 if that student writes and publishes a peer-reviewed article based on research performed in the University of Utah School of Computing. The contribution of the student to the article should be equivalent to that conferred by first authorship. The paper should be published in a respectable outlet. It is the responsibility of the student's advisor to determine whether the student has made such a contribution, and whether the outlet is of sufficient quality. This paper must be accepted for publication prior to the end of the second year of study.
The Program of Study form should be filed with the School in the second semester of study and with the Graduate School prior to taking the comprehensive examination. The Program of Study form must be submitted to the Graduate School by the last day of the semester preceding the semester of graduation.
Thesis Proposal. The student should prepare and receive approval for a thesis proposal by the end of the third semester of study (not counting summers). A copy of the thesis proposal must be in the student's file. For guidelines on preparing proposals, consult Discussion on Ph.D. Thesis Proposals in Computing Science, by H. C. Lauer. Copies are available from the Graduate Coordinator or from the Thesis Editor. The thesis proposal must be approved at least one semester prior to the semester of the thesis defense.
Comprehensive Examination. The comprehensive examination for M.S. students is coupled to the thesis proposal. It consists of an oral examination on the thesis proposal and research area in a very broad sense. This examination is administered by the student's supervisory committee and should be completed by the end of the student's third semester of study (not counting summers) as a graduate student in the School. The examination should serve as the defense of the student's thesis proposal as well as to establish competence in the research area. The examination must be completed at least one semester prior to the semester of the thesis defense.
Completing Program of Study. An M.S. student is expected to devote the necessary time to courses and research in order to make satisfactory progress toward the degree. Satisfactory progress includes personal participation in the research and teaching environment of the School on a day-to-day basis.
A full time student working on an M.S. program is expected to complete the degree requirements within two calendar years. Beyond this period a student generally does not receive graduate financial support from the School, and the tuition waiver does not apply. A student must petition the Graduate Studies Committee to continue beyond the third year. The Graduate School limits M.S. programs to four years.
The requirements for the thesis defense and thesis are common with the Ph.D. program, and are discussed in a later section.
Course requirements for the M.S. degree in Computer Science
| Area | Background (Prerequisites) | Required |
| Foundations | CS 3100 Models of Computation | CS 6100 Foundations of Computer Science |
| CS 3510 Algorithms and Data Structures | ||
| CS 3100 Models of Computation | CS 6520 Programming Languages and Semantics | |
| CS 3520 Programming Language Concepts | ||
| Systems and Languages | CS 3510 Algorithms and Data Structures | CS 5460 Operating Systems |
| CS 3810 Computer Architecture | ||
| CS 3100 Models of Computation | CS 5470 Compiler Principles and Techniques | |
| CS 3510 Algorithms and Data Structures | ||
| CS 3810 Computer Architecture | ||
| Architecture | CS 3700 Digital System Design | CS 6810 Advanced Computer Architecture |
| CS 3810 Computer Architecture |
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