Curriculum
The Ph.D. in Computer Science program has two curriculum pathways. With the M.S. pathway, earn a Ph.D. degree with a minimum of 51 credits. With the B.S. pathway, earn a Ph.D. degree with a minimum of 66 credits. Courses, research, and dissertation registrations are listed below.
Each student must complete 5 core courses (3 credits each, total 15 credits)
CISC 610 Programming Languages
CISC 615 Design and Analysis of Algorithms
CISC 660 Database Management Systems
Students may substitute an elective for any of the following core courses listed above for which they have passed an MS course equivalent within the past five years.
CISC 662 Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery in Databases
CISC 664 Information Retrieval and Web Search Engine Technology
CISC 668 Mobile Application Development
CISC 670 Artificial Intelligence
CISC 682 Software Requirements Engineering
CISC 683 Object-Oriented Design
CISC 684 Software Testing and Verification
CISC 690 Special Topics in Computer Science
ISEC 615 Fundamentals of Cybersecurity
ISEC 650 Computer and Network Forensics
Each student must complete 5 core courses (3 credits each, total 15 credits)
CISC 610 Programming Languages
CISC 615 Design and Analysis of Algorithms
CISC 660 Database Management Systems
Each student must complete 5 electives (3 credits each, total 15 credits)
CISC 662 Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery in Databases
CISC 664 Information Retrieval and Web Search Engine Technology
CISC 668 Mobile Application Development
CISC 670 Artificial Intelligence
CISC 682 Software Requirements Engineering
CISC 683 Object-Oriented Design
CISC 684 Software Testing and Verification
CISC 690 Special Topics in Computer Science
ISEC 615 Fundamentals of Cybersecurity
ISEC 650 Computer and Network Forensics
In both pathways, each student will be required to complete at least three doctoral research courses of CISD 885 (4 credits each, total 12 credits). These courses will be taken at the end of the student’s coursework. These directed study courses will enable the student, with the support of a faculty advisor, to identify a viable research topic and conduct preliminary research that will lead to formal candidacy for the student.
CISD 885 Doctoral Research (4 credits)
Students must complete 24 credits of dissertation registrations, three registrations of CISD 901. Students who do not complete the dissertation within 24 credits will register for CISD 920 Continuing Dissertation until the dissertation is complete.