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School of Computing Science | Faculty of Applied Sciences
¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Calendar 2012 Spring

¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Requirements

To qualify for program admission, a student must satisfy the University admission requirements stated in graduate general regulations 1.3 and

• have a master’s degree or the equivalent in computing science or a related field or
• have a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent in computing science or a related field, with a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 (on a scale of 0.0-4.0) or the equivalent.

At its discretion, the school’s graduate admission committee may offer PhD admission to students applying to the PhD program without a master’s degree or equivalent in computing science or a related field.

Program Requirements

Students will demonstrate breadth of knowledge, and demonstrate the capacity to conduct original research through completion and defence of an original thesis. A PhD degree program should be completed within 12 terms and should not require longer than 15 terms. Students must achieve a minimum 3.4 CGPA and passing grades in all courses.

Breadth Requirement

PhD students who already possess an MSc in computing science or a related field must complete a breadth requirement of four graduate courses (which is equivalent to 12 units of graduate course work). At least three of the courses must be drawn from Table 1 so that they are all in different areas.

PhD students who do not possess an MSc in computing science or a related field must complete a breadth requirement of eight graduate courses (which is equivalent to 24 units of graduate course work). At least six of the courses must be drawn from Table 1 and at least one course must be from Area I (Algorithms and Complexity Theory) so that the six courses cover at least three different areas.

For purposes of defining breadth requirements, courses are grouped into the five major areas shown in Table 1. Courses not related to the breadth requirements are shown in Table 2. Any courses completed outside the School of Computing Science must be approved by the student’s senior supervisor and the director of the graduate program.

Only two special topics courses (two of CMPT 829, 880, 881, 882, 883, 884, 885, 886, 887, 888, 889) may be used toward satisfaction of breadth requirements, except with permission of the graduate program breadth committee.

The courses used to satisfy the breadth requirements must include either CMPT 705 or 710, unless the student already has credit for one of these courses (or equivalent) from a previous degree as determined by the graduate program breadth committee.

Table 1

Area I – Algorithms and Complexity Theory

• CMPT 701-3 Computability and Logic
• CMPT 705-3 Design and Analysis of Algorithms
• CMPT 710-3 Computational Complexity
• CMPT 711-3 Bioinformatics Algorithms
• CMPT 813-3 Computational Geometry
• CMPT 814-3 Algorithmic Graph Theory
• CMPT 815-3 Algorithms of Optimization
• CMPT 881-3 Special Topics in Theoretical Computing Science

Area II – Networks, Software and Systems

• CMPT 730-3 Programming Languages
• CMPT 731-3 Functional Programming
• CMPT 745-3 Software Engineering
• CMPT 755-3 Compiler Theory
• CMPT 760-3 Operating Systems
• CMPT 765-3 Computer Communication Networks
• CMPT 771-3 Internet Architecture and Protocols
• CMPT 777-3 Formal Verification
• CMPT 816-3 Theory of Communication Networks
• CMPT 885-3 Special Topics in Computer Architecture
• CMPT 886-3 Special Topics in Networks, Software and Systems

Area III – Artificial Intelligence

• CMPT 721-3 Knowledge Representation and Reasoning
• CMPT 725-3 Logical Methods in Computational Intelligence
• CMPT 726-3 Machine Learning
• CMPT 823-3 Formal Topics in Knowledge Representation
• CMPT 825-3 Natural Language Processing
• CMPT 826-3 Automated Learning and Reasoning
• CMPT 827-3 Intelligent Systems
• CMPT 882-3 Special Topics in Artificial Intelligence

Area IV – Databases, Data Mining and Computational Biology

• CMPT 505-3 Problem Based Learning in Bioinformatics
• CMPT 740-3 Database Systems
• CMPT 741-3 Data Mining
• CMPT 829-3 Special Topics in Bioinformatics
• CMPT 842-3 Concurrency Control in Database Systems
• CMPT 843-3 Database and Knowledge-base Systems
• CMPT 884-3 Special Topics in Database Systems

Area V – Graphics, HCI, Vision and Visualization

• CMPT 761-3 Image Synthesis
• CMPT 764-3 Geometric Modeling in Computer Graphics
• CMPT 773-3 User Interface Design
• CMPT 767-3 Visualization
• CMPT 768-3 Computer Music Theory and Sound Synthesis
• CMPT 820-3 Multimedia Systems
• CMPT 821-3 Robot Vision
• CMPT 822-3 Computational Vision
• CMPT 888-3 Special Topics in Computer Graphics, HCI, Vision and Visualization

Table 2

• CMPT 880-3 Special Topics in Computing Science
• CMPT 889-3 Special Topics in Interdisciplinary Computing
• CMPT 894-3 Directed Reading

The course requirements have a distribution requirement to ensure breadth across the major areas that are defined in Table 1. This requirement specifies the number of courses selected from each of the five major areas.

Depth Requirement and Examination

Students demonstrate depth of knowledge in their research area through a public depth seminar and oral examination, give a thesis proposal seminar, and submit and defend a thesis based on their independent work which makes an original contribution to computing science.

The depth seminar and examination may be scheduled at any time following the completion of breadth requirements. Typically this is between the fifth and seventh term in the program; a recommendation is made by the graduate breadth committee, in proportion to the amount of course work required to satisfy the breadth requirement.

The examining committee consists of the supervisory committee and one or two additional examiners recommended by the examining committee, and approved by the graduate program committee. The depth exam centres on the student’s research area. The examining committee, in consultation with the student, specifies the examination topics. The student prepares a written survey and gives a public depth seminar; the oral exam follows, and then the committee evaluates the student’s program performance. The committee’s evaluation is diagnostic, specifying additional work in weak areas if such exists. A second depth exam or withdrawal from the program may be recommended in extreme cases.

Thesis Proposal and Defence

The student, in consultation with the supervisory committee, formulates and submits, for approval, a written thesis proposal consisting of a research plan and preliminary results. The student gives a seminar and defends the originality and feasibility of the proposed thesis to the supervisory committee. The thesis proposal is normally presented and defended within three terms of the depth examination.

Regulations specifying the examining committee composition and procedures for the final public thesis defence are in the graduate general regulations. PhD students present a seminar; typically this will be about their thesis research and is presented in the interval between distribution of the thesis to the committee and the defence.

Supervisory Committees

A supervisory committee consists of the student’s senior supervisor, at least one other computing science faculty member, and others (typically faculty) as appropriate. The choice of senior supervisor should be made by mutual consent of the graduate student and faculty member based on commonality of research interests. The student and senior supervisor should consult on the remainder of the committee members.

Graduate general regulation 1.6 specifies that a senior supervisor be appointed normally no later than the beginning of the student’s third term in the program, and that the remainder of the supervisory committee be chosen normally in the same term in which the senior supervisor is appointed.

Academic Requirements within the Graduate General Regulations

All graduate students must satisfy the academic requirements that are specified in the graduate general regulations (residence, course work, academic progress, supervision, research competence requirement, completion time, and degree completion), as well as the specific requirements for the program in which they are enrolled, as shown above.

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