Graduate Info
Ph.D. External Minor
The PhD minor Faculty Advisor is Associate Professor Bongki Moon .
A student who has been admitted and who has completed any deficiency courses designated by the Admissions Committee is considered to have passed the minor Qualifying Examination in Computer Science, and the Qualifying Examination is waived. If you have not yet applied, please visit http://www.cs.arizona.edu/graduate/phdminorapplicant.html.
Course Requirements
A Ph.D. minor consists of twelve units of CSc home-department courses. At least 9 units must be from courses among the Comprehensive Examination Core Topics in computer systems (CSc 525, 552, 553, 576), theory (CSc 545, 573), software systems (520, 522, 560) and applications (533, 537, 577). The remaining 3 units are an unrestricted Computer Science elective. More advanced courses can be substituted for courses covering the Comprehensive Exam Core Topics, as long as the student is adequately prepared for examination in three of the core course areas tested in the Minor Written Comprehensive Exam. The Graduate College permits at most six units of 400-level courses to be part of the degree program in the minor. A grade of `A' or `B' must be earned in all minor courses.
Examinations
The minor department participates in the Qualifying, Comprehensive, and Final examinations.
The Qualifying Examination in Computer Science is automatically waived provided a student has been admitted to the minor and has removed any admission deficiencies.
The Comprehensive Examination has written and oral components in both the major and minor fields of study; it is taken when essentially all course work has been completed. The Minor Written Comprehensive Examination is given as a colloquium requirement (C SC695B) to be taken during the last semester of minor coursework or the semester immediately following completion of the minor coursework. The student must attend five research colloquia held in the Department of Computer Science to successfully pass this class. C SC695B must be completed prior to the Oral Comprehensive Exam being completed in the minor and major. Doctoral minor students are required to successfully answer questions based upon both core and elective courses in their minor program of study.
The Oral Comprehensive Examination must take place within two regular terms following completion of the written prelims in the major and minor. It is administered by the student's doctoral committee, consisting of faculty from both the student's major and minor.
When all degree requirements are met, and research ability has been demonstrated, the candidate stands a Final Oral Examination which includes a defense of the dissertation, as well as general questioning related to the candidate's field of study. Members of the student's committee from the minor department may attend the Final Oral or may waive attendance.