Graduate Faculty: Boukerche, Brazile, Fisher, Irby, Jacob, Kavi, Mikler, Narasimhan, Parberry, Renka, Shahrokhi, Steiner, Swigger, Tarau, Tate.
The Department of Computer Sciences offers graduate programs leading to the following degrees:
The objective of the master's degree is to produce professional computer scientists capable of contributing technically to the basic core areas of computer science as well as to application areas. The purpose of the doctoral degree is to produce professionals capable of conducting and directing research within the discipline of computer science.
The department is committed to overall excellence in computer science graduate education. Consequently, the programs of study for these degrees include a mixture of course, laboratory and research work designed to place graduates at the forefront of technical excellence.
The department also supports an interdisciplinary doctorate with a major in information science. See the School of Library and Information Sciences section of this catalog for more information.
The Department of Computer Sciences has a broad-based research program. Current faculty research interests include artificial intelligence, data and knowledge bases, distributed computing, graphics, logic programming, mathematical software, networking, neural computing, operating systems, parallel and distributed computing, pattern recognition and robotics, programming languages, theory of algorithms, and VLSI.
The Center for Research in Wireless Computing (CRWC) was established by a group of faculty in the Department of Computer Sciences in 1990. CRWC is dedicated to the promotion and fostering of basic and applied research in all aspects of the theory and practice of parallel and distributed computing. In addition, the Network Research Laboratory (NRL) provides facilities for research in networking, parallel and distributed algorithms, and large network simulations.
The department has extensive facilities to support these projects. Current research facilities include a departmental Sun Ultra Enterprise 4000, a laboratory devoted to networking and distributed computing, an experimental transputer system, a number of modern workstations and several minicomputers. The department also maintains a large microcomputer laboratory for research and instruction. Additional support is provided through the potential for interdisciplinary work with other departments and laboratories and a local area network linking the department to the facilities of the campus computer center.
Grants from the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the National Science Foundation, the state of Texas, IBM, TWA, EDS and Texas Instruments have contributed to faculty research in algorithm development, artificial intelligence, pattern recognition, parallel and distributed computing, and scientific computation. Each of these projects has involved the work of a number of graduate students.
The main library contains more than 36,000 computer-oriented volumes and subscribes to 133 periodicals specializing in the computer field. These periodicals range from the highly technical Journal of the ACM to user-oriented Personal Computing.
The department enjoys a friendly working relationship with local and national companies. The department's Advisory Council is composed of representatives from government agencies and high-tech firms. During the past few years they have helped obtain research funding, fellowships and internships for students in the department.
The department offers graduate programs leading to the following degrees:
In all cases admission to graduate degree programs in computer science is competitive since available facilities and faculty do not permit admission of all qualified applicants. Applications, complete with transcripts, and GRE and TOEFL scores, must reach the computer sciences department by the following dates to be considered for the semester indicated.
October 1 spring semester
March 1 first summer session
March 1 fall semester
Note that fall applications must be received by March 1 in order to be considered for an assistantship. Students must submit a completed application for assistantship by the above deadline to be considered for financial assistance.
The department offers the Master of Science with a major in computer science.
The student must satisfy all the general admission requirements of the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies as well as the admission requirements of the computer sciences department as delineated below:
1. an acceptable score on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE); contact the department or the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies for information concerning acceptable admission test scores;
2. for applicants whose native language is not English, a TOEFL score of at least 580 for the written test or 237 for the computer test also is required;
3. a GPA of at least 3.0 on the most recent 60 hours of course work;
4. completion of a sufficient amount of prior work in the field of computer science, including courses equivalent to CSCI 2010, 3100, 3400, and 3600; some undergraduate leveling sequences are available; and
5. at least 15 hours of mathematics, including differential and integral calculus, discrete mathematics and two other courses selected from statistics, linear algebra, abstract algebra, logic, numerical analysis and differential equations.
Students not satisfying conditions 1 through 3 will not be admitted to the computer science program nor will they be allowed to enroll in graduate computer science courses. Those students who satisfy conditions 1 through 3 but who lack some of the computer science background may be provisionally admitted to the program and may enroll in graduate-level courses once any required leveling courses are completed with a grade of B or better. Admission is competitive, and satisfaction of the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission.
After removal of all deficiencies and upon completion of an additional 12 hours of graduate credit, the student is required to submit a formal degree plan to his or her adviser and the dean of the School of Graduate Studies. Failure to fulfill this requirement may prevent the student from enrolling the following semester.
Admission to candidacy is granted by the dean of the School of Graduate Studies after the degree plan has been approved.
The program for the Master of Science degree with a major in computer science is either 33 hours (with thesis), 36 hours (with 3-hour research project) or 39 hours of course work. No more than 3 hours of credit in non-organized courses beyond the thesis or project (such as CSCI 5890 or 5900) may be applied toward a master's degree.
Every graduate student must enroll in CSCI 5170, Current Research in Computer Science, during the first fall semester of graduate work (after any necessary leveling courses have been completed).
At least 27 hours of graduate work in computer science are required, including CSCI 5250, 5450 and 5540, and one additional course from each of the three core areas: theory and algorithms, systems and architecture, and software and programming; and at least one course must be taken from the breadth area (see department for a listing of courses in each area). To qualify for the master's degree, the student must earn a grade of B or better in each of the core courses.
Additional courses may be selected from the full listing of courses, but only CSCI courses numbered 5100 and above may be included in the CSCI graduate degree plan.
Students choosing the thesis option must complete either CSCI 5920 and 5930, or CSCI 5950. The Master of Science 36-hour option requires completion of CSCI 5900.
From 6 to 12 hours of graduate work in a minor field of computer science application are required. With prior approval of the graduate coordinator, this work may be done outside the computer sciences department.
If a student's GPA on all graduate and/or deficiency courses falls below 3.0, the student will be placed on probation the following semester. Students who cannot raise their GPA above 3.0 during that semester will be dropped from the program.
A graduate minor in computer science requires
9 to 12 hours of graduate credit. CSCI 5010-5030 are service courses designed for students who are not computer science majors. Since these are introductory courses, only one of these courses is allowed in the 9-hour minor option, and no more than two of these courses may be included in the
12-hour minor option.
The program of study for the doctoral degree with a major in computer science includes formal course work, independent study and research. The purpose of the degree is to produce a professional capable of directing and conducting research within the discipline of computer science.
Students seeking admission to the doctoral program must meet all general requirements for doctoral candidates at UNT and must have completed all of the requirements (or equivalent work) for the master's degree as defined in the previous section. Additional requirements are delineated below:
1. an acceptable score on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE); contact the department or the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies for information concerning acceptable admission test scores;
2. a 3.5 GPA on the most recent 30 hours of course work;
3. a ranking in the 50th percentile or higher on the verbal portion of the GRE; for applicants whose native language is not English, a TOEFL score of at least 580 for the written test or 237 for the computer test also is required; and
4. three letters of recommendation.
Admission is competitive, and satisfaction of the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission.
In addition to satisfying the general requirements for all UNT doctoral degrees, a student must satisfactorily complete the following:
1. a minimum of 12 hours of 6000-level organized courses in computer science;
2. the residence requirement, consisting of two consecutive semesters of enrollment in at least 9 semester hours;
3. satisfactory completion of a written comprehensive examination prior to submitting a proposal for dissertation research; and
4. submission and successful defense of the doctoral dissertation.
More detailed information on degree requirements is available upon request from the Department of Computer Sciences.
Consult the graduate adviser, Department of Computer Sciences, for requirements.
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