Doctor of Computer Science

Examinations

The Qualifying Examination (COSC 599)

  1. Students must demonstrate competency in the five core courses. Students receiving a GPA >= 3.8 in the five core courses (COSC 502, COSC 504, COSC 514, COSC 522, and COSC 528) will receive a pass grade in the Qualifying.
  2. Students need to register for COSC 599 to receive the grade. However, students with a GPA < 3.8 in the five core courses will have to retake the course(s) till their GPA reaches 3.8 in the core courses.
  3. Students are allowed only two attempts to improve their GPA by retaking the course(s).
  4. Students must pass the Qualifying Examination by the third year, otherwise, they will be dismissed from the doctoral program.

The Comprehensive Examination (COSC 799)

  1. Comprehensive examination is the second examination the students take after passing the Qualifying Examination. The comprehensive examination is a written examination and is offered every Fall semester in October and Spring semester in March.
  2. Students need to register for COSC 799 to qualify to take the comprehensive exam.
  3. Courses in the Knowledge Areas with the asterisk (see below) will be included in the Comprehensive Exam. 
  4. The exam will include a total of 5 questions where students will solve 3 questions from their main research Knowledge Area and 2 questions from one or two other supplementary Knowledge Areas.
  5. Students are given two attempts to pass comprehensive exam. Students must pass the Comprehensive Examination within the first five years in the program. Students who do not pass within that period, will be automatically dismissed from the doctoral program.

Knowledge Areas

Computer Systems and Software Engineering

  • COSC 509 - UNIX and Systems Programming
  • COSC 535 - Information Privacy and Security
  • COSC 545 - Software Security
  • COSC 554 - Design of Embedded Systems
  • COSC 585 - Computer Communication Networks I
  • COSC 614 - Operating Systems II
  • COSC 645* - Applied Cryptography
  • COSC 665* - Software Engineering II
  • COSC 685 - Computer Communication Networks II
  • COSC 687 - Distributed Computer Systems
  • COSC 735* - Advanced Wireless Security
  • COSC 825 - Application in Signal Processing
  • COSC 887* - High Performance Computing

Database Systems and Artificial Intelligence

  •  COSC 531 - Database Design
  • COSC 573 - Artificial Intelligence I
  • COSC 631* - Database and Information Systems II
  • COSC 632 - Principles of Data Mining
  • COSC 750* - Pattern Recognition I
  • COSC 673* - Artificial Intelligence II
  • COSC 674* - Applied Machine Learning
  • COSC 731 - Principles of Data Mining
  • COSC 831* - Advanced Data Warehousing and Data Mining

Graphics, Image Processing, and Virtual Reality

  • COSC 518 - Computer Graphics I
  • COSC 618* - Compute Graphics II
  • COSC 719* - Image Processing I
  • COSC 729* - Virtual Reality and Its Applications
  • COSC 819 - Image Processing II
  • COSC 829* - Advanced Virtual Reality Systems