CSE Curriculum | Graduate Studies (2024)

Effective Fall 2022, CSE PhD requirements have changed.

PhD students who entered the program before the Fall 2022 quarter can choose to continue to follow the previous requirements, or can switch to the new requirements.

Students who entered in Fall 2022 or later must follow the new requirements. Please see below for summary:

Undergraduate courses do not count toward the 58-credit requirement.

Letter Grade Requirement:All courses must be taken for letter grade, except for courses numberedCSE 200,CSE 296, and courses in the CSE 280, CSE 297, and CSE 299. Students can also request to take up to two regular courses (10 credits) for S/U grading instead of Letter Grade.

Upon completion of all coursework requirements, Ph.D. students are eligible to undertake the qualifying examination, by which they advance to doctoral candidacy.

A successful qualifying examination involves a student writing a research prospectus, a public oral presentation of the proposed research, evaluation of research prospectus and oral presentation by a qualifying examination committee that is approved by the Graduate Division, and an appointment of a reading committee for the dissertation (which may differ from the qualifying examination committee).

Detailed information on the advancement to candidacy process can be found on the Graduate Affairs website.

To continue in the Ph.D. program, students must advance to candidacy by the end of their third year. Students are advanced to candidacy after they have completed the course requirements, passed the qualifying examination, cleared all incomplete grades from their records, have an appointed dissertation reading committee, and paid the advancement to candidacy fee.

Once advanced to candidacy, each student writes a Ph.D. dissertation which must be submitted to the reading committee at least one month prior to the dissertation defense. The dissertation must show the results of in-depth research, be an original contribution of significant knowledge, and include material worthy of publication. Where appropriate, research internships with companies, government laboratories, or elsewhere are recognized (and may be required) as an integral part of the research leading to the dissertation.

The candidate presents their research results in a public seminar sponsored by the dissertation supervisor. The seminar is followed by a defense of the dissertation to the public and the reading committee. The latter then decides whether the dissertation is acceptable or requires revision. Successful completion of the dissertation fulfills the final academic requirement for the Ph.D. degree.

CSE M.S. students are required to take 48 credits as follows:

• Required core courses: All students must take CSE 200, plus two of the following three courses:CSE 201,CSE 210A, andCSE 220. (13 credits)
• Each student must completeCSE 200in their first year.
• Breadth requirement: All students must take one course each from three different breadth categories. (15 credits)
• Capstone requirement: All students must take 5 credits of CSE 299 while completing Thesis Plan I. (5 credits)
• Additional coursework: All remaining courses must be regular, 5-credit graduate courses (not two-credit seminars like the CSE 280 series). Courses that do not count toward the 48 credits requirement in Thesis Plan I include all courses numberedCSE 296 and the CSE 280 and CSE 297 series. (15 credits)

Additional degree requirement information for students in Thesis Plan I:

• Only for Thesis Plan I Students: Up to 10 credits of CSE 299 may be counted toward the degree requirements; 5 credits are required for the Capstone requirement.

• Up to 10 credits of the required 48 credits can be from courses taught by departments other than CSE in the School of Engineering.

• Upper-division undergraduate UCSC CSE courses may be taken as a graduate student to strengthen a student's knowledge base. At most, 5 credits of UCSC upper-division undergraduate CSE courses may be counted toward the 48 credits requirement as an elective.

Master's Thesis Requirements:

After the student has completed some coursework in the proposed area of research and become acquainted with the faculty conducting research in that area, astudent electing Thesis Plan I submits a written proposal to a faculty member, usually by the third academic quarter. If the faculty member determines they are able to advise the student's thesis, they collaborate with the student to further develop the scope of the student's research and refine the proposal.

By accepting the proposal, the faculty member becomes the student's faculty/thesis advisor. In consultation with the advisor, the student forms a Master's Thesis Reading Committee with at least two additional faculty members, each of whom is provided a copy of the proposal. Membership criteria for the Thesis Reading Committee are detailed in the CSE Graduate Program Handbook.

Students must nominate their Thesis Reading Committee by submitting a nomination form to their Graduate Student Advisor before the end of the second week of the quarter in which they plan to graduate.

CSE M.S. students are required to take 48 credits as follows:

• Required core courses: All students must take CSE 200, plus two of the following three courses:CSE 201,CSE 210A, andCSE 220. (13 credits)
• Each student must completeCSE 200in their first year.
• Breadth requirement: All students must take one course each from three different breadth categories. (15 credits)
• Capstone requirement: All students must take 5 credits of CSE 297 while completing Capstone Plan II. (5 credits)
• Additional coursework: All remaining courses must be regular, 5-credit graduate courses (not two-credit seminars like the CSE 280 series). Courses that do not count toward the 48 credits requirement include all courses numberedCSE 296 and the CSE 280 and CSE 299 series. CSE 297 may be taken more than once; however, only 5 credits of CSE 297 will be counted toward the required 48 credits. (15 credits)

Additional degree requirement information for students in Capstone Plan II:

• Up to 10 credits of the required 48 credits can be from courses taught by departments other than CSE in the School of Engineering.
• Upper-division undergraduate UCSC CSE courses may be taken as a graduate student to strengthen a student's knowledge base. At most, 5 credits of UCSC upper-division undergraduate CSE courses may be counted toward the 48 credits requirement.

Master's Project Requirements:

The M.S. project is an individual or a team-based project (up to five members) supervised by a faculty advisor and approved by a reading committee composed of the faculty advisor and a senate faculty member from the Baskin School of Engineering. If you are planning to complete your master's project as part of a team, please notify your Graduate Student Advisor before submitting the Master's Project form.

Master's Project Reading Committees are nominated by completing a Master's Project form. Membership criteria for Master's Project Reading Committees are detailed in the CSE Graduate Program Handbook.

Projects can either be proposed by the student or the student may bid on projects proposed by faculty members (please see the Master's Project Bulletin Board). It is also possible to have industry-sponsored or government-sponsored projects, in which case the industry/government supervisor can be invited to be an optional third member on the Master's Project Reading Committee.

The final project must be accepted by the Project Reading Committee before the M.S. degree is conferred.

With the exception ofCSE 200,CSE 296, and all courses in the CSE 280, CSE 297, and CSE 299 series, all graduate courses and upper-division courses must be taken for letter grade. Only courses with a letter grade of B- or higher can be counted toward the M.S. degree requirements.

Students are responsible for selecting the appropriate grade option when enrolling in classes each quarter. Students must select the appropriate grade option by the quarterly Grade Option Change deadline listed in the Academic and Administrative Calendar, or their class may not be eligible to count toward their degree requirements.

Up to three School of Engineering courses fulfilling the degree requirements of the M.S. degree may be taken before beginning the graduate program through the concurrent enrollment program.

Courses from other institutions may be substituted for equivalent courses at UCSC (with the approval of the Graduate Director) but may not count toward the 48-credit requirement. For example, an equivalent Computer Architecture course taken elsewhere may be used in lieu of CSE 220. However, the student will need to replace it with 5 credits of another graduate elective course. As another example, a student may substitute an equivalent graduate course forCSE 260and count that for a breadth requirement, but may not count that course toward the 48-credit requirement.

At most, a total of three courses may be transferred from concurrent enrollment and other institutions.