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Ph.D. Program Requirements and Deadlines

Listed below are the major steps that should be completed for a Ph.D. degree in computer science or in computer engineering. Much of this information is taken from the Steps to Fulfill Doctoral Degree Requirements and Steps to Fulfill Preliminary Exam pages on the Graduate and Professional School website.

As noted below, many steps are associated with submitting graduate and professional school forms. Information on submitting these forms is available on the Graduate and Professional School website. Some forms are submitted using DocuSign. In all cases, the student is responsible for filling out the form/DocuSign and correctly submitting the forms. Students must use NetID email addresses for all faculty members, not the computer science and engineering department email address. The graduate program assistant is the only email that will use the department email address (grad-advisor@cse.tamu.edu). All department head information should be listed as Dr. John Keyser for the name and keyser@tamu.edu for the email.

Ph.D. Student Annual Review

All doctoral students in the department are reviewed annually by the entire faculty. The purpose of the Ph.D. student annual review procedure is to encourage and motivate Ph.D. student research, and to provide additional mentoring for graduate study. The student must prepare and file certain materials for this review by the announced deadline, typically in mid-April. Details are provided on the  Ph.D. Student Annual Review Procedure page.

Advisory Committee and Degree Plan

Ph.D. students must form an advisory committee and file an approved degree plan. Requirements for the composition of the advisory committee and degree plans can be found on the department's Ph.D. in Computer Science and Ph.D. in Computer Engineering pages.

  • Graduate and Professional School Form: Online Degree Plan Submission System
  • Deadline: By the end of the student's third semester and at least 90 days before the preliminary exam.

Qualifier Exam

All Ph.D. students must pass a written qualifying exam. The written exam currently used is the ETS Major Field Test in Computer Science. The qualifying exam will be offered in each semester, including summer. The months the test is offered each semester may vary, as this is based on the Testing Center’s availability. Typically, the exam is scheduled in February, June and October. An email from the graduate advising office will be sent with information on the exam date, how to register and other exam data.

Students may attempt the exam a maximum of three times in the first four semesters (including summer) once they enter the Ph.D. program. For example, the first four offerings for a student who starts in the fall will be October, February, June and then October. It is strongly recommended that students take the exam as early as they can. Students should prepare seriously for the exam rather than "try it out." The graduate advising office has study materials to help prepare for the exam. They are available for use all year. The test is taken on a computer, with multiple-choice questions. A good understanding of calculus and linear algebra will be helpful when taking the exam.

The subjects covered are:

  • Discrete Structures
  • Programming
  • Algorithms and Complexity
  • Systems
  • Software Engineering
  • Information Management
  • Miscellaneous

Other study materials from the discontinued GRE Subject Exam:

Future qual exam dates (these dates are subject to change):

  • Summer 2024 Semester – July 24, 2024
  • Fall 2024 Semester - October 23, 2024
  • Spring 2025 – March 19, 2025
  • Summer 2025 – July 23, 2025
  • Falls 2025 – October 22, 2025

Preliminary Exam

The student must pass the preliminary examination given by the advisory committee as described in the graduate catalog. Please consult the procedures for the preliminary exam page for more information on eligibility requirements, and scheduling and administration practices for Ph.D. preliminary exams in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

  • Graduate and Professional School Forms: Preliminary Exam Checklist and Report of the Preliminary Exam
  • Deadline: As described on the procedures for the preliminary exam webpage, there are eligibility requirements and deadlines for scheduling and reporting on Ph.D. preliminary exams. Roughly, the preliminary exam is typically held at about the time that the degree plan coursework requirements are completed, and it cannot be taken in the same semester that the degree plan is filed or that the student plans to defend.

Dissertation Proposal

The student must submit a Ph.D. dissertation proposal as described in the graduate catalog. The research proposal approval form and proposal paper are to be submitted in DocuSign. When completing the email address in DocuSign, use grad-advisor@cse.tamu.edu for the graduate program assistant and keyser@tamu.edu for the department head.

If the dissertation research involves human subjects, animals, infectious biohazards or recombinant DNA, then the student must check with the Research Compliance and Biosafety Division to ensure that they have met all compliance responsibilities. A copy of the appropriate approved research compliance approval form must be submitted with the research proposal.

The department has no additional requirements for the proposal beyond that it be approved by the student's advisory committee (as shown by the submission of the signed Proposal and Proposal Approval Page in DocuSign) and that it meets any Graduate and Professional School requirements. Thus, students should consult with their advisor for guidance on preparing their proposal. As a rule of thumb, most proposals are about 10 pages long (single-spaced) and include a description of the problem to be studied, an overview of the related work, a brief summary of any preliminary results, and a description of the research objectives and the planned approach.

  • Graduate and Professional School Form: Proposal Title Page
  • Deadline: The department requires that the preliminary exam be passed before the proposal can be submitted. The university requires that the proposal be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School at least 20 business days before the request to hold the final examination form is submitted to the Graduate and Professional School. Precise deadlines are listed on the Graduate and Professional School calendar.

Apply for Graduation

Students need to submit an Application for Degree form in order to graduate.

  • Deadline: Normally in the first one to two weeks of the semester. Late applications will be allowed for an additional fee until later in the semester. Precise deadlines are listed on the Graduate and Professional School calendar.

Final Examination (Dissertation Defense)

The student must pass the final examination (dissertation defense) given by the advisory committee as described in the graduate catalog. Please consult the Procedures for Ph.D. Dissertation Defenses page for more information about eligibility requirements, and scheduling and administration practices for Ph.D. final exams in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

  • Graduate and Professional School Forms: Request for Final Examination, Report of Final Exam (sent by the Graduate and Professional School office to the chair of the student's advisory committee)
  • Deadlines: As described on the Procedures for Ph.D. Dissertation Defenses page, there are eligibility requirements and deadlines for scheduling and reporting on Ph.D. final exams. Final exam deadlines are listed on the Graduate and Professional School calendar (usually about eight weeks before graduation).

Dissertation

A Ph.D. dissertation as described in the graduate catalog and on the Graduate and Professional School website. After the dissertation has been approved by the student's committee, the student should submit the following items to the advising office:

The student will need to submit the Dissertation Approval page in DocuSign. In DocuSign, use the grad-advisor@cse.tamu.edu email for the graduate program assistant and department head. Then, the student should submit an electronic copy (PDF format) of the dissertation to the Thesis and Dissertation Services Office.

  • Graduate and Professional School Forms: Approval Form
  • Deadline: Dissertation submission deadlines are listed on the Graduate and Professional School calendar (usually about six weeks before graduation). The dissertation cannot be submitted until after the final examination has been passed. Final corrected copies of the dissertation must be accepted by the thesis clerk no later than one year after the final examination or within the 10-year time limit, whichever occurs first. Failure to do so will result in the degree not being awarded.