PhD Mission Statement

PhD students in the Computer Science Department are prepared to be technical problem solvers, are competent in the state of the art, and have mastered a particular aspect of Computer Science. Students should be able to:

  • Generate new ideas,
  • Convince others that their ideas are worth pursuing,
  • Do the necessary research to demonstrate that their ideas are viable, and
  • Communicate the results of their research in the public domain.

PhD Requirements

Students entering the PhD program must complete a Master's degree in Computer Science or a closely related field as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the PhD. Students entering the PhD program without an MS in Computer Science or a closely related field will be required to complete an MS degree as part of their PhD program. Under the direction of the student's advisor, and with the approval of the student's PhD dissertation committee, the Master's thesis defense can be used to fulfill the paper requirement of the qualifying process.

Overviews of the PhD program requirements:

Requirements for the PhD program can be found in section 6 of the CS Graduate Handbook.

Graduate Progress System

BYU Graduate Studies requirements will be completed in the Graduate Progress system. This includes forming the Committee, completing the Program of Study, setting up proposals and defenses, and submitting the final ETD. To use the system, log in using your BYU NetID and login information. Milestones have been laid out to assist students in navigating the requirements. Additional department processes may require forms to be filled out, which can be found in the Common Graduate Forms section.