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Complete your graduate study with a Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science and Engineering.
The Ph.D. is the highest degree awarded by Wright State University. This pinnacle academic credential shows that you have mastered a body of skills and knowledge in your field of study. It prepares you for a career as an independent and productive scholar. You will be working closely with faculty on significant technological challenges of importance and mutual interest.
When you graduate with a Ph.D. in computer science and engineering you will be able to:
We have a mixture of courses that can be taken during the day, evening, or online. This lets you start your Ph.D. program as either a part-time or a full-time student.
Program strengths include:
A solid background in these core computer science skills will help you with your graduate degree:
 Hussein S. Al-Olimat earned his Ph.D. in computer science in 2019 from Wright State, conducing research on "Knowledge-enabled Entity Extraction" with Kno.e.sis. |
 Monireh Ebrahimi is the recipient of the WWW2017 Outstanding Reviewer Award. |
View the Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering program information, outcomes, and requirements in the Academic Catalog.
Admission to the Ph.D. program is competitive. The expected qualifications for admission to the Ph.D. program include:
We recommend knowledge of the following areas.
Making up minor deficiencies after admission to the program may be possible by taking appropriate courses. Meeting the expected qualifications does not guarantee admission to the program.
At least one year of formal coursework in computer programming. Formal coursework in data structures, computer organization, and operating systems is also required. The materials covered in these courses should be equal to Wright State University courses. If you are lacking other prerequisite coursework you may be assigned additional prerequisite courses upon admission.
The following courses are prerequisites that can be assigned for any of our graduate programs.
The following course is a prerequisite that can be assigned for the computer engineering degree.
Visit the International Admissions website for information on international graduate student admissions requirements.
Graduate students should apply for admission through Wright State's Graduate School.
If you are assigned admission prerequisites register for at least one every semester until all the prerequisite courses are successfully completed with a grade of C or better.
To qualify for the program you should receive either 3 A’s or 2 A’s and a B in your core courses. You will be able to take the final exam one more time for each course that you do not receive an A if you do not meet these qualifications. If you have not satisfied the qualifier requirement after two years you are subject to dismissal from the Ph.D. program.
Your dissertation committee should consist of
To include a dissertation committee member from outside the department or university contact the graduate program coordinator for further instructions. We recommend that you do this at least one semester before the candidacy exam.
You should engage in at least 18 hours of residency research. You can continue to complete research hours until your research proposal is ready.
The candidacy exam (or proposal defense) is a presentation to the dissertation committee and the public, covering the current state of the art research in your area of interest, your preliminary research and results, and your plan for completion of the dissertation research. The dissertation director, in consultation with the dissertation committee, will determine when you have identified a program of research suitable for a Ph.D. dissertation and are prepared to take the candidacy examination.
The examination will consist of a public presentation and a question-and-answer period. The dissertation committee may also have an interrogatory session with you that is closed to the public. The candidacy exam will normally be administered after you have completed 18 credits of residency research.
Proposal defense steps
You have one month following your defense to submit the following to the department.
You must complete at least 12 hours of dissertation research (CS/CEG 8950). Continue to register for dissertation research (CS/CEG 8950) until you have the results needed to complete your dissertation.
You must submit evidence of at least one high-quality journal paper or two papers in high-quality, peer-reviewed conference proceedings accepted for publication. These papers should cover the research described in your dissertation. You must be the first listed author or the corresponding author on each publication submitted.
Refer to the Graduate School for the application deadlines.
After completing your dissertation, you will defend your research results in front of your committee in public. You should provide a copy of your dissertation to the committee at least two weeks before your defense.
Dissertation defense steps
Following your successful defense, submit the following to the department.
Upload final document to OhioLink
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