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Stanford Bulletin, 2006-07 | 3
secondary adviser and reader for the research report. In addition, the
student must complete the following requirements beyond those for the
regular M.S./CS degree:
1. Research Experience: the program must include signicant research
experience at the level of a half-time commitment over the course of
three academic quarters. In any given quarter, the half-time research
commitment may be satisfied by a 50 percent appointment to a
departmentally supported research assistantship, 6 units of indepen-
dent study (CS 393, 395, or 399), or a prorated combination of the two
(such as a 25 percent research assistantship supplemented by 3 units
of independent study). This research must be carried out under the
direction of the primary or secondary adviser.
2. Supervised Writing and Research: in addition to the research experi-
ence outlined in the previous requirement, students must enroll in at
least 3 units of independent research (CS 393, 395, or 399) under the
direction of their primary or secondary adviser. These units should
be closely related to the research described in the rst requirement,
but focused more directly on the preparation of the research report
described in the next section. Note that the writing and research units
described in parts (1) and (2) must be taken in addition to the 21 units
required for the specialization, although they do count toward the 45
units required for the degree.
3. Research Report: students must complete a signicant report describ-
ing their research and its conclusions. The research report represents
work that is publishable in a journal or at a high-quality conference,
although it is presumably longer and more expansive in scope than a
typical conference paper. Two copies of the research report must be
submitted to the Student Services ofce in the department three weeks
before the beginning of the examination period in the student’s nal
quarter. Both the primary and secondary adviser must approve the
research report before the distinction-in-research designation can be
conferred.
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Applications to the Ph.D. program and all supporting documents must
be received by December 12, 2006. See http://cs.stanford.edu/admissions/
for complete information. Changes or updates to the admission process
are posted by September and October, 2006. The following are general
department requirements; see the Computer Science Ph.D. administrator
for details.
1. A student should plan and successfully complete a coherent program
of study covering the basic areas of computer science and related
disciplines. The student’s adviser has primary responsibility for the
adequacy of the program, which is subject to review by the Ph.D.
program committee.
2. Each student, to remain in the Ph.D. program, must satisfy the breadth
requirement covering introductory level graduate material in major
areas of computer science. Once a student fullls six of eight whole
areas of the breadth requirement, he or she may apply for admission
to candidacy for the Ph.D. prior to the second year in the program. The
student must completely satisfy the breadth requirement by the end of
nine quarters (excluding summers), and must pass a qualifying exam
in the general area of the expected dissertation.
3. As part of the training for the Ph.D., the student is required to complete at
least 4 units (a unit is 10 hours per week for one quarter) as a course assistant
or instructor for courses in Computer Science numbered 100 or above.
4. The most important requirement is the dissertation. After passing the
required qualifying examination, each student must secure the agree-
ment of a member of the department faculty to act as the dissertation
adviser. (In some cases, the dissertation adviser may be in another
department.)
5. The student must pass a University oral examination in the form of a
defense of the dissertation. It is usually held after all or a substantial
portion of the dissertation research has been completed.
6. The student is expected to demonstrate the ability to present scholarly
material orally, both in the dissertation defense and by a lecture in a
department seminar.
7. The dissertation must be accepted by a reading committee composed
of the principal dissertation adviser, a second member from within the
department, and a third member chosen from within the University.
The principal adviser and at least one of the other committee members
must be Academic Council members.
PH.D. MINOR
For a minor in Computer Science, a candidate must complete 20 undu-
plicated units of computer science course work numbered 200 or above. At
least three of the courses must be master’s core courses to provide breadth
and one course numbered 300 or above to provide depth. One of the courses
taken must include a signicant programming project to demonstrate
programming efciency. All courses must be taken for a letter grade and
passed with a grade ‘B’ or better. Applications for a minor in Computer
Science are submitted at the same time as admission to candidacy.
TEACHING AND RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIPS
Graduate student assistantships are available. Half-time assistants
receive a tuition scholarship for 8, 9, or 10 units per quarter during the
academic year, and in addition receive a monthly stipend.
Duties for half-time assistants during the academic year involve
approximately 20 hours of work per week. Course assistants (CAs) help
an instructor teach a course by conducting discussion sections, consulting
with students, grading examinations, and so on. Research assistants (RAs)
help faculty and senior staff members with research in computer science.
Most course and research assistantships are held by Ph.D. students in the
Department of Computer Science. If there is an insufcient number of
Ph.D. students to staff teaching and research assistantships, then these
positions are open to a limited number of master’s students in the depart-
ment. However, master’s students should not plan on being appointed to
an assistantship.
Students with fellowships may have the opportunity to supplement
their stipends by serving as graduate student assistants.
COURSES
WIM indicates that the course satisfies the Writing in the Major
requirement. (AU) indicates that the course is subject to the University
Activity Unit limitations (8 units maximum).
GUIDE TO CHOOSING INTRODUCTORY
COURSES
Students arriving at Stanford have widely differing backgrounds and
goals, but most nd that the ability to use computers effectively is benecial
to their education. The department offers many introductory courses to
meet the needs of these students.
For students whose principal interest is an exposure to the fundamental
ideas behind computer science and programming, CS 105 is the most ap-
propriate course. It is intended for students in nontechnical disciplines who
expect to make some use of computers, but who do not expect to go on to
more advanced courses. CS 105 meets the General Education Disciplinary
Breadth Requirement in Engineering and Applied Sciences and includes
an introduction to programming and the use of modern Internet-based
technologies. Students interested in learning to use the computer should
consider CS 1C, Introduction to Computing at Stanford.
Students who intend to pursue a serious course of study in computer
science may enter the program at a variety of levels, depending on their
background. Students with little prior experience or those who wish to take
more time to study the fundamentals of programming should take 106A
followed by 106B. Students in 106A need not have prior programming
experience. Students with signicant prior exposure to programming or
those who want an intensive introduction to the eld should take 106X,
which covers most of the material in 106A and B in a single quarter.
CS106A uses Java as its programming language; CS106B and X use
C++. No prior knowledge of these languages is assumed, and the prior
programming experience required for 106X may be in any language. In
all cases, students are encouraged to discuss their background with the
instructors responsible for these courses.
Computer Science