Drexel University Computer Science PhD Program
From Evan Sultanik
There are four checkpoints in the Department of Computer Science's PhD program:
- Qualifying Exam (completed in the Fall of 2006): a series of written examinations meant to test the student's knowledge of the core classes. It seems that many schools these days are forgoing the "quals."
- Candidacy Exam (completed in the Fall of 2007): an oral presentation given by the student on the related work in his or her research area. A document that accompanies this presentation is meant to eventually become the background section of his or her thesis. Many schools—and even departments within Drexel—use the term "candidacy exam" for what is defined as the "quals" above. My candidacy exam presentation was a survey on Distributed Constraint Reasoning, which I am currently (with the help of Rob Lass) converting into a journal article. I will post the article after its completion.
- Thesis Proposal: oral presentation of what the student is going to do. Basically a reaming.
- Thesis Defense: I think everyone knows what this is.
Steps 2 and 4 are University requirements, while steps 1 and 3 are departmental requirements.