Admission Requirements
The minimum requirements for admission to the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program normally include the following:
- a Master's degree in Computer Science
- three letters of reference, at least two of which must be from academic sources
- proof of competency in English (if applicable)
A score of at least 580 is required in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and 4.0 on the TWE. A score of at least 237 is required on the computer version of the TOEFL. See the English Language Proficiency page for other acceptable tests of English. Most successful applicants have scores considerably higher than these minima
- the GRE General test is required of all applicants to the School of Computer Science, who have not completed a 4 year undergraduate degree at a North American University where English is the primary language of instruction. Students may upload unofficial copies of their GRE to their online application while waiting for Official copies to be sent by ETS. This requirement will not be waived under any circumstances. Canadian citizens and permanent residents are not exempt.
A student with an undergraduate degree in Computer Science may apply for admission directly to the PhD program. A successful applicant will have an outstanding academic record, breadth of knowledge in computer science, and strong letters of recommendation.
A PhD applicant may be admitted into the MMath program. Like all MMath students, they will have the option to transfer into the PhD program before completing the master's thesis if their performance warrants.
Degree Requirements
Requirements for completion of the PhD program include coursework, comprehensive requirements, seminar presentations, and a doctoral thesis.
Coursework
- A student who already has a Master's degree must take four additional one-term graduate courses after the Master's degree. At least one of these courses must be at the 800 level, and at most one can be at the 600 level.
- A student who enters the PhD program directly from a bachelor's degree must take eight additional one-term graduate courses after the bachelor's degree. At least three of these courses must be at the 800 level, and at most three can be at the 600 level.
Comprehensive Requirements
The Comprehensive-I requirement ("breadth requirement") ensures that a student has sufficient breadth of knowledge to undertake research at the PhD level. A student meets the requirement by taking a number of advanced courses in a broad range of categories and areas. The courses used must all have a minimum mark of B+ (or equivalent).
Categories and Areas for Breadth Requirement
The breadth requirement divides the subject matter of computer science into three broad categories. Each category is subdivided into areas that represent a range of the fields of computer science, as given in the table below. The table also indicates where computer science courses at the University of Waterloo fit in these categories and areas. A student must have at least one advanced course in six of the eleven areas, including at least one area from each category:
| Category |
Area |
Computer Science (CS) Courses |
| Computing Technology |
Software Engineering |
CS 645, CS 646, CS 647, CS 745, CS 746, CS 846 |
| Programming Languages |
CS 642, CS 644, CS 744, CS 842 |
| Hardware and Software Systems |
CS 650, CS 652, CS 654, CS 655, CS 656, CS 657, CS 658, CS 758, CS 854, CS 856, CS 858**,CS 869 |
| Mathematics of Computing |
Algorithms and Complexity |
CS 662, CS 664, CS 666, CS 761, CS 762, CS 763, CS 764, CS 765, CS 767, CS 840, CS 858**, CS 860 |
| Scientific and Symbolic Computing |
CS 670, CS 672, CS 673, CS 675, CS 676, CS 687, CS 770, CS 774, CS 775, CS 778, CS 779, CS 780, CS 870, CS 887 |
| Quantum Information and Computation |
CS 667, CS 766, CS 768, CS 867 |
| Applications |
Artificial Intelligence |
CS 684, CS 685, CS 686, CS 784, CS 785, CS 786, CS 787, CS 886 |
| Databases |
CS 640, CS 648, CS 740, CS 741, CS 742, CS 848, CS 856* |
| Graphics and User Interfaces |
CS 649, CS 688, CS 781, CS 783, CS 788, CS 789, CS 791, CS 888, CS 889 |
| Bioinformatics |
CS 682, CS 683, CS 782, CS 882 |
| Health Informatics |
CS 792, CS 793 |
* The versions of CS 856 entitled "Internet-Scale Distributed Data Management" and "Web Data Management" can be used as a Databases course.
** CS 858 can be used as a Hardware and Software Systems course or as an Algorithms and Complexity course, depending on the course offering.
Advanced courses taken in an undergraduate program as well as graduate courses can be used to meet the breadth requirement in each of the categories and areas. For example, at UW many of the 600-level graduate courses hold lectures in common with 400-level undergraduate courses. For the purposes of meeting the breadth requirement, the 400-level course is considered to be equivalent to the 600-level course. Although courses from other universities may not cover exactly the same material as the UW courses, they will be evaluated by the Graduate Committee to determine if the topics covered and the depth of the material is appropriate. Offerings of CS 690B, 698, 798, 898 or equivalent may also count in an appropriate area. Courses offered by other departments may also have assigned areas.
Procedure
Within a month of entering a PhD program, a new student submits a document to the Graduate Committee detailing their relevant past courses and future plans. Written in consultation with the student's supervisor, it should indicate
- courses or equivalent (including theses) already taken by the student that fulfill part of the breadth requirement
- a proposed program of study (including the terms during which the courses will be taken), which the student intends to complete in order to fulfill the remaining part of the breadth requirement.
The graduate committee must be able to determine the content, level and mark for courses used to fulfill the requirement as compared to courses at Waterloo. The student must provide sufficient evidence to convince the committee that a course (or courses) listed does indeed fulfill an area requirement. Pertinent information includes course syllabi, textbooks used, descriptions of prerequisites or co-requisites, and references to university catalogues (web-based or otherwise accessible). The graduate committee will ask the student for more information or certification in cases of doubt and will consult with experts in the department as it deems appropriate. The graduate committee will be the final arbiter of whether courses taken and marks obtained satisfy the requirements.
By the end of the student's first term in the program, the committee will inform the student which categories and areas the submitted courses have satisfied and whether the submitted plan will suffice to complete the breadth requirement.
A student must complete the breadth requirement by the end of their fourth term.
Comprehensive-II
The Comprehensive-II requirement ensures that a student has sufficient depth of knowledge in the chosen area of research. It comprises an oral presentation of a research proposal (not a thesis proposal) together with questioning by the advisory committee. The presentation and questioning are held in closed session. The committee will determine whether the chosen research area is suitable for a thesis topic and whether the student has demonstrated an appropriate depth of knowledge of the chosen area and is capable of undertaking such a thesis. The committee reports its decision to the student and to the Graduate Committee: either "pass" or "fail and re-take later". In the latter case, the report details the reasons for the decision and what needs to be done to satisfy the committee.
An advisory committee is struck for each PhD student. It consists of the student's supervisor, co-supervisor (if any) and at least two other faculty members in the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science chosen by the mutual agreement of the committee, the student and the Director of Graduate Studies. Normally, this committee forms the basis of the student's PhD thesis defense committee.
PhD students are normally expected to complete the Comprehensive-II requirement within the first six terms of their program. If the student changes research area, they should pass a new Comprehensive-II examination in the new area.
PhD Seminar Requirement
Each candidate for the PhD degree must present at least three publicly announced seminars during the program. The purpose of this requirement is twofold: first, it ensures that each student participates in the academic life of the department and, second, it provides an opportunity for students to hone their presentational skills. Each seminar should be attended by at least the student's supervisor and one other faculty member of the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, who will be required to assess and approve the quality of the presentation.
PhD Thesis
Each PhD candidate must submit a thesis embodying the results of their own original research. Upon completion of the thesis, the candidate defends the final document before an examination board consisting of the supervisor, co-supervisor (if any), two faculty members from the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, one University of Waterloo faculty member external to the school and an external examiner. The examination exposes the candidate's work to scholarly criticism and gives the student the opportunity to defend it.