Admission Requirements

In addition to the University graduate admission requirements described in the Admissions section of the catalog, the department bases decisions for regular admission on a holistic review of credentials in which the following criteria are used to assess the potential success of each applicant:

• Submission of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). Attainment at the 70% percentile is preferred.
• Hold a master's degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Physics or a similar technical degree. Bachelor’s candidates with strong relevant industrial experience will be considered.  
  • Incoming students who do not hold a master's degree in an approved area will be required to complete a minimum of 27 sh of content-based coursework (9 hours of post-bachelor courses, 9 sh of doctoral core courses, and 9 sh of doctoral electives) in addition to the required 24 sh of dissertation. Students may petition to satisfy preparatory coursework by proficiency examination. Any coursework taken from outside the program must be approved by the student's advisor and program director. 
• Master's or bachelor's institutional GPA - minimum of a 3.0 GPA; however, successful applicants will typically have GPAs well above the minimum. 
• Submission of a curriculum vitae (CV)
• Submission of a personal statement in which you address the following points (and others you deem relevant):
  • Reason you are interested in this program
  • Specific research area(s) in which you are interested
  • Any work you have completed within your area of interest, including courses taken, previously published representative paper(s), summary of all thesis work, research/project reports, presentations, demonstrations, etc.
  • Name(s) of faculty (at UWF and IHMC) with whom you are interested in working
  • Whether you will be self-supported or in need of an assistantship
  • Your plans after completing your Ph.D.
• Submission of a minimum of three (3) letters of recommendation (LOR) from academic and professional recommenders attesting to the applicant's graduate studies potential.
  • At least one (1) of these LORs must be from an academic reference.
  • Please advise all recommenders of the following requirements: All LORs must be on official letterhead of the recommender's institution or organization and must contain the recommender's official written signature. 
• Participation in an oral interview if deemed necessary by the admission committee
• Those without a background in algorithm analysis, data structures and advanced computer programming skills will require additional preparatory work.
• Applicants from countries where English is not the official language must also demonstrate proficiency in English. The Admissions Committee reserves the right to conduct telephone interviews with these applicants.
  • For a complete list of admission requirements for international applicants, please visit the International Graduate Admission section of the catalog. 

Program Requirements

GPA Requirements

• Students are required to complete all courses with a grade of "B" or better and maintain an overall GPA of 3.25 or better.

Advancement to Candidacy

• Completion of 18 or 30 semester hours for candidates entering the program with an approved master's or bachelor's degree, respectively. 
• Passing a comprehensive qualifying exam with written and oral components.

Dissertation

• All doctoral candidates are required to work with a faculty mentor to conduct, document, and publicly defend a piece of original research.