The following list represents basic program requirements. As some students may have additional requirements or been granted advanced standing, each student should refer to his/her own “Statement of Standing on Admission” (pink form) for individual program requirements.

1. Course Requirements

   A minimum of 1.5 credits at the graduate level in at least three of the following research areas: Theory of Computing (T), Software Engineering (E), Computer Applications (A), and Computer Systems (S)

2. Comprehensive Exam

   A written and an oral comprehensive examination (COMP 6907)

3. Thesis Proposal

   A written thesis proposal defended at an oral examination (COMP 6908)

4. Thesis Defense

   A research thesis defended at an oral examination (COMP 6909)

5. Seminar

   Presentation of two seminars before thesis submission:

   • Graduate Seminar Presentation – at least one presentation in the graduate seminar series
   • Major Presentation – The presentation must be approved by the graduate advisor. It is usually a departmental presentation or a presentation at a conference

6. Residency Period

   Four terms of full-time study

• The student and his or her faculty adviser should select graduate courses related to research interests but taking into consideration the "area" requirements of the Ph.D. program [see requirements above] and the requirements on the “Statement of Standing on Admission”.
• first 4 termsA "Permission for Credit" form must be completed and approved by the Graduate Director to obtain degree credit for any course not on the OCICS schedule. Support from the faculty advisor/thesis supervisor is required for such requests.
• The three required course credits of a Ph.D. student must be taken from the schedule of OCICS courses. Students can register directly through Carleton Central for all OCICS courses from SCS and SITE. An exchange form (see Graduate Administrator) must be filled out in the exceptional case when a student is allowed to take a course from University of Ottawa but outside of SITE.

• Ph.D. Comprehensive Advisory Committee

  A comprehensive advisory committee must be established by the thesis supervisor and approved by the Director and Associate Director of OCICS before the student is given permission to register for the Doctoral Comprehensive.

  This committee is typically comprised of three faculty members and must include at a minimum: the thesis supervisor (or co-supervisors), one OCICS member from SITE and one additional OCICS member from SCS.

  The committee must be established before the end of the third term. A "Ph.D. Comprehensive Advisory Committee" form should be submitted to the Graduate Administrator for approval by the Director and Associate Director of OCICS.

• The Ph.D. Comprehensive Advisory Committee is responsible for:
  

  1. Completing out the above mentioned form (2 pages). In particular, the committee must establish the topics and readings assigned to the candidate for the comprehensive. Typically, the examination will address a major and two minor areas. The form must be submitted for approval at least three months prior to the comprehensive exam and well before the last date for registration for that term. Breadth and depth MUST be addressed by this exam. More precisely:

     • The major must address breadth and depth in some sufficiently ‘wide’ field.
     • No significant overlap must exist between the major and the two minors (e.g., in reading lists).
     • 4th termIt is the role of the Ph.D. proposal, not the Ph.D comprehensive to have the student demonstrate in-depth knowledge of his/her specific area of research. It is suggested that the major of the comprehensive be used to verify basic comprehension in the proposed field of research.
     • For the major and minors, reading lists and exams are to test senior undergraduate level or junior graduate level knowledge.
  2. upon approval of this form, the Graduate Director will allow the student to register in the Comprehensive course COMP 6907. Once registered in the Comprehensive course, the student must maintain continuous registration in the course until completed.

  3. submitting questions pertaining to these readings to the Graduate Administrator (who will schedule both written and oral parts of the examination, typically at least one week apart). Questions must be submitted at least one week before the written part of this examination. The written component will be between five and nine hours in length, typically three hours for the major and two hours for each minor.

     It is the responsibility of the thesis supervisor to provide the Graduate Administrator with the date and time of the written and oral comprehensive examination. A “Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination Specification” form should be submitted at least 4 weeks prior to the planned dates for the written and oral examinations.

     The Graduate Administrator will then prepare a formal notice for the oral portion of the Comprehensive Examination.

  4. reviewing the answers of the candidate before the oral examination and reporting by email to the Graduate Administrator whether the oral examination is to proceed or not. An oral examination occurs only if the written examination is passed.
  5. conducting, in an oral, a thorough investigation of the knowledge and understanding of the candidate, both in terms of breadth and depth, with respect to the major and minor topics of the examination. At a minimum, familiarity with the designated material at the senior undergraduate level or junior graduate level will be expected. The ability of the candidate to articulate clear answers in English is also expected.


• Grading of the Comprehensive
  
  
  1. The comprehensive may be failed, passed conditionally (i.e., with extra course requirements) or passed unconditionally. If failed (due to a poor written or a poor oral), this course may be retaken, at the most, one time.
  2. A student who does not pass the exam will be provided with a summary of deficiencies identified by the Comprehensive Advisory Committee together with a plan of action for rectifying these deficiencies; for example, courses, special projects, preparation of survey-type papers, reading requirements. In order to continue in the program, the student must demonstrate that he/she has rectified the identified deficiencies by a date set by the Comprehensive Advisory Committee. This remedial work must be completed within one year of the comprehensive exam. The method used to provide this demonstration is at the discretion of the Comprehensive Advisory Committee.

  3. It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Comprehensive oral to document the results of the examination using the official grade sheets provided by the Graduate Administrator. The same forms are used to specify any deficiencies and deadlines, as well as how the candidate will demonstrate he/she has rectified identified deficiencies, if any.

     Both written and oral exams must take place within the first 4 terms from initial registration. Please note that committee members must verify that their reading list has been captured correctly and sign the relevant form. Substitution of committee members or of reading lists is allowed only under truly exceptional circumstances and requires sufficient notice from the supervisor as well as i) a new set of signed forms and ii) the approval of the Director and Associate Director of OCICS.

     The comprehensive exam questions and the student's original answer booklet(s) must be filed with the Graduate Administrator.

• Ph.D. Doctoral Proposal Committee

  The thesis supervisor should establish a Ph.D. doctoral proposal committee comprised of three to five faculty members before the end of the seventh term of registration. This committee must include at a minimum: the thesis supervisor (or co-supervisors), one OCICS member from SITE and one additional OCICS member from SCS.

  It is strongly recommended that a faculty member from another department at Carleton be included, as this will be a requirement for the thesis defence committee.

  The committee is responsible for the thesis proposal examination, for guiding the student's research, and for the final examination of the student's dissertation. This committee may be the same as the Comprehensive Advisory one. This is up to the discretion of the thesis supervisor.

  This advisory committee must be approved by the Graduate Director.

• The thesis supervisor must:

  1. submit a “Doctoral Proposal Committee” form at least three months prior to the thesis proposal examination and well before the last date for registration for that term. The form should indicate the thesis area and names of committee members.

     Upon approval, the Graduate Director will allow the student to register in COMP 6908. Once registered in the Doctoral Proposal course, the student must maintain continuous registration in the course until completed.

  2. consult with the committee members in order to fix a date and time for the oral examination and then complete a “Ph.D. Doctoral Proposal Scheduling” form at least 4 weeks prior to the proposed date of this oral.

     The Graduate Administrator will then prepare a formal notice of the examination.

     It is the responsibility of the Chair of this examination to document the results of the examination using the official grade sheets provided by the Graduate Administrator.

• The Ph.D. student must:

  1. submit a written thesis proposal to the examiners of the committee, typically 4 weeks before the oral examination.

  2. successfully defend it in an oral examination within the first 9 terms from initial registration.

     This proposal consists of a document generally i) defining the specific problem addressed, ii) relating it to the state-of-the-art literature, iii) reporting on the hypothesis, goals, and any initial results, and iv) outlining the proposed research methodology and validation procedure(s). In other words, the proposal summarizes what has been done so far, and what is expected to be completed in the final dissertation. The proposal must clearly identify what are the expected contributions of the final dissertation and how these contributions will be validated.

     If the proposal is unacceptable, the Doctoral Proposal Committee will recommend appropriate action on the official grading form. Once approved, the research proposal is considered a contract and must be placed on file with the Graduate Administrator.

     Modifications to the Doctoral Proposal committee are allowed only under truly exceptional circumstances and must be properly motivated (in order for the directors of OCICS to approve).

Once registered in the thesis course, a student must maintain continuous registration in the thesis until completion.

A thesis must be submitted and successfully defended in an oral examination within the time limits of the program. The expected completion time for the Ph.D. program is approximately twelve terms depending on the type of thesis and the area of research. Full-time students have eighteen terms (24 terms part-time) to complete their program.

A thesis cannot be submitted until all other program requirements are satisfied (including the seminar requirement). Each student is responsible for ensuring that he/she has satisfied all requirements.

Please refer to Section IV. Thesis Regulations.

Before the completion of the program, a Ph.D. student is expected to present at least two seminars. Minimally, the student must make one presentation for the joint OCICS graduate seminar series, as well as one presentation approved by the supervisor. Please refer to the Section VI. Graduate Seminar Requirements for further details.

Ph.D. students must fulfill a residence requirement of at least four terms of full-time study.