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Doctoral Degree Program

Admission

Applicants should normally have completed an M.Sc. in Computing Science or a closely related field at an established university. They are admitted in accordance with the general regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. Candidates normally enter the program at the beginning of the Fall term (September).

Students who are interested in pursuing a part-time Ph.D. should contact the School for further details.

Ph.D. Program Summary

Candidates pass through six stages of activity:

• looking for a supervisor
• looking for a supervisory committee
• working to complete the breadth requirement
• working to complete the depth requirement
• working to produce a research proposal
• working on their research and writing their thesis

Doctoral Supervision Policy

Candidates are encouraged to obtain a supervisor from within the School prior to commencing their studies. Any member of the School of Graduate Studies may supervise a student. A candidate may be jointly supervised by more than one person. In cases of co-supervision, one supervisor may be from outside the School.

Management of the Ph.D. Program

The Ph.D. program is managed by the Ph.D. program committee who are responsible for: maintaining consistency in the requirements for individual candidates, approving the candidate's progress through various milestones, handling disputes that may arise, and acting as chairs and examiners when needed. The Ph.D. program committee is appointed by the School Director. The Ph.D. program committee reports annually to the Director on the progress of each Ph.D. student.

Ph.D. Supervising Committee

All candidates are under the direction of a supervising committee consisting of 3 people, including the supervisor or the co-supervisors. At most one of the committee members may be from outside the School. The candidate obtains a supervisor during the first month of the PhD program. A research topic is agreed to by the candidate and the supervisor.

The candidate and supervisor agree on possible members of the supervisory committee whom they invite to serve. When a willing committee has been formed, its make-up is sent to the Ph.D. program committee for approval. The supervisory committee should be selected and approved within the first two months of the program.

The supervisory committee may suggest changes agreeable to the candidate and the supervisor. The supervisory committee can be changed at any time at the request of the student with the concurrence of the Ph.D. program committee.

The Ph.D. program committee appoints one of its members to act as the liaison between the supervisory committee and the School. This person is available to advise the candidate and supervisory committee on School procedures and to mediate disputes within the supervisory committee.

The supervisor directs the candidate's day-to-day work and acts as primary resource for the candidate. The other members act as a secondary resource. The supervisory committee must approve the breadth requirements, depth proposal and research proposal documents before they are submitted to the PhD committee. The supervisory committee normally meets frequently with the candidate. Three times a year it reports on the candidate's progress to the Ph.D. program committee.

Ph.D. Requirements

There are four formal requirements imposed by the School: a breadth requirement, met by generating "tokens"; a depth requirement, a paper defended before an examining committee; a research proposal; and a Ph.D. thesis. Candidates who fail to complete any requirement within the time limit specified will be required to withdraw from the program. The Ph.D. program committee may approve extension to time limits, subject to the rules of the School of Graduate Studies, and will normally do so for part-time and inactive students.

Ph.D. Breadth Requirement

A candidate for the Ph.D. degree should demonstrate broad knowledge of the various areas of Computing Science, and in particular, the way in which these areas relate to one other.

A token-based approach is used to evaluate the candidate's knowledge. A token represents knowledge of an area such as might reasonably form a graduate course. The following activities would normally count as tokens: a grade of at least 70 in a graduate course at Queen's (excluding CISC 897 & CISC 810) or equivalent in standard to one at Queen's, a research project, appropriate work carried out in industry, or a Master's thesis.

The candidate demonstrates breadth by presenting ten tokens with an appropriate distribution among the following areas:

1. Theory of computation,
2. Computer systems,
3. Applications within computing, and
4. Multidisciplinary Studies

Area 4 (Multidisciplinary Studies) is optional and is intended to encourage recruitment of students who may not have a "conventional" computing background but who clearly demonstrate the skills and methodology that we expect of our doctoral students. At least two tokens in each of the core computing areas (theory of computation, computer systems and applications within computing) are required. The School of Computing Graduate Handbook classifies graduate computing courses under the three core areas and therefore gives guidance about how a token in each area can be obtained. Normally, at least 4 courses from the School of Computing are required. The Ph.D. program committee ultimately decides whether a proposed token is acceptable.

Procedure:

When a supervisory committee has been appointed, the candidate presents a plan for meeting the breadth requirements to it for discussion and approval. The proposal must provide a clear description of each token. Courses require calendar description and name of instructor, a thesis token requires title and abstract of thesis and a work token requires job description.

When breadth proposal has been agreed upon, it is sent to the Ph.D. program committee for approval or modification. The Ph.D. program committee ensures that similar requirements are applied to all students.

Where a token is failed, a candidate may appeal to the Ph.D. program committee to substitute another token or to repeat the failed requirements.

The breadth proposal must be approved by the supervisory committee and submitted to the PhD committee before the end of the first term into the program. It is expected that the breadth requirement must be fulfilled within one year of the first registration.

Ph.D. Depth Requirement

 

 

Graduate students enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Computing at Queen's are required to pass a Comprehensive Examination as described in

Calendar of the School of Graduate Studies.  In Computing the comprehensive examination is called the Depth Examination.

 

The depth examination ensures that candidates are well-versed of the state of the art in the area in which they intend to pursue research, that they have a critical perspective of the area, and that they are aware of open problems and research opportunities. Candidates should have acquired their own views of the area,  be able to be critical of previous work, and in general be able to discuss the area with other researchers at their own level.  Although they may not themselves have contributed to the area,  they should be as informed and analytical as those who work in it. The scope of a subject area suitable for a depth presentation should be appropriate for an advanced graduate course. The depth requirement is met by writing a paper presenting  a critical view of the depth topic (as defined below), presenting it orally to an examining committee, and answering questions about the depth subject area.

Procedure:

1. DEPTH PROPOSAL

The candidate presents to his or her supervisory committee a brief description of the subject area  for the depth examination, and a proposed  topic for the depth paper. This is called the depth proposal.

1a) The scope of the subject area suitable for a depth examination should be appropriate for an advanced graduate course.

1b) The topic of the depth paper must be within the subject area of the depth examination, but need not be inclusive of all aspects of the depth area.

The depth proposal is normally not more than 2 pages in length (not including references).  The depth proposal gives a brief description of the depth subject area, (one paragraph, roughly comparable to a course description). This is followed by a brief description of the proposed depth paper topic.

At the beginning of the depth proposal you must clearly state both the proposed depth subject area and the proposed depth paper topic.

For example

DEPTH AREA:        Mobile Computing (this is followed by a one paragraph description of the depth area)

 

DEPTH PAPER TOPIC:Mobile Computing over Multi-Hop and Variable Topology Networks (this is followed by a brief description of the depth topic).

After the depth proposal is approved by the supervisory committee it is sent for approval by the Ph.D. program committee.  The Ph.D. program committee ensures that similar requirements are applied to all students. The Ph.D. program committee will notify the student in writing and a copy of this letter is included in the student's file. 

2. DEPTH PAPER

After the depth proposal is approved by the Ph.D. committee, the student reads literature in the approved depth subject area and writes the depth paper that surveys the proposed depth paper topic. The depth paper should give an analytical presentation of the topic and identify open problems in the depth area.

The depth paper should normally be between 20 and 30 pages long, single spaced, using a 12 point font and one inch margins. The depth paper should normally not take more than one term of full time work to prepare.

3. DEPTH EXAMINATION

When the candidate is ready for the Depth Examination, he or she asks the Ph.D. program committee, through the supervisor, to schedule the depth exam. The supervisor is responsible for finding a suitable examiner.  The Ph.D. program committee appoints a Chair (normally a member of the PhD program committee) and schedules a time for the depth examination. A copy of the written presentation (depth paper) must be delivered to the members of the examination committee by the candidate (Chair, members of the supervisory committee, and examiner) at least two weeks prior to the scheduled exam.  Together with the depth paper, the candidate should distribute to members of the examination committee a copy of the previously approved depth proposal, in order to guarantee that the committee members are aware of the definition of the depth subject area. Members of the examination committee who are absent may participate by submitting questions in writing. These questions are put to the candidate by the Chair.

At the exam, after a closed meeting of the examining committee, the candidate gives a 20-minute presentation of material within the subject area, normally concentrating on the depth paper topic. Members of the examining committee will then address questions to the candidate that may cover all aspects of the depth subject area.  The examiners may ask questions that allow them to judge the candidate's comprehension of the depth subject area, to assess the candidate's ability to undertake Ph.D. level research, and to evaluate the ability of the candidate to defend the claims in his or her depth paper.

The Chair is responsible for the conduct of the meeting and does not ask questions (other than those of absent committee members).

4. OUTCOME OF THE DEPTH EXAMINATION

After the questioning, the examining committee meets and reaches one of the following three conclusions:

  a) The candidate has passed the depth examination.

  b) The candidate has passed the depth examination but the committee has significant concerns about either the candidate's mastery of the depth subject area or the quality of the depth paper.

The Chair writes the candidate a letter outlining these concerns. The letter may include a list of corrections/modifications for the depth paper that are a requirement for passing the depth examination. In this case the letter also specifies members of the examining committee who will verify that the changes have been satisfactorily implemented.

  c) The candidate has not convinced the examining committee of his or her deep understanding of the area, and has failed the depth examination. A second attempt is allowed.

The Chair writes to the candidate to this effect, and invites him or her to suggest a topic for a second depth examination (not necessarily a different topic). Once the topic has been agreed upon, the procedure is repeated. The examining committee normally puts a strict time limit on the second attempt at the depth examination. Only one failure of the depth examination is permitted.

The committee's decision on the depth examination is based on the quality of the written document, the quality of the candidate's oral presentation, and on the candidate's response to questioning during the depth examination.  The committee can ask questions belonging to the general depth subject area, as well as, questions on the material in the depth paper.  The Chair is not a voting member of the examining committee and the Chair can use her or his discretion on whether or not to read the depth paper before the examination.

If the committee does not reach an unanimous opinion, the committee votes on the outcome. A decision to pass the candidate on the depth examination can have at most one dissenting vote.  The Chair reports the result of the depth examination to the Ph.D. program committee.  If the depth examination is passed, the document is kept in a School library. The depth examination must be passed before the end of the fifth term after the initial registration in the Ph.D. program.

 

5.  APPEAL OF A FAILED DEPTH EXAMINATION

 

5a) If a student wishes to appeal the outcome of a Depth Examination on procedural and/or academic grounds, an appeal must be lodged formally with the Coordinator of Graduate Studies in the School of Computing. The appeal should explain in writing why the student believes the academic decision is unjust. This should be done as early as possible, and normally not more than ten working days after the Depth Examination. The Graduate Coordinator must respond to the appeal within two weeks of receiving the appeal.

5b) If the matter has not been resolved by the Graduate Coordinator and the student continues to  believe that the academic decision is unjust, a formal request may be lodged for a review of the appeal by the faculty members of the Graduate Committee. The faculty members evaluating the review shall not include members of the examination committee of the student's Depth Examination.

When conducting the review of the appeal, the Graduate Committee shall interview the student and the members of the examining committee from the Depth Examination. The Graduate Committee may find either that

(i) The decision of the Depth Examination is academically and procedurally sound and the appeal is denied.

(ii) An error in procedure or academic judgment has been made.    In this case the Graduate Committee shall proceed to rectify the error. Normally this would mean that the student is given a new attempt at the Depth Examination. If the appeal deals with a first attempt, the new attempt is considered to be the first.

·         The Graduate Committee has also the option of changing the outcome of the Depth Examination from failed to passed.

 

5c)  If the Graduate Committee finds that a negative decision for a second attempt at the Depth Examination is academically and procedurally sound, the negative decision has to be approved by the Director.  If after a second failed attempt the Director and the Graduate Committee recommend to the Chair of the Science Graduate Council that the student be required to

withdraw on academic grounds: the student may appeal the recommendation to withdraw by following the procedures outlined in the School  of Graduate studies calendar.

 

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Ph.D. Research Proposal

The third School requirement is a research proposal. This is a written document that should normally cover background material, the problem to be tackled, methods to be used, and results sought. It is proposal for research, not a demonstration that the research is feasible.

When the candidate has completed the research proposal he or she submits it to the supervisory committee for comment and approval. The supervisory committee may approve it or suggest that further changes are necessary, working towards a proposal on which it and the student agree. When the supervisory committee has agreed to approval, or when its members agree that they cannot reach agreement on the proposal, the proposal document and a report from the supervisory committee are sent to the Ph.D. program committee. If the supervisory committee has approved the research proposal, the Ph.D. program committee will normally approve the proposal as it stands. If there is substantial disagreement within the supervisory committee, the Ph.D. program committee takes whatever steps it feels necessary (meeting with the supervisory committee, meeting with the student and supervisory committee) to decide whether or not to approve the proposal.

If agreement cannot be reached the student is required to submit another proposal, for which the same procedures are followed. A research proposal must be approved within 3 years of initial registration in the program.

It is strongly recommended that candidates present their research to the School in some appropriate forum as soon as their results warrant it.

Ph.D. Thesis

A thesis presenting original research is submitted for approval by a thesis examining committee. The research described in the thesis should constitute a significant contribution to knowledge in an area of Computing Science. It must be original and of such quality as to warrant its publication in a recognized journal.

Candidates should consult the Calendar of the School of Graduate Studies and Research for University Regulations regarding Ph.D. theses. The thesis is examined in accordance with the general rules of the School of Graduate Studies and Research.

Requirement to Withdraw

Any of the following are grounds for requiring a candidate to withdraw. The list is illustrative rather than exhaustive.

• inadequate performance in a token
• failure to complete the breadth requirement within one year
• failure to complete the depth requirement within five terms
• failure to have a research proposal approved within three years
• an unsatisfactory rating by the supervisory committee in two regular reviews.