Conference Travel Support - Faculty of Science
Conference Travel Support - School of Computer Science
QUALIFYING EXAMINATIONS
The qualifying examinations (CS Fundamentals 1 and CS Fundamentals 2) must be taken by all students entering the doctoral program - no exemptions will be permitted.
These exams are normally written in the first term of study and will include topics from algorithm design, data structures, operating systems, and programming languages. These exams are managed by the PhD Graduate Committee of the School of Computer Science. It is strongly recommended that incoming PhD students begin their qualifying examination preparations early, and consider enrolling (auditing) in any of the fundamental courses listed below. (Please note additional fees may apply for auditing undergraduate courses).
The qualifying examinations are intended to ensure that the student has a mastery of the fundamentals in Computer Science to undertake research. This is a breadth requirement in that it does not require the student to be able to undertake research in each of the fundamental areas. Rather, the student must demonstrate knowledge, in each of the fundamental areas, at a level that would be expected of a graduate from a four-year Honor’s Computer Science university-degree program: The student must obtain at least a grade of 70% in each exam completed for the qualifying examinations.
Qualifying Examination topics:
CS Fundamentals 1:
Data Structures and Algorithms (COMP 2540) Design and Analysis of Algorithms (COMP 4540)
CS Fundamentals 2:
Operating Systems Fundamentals (COMP 3300) Principles of Programming Languages (COMP 4400)
See the University of Windsor Learning Outcomes of these courses.
Qualifying Examination Timeline:
Incoming Fall (September) students: Qualifying examinations are in December.
Incoming Winter (January) students: Qualifying examinations are in April.
Incoming Summer (May) students: Qualifying examinations are in August.
Qualifying Examination Criteria:
The student must obtain at least an overall grade of B (70%) in the examinations. If not completed to the above requirements, the student can retake the examination(s). If the retake examination(s) are not completed to the above requirements, the student must withdraw from the program by the end of the fourth term.