DOCTORAL PROGRAM

Note: these regulations complement the ones in the FGPS calendar.

General Information

This program is under the auspices of the OCICS, in collaboration with Carleton University. Students may include courses from both universities in their programs, and may select a supervisor from either university, but normally a student will be enrolled in the university of the supervisor. The student's study program is administered by the university where the student is enrolled and is subject to its regulations. Applicants should apply to the university of their intended supervisor.
 

Admission Requirements

The FGPS calendar specifies the minimum admission requirements. In practice, students who satisfy these requirements may not be admitted because of resource limitations.
 

Degree Requirements
 

  • Students must successfully complete a minimum of 3 three-credit courses at the graduate level in at least three of the four areas below:
    • Software Engineering (category E)
    • Theory of Computing (category T)
    • Computer Applications (category A)
    • Computer Systems (category S).
    Subject to the approval of the advisory committee, a student may take up to half of the course credits in the program in other disciplines (e.g. electrical engineering, mathematics and physics).

    The admissions committee and the student's advisory committee may impose additional requirements according to the student's background and research topic.

  • A comprehensive examination involving breadth and depth components (CSI9998).

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  • A written thesis proposal defended at an oral examination (CSI9997).

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  • Presentation of at least two seminars (CSI9901 and 9902) to the satisfaction of the thesis supervisor.

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  • A research thesis defended at an oral examination (CSI 9999).

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Thesis proposal, seminar presentations, and thesis with defence are the thesis requirements.
 

Special Requirements

Students are expected to complete all additional course requirements (such as those that may be stipulated on the Certificate of Admission) as quickly as possible.
 

Residence

PhD candidates who were admitted with a master's degree or who transfer to the PhD after completing the three sessions of residency at the master's must spend at least six sessions in residence. Those admitted directly to the PhD from an honour's baccalaureate must spend at least nine sessions in residence.

Note: Students who have been awarded a fellowship, scholarship or bursary for the purpose of studying on a full-time basis are required to maintain full-time registration for the period for which they hold the award.
 

Transfer from Master to PhD

Students who are registered in the master's program may, in exceptional cases, be permitted to transfer into the Ph.D. program if they have completed all course requirements with at least a "B+" (75-79%) average and if they demonstrate significant promise for advanced research. These students must also fulfil all course requirements towards the PhD. This transfer must be approved by the graduate admissions committee.
 

Responsibilities of the Supervisor

The thesis supervisor, who must be a member of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and OCICS, will be responsible within the academic unit for the approval of all of the student's subsequent registrations. The thesis supervisor will also be responsible for assisting the student in the formulation of the thesis research project and will ensure that the topic of the research project is approved by the academic unit. The choice of the thesis supervisor must be approved by the Director or Associate Director of OCICS.
 

Advisory Committee

The thesis supervisor, with the approval of the Director and Associate Director of the OCICS, is responsible for the establishment of an Advisory Committee for each Ph.D. student. The Advisory Committee should be appointed as soon as possible after registration and must consist of a minimum of three members (form to be completed and signed by both Director and Associate Director). The student's supervisor acts as Chairperson of the Committee. At least one member of the advisory committee shall be from Carleton University. All members of the Advisory Committee must be members of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies or the corresponding Faculty at Carleton, and also of OCICS.

The Advisory Committee shall assess the student's background preparation and possible deficiencies, may suggest courses that the student should take, and will decide the major and minor fields for the comprehensive examination. It participates in the Comprehensive Examination, evaluates the thesis proposal (also called candidacy paper) and the Ph.D. thesis, and generally supervises the student's progress until graduation. The committee meets periodically to review the student's progress and to report on this progress to the Director or Associate Director of OCICS. If there is evidence of unsatisfactory performance, the student may be required to withdraw from the program.
 

Comprehensive Examination: CSI9998

The purpose of the Comprehensive Examination is to assess the student's academic preparation of his major and minor fields of study.

The examination shall be both written and oral and shall normally be taken within the first year after registration for the Ph.D. program.

The examination shall be conducted by the Examining Committee (see below).

The results of the examination must be reported to the Dean of the FGPS (form to be completed). If no unanimous decision is reached by the examiners, signed majority and minority statements must be forwarded to the FGPS. The student shall be informed on one of the following possible results:

  • SATISFACTORY, or
  • SATISFACTORY, with some additional remedial requirements
  • NOT SATISFACTORY, with permission to repeat the comprehensive examination within 6 months, or
  • NOT SATISFACTORY and mandatory withdrawal from the Ph.D. program
The comprehensive examination can be repeated at most once.


Procedures for the Comprehensive Examinations:

The Director or Associate Director of OCICS, in consultation with the thesis supervisor, appoints the Examining Committee (form to be completed), which is composed of the members of the Advisory Committee, plus an additional examiner who will act as Chair, and additional members if appropriate. The supervisor shall arrange the time and place for both written and oral examinations, and informs the candidate and the members of the Examining Committee at least two weeks in advance.

The Chair of the examining committee will ensure that all questions, written or oral, pertain to the pre-specified major and minor fields of study.

Normally, the written part of the examination shall be given in 2 sessions on two consecutive days. One session may be based on the major field of the candidate and be of 5-6 hours duration. The other session may examine the candidate's minor fields and be of 3-4 hours duration.

  • The written examination shall be "open book".
  • The oral examination will be taken within approximately 2 weeks after the written one.


Submission and Presentation of the Candidacy Paper (CSI9997)

Within one year after the successful comprehensive examination, the candidate must submit a candidacy paper to his Advisory Committee. Normally, within one month of submission of the candidacy paper the defense will take place. The Candidacy Paper Defense form be completed and signed by the Committee members and the DIrector or Associate Director of the OCICS. The outcome of the Candidacy paper defence can be SATISFACTORY or NOT SATISFACTORY. In both cases, the Committee will provide the candidate with suggestions in order to complete the thesis work. In the second case, the defense must be repeated and this can be done at most once, and if again unsuccessful the student will be required to withdraw from the program.
 

Thesis Submission

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

Thesis Examiners

The appointment of thesis examiners is governed by the regulations of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. At least one member of the examination committee must be from Carleton University.
 

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