university of michigan computer science phd students

Ph.D. in Scientific Computing

This program is intended for University of Michigan Ph.D. students who will make extensive use of large-scale computation, computational methods, or algorithms for advanced computer architectures in their doctoral studies. A firm knowledge of the scientific discipline is essential.

This is not a stand-alone degree; it is a joint degree program . Students must be accepted into the Ph.D. program of a home department at the University of Michigan. The actual degree name will have “…and Scientific Computing” appended to the the normal title, e.g., “Ph.D. Degree in Aerospace Engineering and Scientific Computing.”

Students in the Scientific Computing degree program come from many different disciplines. Our current enrollment exemplifies the breadth of departments, schools, and colleges represented by our Ph.D. students.

Students may enroll in the program after having completed one term in their home Ph.D. department. We recommend applying prior to being promoted to candidacy status, but can often accommodate students later in their degree progress.

Please contact MICDE at [email protected] if you have any questions about the Ph.D. in Scientific Computing.

Academic Requirements

Application procedures.

Current Students

Tracking Progress

Funding Resources

Current Enrollment

Students must complete the normal doctoral requirements of their home departments, as well as additional requirements in scientific computing. The specific requirements are:

Non-exhaustive examples of course selections for various departments can be seen on our  Example Course Choices page.

Group I Courses

Twenty-four (24) credit hours of coursework toward your home degree. You must complete your home degree requirements in order to receive the Ph.D. in Scientific Computing. It cannot be earned on its own. Group I may overlap with groups II or III. 

Group II Courses

Nine (9) credit hours of approved courses in scientific computing methodologies.

Group III Courses

Nine (9) credit hours of approved courses in computational science and applications in scientific computing outside the home department  (this typically includes courses in computer science, parallel algorithms, advanced computer architectures, computational fluid dynamics, or other courses in scientific computation not offered by a student’s home department).

Committee Composition

An emphasis on scientific computing reflected in doctoral thesis and doctoral committee composition. At least one faculty member on your committee should be an expert in scientific computing, affiliated with MICDE  or  MIDAS .

Demonstration of Understanding

Preliminary/Qualifying Exam Question: You must answer at least one question related to scientific computing during your department’s preliminary or qualifying examination.  If you join the program after having completed your qual/prelim, you can still use this option if you were asked a question related to computational methods or applications during your qual/prelim.  The student’s advisor or a MICDE  or  MIDAS -affiliated member of the committee must then email MICDE to confirm that this requirement is complete.

If the format of your PhD program’s preliminary/qualifying examination cannot accommodate this requirement, or if you are beyond this stage at the point of joining the program and were not asked a question on your prelim/qual, you have the following option to complete the Demonstration of Understanding requirement:

Literature Review: A 3-5 page critical assessment of previous research that has been done in your research area, specifically the scientific computing/computational aspect of your research problem.  This must be submitted to [email protected]  for review 2-4 semesters before your dissertation defense.

If you have any questions about fulfilling the Demonstration of Understanding requirement, please email [email protected] .

For Faculty:

Please send an email to [email protected] describing the scientific computing-related question that was asked during the examination and acknowledging that the student answered the question satisfactorily.

Ph.D. Seminar

If you enrolled in the Ph.D. in Scientific Computing in or after January 2022 , you are required to present at least once before graduation in the Ph.D. Student Seminar Series . Before presenting, you are strongly encouraged to attend as many sessions of the the Ph.D. Seminar Series as you can, from students in your department and outside it. The Ph.D. Student Seminar Series is an opportunity to learn how to simplify your explanation of your research problems and methods in order to talk about them to colleagues outside of your lab or your home department, which will help you prepare for future job searches.

Sign up to present in 2023-2024 on the MICDE Ph.D. Student Seminar Sign-Up form .

Students are expected to work closely with their academic advisors and with MICDE to develop a plan to meet these requirements.

• Talk to your academic advisor about your interest in the Ph.D. in Scientific Computing. Your department must approve your enrollment in the program.
• Submit the Course Audit form . You don’t have to have a full plan in place before filling out the Course Audit form, but please spend some time considering each of the questions and put your answers in the formats requested.
• After the MICDE program administrator checks your Audit Form and transcript, they will contact you to schedule an advising session with an MICDE Management & Education Committee faculty member. During the session, you, the faculty member, and the MICDE program administrator will finalize your plan to meet the requirements of the Ph.D. in Scientific Computing.
• After your advising session, you can apply to the Ph.D. in Scientific Computing . In order to apply, you must complete the Rackham Application Form , have it signed by your department, and submit it to [email protected] . You are not enrolled in the program unless you have completed this step.

Questions? Contact the Program Administrator at [email protected] .

Eligibility

This is not a stand-alone degree; it is a   joint degree program . Students must be accepted into the Ph.D. program of a home department at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Enrollment Deadlines

Students are enrolled on a rolling basis as they apply.

Information for Current Students

Please contact the program administrator ( [email protected] ) for all questions related to the Ph.D. in Scientific Computing.

We track students’ progress through the Ph.D. in Scientific Computing Web Progress Form . Your Web Progress Form is created after the advising session, and is accessible by prospective students as well as those who are enrolled. Every summer we will reach out to students to update their Web Progress Form with anything that has changed since the previous summer.

Updating the Web Progress Form

Please plan to update your Web Progress Form each summer with new information, including:

• If you answered questions about scientific computing in your quals/prelims and your Web Progress Form does not reflect this, please describe the questions in the Candidacy Status section.
• If you have formed your doctoral committee, please list the members in the Committee Information section.
• If you have made any changes to the courses you took or plan to take to fulfill requirements for the Ph.D. in Scientific Computing (including changing courses from “planned” to “completed” once you’ve taken them) please update the Course requirements section.
• If you have made progress in your research that is not yet reflected on your WPF (awards, fellowships, conference presentations, publications, etc.) please update the Research Progress section.
• Please make sure that your current estimated graduation term is listed in the  Future Plans section. This is not set in stone, but helps us to understand where you are in your degree process.

Enrollment Status

Note that each student has one of the following 5 statuses on the Web Progress Form . If you believe the enrollment status listed on your Web Progress Form is incorrect, please email [email protected] .

• Enrolled  ( had an advising session, turned in their application form to MICDE and Rackham has processed the application )
• Prospective  ( had an advising session, but has not yet enrolled ) Please let us know if you are still interested in enrolling in the program so we can finish your enrollment. You can log in to the Web Progress Form to see what courses were discussed in your original advising appointment.
• Leave of Absence  ( you are enrolled in the program, and currently in a leave of absence from your home program ) Please let us know when you return from a leave of absence.
• Graduated  ( you graduated from the program in 2015 or later)
• Discontinued  (you discontinued the Ph.D. in Scientific Computing and/or your home program)

You can view your Web Progress Form at any time. If you want to make any changes to your Web Progress Form outside of the summer window, or if you have any problems with accessing the form, please email [email protected] .

• Confirm that your transcript shows you are enrolled in the PhD in Scientific Computing.  If your transcript doesn’t show your enrollment in the program, please contact the program administrator ( [email protected] ) to find out your status within the program.
• If your transcript shows your enrollment in the Scientific Computing program, please review all the information we have on file for you on the Web Progress Form . In particular, check the Graduation requirements summary section at the top. If any of the boxes are blank or incomplete, please ask the program administrator ( [email protected] ) to review your requirements and confirm that they are complete.
• During the term you want to graduate, please contact the program administrator ( [email protected] ) to let them know so they can process your information.

Don’t forget to add the PhD in Scientific Computing program to the title page of your dissertation! For example:  (Physics and Scientific Computing)

A1: Please see  this list for examples. Note that they are only samples of what other students have done, but they are not the only choices. This degree is extremely individualized, so please email the program administrator ( [email protected] ) for more course information.

Q2: I met with the program director, but I get an error when I try to access the Web Progress Form. What can I do?

A2: Please contact the program administrator ( [email protected] ) to inquire about your status.

Q3: Can I change the courses listed on my form?

A3: Yes, but note that any course changes must be approved by MICDE. Email the program administrator ( [email protected] ) if you have any questions.

Q4: How often are students required to complete the Web Progress Form

A4: We ask students to fill out the form annually, by the end of summer each year.

Q5: What if I want to know if a course is approved before the Annual Form is due?

A5: Please contact the program administrator ( [email protected] ) to initiate the approval process. Once approved, they will record it in your form.

Q6: The form lists my status as “PROSPECTIVE” but I think I should be enrolled. What should I do?

This bar graph represents the numbers of students from different departments at U-M enrolled in the program. Students come from the College of Engineering, School of Kinesiology, College of LSA, Michigan Medicine, College of Pharmacy, Ross Business School, School for Environment and Sustainability, School of Information and the School of Public Health.

Departments include: Aerospace Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Industrial & Operations Engineering, Macromolecular Science & Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering, Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences, Applied Physics, Chemistry, Chemical Biology, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Linguistics, Mathematics, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Biostatistics, Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, Health Behavior & Health Education, Kinesiology, Health Infrastructures & Learning Systems, Neuroscience, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Business and School for Environment and Sustainability.

This list is not exhaustive, and continues to grow.

Ph.D. in Scientific Computing years in existence

Current Ph.D. in Scientific Computing students

Alumni since 1992

History of the Ph.D. in Scientific Computing

Text Version

Faculty Leadership

For all questions about the Ph.D. in Scientific Computing, please email [email protected] .

Eric Johnsen

2024 – present

Karthik Duraisamy

2022 – 2024

2004 – 2022

Bill Martin

1988 – 2004

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Welcome to CSE @ Michigan

The Computer Science and Engineering program at the University of Michigan, founded by computing pioneer Arthur Burks and Gordon Peterson in 1957, is among the richest in history and most progressive in vision. John H. Holland received the first PhD in computer science at Michigan in 1959. In 1966, the Michigan Terminal System (MTS) was developed as one of the world's first time-sharing computer operating systems. Seminal work in the development of computer databases by Edgar (Ted) Codd took place at Michigan in the late 1960s. Today, dozens of our former graduate students serve as faculty at other research universities. Four Michigan alumni – Frances Allen , Edgar Codd , Stephen Cook , and Michael Stonebraker – are Turing Award recipients. Another, Larry Page , co-founded Google, one of the largest and most influential technology companies.

The CSE division continues to lead as a vibrant and innovative force, with world-class faculty and students exploring and expanding new directions of inquiry in mobile and cloud computing, ultra-low power and green computing, big data, machine learning, bio and health informatics, security and privacy, virtual environments, autonomous transportation, and many other areas. The pervasiveness and relevance of computing today is reflected by our interdisciplinary research in areas such as medicine, education, economics, engineering, and the sciences.

CSE at Michigan has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years. The ranks of our faculty have grown by almost 50% over the past five years, and our undergraduate enrollment is 3X what it was in 2012. We moved into the Bob and Betty Beyster Building in early 2006, which was purpose-built to support the activities of CSE.

Our undergraduate and graduate programs are among the top in the nation and embrace both deep inquiry and cross-disciplinary breadth. In addition to nearly 100 traditional lecture and lab courses taught each year, undergraduate students experience real-world applications through industry-sponsored design projects and internships. They also have the opportunity to participate in undergraduate research projects and on competitive and interdisciplinary student-led project teams. As of Fall 2018, 345 graduate students were enrolled in out Master's and PhD programs, and 2141 undergraduate students were declared as majors in our computer engineering, computer science, and data science programs. 784 undergraduate degrees and 99 MS and PhD degrees were conferred in acadenic year 2017-18.

Forward-looking, interdisciplinary research projects form the foundation of CSE's active and productive connections to industry and government. In FY 2018, support for our research programs exceeded $25 million, leveraging long-standing and productive research relationships with a notable range of federal agencies, industry-leading companies, and industry/government consortia. Our vibrant research program results in graduates who are highly sought and actively recruited around the globe.

We strive to be a force for positive change in a world with many challenges. Through education, research, entrepreneurship, and collaboration, our ultimate goal is to produce and nurture the bright minds who will thoughtfully guide us to tomorrow, addressing societal imperatives and transforming our world through the power of computational approaches.

Please browse through the information we have provided on our website, and to feel free to  contact us  with any questions or comments.

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Tools for “more humane coding”

Prof. Cyrus Omar and PhD student David Moon describe their work to design more intuitive, interactive, and efficient coding environments that can help novices and professionals alike focus on the bigger picture without getting bogged down in bug fixing.

Snail extinction mystery solved using miniature solar sensors

The World’s Smallest Computer, developed by Prof. David Blaauw, helped yield new insights into the survival of a native snail important to Tahitian culture and ecology and to biologists studying evolution, while proving the viability of similar studies of very small animals including insects.

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Roya Ensafi delivers keynote at PETS 2024

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These CSE PhD alums have accepted faculty positions

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Tech meets wellness: CS student innovates U-M mental health app

CS major Jack Seel spearheaded the development of Healing Blue, an app that aims to provide easy access to mental health resources on campus.

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Computer Science (CS)

Com.pu.ter sci.ence.

To conduct research to develop new methods, architectures, and algorithms in order to solve complex problems, then invent the future by developing the vast array of applications that operate within these frameworks.

Also Known As: Computer Scientist, Software Engineer, Software Developer, Artificial Intelligence Specialist, Computational Linguist, Information Scientist, +10,000 more

Why cs at michigan, institutional ranking in cs at csrankings.org, award-winning faculty, in research funding, the cs program at michigan is one of the oldest and most respected in the world, u-m alumni have received the am turing award, considered the “nobel prize” of computing, technical rigor and relevance interdisciplinary, teamwork, and entrepreneurial opportunities, learn more about the cs advance selection process, what do computer scientists do.

We understand how to design and analyze algorithms, how to store and retrieve information, how computers function, and how to develop software systems that solve complex problems. We master these skills and suddenly, we have an incredible power to create: to make something unprecedented, something noteworthy, something entirely ours, all using our ever-trusty sidekicks – computers.

ACADEMIC FOCUS AREAS

Computer hardware, design the circuits and architectures, such as microprocessors, memories, and storage devices, for advanced computing systems..

Courses: Logic Design, Embedded System Design, VLSI Design, Computer Architecture, Logic Circuit Synthesis & Optimization

Computing Infrastructure

Develop the software systems that dictate how computers, networks, data centers, and applications handle and process data..

Courses: Operating Systems, Compiler Construction, Database Management Systems, Computer Networks, Distributed Systems

Intelligent Systems

Develop systems that can autonomously collect, analyze, and respond to their environments and other external stimuli..

Courses: Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Autonomous Robotics Design Experience, Informational Retrieval & Web Search, Artificial Intelligence

Software Development

Operate in the abstract- build the tools and systems that are used to store, retrieve, process, and display data for users...

Courses: Object Oriented & Advanced Programming, Operating Systems, Database Management Systems, Web Systems, User Interface Development, Computer Game Design & Development

Theory of Computation

Study the foundations of computing and push its limits through the development of new classes of algorithms, data structures, and cryptography...

Courses: Cryptography, Algorithms, Programming Languages

Web Technology and Applications

Build websites, user interfaces, and computing applications used for advertising, publishing, e-commerce, online games, chats, graphs, and so much more..

Courses: Practical Programming in Java, Computer Security, Web Systems, Informational Retrieval & Web Search

Areas in which a student, through the use of technical and free electives, and in consultation with their advisor, could decide to focus.

Explore Minors:

Sequential undergraduate/graduate studies program (sugs).

Complete your bachelor’s and master’s degrees in only five years with SUGS by taking some graduate-level classes during your undergraduate years, so you can save yourself one semester and complete the masters with only two additional semesters.

Sample Course List

• CoE Core Calculus I (Math 115)
• CoE Core Engineering 101
• CoE Core Chemistry (130/125/126 or 210/ 211)
• Elective Intellectual Breadth
• CoE Core Calculus II (Math 116)
• CoE Core Engineering 100
• CoE Core Physics (140/141)

Sophomore Year

• CoE Core Physics (240 / 241)
• Major Requirement Discrete Math (EECS 203)
• Major Requirement Prog. & Intro Data Structures (EECS 280)
• Elective General Elective
• CoE Core Applied Lin. Algebra (Math 214)
• Major Requirement Data Structures & Algorithms (EECS 281)
• Major Requirement Flexible Technical Electives

Junior Year

• CoE Core Math 215/216
• Major Requirement Computer Organization (EECS 370)
• Major Requirement STATS 250, STATS 280, or STATS 412
• Major Requirement Foundations of Computer Science (EECS 376)
• Major Requirement Technical Communications (TCHNCLCM 300)
• Elective Upper Level CS Technical Elective

Senior Year

• Major Requirement Major Design Experience/Professionalism (EECS 496)
• Major Requirement Major Design Experience
• Major Requirement Technical Communications (TCHNCLCM 497)
• Major Requirement Flexible Technical Elective
• Major Requirement Upper Level CS Elective

Individualized schedules will be made by students in consultation with an advisor who will tailor their classes to better fit the student's needs.

Practice Your Purpose

Apply the skills you are learning in class to the real world.

Student Design Teams

Wolverine soft - video game development, maav - michigan autonomous aerial vehicles, mdst - michigan data science team, michigan electric racing, mrover - michigan mars rover, solar car team, um::autonomy - autonomous boat, starx - strength augmenting robotic exoskeletons, students for the exploration and development of space, spark - electric racing, grid alternatives, professional development, eta kappa nu - honor society, girls in eecs, michigan hackers, msail - michigan student artificial intelligence laboratory, ieee - institute for electrical and electronics engineers, online security and privacy, detecting bias in ai, election security, making touchscreens more accessible, evaluating the energy consumption of ai, precision health in the palm of your hand, alumni biographies, each of these alumni are real people who were once in your shoes, deciding a major. explore their path and how a michigan education set their life in motion..

Aditya Ravi

Hudson River Trading

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Harvey Mudd College

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Community Mental Health Authority

Jessica Hirsh

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Learning A-Z

Jill Bender

TeraWatt Infrastructure

Richard Sheridan

Menlo Innovations

Austin Yarger

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Industries & Occupations

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Salary Information for Computer Scientists

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Computer Science & Engineering Graduate Students at UM

Cseg is the computer science and engineering graduate student organization of the computer science engineering department at the university of michigan ..

CSEG represents graduate students as representatives on a number of departmental committees. CSEG organizes social activities like cookouts, happy hours, and intramural sports. All CSE graduate students are automatically members of CSEG.

CSEG Initiatives

Department representation.

CSEG represents graduate students at faculty meetings, in admissions, and for faculty recruitment.

Masters' and PhD Program Initatives

CSEG hosts a range of initiatives for our Master's and PhD program members designed to enrich your experience both professionally and socially

Connect with Graduate Students

CSEG helps you connect with the current graduate students for job and event postings, talks and seminars, and more

Social Activites

Cookouts, happy hours, IM sports, bike rides, and more.

The 24/7 honors system food co-op for the CSE community.

Officers for 2024-2025

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Faculty Advisor

Associate Professor, CSE University of Michigan

I am an Associate Professor in the Computer Science & Engineering department at University of Michigan, where I lead the Order Lab . Prior to joining U-M, I was an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins CS department from 2017 to 2022.

I have broad research interests in computer systems including OS and distributed systems. I am particularly interested in designing principled techniques to enable reliable, efficient, and defensible systems from large data centers to small mobile devices.

My lab has openings for postdocs, graduate and undergraduate student interns. I’m looking for students who are self-motivated and have strong interests in systems building and research. Prospective students please read this page .

• Aug. 2024 FIR is accepted to SOSP '24. Congrats Tony, Haoze!
• Jun. 2024 Yigong will join Boston University as an Assistant Professor.
• Dec. 2023 Tony received the honorable mention for the CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award !
• Dec. 2023 Legolas is accepted to NSDI '24. Congrats Haoze, Tony!
• Oct. 2023 Chang received the honorable mention for the Dennis Ritchie doctoral dissertation award !
• Jul. 2023 pBox is accepted to SOSP '23. Congrats Yigong, Gongqi!
• Jun. 2023 Yigong passed his PhD defense and will join University of Washington CSE as a postdoc!
• May 2023 Chang passed his PhD defense and will join University of Virginia CS as an Assistant Professor!
• Jan. 2023 vProf is accepted to EuroSys '23. Congrats Lingmei!
• Sep. 2022 Gave a talk at Strange Loop on distributed systems runtime checking
• Mar. 2022 Orbit is accepted to OSDI '22. Congrats Yuzhuo!
• Mar. 2022 Oathkeeper is accepted to OSDI '22. Congrats Chang, Yuzhuo!
• Mar. 2022 RESIN is accepted to OSDI '22. Congrats Chang!
• Dec. 2021 Awarded an NSF SMALL grant on distributed system fault injection
• Dec. 2021 Gave a keynote talk in HotDC 2021
• Aug. 2021 Received a Facebook Research Award on performance diagnosis.
• Jul. 2021 Argus received the best paper award at ATC '21!
• Apr. 2021 Argus is accepted to appear at USENIX ATC '21. Congrats Lingmei!
• Mar. 2021 Arthas ( paper ) is accepted to appear at EuroSys '21. Congrats Brian!
• Jan. 2021 Teaching a new course CS 624: Reliable Software Systems in the Spring
• Dec. 2020 Gongqi received the honorable mention CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award !
• Dec. 2020 Co-organizing (with Rebecca Isaacs) a new workshop, HAOC , on availability and observability in EuroSys '21. A tentative CFP is out, send your work!
• Dec. 2020 Gave a short talk to PhD students on effectively working with advisors.
• Aug. 2020 Violet ( paper ) is accepted to appear at OSDI '20. Congrats Yigong, Gongqi!
• Aug. 2020 Narya ( preprint ) is accepted to appear at OSDI '20.
• June 2020 Awarded NSF CAREER award on gray-failure-tolerant cloud!
• Feb. 2020 OmegaGen received the best paper award at NSDI '20 !
• Dec. 2019 OmegaGen ( preprint ) is accepted to appear at NSDI '20. Congrats Chang!
• June 2019 Gandalf ( preprint ) is accepted to appear at NSDI '20.
• May 2019 Grant on utilitarian mobile system design is funded by NSF.
• May 2019 Received the Professor Joel Dean Excellence in Teaching Award . Grateful to the students in my OS class.
• Apr. 2019 LeaseOS received the best paper award at ASPLOS '19!
• Apr. 2019 Brian received the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Congrats Brian!
• Mar. 2019 Our position paper on watchdog abstraction is accepted to appear at HotOS XVII . Congrats Chang!
• Mar. 2019 Lightning talk video and paper preprint for LeaseOS project is released
• Feb. 2019 Technical Briefing on AIOps accepted to ICSE
• Feb. 2019 Yigong will intern at Microsoft in the summer
• Dec. 2018 URSA is accepted to appear at EuroSys '19
• Nov. 2018 LeaseOS is accepted to appear at ASPLOS '19 . Congrats Yigong, Suyi!
• Aug. 2018 Coppelia (MICRO 51) is nominated as a best paper candidate!
• Aug. 2018 Google Cloud Platform research proposal is awarded.
• July 2018 Attending Microsoft Research Faculty Summit
• July 2018 Panorama is accepted to OSDI '18
• July 2018 Coppelia is accepted to MICRO 51
• May. 2018 Attending NSF Aspiring CSR PIs Workshop
• Apr. 2018 TerseCades is accepted to USENIX ATC '18
• Mar. 2018 Awarded NSF CRII grant!
• Jan. 2018 Teaching the Advanced OS class in the Spring
• Oct. 2017 Two undergrad interns joined our projects
• Sep. 2017 Teaching the OS class in the Fall
• Sep. 2017 Both Chang and Yigong get the scholarship to attend SOSP. Thanks Oracle and IBM for sponsoring their scholarship.
• Aug. 2017 Received Microsoft Azure Research Award
• Aug. 2017 Serving on Program Committee for USENIX ATC 2018 , submit your work!
• July 2017 Visit at MSR comes to an end. Heading for JHU for an exciting adventure!
• Mar. 2017 Our position paper on the gray failure problem is accepted by HotOS XVI

A major focus of my recent research is to push for higher availability and observability of next-generation cloud systems. This includes a series of projects in multiple thrusts:

• Gray failure : We advocate the importance of the gray failure problem in cloud systems and discuss its differential observability traits.
• Partial failure : We study and analyze real-world partial failures in popular distributed systems.
• Panorama : We design a solution to capture and enhance inherent observability in cloud systems for the detection of gray failures.
• Watchdog : We propose the intrinsic watchdog abstraction for comprehensive runtime checking in system software.
• OmegaGen : We design a program analysis and instrumentation tool to generate custom watchdogs to localize partial failures. ( Best Paper Award )
• Narya : a holistic system to predict failures and adaptively mitigate failures through online experimentation.
• Gandalf : an analytics service for safe deployments in cloud.
• AIOps : a short position paper on the real-world challenges and research opportunities on AIOps.

I also research on energy-efficient mobile systems (e.g., LeaseOS , DefDroid , eDoctor ) and preventing system misconfigurations (e.g., Violet , ConfValley ).

Recent Select Publications

( Full publication list )

• Feedback-driven Fault Injection: Efficiently Reproduce Fault-Induced Failures Jia Pan*, Haoze Wu *, Tanakorn Leesatapornwongsa , Suman Nath , Peng Huang SOSP 2024 [BibTeX] *: equal contribution
• Efficient Exposure of Partial Failure Bugs in Distributed Systems with Inferred Abstract States Haoze Wu , Jia Pan, Peng Huang NSDI 2024 [BibTeX] [Software]
• Pushing Performance Isolation Boundaries into Application with pBox Yigong Hu , Gongqi Huang , Peng Huang SOSP 2023 [BibTeX] [Slides] [Software]
• Effective Performance Issue Diagnosis with Value-Assisted Cost Profiling Lingmei Weng, Yigong Hu , Peng Huang , Jason Nieh , Junfeng Yang EuroSys 2023 [BibTeX] [Slides] [Software]
• Operating System Support for Safe and Efficient Auxiliary Execution Yuzhuo Jing , Peng Huang OSDI 2022 [BibTeX] [Slides] [Software]
• Demystifying and Checking Silent Semantic Violations in Large Distributed Systems Chang Lou , Yuzhuo Jing , Peng Huang OSDI 2022 [BibTeX] [Slides] [Software]
• RESIN: A Holistic Service for Dealing with Memory Leaks in Production Cloud Infrastructure Chang Lou , Cong Chen, Peng Huang , Yingnong Dang, Si Qin, Xinsheng Yang, Xukun Li, Qingwei Lin, Murali Chintalapati OSDI 2022 [BibTeX] [Slides]
• Argus: Debugging Performance Issues in Modern Desktop Applications with Annotated Causal Tracing     [Best Paper Award] Lingmei Weng, Peng Huang , Jason Nieh , Junfeng Yang ATC 2021 [BibTeX] [Slides] [Software]
• Automated Reasoning and Detection of Specious Configuration in Large Systems with Symbolic Execution Yigong Hu , Gongqi Huang , Peng Huang OSDI 2020 [BibTeX] [Slides] [Software] [TechReport]
• Predictive and Adaptive Failure Mitigation to Avert Production Cloud VM Interruptions Sebastien Levy, Randolph Yao, Youjiang Wu, Yingnong Dang, Peng Huang , Zheng Mu, Pu Zhao, Tarun Ramani, Naga Govindaraju, Xukun Li, Qingwei Lin, Gil Lapid Shafriri, Murali Chintalapati OSDI 2020 [BibTeX] [TechReport]
• Understanding, Detecting and Localizing Partial Failures in Large System Software     [Best Paper Award] Chang Lou , Peng Huang , Scott Smith NSDI 2020 [BibTeX] [Slides] Press: The Morning Paper
• A Case for Lease-Based, Utilitarian Resource Management on Mobile Devices     [Best Paper Award] Yigong Hu , Suyi Liu , Peng Huang ASPLOS 2019 [BibTeX] [Slides] [Software] Press: The Morning Paper
• Capturing and Enhancing In Situ System Observability for Failure Detection Peng Huang , Chuanxiong Guo , Jacob R. Lorch , Lidong Zhou , Yingnong Dang OSDI 2018 [BibTeX] [Slides] [Software] Press: The Morning Paper , CSDN
• End-to-End Automated Exploit Generation for Validating the Security of Processor Designs     [Best Paper Candidate] Rui Zhang , Calvin Deutschbein , Peng Huang , Cynthia Sturton MICRO 2018 [BibTeX]
• Gray Failure: The Achilles’ Heel of Cloud-Scale Systems Peng Huang , Chuanxiong Guo , Lidong Zhou , Jacob R. Lorch , Yingnong Dang, Murali Chintalapati, Randolph Yao HotOS 2017 [BibTeX] [Slides] Press: The Morning Paper , ZDNet , StorageMojo , Hacker News

I am very fortunate to work with a wonderful group of students .

• Yuzhuo Jing
• Yuxuan Jiang
• Kevin Xue (co-advised with Mosharaf Chowdhury)
• Chang Lou → Assistant Professor at University of Virginia
• Yigong Hu → Postdoc at University of Washington → Assistant Professor at Boston University
• Brian Choi → Researcher at Applied Physics Lab

Professional Service

• 2024: SOSP ‘24 , NSDI ‘25 , ATC ‘24
• 2023: SOSP ‘23 , OSDI ‘24 , ASPLOS ‘24
• 2022: OSDI ‘23
• 2021: ASPLOS ‘22 , HAOC ‘21 (co-chair), APSys ‘21
• 2020: OSDI ‘20 , OSDI ‘21 , NSDI ‘21 , APSys ‘20 , ICDCS ‘20
• 2019: SOSP ‘19 , HotOS ‘19 , APSys ‘19 , ASPLOS ‘19 SRC , RTAS ‘20
• 2018: USENIX ATC ‘18
• 2017: USENIX ATC ‘17 , SOSP ‘17 SRC , HotConNet ‘17
• 2016: MobiSys PhD forum
• Journal Reviewer: TPDS 2016 , SCICO 2019 , TOS 2020
• Shadow PC: EuroSys 2017
• Assistant for PC chair: ASPLOS 2016

I received my Ph.D. from UCSD , advised by Prof. Yuanyuan Zhou . Before joining Hopkins, I took one year off at MSR Redmond Systems Group to gain exposure to real-world system challenges in a state-of-the-art cloud service, Microsoft Azure. I received B.S. (Computer Science) and B.A. (Economics) from Peking University .

Note: Ryan is my English name. For legal documents and publications, Peng Huang is used.

Check out Phair , Patternful AI , and CircleCoder

Financial Aid Info

Electrical & Computer Engineering

PhD Applicants

Students admitted to the doctoral program in Electrical and Computer Engineering receive financial aid for the anticipated duration of studies (five years for students entering with a BS, four years for students entering with an MS), assuming satisfactory progress is made. Financial aid is offered by the doctoral program when admission is offered, and consists of a fellowship, a research assistantship, a teaching assistantship, or a combination thereof. This aid normally includes a tuition waiver, stipend (approximently $32,500 for 12 months) and health care.

Students entering with an external fellowship will see their award adjusted to reflect the external support. As a condition of admission, students must report external fellowship with documentation of the award to the graduate program coordinator.

Master’s Applicants

Tuition and Fees >

U-M Residency Guidelines >

The EECS Department does not provide funding to master’s students at the time of admission. Master’s students are encouraged to apply for fellowships from sources outside the Department.

Funding Resources

Rackham merit fellowship.

The Rackham Merit Fellowship (RMF) is a funding opportunity for newly admitted PhD students.  The RMF provides full funding during the funding of the 1st and 4th year of PhD studies.

Admitted students are automatically  considered for the awards based on the information in their official admission applications.

Additional Funding

Emergency Funding and PhD Internship Support

Rackham Funding Resources >

U-M Office of Financial Aid > Student (Campus) Employment >

We look for domestic/permanent resident students who have a record of superior academic achievement as well as meet one of the following criteria:

• Come from an educational, cultural, or geographical background that is underrepresented in graduate study in your discipline in the United States or the University of Michigan (You cannot meet this criteria using your race/ethnicity/gender/sex/sexual orientation); 
• Have demonstrated a commitment to diversity in the academic, professional, or civic realm through their work experience, volunteer engagement, or leadership of student or community organizations.  By diversity, we mean efforts to reduce social, educational, or economic disparities based on race, ethnicity, or gender, or to improve race relations in the U.S.; 
• Have experienced financial hardship as a result of family economic circumstances; 
• Are first generation U.S. citizens or first generation in their families to graduate from a four-year college.

To strengthen your application for this fellowship, we recommend the following:

• Your personal statement addresses how you meet one (or more) of the criteria listed above, and how this experience influenced you as a person and potential graduate student.

Bridge to Doctorate Fellowship

The Bridge to Doctorate Fellowship is a funding opportunity for newly admitted master’s students.  This fellowship provides full funding during the funding of the 1st year of master’s degree with the expectation (not required) the student would transition to the PhD program after the 1st year.

Admitted students are automatically considered for the awards based on the information in their official admission applications.

• Have demonstrated a commitment to diversity in the academic, professional, or civic realm through their work experience, volunteer engagement, or leadership of student or community organizations.  By diversity, we mean efforts to reduce social, educational, or economic disparities based on race, ethnicity, or gender, or to improve race relations in the U.S.; 
• Are first generation U.S. citizens or first generation in their families to graduate from a four-year college. 

To strengthen your application for this fellowship, we recommend:

• Your Academic Statement of Purpose mentions your interest in pursing a PhD degree.

Graduate Student Research Assistant (GSRA)

A GRSA performs personal research (including thesis or dissertation preparation) or assists others performing research that is relevant to his or her academic goals.

GSRA positions are filled by both incoming and current graduate students. Doctoral students are given priority. GSRAs are usually expected to work 16 to 20 hours a week, receiving full tuition and fees, monthly stipend, and university health care coverage. 

• GSRA Guidelines >
• Students interested in a GSRA position should contact faculty directly.

Graduate Student Instructor (GSI)

A GSI coordinates, leads, or insists in the instructional process in direct interaction with students. This includes class sessions, office hours, recitation, laboratory, quiz, or problem sessions.

GSI positions are filled by both incoming and current graduate students. Doctoral students are given priority. GSIs are usually expected to work 16 to 20 hours a week, receiving full tuition and fees, monthly stipend, and university health care coverage. 

• GSI Information >
• If you are a non-native speaker of English, you must take and pass the Oral English Test (OET) before you can be places as a GSI. You are still eligible to apply before taking the test.
• All guaranteed financial aid students are placed first. The remaining students will be placed on a waitlist.
• The waitlist priority is established by number of semesters in program and then academic performance.
• Faculty can recommend you, however, faculty preference will be considered at the time students are assigned from the wait lists.
• Adjustments to the course you are assigned to could occur based on department needs.
• It’s very rare that newly admitted students receive a GSI during their first semester or year.

College of Engineering Student Awards

The College of Engineering recognizes undergraduate and graduate students who make outstanding contribution to the University both in and out the classroom.  These awards focus on academic work, leadership experience, and service.

The awards specifically for graduate students are the Richard F. and Eleanor A. Towner Prize for Distinguished Academic Achievement, Distinguished Leadership Award, Harry B. Benford Award for Entrepreneurial Leadership, and the Marian Sarah Parker Prize. 

View on College of Engineering website >

In this section

• Undergraduate Programs
• Our Ph.D. Students
• Graduate Student Instructors
• Laboratories
• Message from the Chair

Our PhD Students

PhD students graduated from the Computer and Information Science Department have been recruited as faculty members in universities including University of Chicago, Rochester Institute of Technology, DePaul University, University of Michigan - Flint, Central Michigan University, Kuwait University, and King Faisal University as well as technology leaders in industrial companies/centers including Microsoft, eBay, Amazon, Ford, GM, and Quicken Loans.

CIS PhD Student A. Amich

• Program : Ph.D. Computer and Information Science 
• Status : Ph.D. Student
• Position   / Appointment : Graduate Student Instructor/Research Assistant
• Research Focus:  Adversarial Machine Learning for Malware Detectors
• Career Focus : Academia and Industry
• E-mail:  [email protected]

Research Projects

I'm currently working on adversarial machine learning for Malware detectors. In order to evade very accurate Malware detectors,  attackers can make changes on test samples using different Adversarial Sample Generation (ASG) approaches. One of the main challenges for an ASG approach is to maintain the behavior of the Malware and its executability. Some related works have contributed to this topic, however, it is still a relatively fresh field with much room for research and additional findings.

CIS PhD Student Ismat Jarin

• Program : Ph.D. Computer and Information Science
• Status : Ph.D. Student
• Research Focus:  Differential Privacy, Machine Learning, Data Privacy, and Security,
• Career Focus : Industry

Computer and Information Science

• Prospective Students
• Current Students
• Postdoctoral Fellows
• Faculty and Staff
• Make a Gift

The Rackham Graduate School and the graduate program work as a team to manage the application review process. As an applicant, you will be interacting with both offices.

Applicants must first consult the program website for degree options and specific requirements for admission. The program website is the official source of information for application requirements. Programs establish their own requirements and timeline for the application review. If the graduate program website is different from Rackham’s website, follow the graduate program’s website instructions. Review the Programs of Study page for program website and contact information , including dual degree and certificate options.

The graduate program will make a decision on your application and notify both you and Rackham. If you are recommended for admission, Rackham will confirm that you meet the minimum admission requirements and finalize the offer. Review the Admission and Matriculation Policy for eligibility. Applicants are not admitted until they receive an email from Rackham with the offer of admission.

Campus Applications

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

University of Michigan-Dearborn

Our Dearborn campus has its own application process. Please visit the UM-Dearborn page for more information.

University of Michigan-Flint

Our Flint campus has its own application process. Please visit the UM-Flint page for more information.

Other Applications and Forms

Current and previous rackham students.

• Readmission
• Change of Program
• Change of Status
• Dual Admission Application
• Changing Personal Information

Prepare for a Rewarding Career in Computing Research and Academia

Established in a tradition of academic excellence, the University of Michigan-Flint’s Doctor of Philosophy in Computing program supports your growth as a leader and innovator in the computer science field. 

With a highly integrative approach and a strong emphasis on research, our doctoral degree in computing program creates a learning experience that cultivates problem-solving and leadership development. Additionally, the degree program is rigorous in nature and designed to be completed at a full-time pace and entirely on campus . Upon completing your doctorate, you emerge into the workforce, ready to become a world-class researcher, educator, or industry expert . Join our expanding community of dedicated scholars and researchers and make meaningful contributions to the ever-evolving computing discipline.

Follow Grad Programs on Social

On this Page

• Program Highlights
• Computing Curriculum 
• Career Outlook
• Admission Process and Requirements

Application Deadlines

Why earn your phd in computing degree at um-flint, diversify your skills to pursue a range of career paths.

In our PhD in Computing program, you undergo intensive training to develop a versatile and in-demand skill set, which helps you pursue a successful career trajectory.

Upon completing the doctoral program, you will be well prepared to assume leadership roles in academia, where you play a part in shaping the future of computer science and inspire students along their academic journey. Or, if you prefer, you take an alternative path and seek employment in the tech industry to spur innovation. 

Build Your Original Academic Research

In the PhD program, you collaborate with our distinguished College of Innovation and Technology faculty members on research projects that align with your personal scholarly and professional interests. This also allows you to begin building your body of original research and publications and establish yourself as a well-respected, innovative scholar in the field.

Additionally, as part of the world-renowned University of Michigan community, you have full access to the breadth of academic and research resources at the Flint, Dearborn , and Ann Arbor campuses.

Receive Full Funding for Your PhD

UM-Flint is committed to making graduate education affordable and supporting you along your doctoral journey. Our PhD in Computing program adheres to the CIT full-funding model for PhD students for up to five years. When accepted into the program, you receive full funding as a Graduate Student Instructor, Research Assistant, or a combination of both , which covers a monthly stipend, health insurance, and tuition waiver.

Funding is guaranteed based on continued good academic standing and adequate progress toward the PhD degree. Because of this guaranteed funding, the PhD in Computing program is only open to full-time students with the capacity for regular on-campus presence. Read our overview of UM-Flint’s GSRA qualifications and eligibility requirements .

Want to Learn More About Pursuing Your PhD in Computing? Request More Information to Receive Program Details!

Phd in computing program curriculum.

At UM-Flint, we created our Doctor of Philosophy in Computing program curriculum to challenge your technical knowledge, elevate your competencies and analytical skills, and shape you into an accomplished scholar. 

The number of content coursework credits you take depends on your previous academic experience. The program curriculum requires at least 38 credits of coursework beyond the bachelor’s degree. If you enter the doctoral program with a bachelor’s degree, you must complete all 38 credit hours of coursework. However, if you hold a master’s degree, you only need to complete 24 credits. Furthermore, if your master’s degree is from the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School or UM-Flint, you are only required to complete eight credit hours of content coursework.

Besides the diverse range of coursework, our PhD program is research-oriented, meaning we evaluate your academic performance primarily based on peer-reviewed publication capability and output. You must earn 25 credits of research coursework dedicated to your research preparation and your dissertation. Additionally, we expect you to publish peer-reviewed journals and articles stemming from your dissertation research.

Doctoral Program Milestones

With the support of your selected research advisor and a dissertation committee, you must pass the following major milestones:

• Identifying the faculty advisor and research topic
• Completion of required coursework
• Passing the qualifying examination consists of two parts:
• Curriculum exam
• Research proficiency exam
• Advancement to candidacy
• Forming the dissertation committee
• Passing the dissertation proposal examination
• Completion of required research credit hours
• Preparation of a written dissertation and its oral defense

Review the Computing (PhD) program curriculum and course list .

Academic Advising

UM-Flint proudly offers expert academic advisors to guide your educational journey toward achieving a PhD degree in Computing.  To learn more about our doctoral program, please contact the program director, Doug Zytko, at [email protected] .

Career Outlook for Computer Scientists

As technology rapidly evolves and our societies become increasingly computerized, the fundamentals of how computing industries design, produce, and deliver products and services to their customers are changing. Such changes create a significant need for computer scientists with advanced knowledge of data management, data science, systems, security, and software engineering.

Likewise, manufacturers and service industries in Michigan and around the nation also recognize this current shift. In response, they encourage their technical workforce to advance their knowledge, skills, and expertise in these areas through graduate-level education and training. For many such scientists and engineers, this means pursuing doctoral-level degrees that offer specialized instruction and research experience in computer and information science. 

With the quality of instruction you receive in UM-Flint’s PhD program in Computing, you can pursue careers in a variety of industries, including faculty positions in academia or as an industry researcher or applied scientist .

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that both career paths have a growing employment rate—university professors can expect their employment to increase by 8%, and computer scientists can anticipate an increase of 23%. Furthermore, both careers have earning potentials that exceed the national average. For professors, the median annual salary is $84,380, and for computer scientists, their salary averages $145,080.

Admission Requirements (No GRE Required)

To qualify for admission into the PhD in Computing program, you must meet the following requirements:

• Students from other areas who are accepted into the program and have an insufficient background in computing can be assigned remedial courses to complete.
• A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher on a four-point scale for the BS degree and 3.5 or higher on a 4-point scale for the master’s degree.
• Calculus II
• Linear Algebra
• One course in data structures
• One course in computer organization
• One course in operating systems
• One course in programming
• One course in calculus-based probability and statistics.

Prior to applying to the doctoral program, we recommend that you speak with the director of the PhD in Computing program regarding your eligibility for admission. Please note: meeting the minimum admission requirements does not guarantee entrance into the program.

How to Apply to the Computing Doctoral Program

Due to its rigorous curriculum and competitive admission process, we strongly encourage you to connect with Doug Zytko , Director of the PhD in Computing program. During this meeting, you can discuss career and professional development goals to help determine if the doctoral program suits your academic and professional aspirations.

Additionally, you should meet with individual faculty members who may serve as dissertation chairs. This helps you connect with faculty members and determine who may share your research interests. If you need assistance identifying and contacting faculty members, please contact Doug Zytko.

Application Materials

To be considered for admission, submit the following to the Office of Graduate Programs:

• Application for Graduate Admission
• $55 application fee (non-refundable)
• Official transcript from the colleges or universities where you earned your degree(s) as well as any transcript that shows completion of prerequisite coursework. Please read our full transcript policy for more information .
• For any degree completed at a non-US institution, transcripts must be submitted for an internal credential review. Read the following for instructions on how to submit your transcripts for review .
• If English is not your native language, and you are not from an exempt country , you must demonstrate English proficiency .
• English Language Proficiency: Applicants who have earned or will earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree from an institution where the language of instruction is exclusively English are exempt from submitting an Official English Proficiency Score. All others must submit such a score. For more information, please review our required minimum overall scores .
• Three letters of recommendation, at least one of which must come from former faculty.
• Statements may be submitted online during the application process or emailed to [email protected] . 
• Students from abroad must submit additional documentation .

Please email all additional application materials to [email protected] or deliver them to the Office of Graduate Programs , located at 251 Thompson Library.

The PhD in Computing program is an on-campus program with in-person courses. As a new academic degree, this program is not currently accepting applications from international students seeking an F-1 visa. This program will accept applications from international students who are required to have an I-20 as soon as authorization from the Department of Homeland Security is received.

For other nonimmigrant visa holders currently in the United States, please contact the Center for Global Engagement at [email protected]  

The computing doctoral program only extends admissions offers for the fall and winter terms. If you are interested in applying for an upcoming class, please submit all application materials to the Office of Graduate Programs by 5:00 p.m. on the following application deadlines:

• April 1 (Fall)
• September 1 (Winter)

Achieve Your Highest Potential—Pursue Your PhD in Computing at UM-Flint

Embark on a rigorous academic journey that combines your passion for teaching and research and equips you to emerge as an expert in the tech field. By earning your Doctor of Philosophy in Computing degree from the University of Michigan-Flint, you undergo transformational training, acquire high-level research skills, and receive mentorship from leading experts. 

Take the next step toward becoming a scientist and an educator who leads, innovates, and inspires. Begin your UM-Flint application today ! If you have more questions about the graduate program, request more information .

Sequential Undergraduate/Graduate Studies in CSE

The CSE Sequential Undergraduate/Graduate Studies (SUGS) program is an accelerated program that enables students to complete their Master’s degree in one additional year following the completion of their Bachelor’s degree. This Accelerated Master’s Degree Program (AMDP/SUGS) allows students to complete requirements for both degrees in five years.

Many students who enroll in this program plan to enter industry but seek additional intellectual depth beyond the bachelor’s degree. The relatively small investment in time to get a master’s degree will lead to greater professional opportunities and significantly higher salaries (see  Michigan Engineering employment data ).

Students who wish to pursue a CSE master’s degree at a slower pace should apply to the regular (i.e. non-SUGS) CSE master’s program and students who plan to pursue a Ph.D. should apply directly to the CSE Ph.D. program.

Eligibility

Current University of Michigan undergraduate students studying Computer Science-LSA or Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Data Science (Eng or LSA), or a minor in Computer Science are eligible to apply to the CSE Sequential Undergraduate/Graduate Studies (SUGS) program.

Engineering students, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute (SJTU-JI), and Multiple Dependent Degree Program (MDDP) students with dual majors are not eligible for SUGS (see more info here ). However, LSA double majors can apply for SUGS.

Degree Requirements

SUGS students follow the degree requirements for the terminal CSE MS program (these requirements can be found in the CSE Graduate Program Guide ). Successful completion of 30 credits of coursework is required. A thesis is optional.

SUGS students must enroll in Rackham for at least two full terms (at least 9 credit hours each term), paying Rackham tuition, if they plan to graduate in two terms.

Double Counting and Transfer Guidelines

The SUGS Master’s degree is an accelerated program allowing for the double-counting of graduate-level credits between the undergraduate and graduate programs.

Approved Coursework : Check out the MS Course Requirements (Spreadsheet) to see what graduate-level courses can be double-counted or transferred to SUGS (see “Approved for SUGS double-count and/or transfer” column).

CSE SUGS students can bring in a maximum of 15 credits into Rackham.

• Double counted credits can only come from graduate level courses that may be used towards a CSE Master’s degree. Double counted credits may be divided/split (e.g. if you have three courses at 4 credits each – 12 credits total – you may use up to 9 credits from those courses).
• Transfer credits may not be divided/split up in any way (e.g. if you have two courses at 3 credits each – 6 credits total – you may transfer both courses. If you have two courses at 4 credits each – 8 credits total – you may only transfer one of those courses.). Transfer happens after a student has been admitted to the SUGS program – please review Rackham’s Transfer of Credit policy for more details.

Prerequisites to Apply 

The Admissions Committee has determined that performance in these areas best demonstrates an applicant’s educational readiness for graduate studies in our program. However, please remember that applications are reviewed holistically and students who demonstrate strong performance in CS or related curriculum are still encouraged to apply.

• Must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.6 or higher at the time of application submission. 
• Must maintain that GPA through the completion of the undergraduate degree. 
• Must have completed EECS 281 with a grade of B+ or better by the application deadline. Must also have completed either EECS 270 or EECS 370 with a grade of B+ or better by the application deadline. 
• Note: While CS Minor students may not be able to take at least four EECS elective classes at the 300-level or above, they are still welcome to apply.
• Note: Engineering students, SJTU-JI, and MDDP students with dual majors are not eligible for SUGS (see more info here ). However, LSA double majors can apply for SUGS. 

Timeline to Apply 

As students head into their penultimate (next to last) year, they may wish to meet with a CSE Graduate Programs Office staff member to discuss their plan for double-counted courses (this is not required). Or, an email may be sent to  [email protected]  with any questions.  

• Rackham Graduate Application
• Three letters of recommendation (at least one letter must come from a core CSE faculty member )
• A personal statement
• A statement of purpose
• An unofficial copy of your transcript ( current U-M applicants should attach their unofficial transcript to their application – this will expedite the review process )
• Completed Accelerated Master’s Degree Program Election Form (including courses to be double counted, but does not need to be signed) – this form can be found through Rackham’s Forms page, and should be added one of the other attachments, preferably the transcript.

Application deadlines

SUGS is sequential, meaning students may only apply for the Fall or Winter term directly following graduation. So if you are graduating in the Fall term (December) and want to start a CSE Master’s degree in the following Fall term, you must apply to the Terminal MS degree (you may not take a gap year or term and still apply to SUGS).

This page has information about graduate school admissions .

Additional Information

More information about the SUGS program . Students must meet all Rackham requirements for the SUGS master’s degree (rackham.umich.edu/academic-policies/section5/).

The complete Master’s requirements can be found in the  CSE Graduate Program Guide (Google Doc) .

View a list of courses that satisfy the different MS degree requirements (Google Sheet) .

Students admitted to the Master’s program may apply to the doctoral program. Admission depends on academic qualifications as well as the availability of openings in the doctoral program.

For questions regarding the SUGS program, please contact the CSE Graduate Programs Office at  [email protected] . 

MS vs. MSE degree

The MS (Master’s of Science) and MSE (Master’s of Science in Engineering) degrees differ mainly in name. The degree requirements are the same. Students with a bachelor’s degree in engineering can elect either degree. Students without an engineering bachelor’s degree are eligible only for the MS.

Apply to a Master’s program

Financial aid information.

The CSE Division has limited financial aid to award to Master’s students at the time of application. On the other hand, Master’s students occasionally receive a research or teaching assistantship after they begin their studies. Master’s students are encouraged to apply for fellowships from sources outside the University. See an overview of financial aid resources .