Academic Programs Catalog

College of Engineering

Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering

Graduate Study
Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering - Doctor of Philosophy

The Doctor of Philosophy degree in Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering provides students broad and deep knowledge of the fundamental techniques used in computational modeling and data science, as well as significant exposure to at least one application domain, and to conduct significant original research in algorithms and/or applications relating to computational and data science.

Admission

Admission to graduate study in computational mathematics, science, and engineering is primarily to the doctoral program. 

To be considered for admission to the doctoral degree, a student must:

  1. have a four-year bachelor’s degree in any area.
  2. have a strong interest in computational and/or data science. 
  3. have taken course work in calculus through differential equations, and have a working knowledge of linear algebra, basic statistics, and basic numerical methods.
  4. be proficient in at least one programming language.
In addition to meeting the requirements of the university and of the College of Natural Science, students must meet the requirements specified below.

Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering

The student’s program of study must be approved by the student’s guidance committee and must meet the requirements specified below.
1.   Complete the following courses (12 credits):
CMSE 820 Mathematical Foundations of Data Science 3
CMSE 821 Numerical Methods for Differential Equations 3
CMSE 822 Parallel Computing 3
CMSE 823 Numerical Linear Algebra, I 3
Additional details on applicable course work can be found in the CMSE graduate handbook at www.cmse.msu.edu.
2. Complete additional course work to total a minimum of 30 credits beyond the bachelor’s degree in one or more cognate areas chosen in consultation with the student’s guidance committee as specified in the CMSE graduate handbook at www.cmse.msu.edu.
3. Complete at least 24 credits and no more than 36 credits of CMSE 999 Doctoral Dissertation Research.
4. Pass a written or practical qualifying examination.
5. Pass an oral or written comprehensive examination no less than six months before the defense of the student’s dissertation.
6. Successfully defend the doctoral dissertation based on original research in algorithms pertaining to, or applications of computational and data science.
7. All students must complete Responsible Conduct of Research Training.