Human-Centered Computing Ph.D.

Requirements

HCC Ph.D. students must complete a minimum of 60 credit hours.

Graded Coursework (36 credits)

• Fundamentals of HCC (3 credits)
• Graduate Level Computer Science Courses (12 credits)
• Courses in People/Human Condition/HCI (6 credits)
• Research Methods courses (6 credits)
• Cognate or Specialty Area Approved by Advisor (9 credits)

Research (24 credits)

• Pre-dissertation Research (pre-portfolio, HCC 8880) - (6 credits)
• Doctoral Dissertation Research (18 credits minimum)

HCC Ph.D. students are also expected to meet a prerequisite computing requirement, which can be met by completing one of the following:

• Undergraduate degree in computing
• Master's degree in computing
• MSCS-ready modules 1, 2 and 4
• DPA 6000 and 6010
• CPSC 1010 and 1020
• Letter of Petition for alternative training approved by the student's Major Advisor and the HCC Program Coordinator. For additional details, please see the SoC Graduate Handbook.

Note: no courses used to satisfy the computing requirement may be used to satisfy other HCC program requirements.

Seminars and Additional Coursework

Full-time students in the HCC Ph.D. program are encouraged to take one CPSC/HCC 9500 seminar per semester; additionally, they are encouraged to take one HCC course per semester until passing the comprehensive exam and one per year until completion of the program.

Transfer credit hours and other exceptions

Potential exceptions to the requirements outlined above can be found in the School of Computing Graduate Handbook.

Graduating: Examination Requirements

To earn the Ph.D. degree, a student must take and pass three examinations:

• The Comprehensive Examination
• The Dissertation Proposal
• The Dissertation Defense

The information below is intended as an overview of each requirement. Current School of Computing students approaching these milestones should review the School of Computing Graduate Handbook.

Ph.D. Portfolio Requirements

To be admitted to Ph.D. candidacy, a student must pass the Comprehensive Examination. The form of this examination is a portfolio review. This review is intended to certify competency in the core areas of computing, human-computer interaction, and research methodologies. The review is also intended to promote scholarship and professional skills.

Students entering the HCC Ph.D. program with an M.S. must submit their portfolio before the beginning of their fourth semester; students entering without an M.S. before the beginning of their sixth.

Required Elements of Portfolio

1. Transcripts (minimum GPA: 3.5)
2. A research paper in which a significant component of the writing was done by the candidate must be included. The paper should be of sufficient quality to indicate that the student has the ability to conduct original research and make an acceptable written presentation of the results. Although not required, students are strongly encouraged to submit the paper to a conference or workshop.
3. A brief statement of purpose outlining the student’s research interests.
4. A plan of study that includes a list of courses the student has taken or plans to take. The plan of study should be consistent with the student’s statement of purpose.
5. Major Advisor's letter of support
6. Student curriculum vitae
7. Optional items, such as code, an implementation, or other items that support the student’s candidacy.

Dissertation Proposal

The dissertation proposal ensures that students have a clear grasp of a specific problem or set of problems; it provides a format for discussion of the solutions or approaches to solving the problem(s); and it provides documentation that the student has undertaken a reasonable survey of the literature related to their research.

The proposal itself is presented to the student's Advisory Committee. The written proposal should include the following items:

• Outline of the included material
• Review of the state of knowledge in the general area of interest
• Description of the proposed dissertation area, along with a concise review of the state of knowledge in the specific area of the proposed dissertation
• Explanation of the problem(s) to be investigated
• Discussion of the results expected from solving the problem(s) and their impact on the state of knowledge in the general and specific areas of interest
• Bibliography

The written proposal must be presented publicly and approved by the student's Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee will be asked to give written approval of the proposal after the presentation, and that approval will be based primarily on the written document. If the proposal is not approved, it may be repeated an indefinite number of times, subject to the consent of the Committee, but the proposal must be approved at least six months prior to the completion of the dissertation.

Students can schedule their presentation by submitting the Presentation Scheduling Form.

Dissertation Requirements

The doctoral dissertation is the written record of the research that the student has conducted and must provide evidence of the student's ability to independently perform original research leading to the discovery of significant new knowledge. The dissertation is expected to:

• Identify a significant open question or problem in human-centered computing.
• Describe the current state of knowledge of the area(s) involved.
• Present a solution or solutions to the problem that was identified.
• Report on the results of the research conducted, substantiate those results and demonstrate the originality and contribution of the results.

The format of the dissertation must conform to the current SOC and Graduate School standards. Copies of the dissertation must be delivered to the student's Advisory Committee members at least two (2) weeks prior to the final oral examination.

Required Documents to Begin Application

Required documents can be found on the Preparing to Apply page on the Graduate School website. Application to the Human-Centered Computing Ph.D. requires two letters of recommendation. For our application deadlines, see our Admissions FAQ.

Questions

Adam Rollins, School of Computing Graduate Services Coordinator rollin7@clemson.edu