Master of Science in Computer Science

The master of science degree requires ten credits at the 100 level or above, as well as an advanced project or thesis. Projects must be approved by a member of the faculty and may or may not count towards the ten credits.

Course Requirements

Ten credits are required, of which at least eight credits must be from approved courses. The remaining two credits may be earned from approved courses, or from conducting approved research or independent study, or from a combination of the two. At least six courses must be in computer science, and at least two must include a serious programming component. To use courses offered outside the Department of Computer Science, the student must obtain the approval of the department. In particular, students focusing on an interdisciplinary area of CS may take fewer than six CS courses, but this is subject to the approval of the Director of Graduate Students. Students must also demonstrate competency in the material covered in Mathematics 22 and Computer Science 40, 80, 160, and 170. The last two courses, 160 and 170, can be taken as part of the master's degree program. (However if you have taken courses on this material already you are strongly advised to take an upper level theory course instead). Grades in all courses must be B- or better. A student who received a grade below B- in 160 or 170 as an undergraduate may retake the course for graduate credit.

Masters Projects

The project requirement includes a written report which must be approved by a member of the faculty. This may be met by extending work that grows out of a large individual course project or by a more substantial research project. Substantial projects can count as one credit awarded through one of the courses Computer Science 293 and 294. The project requirement can also be satisfied by a written master's thesis, defended orally, counted as equivalent to two credits through the courses Computer Science 295 and 296. Students should contact faculty members for topics appropriate for projects or theses.

Writing a Thesis

Students should identify topics appropriate for theses, and advisers for them, by consultation with faculty members. Students writing a thesis are required to submit a thesis prospectus by the end of the first term counted for thesis credit. The prospectus should have been pre-approved by the thesis adviser. The student's adviser will propose a committee to the faculty for approval. The thesis committee, chaired by the adviser, will include at least three faculty members including one member from outside the department. Upon completion of the research, the student must prepare a dissertation and publicly defend it.

Students should be aware that the scope of a thesis is much more involved than a project and it is not always possible to complete the work within a tight schedule, or predict in advance how long it should take. We therefore advise that those wishing to write a thesis take an optimistic but cautious strategy. This means starting work on your project/thesis early enough in your studies. One possibility (for those starting in the Fall and planning to spend two years at Tufts) is to take 5-7 courses in the first two semesters. Ideally one would seek project/thesis ideas during the second semester and do some background reading and even start actual work in the summer. In this way, a substantial amount of work can already be done during the summer and fall. For students who intend to continue studying towards a PhD this provides an excellent opportunity to identify topics of interest and potential supervisors within the time frame of the masters degree.