• Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science at the University of Cambridge is offered on a full-time basis for a duration of 3-4 Years.
  • This is an on-campus and research-based degree program.
  • All research students are admitted to read for the PhD degree on a probationary basis and will be registered for the Certificate of Postgraduate Study (CPGS) in the first instance.
  • During this year students may do some additional coursework and will write a research report to form the foundation of the eventual PhD thesis. The CPGS will involve 4 components:
    • Research skills training
    • Practical work
    • Research report of no more than 10,000 words
    • Attendance at research workshops and research seminars
  • At the end of the third term and on completion of the CPGS, students whose performance indicates that they would be able to complete a PhD in a reasonable time will be upgraded to PhD status.
  • Students are expected to complete the substance of their research by the end of their third year, submitting their thesis then or within a few months.
  • Research students in their first year will be expected to complete a series of 12 core and optional units from the Research Skills Program.
  • Attendance is recorded in a logbook that is submitted at the same time as the first-year report and thesis proposal.
  • The research areas of the program are:
    • computer architecture and computer vision
    • distributed systems
    • graphics and human-computer interaction
    • Machine learning
    • natural language processing, networking, and wireless communication
    • operating systems and virtualization
  • Students in their second years will be expected to complete a further 8 optional units per annum from the Research Skills Programme.
  • Research students are expected to attend research group seminars and discussion groups as well as regular Wednesday seminar series.
  • Students will have the opportunity to present their research regularly throughout their studies in seminars, first-year, and second-year mini-conferences, summer schools, and research conferences both in the UK and abroad.
  • Students may apply for some funding to attend conferences and workshops.
  • The University of Cambridge ranks 6th for Computer Science program according to QS World University Rankings 2020.