Statistics-Computer Science Joint Masters

Successful completion of this joint program requires:

Course Requirements

Up to six semester-hours of credit for graduate courses taken at other institutions may be transferred with the approval of the Graduate Committee and the Graduate School. The grades must be A or B or the equivalent. Application for transfer is made when the plan of study is submitted for approval. Students may ask the Graduate Committee to accept equivalent graduate courses taken at other institutions in lieu of at most two of the above courses.

Courses used to fulfill the requirements for other degrees (at Purdue or elsewhere) are not eligible for use on master's plans of study, except that courses used for a doctoral degree may be used on a master's plan of study provided the doctoral plan of study does not include any course used for any other master's degree.

For the Non-Thesis Option

Five Statistics Courses

At least one course from three of the following four groups:
- STAT 51900, Introduction to Probability * or * STAT 53200, Elements of Stochastic Processes
- STAT 52600, Advanced Statistical Methodology
- STAT 52800, Introduction to Mathematical Statistics * or * STAT 55300, Theory of Linear Models and Analysis of Experimental Designs
- STAT 54600, Computational Statistics
Two electives: Any two other graduate statistics courses, excluding STAT 50100, 50200, 50300, 51100, and 51200

Five Computer Science Courses

At least one of the following theory courses:
- CS 58000, Algorithm Design, Analysis, and Implementation
- CS 58400, Theory of Computation and Computational Complexity
At least one of the following systems courses:
- CS 50200, Compiling and Programming Systems
- CS 50300, Operating Systems
- CS 50500, Distributed Systems
- CS 53600, Data Communication and Computer Networks
- CS 56500, Programming Languages
- CS 54100, Database Systems
At least one of the following statistical CS courses:
- CS 54300, Introduction to Simulation and Modeling of Computer Systems
- CS 54400, Simulation and Modeling of Computer Systems
- CS 54701, Information Retrieval
- CS 57300, Data Mining
- CS 57800, Statistical Machine Learning
At least one additional statistical CS course:
- Any course listed under 3 above
- Any course that is cross-listed between CS and Statistics
One elective: Any other graduate CS course, except CS 50100, 50010, 50011, 50023, 50024, 50025, and certain CS 59000, 59200, and 59300 courses.

For the Thesis Option

The thesis option has the same course requirements as the non-thesis option except that the thesis (entailing at least six hours of CS 69800) replaces one STAT elective and one CS elective. The thesis must be presented in an oral defense before the advisory committee.

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Plan of Study

Students wishing to pursue the Statistics-Computer Science Joint Master's program should choose the STCS concentration when creating a plan of study. Courses used to fulfill the degree requirements must be listed on the plan and submitted for approval by the Graduate Committee and the Graduate School well before the final session. Grades in the A range (A+, A, A-) or B range are expected, but one or two grades in the C range may be accepted if they are compensated by grades in the A range (regardless of + and -). Other grades are unacceptable. The GPA of the courses on the plan must be at least 3.0. CS 69800, Research M.S. Thesis, is not listed on the plan of study.

Master's programs usually take three or four semesters. The practical maximum load is four courses per semester and two in the summer session. Students with assistantships rarely take more than three courses per semester and one in the summer session. Completing a master's program within twelve months is sometimes possible for well-prepared, industrious students.

The deadline for final submission of the MS plan of study:

Not later than April 1st if planning to receive the degree the following August or December
Not later than November 1st if planning to receive the degree the following May

Follow the link below for details on how to file a plan of study:

Instructions for Filing a Plan of Study

Graduation Deadline Calendar

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Advisory Committee

The student must form an advisory committee consisting of three faculty members, including at least one with a primary appointment in Statistics and at least one with a primary appointment in CS. The CS graduate committee must approve the advisory committee.

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Ethics Research Training

All CS graduate students must fulfill all CS Department Ethics requirements (lecture and research training) during the first year in the program.

1. Ethics Lecture

All MS Students must view an ethics lecture and complete the associated quiz with a 100% grade via a course in Brightspace. It is imperative that students watch the video in its entirety. Contact csgrad@purdue.edu if this course is not available to you in Brightspace.

2. Ethics Research Training

Non-Thesis Option Students:

Non-thesis MS students must pass the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Training for Undergraduate Students on-line test at CITI Program and forward the certificate to the Graduate Office at csgrad@purdue.edu with the subject "Ethics Requirement". Go to the CITI Program website and register with Purdue University as your Organization Affiliation.

Thesis Option Students:

Thesis MS students must pass the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Training for Faculty, Postdoctoral, and Graduate Course on-line test at CITI Program and forward the certificate to the Graduate Office at csgrad@purdue.edu with the subject "Ethics Requirement". Go to the CITI Program website and register with Purdue University as your Organization Affiliation.)

Thesis option students must also complete the University-mandated Field-Specific RCR Training requirement of two hours of additional training. The first hour will be fulfilled by viewing the CS Ethics lecture as noted in #1 above. The second hour can be fulfilled by one hour of:

Participation in discussions with colleagues on RCR topics related to their specific research programs (e.g., through group meetings, coursework, orientations, professional development activities, or other organized events.) OR
Participation/viewing panel discussions around topics identified as most relevant by the College of Science researchers. There will be a one hour event each spring semester to fulfill this. These will be announced by the Grad Office whenever available.
Each student researcher is responsible for self-reporting their activities at: https://webapps.ecn.purdue.edu/VPR/RT/login

Further information on Responsible Conduct of Research.

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Communication Requirement

All MS students that entered after spring 2008 must demonstrate effectiveness in communication.

For students using the thesis option, this will be assessed in the normal course of their program.

For students using the non-thesis option this can be assessed on the basis of presentations and papers in courses. Students should ask a CS faculty member from whom they have taken a course and in whose judgment they have demonstrated effectiveness in communication to inform the graduate office by sending an e-mail to csgrad@purdue.edu with the subject "Communication Requirement".

Otherwise, the student must write a technical essay at the beginning of the final semester and submit it to the chair of the Graduate Committee for evaluation. A research paper may also be used if the student is the sole author.

The deadline for completion of the communication requirement:

Not later than April 1st if planning to receive the degree the following August or December
Not later than November 1st if planning to receive the degree the following May

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Changes in Requirements

These requirements replace those in effect through the summer session of 2013 and may be used by students regardless of when they were admitted to graduate study in the Department of Computer Science at West Lafayette.

The above requirements may change without notice.

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Last Updated: Dec 17, 2024 10:48 AM