Ph.D. minor

Ph.D. graduate minor in computer science 

Are you a Ph.D. student looking to boost your resume? Bring cutting-edge tech experience into your field of choice! 

Be sure to check the university catalog description of the Computer Science Minor for the most accurate and up-to-date requirements.


Requirements

Students from other programs may pursue a computer science minor by completing the following requirements:

  • 13 credits of graduate-level courses in CSCI
    • 1 credit for the CSCI 8970 1 colloquium is included in 13 credit total
    • Limit of one 4xxx level course counted in those 13 credits
  • GPA of 3.25 or higher in courses used for the minor
  • At least one 3 credit advanced course (defined as a 3-credit CSCI 8xxx level course or a CSCI 5xxx level course that has a prerequisite of a CSCI 5xxx level course)
Qualifying advanced courses

The following courses will satisfy the requirement of one advanced course:

  • CSCI 5105 - Introduction to Distributed Systems (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 5125 - Collaborative and Social Computing (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 5161 - Introduction to Compilers (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 5525 - Machine Learning (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 5527 - Deep Learning: Models, Computation, and Applications (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 5552 - Sensing and Estimation in Robotics (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 5561 - Computer Vision (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 5608 - Fundamentals of Computer Graphics II (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 5802 - Software Engineering II (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8101 - Advanced Operating Systems (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8102 - Foundations of Distributed Computing (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8115 - Human-Computer Interaction and User Interface Technology (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8117 - Understanding the Social Web (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8161 - Advanced Compiler Techniques (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8205 - Parallel Computer Organization (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8211 - Advanced Computer Networks and Their Applications (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8271 - Security and Privacy in Computing (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8314 - Sparse Matrix Computations (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8363 - Numerical Linear Algebra in Data Exploration (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8442 - Computational Geometry and Applications (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8551 - Intelligent Agents (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8581 - Big Data in Astrophysics (4.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8701 - Overview of Database Research (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8715 - Spatial Data Science Research (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8725 - Databases for Bioinformatics (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8735 - Advanced Database Systems (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8801 - Advanced Software Engineering (3.0 cr)
  • CSCI 8980 - Special Advanced Topics in Computer Science (1.0-3.0 cr)
Restrictions
  • All courses taken for the minor must be taken on the A/F grading basis except for Colloquium, which is only offered on the S/N grading basis
  • No computer science minor is available for students majoring in Software Engineering
  • No minor credit will be granted for courses that are cross-listed with the student's major degree department

Computer Science Ph.D. students seeking minor outside of Department

A minor field is defined as a minimum of 6 credits of coursework outside computer science in a single department of the College of Science and Engineering (e.g., Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, etc.), management, cognitive science and/or other related fields for a designated minor.

Minors are awarded by the corresponding department and their requirements for a minor must be met in order to qualify for a minor in that field. The minor must be declared by completing the form included on One Stop Student Service's website before passing the Preliminary Oral Examination. Students should consult with the Graduate Program Coordinator in the minor department with specific questions.

Joseph Nieszner headshot

Joseph Nieszner

Senior Graduate Program Coordinator

330G Lind Hall
csgradmn@umn.edu 
csadmit@umn.edu