The Computer Science faculty at Missouri S&T have active research programs with a broad range of scholarly interests. These interests include distributed/embedded computing, security, algorithms and complexity, data mining, artificial intelligence, machine learning, software quality, formal methods, internet computing, database systems, graphical user interfaces, parallel computing, and wireless computing. Our current student population boasts a GRE quantitative score of 730 and a written score of 4.5.

Research within the department may be disciplinary or interdisciplinary. Often Missouri S&T Computer Science graduate students work in a large group setting with faculty from many departments examining advanced research problems in Software Engineering, Critical Infrastructure Protection, and Bioinformatics.

Cooperation between students and faculty at this advanced level is a hallmark of Missouri S&T Computer Science research. For the M.S. in Computer Science, the department's philosophy is to have the student take a substantial fraction of his or her work in one of the principal areas. The student may choose the thesis or non-thesis option.

NEW!

The M.S. degree is now offered through distance. Distance education courses use streaming internet video for course delivery. In this setting, students actively participate in classes by viewing the class on their computer while being interactively connected by telephone. Lectures are archived so they may be reviewed at any time during the semester. Instructors are available outside of class time by e-mail and telephone. The program requirements are the same as the on-campus program described below.

Entrance Requirements – Effective for Fall Semester 2008

Applicants are expected to have the following minimum qualifications before being admitted as a "regular" graduate student:
A minimum GRE verbal score of 370
A minimum combined GRE quantitative and analytic score of 1200 or GRE Quantitative = 700 and WR score >=4.0
A minimum TOEFL score of 570 (CBT >=230 OR IBT >=89), for those students not speaking English as their native language
An undergraduate GPA of 3.0/4.0 or better over the last 2 years, or successful completion of 12 graduate Hours in Computer Science as a "conditional" graduate student at Missouri S&T with at least a 3.0 GPA.

Knowledge of the following:

           1. Strong Math Skills
           2. Competency in a Modern Programming language
           3. Computer Science Core including:
                   * Algorithms & Data Structures
                   * Computer Organization/Architecture
                   * Database & File Structures
                   * Discrete Mathematics & Automata
                   * Operating Systems
                   * Software Engineering

 * Master Students are expected to satisfy their 400 level course requirements using Computer Science courses

Applying

Refer to the Graduate Catalog for current guidelines.

Thesis Option

The M.S. degree with thesis requires the completion of 24 hours of graduate course work (a minimum of 12 at the 400 level), 6 hours of research, and the successful completion and defense of a research thesis.

Non-Thesis Option

The M.S. degree without thesis requires the completion of 30 hours of graduate coursework (a minimum of 18 at the 400 level).

Required Courses

All M.S. students must enroll in and satisfactorily complete CS 355 - Analysis of Algorithms prior to completing their M.S. program, if not already taken.

Emphasis Areas

Currently, there are three emphasis areas in the CS Department:

Bioinformatics Emphasis Area

Bioinformatics is any application of computational methods to address biological problems. Although often used to refer to analysis of genomic information, bioinformatics is defined broadly by the NSF and NIH as "research, development, or application of computational tools and approaches for expanding the use of biological, medical, behavioral or health data, including those to acquire, store, organize, archive, analyze, or visualize such data." Missouri S&T's bioinformatics research program specializes in visualization of biological data sets, parallel algorithm development and algorithmic theory for biological data analysis, and management of biological databases.

To obtain an emphasis in Bioinformatics, the student takes the following courses as part of their M.S. degree program:

Data Base Systems (CS 304): normalization and functional dependencies, transaction models, concurrency and locking, time stamping, serializability, recovery techniques, and query planning and optimization

Data Mining & Knowledge Discovery (CS 404): data knowledge representation and knowledge acquisition, machine learning and neural networks

Bioinformatics (CS 311): application of computational methods to biology with problems in molecular, structural, morphological, and bio diversity informatics

Advanced Bioinformatics (CS 401 soon to be CS 411): a continuation of CS 311

Java GUI and Visualization (CS 342): Java classes with an eye towards algorithm visualization

Web Data Management and XML (CS 412): semi-structured data models and XML, query languages such as Xquery, XML indexing, and mapping of XML views and schema management change detection, web mining and security

Critical Infrastructure Protection Emphasis Area

Critical Infrastructure Protection is a multi-disciplinary study dedicated to improving the security, reliability, and survivability of the infrastructures that play a vital role in the effective functioning of our nation. Missouri S&T's specialty focuses on the critical hardware/software integrated systems that make up the nation's critical infrastructures. Missouri S&T's CS department focuses on the Software Engineering aspects of Critical Infrastructure Systems, Wireless Computing Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Distributed Computing, Security, Fault Tolerance, and Visualization. The intention is to improve the quality, survivability, security, and reliability of critical systems using the broadest-based technology possible, to grow a workforce aware of and trained in security (physical and cyber), and to stimulate the economic viability of US corporations and institutions by improving the security, reliability, and survivability of their critical infrastructures.

To obtain an emphasis in Critical Infrastructure Protection, the student takes at least four out of the following courses as part of their M.S. degree program (two of them must be at 400 level):

Distributed Operating Systems(CS 384): algorithms used in the creation of modern (distributed) operating systems

Distributed Systems Theory and Analysis(CS 484): advanced analysis using formal methods

Computer Communications and Networks (CS 385): network architecture model, security, and wireless with implementations

Advanced Topics in Wireless Networking (CS 401 to become CS 485):cellular networks, ad hoc networks, wireless LAN'S and security

Computer Security (CS 483): vulnerabilities and threats to information in cyberspace, principles and techniques for preventing and detecting threats, and recovering from attacks

Mobileand Sensor Data Management (CS 486): architectures, Mobile-IP, broadcasting, replication, caching fault tolerance, ad hoc and sensor routing, keys

Software Testing and Quality Assurance (CS 307): unit, subsystem, system, object-oriented, and specification, testing, software quality

Object Oriented Analysis and Design (CS 308): principles, mechanisms, and methodologies in object-oriented analysis and design

Software Engineering Emphasis Area

Missouri S&T's Computer Science program provides a full unified software lifecycle experience over the entire course of the student's CS education at Missouri S&T. This experience includes software project management in its many roles, ranging from overall project management and process improvement to the management of individual lifecycle components, including software deployment and evolution. Missouri S&T's software engineering research program specializes in software quality, software testing, hardware/software co-design, and formal methods of software specification and verification, software requirements engineering and software process improvement, and algorithm theory.

To obtain an emphasis in Software Engineering, the student takes the following courses as part of their M.S. degree program:

Requirements Engineering, (CS 301 will become CS 309): elicitation of software requirements

Software Testing and Quality Assurance (CS 307): unit, subsystem, system, object-oriented, and specification, testing, software quality

Object Oriented Analysis and Design (CS 308): principles, mechanisms, and methodologies in object-oriented analysis and design

Software Engineering II (CS 406): software metrics used in the life cycle

Departmental Seminars

The Computer Science Department sponsors a weekly seminar presented by a combination of departmental faculty members, graduate students, and external speakers. Regular attendance is required by all graduate students. (See schedule)

Financial Aid for M.S. and Ph.D. Students

Financial assistance is available to graduate students at Missouri S&T in the form of assistantships and fellowships. Half-time assistants devote approximately 20 hours per week to laboratory supervision or other departmental duties, including research, and/or teaching, and receive a stipend of $16,325 per academic year for the 2007-2008 school year. Applications for these assistantships may be obtained here. For priority consideration, this application should be submitted by January 1 of each year for the ensuring fall semester.

All applicants for a Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA) MUST satisfactorily complete a five-day Instructional Communication Workshop during the week prior to registration week. One aspect of this workshop is the assessment period at the end of the workshop. Each individual will demonstrate the ability to communicate by presenting a brief introduction to a subject in the appropriate discipline. A panel of four individuals, one from the workshop faculty, two students, and one faculty member from the potential teaching assistants' department, will evaluate the candidates' performance at the end of the workshop. A GTA may be granted to the individual only if this assessment period is judged satisfactory.

Additional Information

Additional information pertaining to the Computer Science program may be obtained by writing to Dr. Bruce McMillin, Graduate Coordinator, Computer Science Department, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 325 Computer Science Bldg., 1870 Miner Circle, Rolla, MO 65409-0350 or through e-mail to: ff@mst.edu.

For additional information and requirements pertaining to graduate school, please consult the Graduate Catalog, which may be obtained by writing to the Admission's Office, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 106 Parker Hall, 1870 Miner Circle, Rolla, MO 65409-1060.

For general information concerning graduate school regulations, consult the Graduate Student Handbook, which is available from the Graduate Studies Office, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 118 Fulton Hall, 1870 Miner Circle, Rolla, MO 65409-1130.