The doctoral program in Applied Computing is customized by the student to focus on hardware applications, software applications, or data applications. The student’s research problem will ordinarily be found as part of the research efforts of one of the many multidisciplinary teams at UALR so that the results of the research, regardless of the chosen focus area, may further applications of computing to the sciences, engineering, or social sciences. The curriculum is designed to provide the student both breadth across the computing techniques of the three areas and depth in the methods of the focus area. Applied Computing graduate students will come from many computing backgrounds and will be interested in applying computing in diverse fields. Therefore the program in Applied Computing is designed around a common core of computing knowledge that provides a firm foundation regardless of the eventual area of specialization.
Admission to the Applied Computing program presumes the equivalent experience developing computer applications developed in six undergraduate computing courses, three with a heavy emphasis on programming and data structures, one focused on computer organization or architecture, one on operating systems or networking, and one on database technology. Additional prerequisites may be required for some of the courses in a Concentration area. Applicants must also be familiar with single-variable calculus and mathematical statistics. Exposure to Discrete Mathematics is recommended.
Attendance at the Applied Computing seminar series is mandatory and all graduate students must enroll in ASCI 719x during one of the first two semesters subsequent to admission.
Admission to Candidacy is earned by passing the Candidacy exam over the Common Core knowledge (hardware concepts, systems software and networking, information storage and retrieval, and software engineering) and two courses from a Concentration area. A candidate’s graduate adviser must convene a five-person committee comprising at least three members of the Applied Computing faculty, two of which must be Core faculty, and at least one other Applied Science faculty member not in Applied Computing. This committee will interview the candidate and determine when the candidate is prepared to sit for the exam. The committee members will construct and administer the exam and determine passing performance.
A student may choose a dissertation advisor who will assist the student in selecting a dissertation committee as early as the second semester of matriculation into the Applied Computing Program. However, a dissertation committee must be formed once the student is admitted to candidacy. The student’s committee will consist of the dissertation advisor, at least two other Applied Computing faculty members, and at least one other Applied Science faculty member not in Applied Computing. The dissertation advisor will chair the dissertation committee, which will approve the remaining coursework and research registrations as the candidate progresses toward fulfilling the Ph.D. requirements. Faculty serving on a candidate’s dissertation committee may be a part of the candidate’s review committee, and vice versa.
View the Applied Computing Curriculum in PDF Format (you will need Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader).
