About the Program

The Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) offers two graduate programs in Computer Science: the Master of Science (MS), and the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).

Master of Science (MS)

The Master of Science (MS) emphasizes research preparation and experience and, for most students, is a chance to lay the groundwork for pursuing a PhD

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The Berkeley PhD in EECS combines coursework and original research with some of the finest EECS faculty in the U.S. preparing for careers in academia or industry. Our alumni have gone on to hold amazing positions around the world.

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Admissions

Admission to the University

Uniform minimum requirements for admission

The following minimum requirements apply to all programs and will be verified by the Graduate Division:

1. A bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution;
2. A minimum grade-point average of B or better (3.0);
3. If the applicant comes from a country or political entity (e.g. Quebec) where English is not the official language, adequate proficiency in English to do graduate work, as evidenced by a TOEFL score of at least 570 on the paper-and-pencil test, 230 on the computer-based test, 90 on the iBT test, or an IELTS Band score of at least 7 (note that individual programs may set higher levels for any of these); and
4. Enough undergraduate training to do graduate work in the given field.

Applicants who already hold a graduate degree

The Graduate Council views academic degrees as evidence of broad research training, not as vocational training certificates; therefore, applicants who already have academic graduate degrees should be able to take up new subject matter on a serious level without undertaking a graduate program, unless the fields are completely dissimilar.

Programs may consider students for an additional academic master’s or professional master’s degree if the additional degree is in a distinctly different field.

Applicants admitted to a doctoral program that requires a master’s degree to be earned at Berkeley as a prerequisite (even though the applicant already has a master’s degree from another institution in the same or a closely allied field of study) will be permitted to undertake the second master’s degree, despite the overlap in field.

The Graduate Division will admit students for a second doctoral degree only if they meet the following guidelines:

1. Applicants with doctoral degrees may be admitted for an additional doctoral degree only if that degree program is in a general area of knowledge distinctly different from the field in which they earned their original degree. For example, a physics PhD could be admitted to a doctoral degree program in music or history; however, a student with a doctoral degree in mathematics would not be permitted to add a PhD in statistics.
2. Applicants who hold the PhD degree may be admitted to a professional doctorate or professional master’s degree program if there is no duplication of training involved.

Applicants may only apply to one single degree program or one concurrent degree program per admission cycle.

Any applicant who was previously registered at Berkeley as a graduate student, no matter how briefly, must apply for readmission, not admission, even if the new application is to a different program.

Required documents for admissions applications

1. Transcripts:  Upload unofficial transcripts with the application for the departmental initial review. Official transcripts of all college-level work will be required if admitted. Official transcripts must be in sealed envelopes as issued by the school(s) you have attended. Request a current transcript from every post-secondary school that you have attended, including community colleges, summer sessions, and extension programs.
   If you have attended Berkeley, upload unofficial transcript with the application for the departmental initial review. Official transcript with evidence of degree conferral will not be required if admitted.
2. Letters of recommendation: Applicants can request online letters of recommendation through the online application system. Hard copies of recommendation letters must be sent directly to the program, not the Graduate Division.
3. Evidence of English language proficiency: All applicants from countries in which the official language is not English are required to submit official evidence of English language proficiency. This requirement applies to applicants from Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Latin America, the Middle East, the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and most European countries. However, applicants who, at the time of application, have already completed at least one year of full-time academic course work with grades of B or better at a U.S. university may submit an official transcript from the U.S. university to fulfill this requirement. The following courses will not fulfill this requirement: 1) courses in English as a Second Language, 2) courses conducted in a language other than English, 3) courses that will be completed after the application is submitted, and 4) courses of a non-academic nature. If applicants have previously been denied admission to Berkeley on the basis of their English language proficiency, they must submit new test scores that meet the current minimum from one of the standardized tests.

Admission to the Program

The following items are required for admission to the Berkeley EECS MS/PhD program in addition to the University’s general graduate admissions requirements:

1. GRE Scores: All three sections of the GRE are required. Send your scores electronically to Institution Code 4833. (Scores must be from the last five years.)
2. Statement of Purpose: Why are you applying for this program? What will you do during this degree program? What do you want to do after and how will this help you?
3. Personal History Statement: What from your past made you decide to go into this field? And how will your personal history help you succeed in this program and your future goals?
4. GPA: If you attended a university outside of the USA, please leave the GPA section blank.
5. Resume: Please also include a full resume/CV listing your experience and education.

Complete the online UC Berkeley graduate application:

1. Start your application through this link , and fill in each relevant page.
2. Upload the materials above, and send the recommender links several weeks prior to the application deadline, to give your recommenders time to submit their letters.

Doctoral Degree Requirements

Normative Time Requirements

Total Normative Time

Normative Time in the EECS department is between 5.5-6 years for the doctoral program.

Time to Advancement

Curriculum

The Faculty of the College of Engineering recommends a minimum number of courses taken while in graduate standing. The total minimum is  24 units of coursework, taken for a letter grade and not including 298, 299, 301, and 602. Students entering prior to Fall 2009 have the option of completing 32 units of coursework with a reduced teaching requirement.

Preliminary Exams

The EECS Preliminary Requirement consists of two components:

Oral examination

The oral exam serves an advisory role in a student's graduate studies program, giving official feedback from the exam committee of faculty members. Students must be able to demonstrate an integrated grasp of the exam area's body of knowledge in an unstructured framework. Students must pass the oral portion of the preliminary exam within their first two attempts. A third attempt is possible with a petition of support from the student's faculty advisor and final approval by the Prelim Committee chair. Failure to pass the oral portion of the preliminary exam will result in the student being ineligible to complete the PhD program. The examining committee awards a score in the range of 0-10. The minimum passing score is 6.0.

Breadth courses

The breadth courses ensure that students have an exposure to areas outside of their concentration. It is expected that students achieve high academic standards in these courses.

CS students must complete courses from three of the following areas, passing each with at least a B+. One course must be selected from the Theory, AI, or Graphics/HCI group; and one course must be selected from the Programming, Systems, or Architecture/VLSI group¹.

QE

The Qualifying Examination is an important checkpoint meant to show that a student is on a promising research track toward the PhD degree. It is a University examination, administered by the Graduate Council, with the specific purpose of demonstrating that "the student is clearly an expert in those areas of the discipline that have been specified for the examination, and that he or she can, in all likelihood, design and produce an acceptable dissertation." Despite such rigid criteria, faculty examiners recognize that the level of expertise expected is that appropriate for a 3rd year graduate student who may be only in the early stages of a research project.

The EECS Departments offers the Qualifying exam in two formats A or B. Students may choose the exam type of their choice after consultation with their advisor.

Format A

1. Students prepare a write-up and presentation summarizing a specific research area, preferably the one in which they intend to do their dissertation work. Their summary surveys that area and describes open and interesting research problems.
2. They describe why they chose these problems and indicate what direction their research may take in the future.
3. They prepare to display expertise on both the topic presented and on any related material that the committee thinks is relevant.
4. The student should talk (at least briefly) about any research progress to date (e.g. MS project, PhD research, class project etc.). Some evidence of the ability to do research is expected.
5. The committee shall evaluate students on the basis of their comprehension of the fundamental facts and principles that apply within their research area and the student’s ability to think incisively and critically about the theoretical and practical aspects of this field.
6.  Students must demonstrate command of the content and the ability to design and produce an acceptable dissertation.

Format B

This option includes the presentation and defense of a thesis proposal in addition to the requirements of option A. It will include a summary of research to date and plans for future work (or at least the next stage thereof). The committee shall not only evaluate the student's thesis proposal and his/her progress to date, but shall also evaluate according to option A. As in option A, the student should prepare a single document and presentation, but in this case additional emphasis must be placed on research completed to date, and plans for the remainder of the dissertation research.

Thesis Proposal Defense

Students not presenting a satisfactory thesis proposal defense, either because they took option A for the Qual, or because the material presented in an option B exam was not deemed a satisfactory proposal defense (although it may have sufficed to pass the Qual), must write up and present a thesis proposal, which should include a summary of the research to date and plans for the remainder of the dissertation research. They should be prepared to discuss background and related areas, but the focus of the proposal should be on the progress made so far, and detailed plans for completing the thesis. The standard for continuing on with PhD research is that the proposal has sufficient merit to lead to a satisfactory dissertation. Another purpose of this presentation is for faculty to provide feedback on the quality of work to date. For this step, the committee should consist of at least 3 members from EECS familiar with the research area, preferably including those on the dissertation committee.

Normative Time in Candidacy

Advancement to Candidacy

Students must file the advancement form in the Graduate Office no later than the end of the semester following the one in which the Qualifying Exam was passed. In approving this application, Graduate Division approves the dissertation committee and will send a Certificate of Candidacy.

Dissertation Talk

As part of the requirements for the doctoral degree, students must give a public talk on the research covered by their dissertation. The dissertation talk is to be given a few months before the signing of the final submission of the dissertation. The talk should cover all the major components of the dissertation work in a substantial manner; in particular, the dissertation talk should not omit topics that will appear in the dissertation but are incomplete at the time of the talk.

The dissertation talk is to be attended by the whole dissertation committee, or, if this is not possible, by at least a majority of the members. Attendance at this talk is part of the committee's responsibility. It is, however, the responsibility of the student to schedule a time for the talk that is convenient for members of the committee.

Required Professional Development

Graduate Student Instructor Teaching Requirement

The Department requires all PhD candidates to serve as Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs) within the EECS department. The GSI teaching requirement not only helps to develop a student's communication skills, but it also makes a great contribution to the department's academic community. Students must fulfill this requirement by working as a GSI (excluding EL ENG 301, COMPSCI 301,  EL ENG 375 or COMPSCI 375) for a total of 30 hours minimum prior to graduation. At least 20 of those hours must be for an EE or CS undergraduate course.

Master's Degree Requirements

Unit requirements

A minimum of 24 units is required.

Curriculum

All courses must be taken for a letter grade, except courses numbered  299s, which are only offered for S/U credit.

Students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0. No credit will be given for courses in which the student earns a grade of D+ or below.

Transfer credit may be awarded for a maximum of 4 semester or 6 quarter units of graduate coursework from another institution.

Plan I

Plan II

Advancement to Candidacy

For both Plan I and Plan II MS students, students need to complete the departmental Advance to Candidacy form, have their research adviser sign it, and submit the form to the Department. Once a student is advanced to candidacy, candidacy is valid for 3 years.

Capstone/Thesis (Plan I)

Students planning to use Plan I for their MS Degree will need to follow the Graduate Division's “Thesis Filing Guidelines." They will also need to complete the “Graduate Division Advance to Candidacy” form and submit this to the department no later than the end of the 2nd week of classes of their final semester.

Capstone/Master's Project (Plan II)

Students planning to use Plan II for their MS Degree will need to produce an MS Plan II Title/Signature Page. There is no special formatting required for the body of the Plan II MS report unlike the Plan I MS thesis which must follow strict Graduate Division guidelines.

Courses

Computer Science