About PhD Program,
Working with faculty who are leaders in the field, our PhD students conduct research with real-world impact. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are core values for Brown CS, and we’ve integrated societal and ethical issues across our graduate and undergraduate curricula. Our new faculty positions focus on both core computer science and emerging CS + X areas.
After graduation, our alums contribute widely to science, learning, culture, and their communities. In the last year alone, our PhD alums were named an ACM Fellow and an IEEE Fellow and received a CCS Test-of-Time Award. Click the links that follow for recent news stories about our PhD students and alums.
PhD Program Degree Eligibility with GPA,
The candidate must be formally admitted to his or her degree program.
Individual departments and programs may have additional requirements regarding the number of courses to be taken, proficiency in foreign languages, special examinations, and theses. The department should be consulted for specific information.
PhD Funding Coverage,
Students who are admitted to any of Brown’s doctoral programs are guaranteed five years of support, including a stipend, tuition remission, health-services fee, and health-insurance subsidy (funding for transfer students may vary). Doctoral students in the Humanities and Social Sciences are guaranteed six years of support. This support can come from a variety of Brown University resources–including Graduate School funds, departmental funds, and faculty research funds–and/or external funds, as applicable.
The Graduate School offers incoming doctoral students five years of guaranteed financial support, including a stipend, tuition remission, health-services fee, and health- and dental-insurance subsidies.
This support — which may take the form of a teaching assistantship, research assistantship, fellowship, or proctorship — helps to defray the cost of tuition, and also provides a stipend to assist with living expenses during the student’s program.
Doctoral students in the Humanities and Social Sciences are guaranteed six years of support. This support can come from a variety of Brown University resources–including Graduate School funds, departmental funds, and faculty research funds–and/or external funds, as applicable.
Application Requirement,
- Academic performance: The GPA is not the only criterion. Grades in computer science and related disciplines, such as math, count more than grades in other areas. Also, we take into account the fact that at some very competitive schools it’s difficult to achieve a high GPA.
- Letters of recommendation: Letters must give a detailed, factual, and candid evaluation of your capabilities. Rankings and comparisons with other students are very useful. Ask your recommender to follow these guidelines and remind your recommenders about deadlines to ensure they’re met. We routinely find ourselves unable to admit potentially qualified students because their letters of recommendation didn’t arrive in time. At least two of your recommendation letters must come from academia.
- Research experience: Although not required, it can boost your chances of admission considerably. If you’ve worked on a research project, please tell us about it and ask at least one of your recommenders to comment on it. If your work is part of a joint project, the recommender should indicate your specific contribution to the project. Include abstracts or reprints of any papers you have published in journals or presented at conferences.
- General GRE scores (optional): These scores let us compare the basic skills of applicants from diverse backgrounds. We’re aware that test performance can improve considerably with practice, some people don’t perform well on tests, and the verbal GRE is harder for some foreign applicants. Note that this test is no longer requredfor admission but you may opt to send your scores.
- TOEFL and IELTS scores: Applicants whose native language isn’t English and who haven’t received a college degree from an institution in an English-speaking country must take the TOEFL exam. You can also submit additional evidence, such as a certificate of completion for an English course. We generally don’t consider applicants with scores below 620 (PBT), 260 (CBT), or 105 (IBT), and prefer scores higher than that. The corresponding minimum IELTS score is 7.
- Statement: The statement that accompanies your application helps us learn more about you. Tell us why you want to pursue a PhD program in computer science, and why you’re applying to our department in particular. Clearly expressing any areas of academic interest make it easier for us to evaluate your application.
- Work experience: Please describe your work experience in the application and, if related to computer science, mention how you think it’ll help you in graduate school.
- Awards, honors, and prizes: Unless they’re well known (for example, an NSF fellowship or graduation with honors), please give details about them. How many candidates were there? How many awards were given? What were the selection criteria? This is especially important for foreign applicants. If these awards are really important, we’d expect your recommenders to mention them.
Application Deadline,
Dec 15, 2024
Application Fee,
A nonrefundable fee of $75 is charged for processing each application received by the Graduate School.
