how to write phd thesis in computer science

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The Dissertation

• Continuing to Part III

The dissertation should be written for a technically competent reader who is not necessarily familiar with the particular aspects of Computer Science involved. Better grades will arise from clarity and ease of reading, good pictures, clear explanation, minimal jargon and appropriate use of equations. Writing a dissertation requires planning and time. You should allow at least four weeks for the task.

Dissertation PDF files must be

• formatted for A4 paper;
• Typeset in 12-point font with a minimum of 2 cm margins;
• less than 15 megabytes in size;
• (ideally) use embedded fonts.

The main body of the dissertation, running from the first page of the introduction until the last page of the conclusions, shall not exceed 40 pages nor exceed 12,000 words in length (including tables and footnotes). Students should ensure the main body of their dissertation (page 3 onwards) as well as any appendices do not contain direct personal identifiers (i.e. their name or their CRSID).

Examiners and Assessors are permitted to judge your work only through study of your dissertation, although they will require your original source code to be available for them to refer to in cases where clarification is needed.

To facilitate the assessment process, the Examiners require the top-level structure of the dissertation to be strictly as follows:

Declaration of originality

Table of contents.

• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Preparation
• Chapter 3: Implementation
• Chapter 4: Evaluation
• Chapter 5: Conclusions

Bibliography

Project proposal.

It is not the intention of the Examiners to constrain writers too greatly. Although the layout of the Cover Sheet and the arrangement of the Proforma are tightly specified, the organisation and length of each of the five chapters are allowed to vary considerably from one dissertation to another. Further details are given below.

The cover page

The single cover page contains

• Your Name, in the extreme top right-hand corner . 
• The Title of your Dissertation.
• The Examination for which you are a candidate.
• Your College and the Year in which you are submitting the Dissertation.

Your project title must be the same as the title approved by your Project Checkers on your project proposal.  If you want to change the title you should first discuss this with your supervisor.  If your supervisor is in agreement you will need to request a change by contacting the Teaching Administration Manager with a brief explanation for the reasons behind the change ([email protected]).  This will be approved by the Teaching Administration Manager and Chair of Examiners.

All dissertations must include an anti-plagiarism declaration immediately before the Proforma. The declaration must have exactly the following syntax:

I, [Name] of [College], being a candidate for Part II of the Computer Science Tripos, hereby declare that this dissertation and the work described in it are my own work, unaided except as may be specified below, and that the dissertation does not contain material that has already been used to any substantial extent for a comparable purpose. [In preparation of this dissertation I did not use text from AI-assisted platforms generating natural language answers to user queries, including but not limited to ChatGPT. / The project required the use of AI-assisted platform [name] in section [number], and such use is acknowledged in the text.] (use either of these sentences as appropriate) [I am content for my dissertation to be made available to the students and staff of the University.]

Signed [signature]

Date [date]

Further guidance relating to the use of AI-assisted tools can be found on the exams guidance web page .

You may either include a scanned copy of your signature or type your full name in place of a handwritten signature.

The University drafted the wording, which is similar to that relating to dissertations in a wide range of subjects; thus the "unaided except as may be specified below" clause merits some explanation:

• The clause does not require acknowledgement of the project supervision or informal conversations with peers.
• The clause is also intended to cover collaborative projects which are not now permitted in Computer Science. As such this aspect is irrelevant to Computer Science dissertations.
• This clause aside, and notwithstanding 1 and 2, candidates are required to draw attention, in the Implementation chapter, to the parts of the work which are not their own, in accordance with the Implementation section below. Other acknowledgements should be given wherever appropriate.

The Department would like past dissertations to be made available for teaching purposes and for your references. These will be accessed on the Computer Science departmental website under Raven password protection. You should include the last sentence of the declaration if you are willing for your dissertation to be accessed for these purposes; otherwise you may remove it.  Note: If in the future you would like your dissertation removed from the departmental website, you can request this by contacting the Student Admin office at [email protected].

The proforma page

The single proforma page is a preface that immediately follows the declaration of originality. The proforma page, as well as all subsequent pages of the dissertation should not include direct personal identifiers such as your name or CRSID. The Proforma must be arranged thus:

• Your candidate number.
• The Title of your Project.
• The Examination and Year.
• Word-count for the dissertation.
• Code line count: Number of lines of code written by the student in the final version of their software.
• Project Originator (if this is the student please state 'The candidate').
• Project Supervisor.
• At most 100 words describing the original aims of the project.
• At most 100 words summarising the work completed.
• At most 100 words describing any special difficulties that you faced. (In most cases the special difficulties entry will say "None".)

It is quite in order for the Proforma to point out how ambitious the original aims were and how the work completed represents the triumphant consequence of considerable effort against a background of unpredictable disasters. The substantiation of these claims will follow in the rest of the dissertation.

Student Administration will ask students to resubmit any dissertation which does not include the relevant cover page, declaration and proforma. If such a resubmission occurs after the deadline this will result in a late submission penalty.

This should list the contents in some sensible way.

Introduction

The introduction should explain the principal motivation for the project and show how the work fits into the broad area of surrounding computer science and give a brief survey of previous related work. It should generally be unnecessary to quote at length from technical papers or textbooks. If a simple bibliographic reference is insufficient, consign any lengthy quotation to an appendix.

Principally, this chapter should describe the work which was undertaken before code was written, hardware built or theories worked on. It should show how the project proposal was further refined and clarified, so that the implementation stage could go smoothly rather than by trial and error.

Throughout this chapter and indeed the whole dissertation, it is essential to demonstrate that a proper professional approach was employed.

The nature of this chapter will vary greatly from one dissertation to another but, underlining the professional approach, this chapter will very likely include a section headed "Requirements Analysis" and refer to appropriate software engineering techniques used in the dissertation. The chapter will also cite any new programming languages and systems which had to be learnt and will mention complicated theories or algorithms which required understanding.

It is essential to declare the starting point. This states any existing codebase or materials that your project builds on. The text here can commonly be identical to the text in your proposal, but it may enlarge on it or report variations. For instance, the true starting point may have turned out to be different from that declared in the proposal and such discrepancies must be explained.

Implementation

This chapter should describe what was actually produced: the programs which were written, the hardware which was built or the theory which was developed. Any design strategies that looked ahead to the testing stage should be described in order to demonstrate a professional approach was taken.

Descriptions of programs may include fragments of high-level code but large chunks of code are usually best left to appendices or omitted altogether. Analogous advice applies to circuit diagrams or detailed steps in a machine-checked proof.

The implementation chapter should include a section labelled "Repository Overview". The repository overview should be around one page in length and should describe the high-level structure of the source code found in your source code repository. It should describe whether the code was written from scratch or if it built on an existing project or tutorial. Making effective use of powerful tools and pre-existing code is often laudable, and will count to your credit if properly reported. Nevertheless, as in the rest of the dissertation, it is essential to draw attention to the parts of the work which are not your own. 

It should not be necessary to give a day-by-day account of the progress of the work but major milestones may sometimes be highlighted with advantage.

This is where Assessors will be looking for signs of success and for evidence of thorough and systematic evaluation. Sample output, tables of timings and photographs of workstation screens, oscilloscope traces or circuit boards may be included. Care should be employed to take a professional approach throughout. For example, a graph that does not indicate confidence intervals will generally leave a professional scientist with a negative impression. As with code, voluminous examples of sample output are usually best left to appendices or omitted altogether.

There are some obvious questions which this chapter will address. How many of the original goals were achieved? Were they proved to have been achieved? Did the program, hardware, or theory really work?

Assessors are well aware that large programs will very likely include some residual bugs. It should always be possible to demonstrate that a program works in simple cases and it is instructive to demonstrate how close it is to working in a really ambitious case.

Conclusions

This chapter is likely to be very short and it may well refer back to the Introduction. It might offer a reflection on the lessons learned and explain how you would have planned the project if starting again with the benefit of hindsight.

It is common, but not mandatory, to have a bibliography. Attention should be given to correct and consistent formatting.

It is common, but not mandatory, to have one or more appendices. Assessors like to see some sample code or example circuit diagrams, and appendices are the sensible places to include such items. Accordingly, software and hardware projects should incorporate appropriate appendices. Note that the 12,000 word limit does not include material in the appendices, but only in extremely unusual circumstances may appendices exceed 10-15 pages. If you feel that such unusual circumstances might apply to you you should ask your Director of Studies and Supervisor to discuss this with the Chairman of Examiners. Appendices should appear between the bibliography and the project proposal.

An index is optional.

A copy of the original project proposal must be included at the very end of the dissertation.

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Senior Thesis

A senior thesis is more than a big project write-up. It is documentation of an attempt to contribute to the general understanding of some problem of computer science, together with exposition that sets the work in the context of what has come before and what might follow. In computer science, some theses involve building systems, some involve experiments and measurements, some are theoretical, some involve human subjects, and some do more than one of these things. Computer science is unusual among scientific disciplines in that current faculty research has many loose ends appropriate for undergraduate research.

Senior thesis projects generally emerge from collaboration with faculty. Students looking for senior thesis projects should tell professors they know, especially professors whose courses they are taking or have taken, that they are looking for things to work on. See the page on CS Research for Undergrads . Ideas often emerge from recent papers discussed in advanced courses. The terms in which some published research was undertaken might be generalized, relaxed, restricted, or applied in a different domain to see if changed assumptions result in a changed solution. Once a project gets going, it often seems to assume a life of its own.

To write a thesis, students may enroll in Computer Science 91r one or both terms during their senior year, under the supervision of their research advisor. Rising seniors may wish to begin thinking about theses over the previous summer, and therefore may want to begin their conversations with faculty during their junior spring—or even try to stay in Cambridge to do summer research.

An information session for those interested in writing a senior thesis is held towards the end of each spring semester. Details about the session will be posted to the  [email protected] email list.

Students interested in commercializing ideas in their theses may wish to consult Executive Dean Fawwaz Habbal about patent protection. See  Harvard’s policy  for information about ownership of software written as part of your academic work.

Thesis Supervisor

You need a thesis supervisor. Normally this is a Harvard Computer Science faculty member. Joint concentrators (and, in some cases, non-joint concentrators) might have a FAS/SEAS Faculty member from a different field as their thesis supervisor. Exceptions to the requirement that the thesis supervisor is a CS or FAS/SEAS faculty member must be approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. For students whose advisor is not a Harvard CS faculty member, note that at least one of your thesis readers must be a Harvard CS faculty member, and we encourage you to talk with this faculty member regularly to help ensure that your thesis is appropriately relevant for Harvard Computer Science.

It’s up to you and your supervisor how frequently you meet and how engaged the supervisor is in your thesis research. However, we encourage you to meet with your supervisor at least several times during the Fall and Spring, and to agree on deadlines for initial results, chapter outlines, drafts, etc.

Thesis Readers

The thesis is evaluated by the thesis readers: the thesis supervisor and at least one other reader. Thesis readers must include at least one Harvard CS faculty member/affiliate . Ordinarily all readers are teaching faculty members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences or SEAS who are generally familiar with the research area.

The student is responsible for finding the thesis readers, but you can talk with your supervisor for suggestions of possible readers.

Exceptions to these thesis reader requirements must be approved by the Directors of Undergraduate Studies.

For joint concentrators, the other concentration may have different procedures for thesis readers; if you have any questions or concerns about thesis readers, please contact the Directors of Undergraduate Studies.

Senior Thesis Seminar

Computer Science does not have a Senior Thesis seminar course.

The thesis should contain an informative abstract separate from the body of the thesis. This abstract should clearly state what the contribution of the thesis is–which parts are expository, whether there are novel results, etc. We also recommend the thesis contain an introduction that is at most 5 pages in length that contains an “Our contributions” section which explains exactly what the thesis contributed, and which sections in the thesis these are elaborated on. At the degree meeting, the Committee on Undergraduate Studies in Computer Science will review the thesis abstract, the reports from the three readers and the student’s academic record; it will have access to the thesis.  The readers (and student) are told to assume that the Committee consists of technical professionals who are not necessarily conversant with the subject matter of the thesis so their reports (and abstract) should reflect this audience.

The length of the thesis should be as long as it needs to be to present its arguments, but no longer!

There are no specific formatting guidelines. For LaTeX, some students have used this template in the past . It is set up to meet the Harvard PhD Dissertation requirements, so it is meeting requirements that you as CS Senior Thesis writers don’t have.

Thesis Timeline for Seniors

(The timeline below is for students graduating in May. For off-cycle students, the same timeline applies, but offset by one semester. The thesis due date for March 2025 graduates is Friday November 22, 2024 at 2pm. The thesis deadline for May 2025 graduates is Friday March 28th at 2pm.

Please be aware that students writing a joint thesis must meet the requirements of both departments—so if there are two different due dates for the thesis, you are expected to meet the earlier date.

Senior Fall (or earlier) Find a thesis supervisor, and start research. 

October/November/December Start writing.

All fourth year concentrators are contacted by the Office of Academic Programs and those planning to submit a senior thesis are requested to supply certain information, including name of advisor and a tentative thesis title. You may use a different title when you submit your thesis; you do not need to tell us your updated title before then. If Fall 2024 is your final term, please fill out this form . If May 2024 is your final term, please fill out this form .

Early February The student should provide the name and contact information for the readers (see above), together with assurance that they have agreed to serve. 

Mid-March Thesis supervisors are advised to demand a first draft. (A common reaction of thesis readers is “This would have been an excellent first draft. Too bad it is the final thesis—it could have been so much better if I had been able to make some suggestions a couple of weeks ago.")

March 28, 2025 Thesis is due by 2:00 pm. Electronic copies in PDF format should be delivered by the student to all three readers and to [email protected] (which will forward to the Director of Undergraduate Studies) on or before that date. An electronic copy should also be submitted via the SEAS online submission tool on or before that date. SEAS will keep this electronic copy as a non-circulating backup. During this online submission process, the student will also have the option to make the electronic copy publicly available via DASH, Harvard’s open-access repository for scholarly work. Please note that the thesis will NOT be published to ProQuest. More information can be found on the SEAS  Senior Thesis Submission  page.

The two or three readers will receive a rating sheet to be returned to the Office of Academic Programs before the beginning of the Reading Period, together with their copy of the thesis and any remarks to be transmitted to the student.

Late May The Office of Academic Programs will send students their comments after the degree meeting to decide honors recommendations.

Thesis Extensions and Late Submissions

Thesis extensions Thesis extensions will be granted in extraordinary circumstances, such as hospitalization or grave family emergency, with the support of the thesis advisor and resident dean and the agreement of all readers. For joint concentrators, the other concentration should also support the extension. To request an extension, please have your advisor or resident dean email [email protected] , ideally several business days in advance, so that we may follow up with readers. Please note that any extension must be able to fall within our normal grading, feedback, and degree recommendation deadline, so extensions of more than a few days are usually impossible.

Late submissions Late submission of thesis work should be avoided. Work that is late will ordinarily not be eligible for thesis prizes like the Hoopes Prize. Theses submitted late will ordinarily be penalized one full level of honors (highest honors, high honors, honors, no honors) per day late or part thereof, including weekends, so a thesis submitted two days and one minute late is ordinarily ineligible to receive honors. Penalties will be waived only in extraordinary cases, such as documented medical illness or grave family emergency; students should consult with the Directors of Undergraduate Studies in that event. Missed alarm clocks, crashed computers, slow printers, corrupted files, and paper jams are not considered valid causes for extensions.

Thesis Examples

Recent thesis examples can be found on the Harvard DASH (Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard) repository here . Examples of Mind, Brain, Behavior theses are here .

Spectral Sparsification: The Barrier Method and its Applications

• Martin Camacho, Advisor: Jelani Nelson

Good Advice Costs Nothing and it’s Worth the Price: Incentive Compatible Recommendation Mechanisms for Exploring Unknown Options

• Perry Green, Advisor: Yiling Chen

Better than PageRank: Hitting Time as a Reputation Mechanism

• Brandon Liu, Advisor: David Parkes

Tree adjoining grammar at the interfaces

• Nicholas Longenbaugh, Advisor: Stuart Shieber

SCHUBOT: Machine Learning Tools for the Automated Analysis of Schubert’s Lieder

• Dylan Nagler, Advisor: Ryan Adams

Learning over Molecules: Representations and Kernels

• Jimmy Sun, Advisor: Ryan Adams

Towards the Quantum Machine: Using Scalable Machine Learning Methods to Predict Photovoltaic Efficacy of Organic Molecules

• Michael Tingley, Advisor: Ryan Adams

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10 tips for writing a PhD thesis

Ingrid curl shares simple rules for keeping your work clear and jargon-free.

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Writing up a PhD can often take place in a frenzy of activity in the last few months of your degree study, after years of hard work. But there are some steps that you can take to increase your chances of success.

• Do not be daunted by the task of “writing up”. Work on the text as your PhD takes shape, remember that all writers need editing, and help yourself by using these basic tips to make life easier. Read what great writers say about how to write before you start, and take their advice to heart. There is no dark art to clear, concise work; it is mostly a result of editing, and editing again. Above all, keep Elmore Leonard’s advice in mind: “If it reads like writing…rewrite it.”
• Plan the structure of your thesis carefully with your supervisor. Create rough drafts as you go so that you can refine them as you become more focused on the write-up. Much of writing comprises rewriting so be prepared to rework each chapter many times. Even Ernest Hemingway said: “The first draft of everything is shit.”
• Academic writing does not have to be dry. Inject some flair into your work. Read advice on writing and remember George Orwell’s words in Why I Write : “Never use the passive where you can use the active”; and Mark Twain’s on adjectives: “When you catch an adjective, kill it.” If you prefer, Stephen King said: “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”
• Do not write up in chronological order. Work on each chapter while it is fresh in your mind or pertinent to what you are doing at that moment, but come back to it all later and work it up into a consistent, coherent piece, restructuring sections where necessary.
• Think carefully about your writing. Write your first draft, leave it and then come back to it with a critical eye. Look objectively at the writing and read it closely for style and sense. Look out for common errors such as dangling modifiers, subject-verb disagreement and inconsistency. If you are too involved with the text to be able to take a step back and do this, then ask a friend or colleague to read it with a critical eye. Remember Hemingway’s advice: “Prose is architecture, not interior decoration.” Clarity is key.
• Most universities use a preferred style of references. Make sure you know what this is and stick to it. One of the most common errors in academic writing is to cite papers in the text that do not then appear in the bibliography. All references in your thesis need to be cross-checked with the bibliography before submission. Using a database during your research can save a great deal of time in the writing-up process. Helpful software includes EndNote or Paperpile. Managing your bibliography from day one may seem obsessive but it will save you a great deal of time and stress by the end of the PhD process.
• Use a house style. Professional publications such as Times Higher Education use a house style guide to ensure consistency in spelling. For example, do not use both -ise spellings and -ize spellings, stick to British spelling and be consistent when referring to organisations or bodies. Because dictionaries vary in their use of hyphenation, use one dictionary and stick to it throughout the writing process. If you consult the New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors , you will note the extraordinary number of words with alternative spellings. It can also be a very useful guide to preferred spellings, use of italicisation and foreign phrases.
• Take care when quoting from other sources. Ensure you note whether the italic emphasis is in the original and take careful notes when you are collecting quotes for your thesis. Transcribe them accurately to save work later and keep original spellings (even if they differ from your chosen style) to ensure fidelity to your source.
• Think about plagiarism. If you are quoting from works, quote from them accurately and paraphrase where necessary for your argument. This is where careful note-taking and use of references is invaluable and will help you to avoid even inadvertently plagiarising another work.
• Remember that your thesis is your chance to present your work in the best possible light. Consider your opening paragraphs, entice your reader with your writing and above all be clear about your hypothesis and your conclusion. Append material where it adds value but not where it merely bulks out your work. Consider your reader at all times. This is your chance to showcase your work.

If you stick to these simple rules, your writing will be clear and jargon-free. Above all, take to heart Orwell’s advice: “Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.”

Ingrid Curl is associate editor of  Times Higher Education , and a former PhD student.

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Thesis Proposal

In the thesis proposal, the PhD or DES student lays out an intended course of research for the dissertation.  By accepting the thesis proposal, the student’s dissertation proposal committee agrees that the proposal is practicable and acceptable, that its plan and prospectus are satisfactory, and that the candidate is competent in the knowledge and techniques required, and formally recommends that the candidate proceed according to the prospectus and under the supervision of the dissertation committee. It is part of the training of the student’s research apprenticeship that the form of this proposal must be as concise as those proposals required by major funding agencies.

The student proposes to a committee consisting of the student’s advisor and two other researchers who meet requirements for dissertation committee membership.  The advisor should solicit the prospective committee members, not the student. In cases where the research and departmental advisors are different , both must serve on the committee.

The student prepares a proposal document that consists of a core, plus any optional appendices. The core is limited to 30 pages (e.g., 12 point font, single spacing, 1 inch margins all around), and should contain sections describing 1) the problem and its background, 2) the innovative claims of the proposed work and its relation to existing work, 3) a description of at least one initial result that is mature enough to be able to be written up for submission to a conference, and 4) a plan for completion of the research. The committee commits to read and respond to the core, but reserves the right to refuse a document whose core exceeds the page limit. The student cannot assume that the committee will read or respond to any additional appendices.

The complete doctoral thesis proposal document must be disseminated to the entire dissertation committee no later than two weeks (14 days) prior to the proposal presentation. The PhD Program Administrator must be informed of the scheduling of the proposal presentation no later than two weeks (14 days) prior to the presentation. Emergency exceptions to either of these deadlines can be granted by the Director of Graduate Studies or the Department Chair on appeal by the advisor and agreement of the committee.

A latex thesis proposal template is available here .

PRESENTATION AND FEEDBACK

The student presents the proposal in a prepared talk of 45 minutes to the committee, and responds to any questions and feedback by the committee.

The student’s advisor, upon approval of the full faculty, establishes the target semester by which the thesis proposal must be successfully completed. The target semester must be no later than the eighth semester, and the student must be informed of the target semester no later than the sixth semester.

The candidacy   exam  must be successfully completed  before  the  proposal can be attempted.  The proposal must be completed prior to submitting the application for defense. [Instituted by full faculty vote September 16, 2015.]

Passing or failing is determined by consensus of the committee, who then sign the dissertation proposal form (sent to advisors by phd-advising@cs.  Failure to pass the thesis proposal by the end of the target semester or the eighth semester, whichever comes first, is deemed unsatisfactory progress: the PhD or DES student is normally placed on probation and can be immediately dismissed from the program. However, on appeal of the student’s advisor, one semester’s grace can be granted by the full faculty.

Last updated on October 16, 2023.

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In the news, press mentions, dean boyce's statement on amicus brief filed by president bollinger.

President Bollinger announced that Columbia University along with many other academic institutions (sixteen, including all Ivy League universities) filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York challenging the Executive Order regarding immigrants from seven designated countries and refugees. Among other things, the brief asserts that “safety and security concerns can be addressed in a manner that is consistent with the values America has always stood for, including the free flow of ideas and people across borders and the welcoming of immigrants to our universities.”

This recent action provides a moment for us to collectively reflect on our community within Columbia Engineering and the importance of our commitment to maintaining an open and welcoming community for all students, faculty, researchers and administrative staff. As a School of Engineering and Applied Science, we are fortunate to attract students and faculty from diverse backgrounds, from across the country, and from around the world. It is a great benefit to be able to gather engineers and scientists of so many different perspectives and talents – all with a commitment to learning, a focus on pushing the frontiers of knowledge and discovery, and with a passion for translating our work to impact humanity.

I am proud of our community, and wish to take this opportunity to reinforce our collective commitment to maintaining an open and collegial environment. We are fortunate to have the privilege to learn from one another, and to study, work, and live together in such a dynamic and vibrant place as Columbia.

Mary C. Boyce Dean of Engineering Morris A. and Alma Schapiro Professor

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• Graduate Writing Across the Disciplines, Introduction by Marilee Brooks-Gillies, Elena G. Garcia, Soo Hyon Kim, Katie Manthey and Trixie Smith
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So you have to write a thesis...

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The number one rule for writing your thesis is  be organized .  This may be different for everyone, but here is the basic structure (see red slides below) on what your masters thesis or dissertation should include. Also included are videos, books, writing tips, websites, and articles that may assist you.  

Your specific discipline may have specific requirements for you to follow. Please consult with your thesis advisor whenever you have questions.

If you are having trouble with research please do not hesitate to reach out to a librarian (see the Stuck? page for contact information).

This video was created by Lund University in Sweden and is a great resource.  Please keep in mind that they use slightly different words for their sections such as "summary" instead of "conclusion", but the content that should be included is the same and the way they explain it is succinct and accurate. 

This video by Massey University (New Zealand) is a recorded lecture on how to write a thesis with several examples and good advice throughout. Please keep in mind that here too, some of the vocabulary is different but the content is useful. 

• Basic Thesis Guide by Dr. Kendra Gaines, University of Arizona
• Guidelines for Writing a Thesis or Dissertaion
• If you're in the humanities this would be the heart of your research. For example if you were comparing Game of Thrones  to Shakespeare, instead of beginning with an introduction, you would jump into where you are comparing them. 
• Instead of sitting in front of your computer every day for 2 hours with writer's block, try to write daily with well defined writing goals - I'm going to write 2 pages, or create a table, etc. 
• If you miss a day, do not try to make up for it the next day. Just keep going and don't burn yourself out. Keep yourself to reasonable, realistic goals and make sure to keep a work-life balance.
• Don't worry about perfect grammar when you're doing your first draft(s).  That's easy to edit, generating new content with perfect style? Not as easy. 
• Try to keep some kind of memo pad with you at all times - on your phone, on paper, however works for you for those flashes of brilliance when you're not near your document.
• Make sure you communicate with your supervisor - do not be afraid to reach out!  Make sure you're on the right track.
• If you're research based make sure you have a clearly defined question your thesis will answer, including milestones. 
• Make and outline, including bullet points for your data/arguments in each section. This may change over time but it will help you keep track of what data needs to be collected and what information needs to be included in each chapters .
• Include all your results, not just the results that support your hypothesis - this is called cherry picking.  Be transparent. 
• Read and look at other theses in your field - this can help inspire you and answer questions as you go along. You can do this in the library, or online by visiting our dissertation databases . You can also check out Google Scholar to see what's available there. 
• How to Write a Thesis Without Losing Your Mind - Risto Sarvas

Thesis Structure

Overview of General Thesis Structure

What's in the body of my thesis?

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The thesis proposal allows students to obtain formative feedback from their reading committee to guide them to a successful, high-quality dissertation. The thesis proposal (a private session only with the student's advisor/co-advisor and reading committee members) should allow time for discussion with the reading committee about the direction of the thesis research.

Thesis Proposal

The student must present an oral thesis proposal and submit the form to their full reading committee by the Spring quarter of their fourth year. The Thesis Proposal form must be filled out, signed, and approved by all committee members. Submit the PDF form to CS PhD Student Services ( [email protected] ). 

The suggested format for the Thesis Proposal presentation should include:

• A description of the research problem and its significance.
• A description of previous work in the area and the "state of the art" before the student's work. 
• A description of preliminary work the student has done on the problem and any research results of that work.
• An outline of the remaining work to be done and a timeline for accomplishing it .

Research Topics & Ideas: CompSci & IT

50+ Computer Science Research Topic Ideas To Fast-Track Your Project

Finding and choosing a strong research topic is the critical first step when it comes to crafting a high-quality dissertation, thesis or research project. If you’ve landed on this post, chances are you’re looking for a computer science-related research topic , but aren’t sure where to start. Here, we’ll explore a variety of CompSci & IT-related research ideas and topic thought-starters, including algorithms, AI, networking, database systems, UX, information security and software engineering.

NB – This is just the start…

The topic ideation and evaluation process has multiple steps . In this post, we’ll kickstart the process by sharing some research topic ideas within the CompSci domain. This is the starting point, but to develop a well-defined research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , along with a well-justified plan of action to fill that gap.

If you’re new to the oftentimes perplexing world of research, or if this is your first time undertaking a formal academic research project, be sure to check out our free dissertation mini-course. In it, we cover the process of writing a dissertation or thesis from start to end. Be sure to also sign up for our free webinar that explores how to find a high-quality research topic. 

Overview: CompSci Research Topics

• Algorithms & data structures
• Artificial intelligence ( AI )
• Computer networking
• Database systems
• Human-computer interaction
• Information security (IS)
• Software engineering
• Examples of CompSci dissertation & theses

Topics/Ideas: Algorithms & Data Structures

• An analysis of neural network algorithms’ accuracy for processing consumer purchase patterns
• A systematic review of the impact of graph algorithms on data analysis and discovery in social media network analysis
• An evaluation of machine learning algorithms used for recommender systems in streaming services
• A review of approximation algorithm approaches for solving NP-hard problems
• An analysis of parallel algorithms for high-performance computing of genomic data
• The influence of data structures on optimal algorithm design and performance in Fintech
• A Survey of algorithms applied in internet of things (IoT) systems in supply-chain management
• A comparison of streaming algorithm performance for the detection of elephant flows
• A systematic review and evaluation of machine learning algorithms used in facial pattern recognition
• Exploring the performance of a decision tree-based approach for optimizing stock purchase decisions
• Assessing the importance of complete and representative training datasets in Agricultural machine learning based decision making.
• A Comparison of Deep learning algorithms performance for structured and unstructured datasets with “rare cases”
• A systematic review of noise reduction best practices for machine learning algorithms in geoinformatics.
• Exploring the feasibility of applying information theory to feature extraction in retail datasets.
• Assessing the use case of neural network algorithms for image analysis in biodiversity assessment

Topics & Ideas: Artificial Intelligence (AI)

• Applying deep learning algorithms for speech recognition in speech-impaired children
• A review of the impact of artificial intelligence on decision-making processes in stock valuation
• An evaluation of reinforcement learning algorithms used in the production of video games
• An exploration of key developments in natural language processing and how they impacted the evolution of Chabots.
• An analysis of the ethical and social implications of artificial intelligence-based automated marking
• The influence of large-scale GIS datasets on artificial intelligence and machine learning developments
• An examination of the use of artificial intelligence in orthopaedic surgery
• The impact of explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) on transparency and trust in supply chain management
• An evaluation of the role of artificial intelligence in financial forecasting and risk management in cryptocurrency
• A meta-analysis of deep learning algorithm performance in predicting and cyber attacks in schools

Topics & Ideas: Networking

• An analysis of the impact of 5G technology on internet penetration in rural Tanzania
• Assessing the role of software-defined networking (SDN) in modern cloud-based computing
• A critical analysis of network security and privacy concerns associated with Industry 4.0 investment in healthcare.
• Exploring the influence of cloud computing on security risks in fintech.
• An examination of the use of network function virtualization (NFV) in telecom networks in Southern America
• Assessing the impact of edge computing on network architecture and design in IoT-based manufacturing
• An evaluation of the challenges and opportunities in 6G wireless network adoption
• The role of network congestion control algorithms in improving network performance on streaming platforms
• An analysis of network coding-based approaches for data security
• Assessing the impact of network topology on network performance and reliability in IoT-based workspaces

Topics & Ideas: Database Systems

• An analysis of big data management systems and technologies used in B2B marketing
• The impact of NoSQL databases on data management and analysis in smart cities
• An evaluation of the security and privacy concerns of cloud-based databases in financial organisations
• Exploring the role of data warehousing and business intelligence in global consultancies
• An analysis of the use of graph databases for data modelling and analysis in recommendation systems
• The influence of the Internet of Things (IoT) on database design and management in the retail grocery industry
• An examination of the challenges and opportunities of distributed databases in supply chain management
• Assessing the impact of data compression algorithms on database performance and scalability in cloud computing
• An evaluation of the use of in-memory databases for real-time data processing in patient monitoring
• Comparing the effects of database tuning and optimization approaches in improving database performance and efficiency in omnichannel retailing

Topics & Ideas: Human-Computer Interaction

• An analysis of the impact of mobile technology on human-computer interaction prevalence in adolescent men
• An exploration of how artificial intelligence is changing human-computer interaction patterns in children
• An evaluation of the usability and accessibility of web-based systems for CRM in the fast fashion retail sector
• Assessing the influence of virtual and augmented reality on consumer purchasing patterns
• An examination of the use of gesture-based interfaces in architecture
• Exploring the impact of ease of use in wearable technology on geriatric user
• Evaluating the ramifications of gamification in the Metaverse
• A systematic review of user experience (UX) design advances associated with Augmented Reality
• A comparison of natural language processing algorithms automation of customer response Comparing end-user perceptions of natural language processing algorithms for automated customer response
• Analysing the impact of voice-based interfaces on purchase practices in the fast food industry

Topics & Ideas: Information Security

• A bibliometric review of current trends in cryptography for secure communication
• An analysis of secure multi-party computation protocols and their applications in cloud-based computing
• An investigation of the security of blockchain technology in patient health record tracking
• A comparative study of symmetric and asymmetric encryption algorithms for instant text messaging
• A systematic review of secure data storage solutions used for cloud computing in the fintech industry
• An analysis of intrusion detection and prevention systems used in the healthcare sector
• Assessing security best practices for IoT devices in political offices
• An investigation into the role social media played in shifting regulations related to privacy and the protection of personal data
• A comparative study of digital signature schemes adoption in property transfers
• An assessment of the security of secure wireless communication systems used in tertiary institutions

Topics & Ideas: Software Engineering

• A study of agile software development methodologies and their impact on project success in pharmacology
• Investigating the impacts of software refactoring techniques and tools in blockchain-based developments
• A study of the impact of DevOps practices on software development and delivery in the healthcare sector
• An analysis of software architecture patterns and their impact on the maintainability and scalability of cloud-based offerings
• A study of the impact of artificial intelligence and machine learning on software engineering practices in the education sector
• An investigation of software testing techniques and methodologies for subscription-based offerings
• A review of software security practices and techniques for protecting against phishing attacks from social media
• An analysis of the impact of cloud computing on the rate of software development and deployment in the manufacturing sector
• Exploring the impact of software development outsourcing on project success in multinational contexts
• An investigation into the effect of poor software documentation on app success in the retail sector

CompSci & IT Dissertations/Theses

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a CompSci-related research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses to see how this all comes together.

Below, we’ve included a selection of research projects from various CompSci-related degree programs to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

• An array-based optimization framework for query processing and data analytics (Chen, 2021)
• Dynamic Object Partitioning and replication for cooperative cache (Asad, 2021)
• Embedding constructural documentation in unit tests (Nassif, 2019)
• PLASA | Programming Language for Synchronous Agents (Kilaru, 2019)
• Healthcare Data Authentication using Deep Neural Network (Sekar, 2020)
• Virtual Reality System for Planetary Surface Visualization and Analysis (Quach, 2019)
• Artificial neural networks to predict share prices on the Johannesburg stock exchange (Pyon, 2021)
• Predicting household poverty with machine learning methods: the case of Malawi (Chinyama, 2022)
• Investigating user experience and bias mitigation of the multi-modal retrieval of historical data (Singh, 2021)
• Detection of HTTPS malware traffic without decryption (Nyathi, 2022)
• Redefining privacy: case study of smart health applications (Al-Zyoud, 2019)
• A state-based approach to context modeling and computing (Yue, 2019)
• A Novel Cooperative Intrusion Detection System for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (Solomon, 2019)
• HRSB-Tree for Spatio-Temporal Aggregates over Moving Regions (Paduri, 2019)

Looking at these titles, you can probably pick up that the research topics here are quite specific and narrowly-focused , compared to the generic ones presented earlier. This is an important thing to keep in mind as you develop your own research topic. That is to say, to create a top-notch research topic, you must be precise and target a specific context with specific variables of interest . In other words, you need to identify a clear, well-justified research gap.

Fast-Track Your Research Topic

If you’re still feeling a bit unsure about how to find a research topic for your Computer Science dissertation or research project, check out our Topic Kickstarter service.

Investigating the impacts of software refactoring techniques and tools in blockchain-based developments.

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How to structure a computer science dissertation for a doctoral degree?

Every single Computer Science Doctoral Student must draft a good PhD dissertation for the successful completion of his/her doctoral degree. So, the PhD scholar should understand the importance of drafting a good dissertation and conducting diligent research for his/her doctoral degree. It takes a strong plan, broad thinking ability, good research topic selection, proper guidance, good decision making skills, determination, hard work etc. to write a good PhD Computer Science Dissertation . To be honest, there is no such fixed format or curriculum for the PhD students. So, the student should wisely analyse and make discussions based on his/her own caliber. I would highly recommend seeking computer science dissertation writing Help to write a good PhD computer science dissertation.

For a doctoral student to write a good dissertation, he/she should meticulously develop a strong structure for his/her dissertation. To develop a strong structure, the foundation of the dissertation should be strong and stable in the first place. So, the scholar should wisely select a good dissertation topic to establish a strong foundation for his/her research. Furthermore, I would highly recommend you to seek a Computer Science Engineering Dissertation Writing help service provider for choosing the right engineering dissertation topics for your research work. I can also assure you that this article will surely help you to develop a strong structure for your dissertation.

Basic PhD structure for a computer science dissertation

• Formulate your dissertation’s structure

There is no such particular structural Framework for Writing a PhD dissertation . So, the PhD student should frame a structure according to the selected research topic. While writing a computer science dissertation, the student should make sure that the body segment of dissertation has enough chapters to include all the necessary research data, calculations etc.

Moreover, the student should check the department’s guideline before framing a structure for his/her dissertation. Once the dissertation’s structure is formulated, the student should make sure that he/she gets approval from his/her mentor before proceeding. Nowadays, there are many computer science dissertation help providers available on the internet who would provide writing help with thesis in computer science and other domains. So, It is advisable to do a detailed background study about the service providers before choosing them.

This is the first page of the dissertation where the student should clearly mention the title of the Research Work, the PhD Student ’s name with the registration number, supervisor name, course & department name, the college logo and the date of submission in it. Ensure that your title is simple, catchy and easily “google-able” for others. An ideal dissertation title should try to elucidate the aim, objective and the research work conducted. Generally, a good dissertation title will be no more than 7 to 9 words.

• Acknowledgement

This section is exclusively to show your gratitude towards the college, department, higher officials, mentors, other faculties, friends, parents etc who have helped you to draft the dissertation.

An ideal abstract should summarize the central idea of the research dissertation and it should not be more than 200 to 250 words. As per the quotes, “Face is the index of the mind” this section is the index of the dissertation so the scholar should draft it meticulously with high priority. Even Though abstract is short, this is the first section (and sometimes the only section) that people will read. Hence, it is absolutely necessary to get it right. Ensure that your abstract addresses the following,

• Addresses the aim, objective and main idea of the research work.
• States the problem statement and solution for it.
• Describes the methodology, problem approach.
• Summarizes the results (preferably in numbers or values).
• Concludes with proper conclusion.  

Students can even make use of the computer science research paper abstract writing service from a professional computer science dissertation service provider to draft a good abstract.

• Table of content & list of figures, tables and abbreviation

In the table of content, the scholar should list all the chapters and subheadings according to the page number for reader’s convenience. Moreover, the list of figures, tables and abbreviations is also tabulated for better navigation purposes to the readers.

• Introduction

This section should give a brief idea about the Research Topic , problem statement to be addressed and the purpose of conducting this research work to the readers. The scholar should make sure that he/she mentions the following in the introduction;

• Establish your research topic and the previous works related to this topic.
• Narrow down the topic and mention the scope of the research work.
• Put down your research questions and objective of this research work.
• Literature review

This is one of the vital sections in the dissertation where the scholar should have a clear understanding about the previous works in the relevant topic. In this section, the scholar is expected to;

• Collect all the viable sources relevant to his/her research topic.
• Thoroughly Analyse all the collected sources.
• Figure out the similarities, method used and problem approach in each research work.

Once the Literature Review phase is done, the scholar can easily figure out the research gaps and other hypotheses in the selected topic. subsequently, new theory and methodology should be formulated and Finally, the scholar should conclude this section by proposing a theoretical solution for the unsolved problem.

• Methodology

In a Professional Computer Science Dissertation, methodology section should illustrate the problem approach, methods used and the experiments conducted during the research phase. Data Collection and Data Analysis is an important segment in any research work. So, to ensure whether the student is using the right method to extract and analyse the data. It is advisable to refer to multiple data collection and data analysis computer science dissertations relevant to the current research. Furthermore, this section should be inclusive of the following;

• Problem approach and the type of research carried out.
• methods used to collect and analyse data.
• Materials & Apparatus used for the experiment and the lab facility used.
• Difficulties during the experimental phase.
• Validation of the methods used in this research phase.
• Results and discussion

This is the most vital part of the dissertation where the scholar should present the results obtained from the experiments. The scholar should ensure that he/she is not manipulating or exaggerating the actual results. Furthermore, it is advisable to include Graphs, tables, charts, figures etc for illustration purposes. The student should carefully present only the necessary results which are required. Try to avoid presenting charts or figures with the same information which is already explained.

This is the final part of the dissertation where the student wraps up the dissertation by summarizing the entire research process briefly. The conclusion section generally addresses the merits, advantages and the scope of the current work. It is also important to specify the future works of the research. This section should conclusively illustrate the objectives achieved in the current work.

It is mandatory to cite all the sources which you have used to write the dissertation. If the scholar fails to cite the respective work of others, it may be considered as an act of intellectual theft or plagiarism. So it is highly recommended to bookmark or save the sources simultaneously as you read it.

All the results obtained from the research cannot be presented entirely in the dissertation. Usually, information which lacks direct contribution to answering the research questions is often neglected from the main part of the dissertation and simply added in this section.

As quoted by the american social activist Abbie Hoffman,“structure is more than content in the transmission of information.” the structure of the dissertation plays an equal and significant part as the research content in writing a good computer science dissertation. Thus, this article conclusively illustrates the basic PhD structure for a Computer Science Dissertation . I hope this article gives you a clear idea about the structural framework to be followed while writing your research dissertation.

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Home > Engineering > Computer Science > Computer Science Graduate Projects

Computer Science Graduate Projects and Theses

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

High-Performance Domain-Specific Library for Hydrologic Data Processing , Kalyan Bhetwal

Evaluating Learning Geometric Concepts to Generate Predicate Abstract Domains in Static Program Analysis , Patrick Chadbourne

Verifying Data Provenance During Workflow Execution for Scientific Reproducibility , Rizbanul Hasan

Remote Sensing to Advance Understanding of Snow-Vegetation Relationships and Quantify Snow Depth and Snow Water Equivalent , Ahmad Hojatimalekshah

Exploring the Capability of a Self-Supervised Conditional Image Generator for Image-to-Image Translation without Labeled Data: A Case Study in Mobile User Interface Design , Hailee Kiesecker

Fake News Detection Using Narrative Content and Discourse , Hongmin Kim

Anomaly Detection Using Graph Neural Network , Bishal Lakha

Robust Digital Nucleic Acid Memory , Golam Md Mortuza

Risk Assessment and Solutions for Two Domains: Election Procedures and Privacy Disclosure Prevention for Users , Kamryn DeAnn Parker

Sparse Format Conversion and Code Synthesis , Tobi Goodness Popoola

Fair Layouts in Information Access Systems: Provider-Side Group Fairness in Ranking Beyond Ranked Lists , Amifa Raj

Virtual Curtain: A Communicative Fine-Grained Privacy Control Framework for Augmented Reality , Aakash Shrestha

Portable Sparse Polyhedral Framework Code Generation Using Multi Level Intermediate Representation , Aaron St. George

Transformer Reinforcement Learning Approach to Attack Automatic Fake News Detectors , Chandler Underwood

Severity Measures for Assessing Error in Automatic Speech Recognition , Ryan Whetten

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Improved Computational Prediction of Function and Structural Representation of Self-Cleaving Ribozymes with Enhanced Parameter Selection and Library Design , James D. Beck

Meshfree Methods for PDEs on Surfaces , Andrew Michael Jones

Deep Learning of Microstructures , Amir Abbas Kazemzadeh Farizhandi

Long-Term Trends in Extreme Environmental Events with Changepoint Detection , Mintaek Lee

Structure Aware Smart Encoding and Decoding of Information in DNA , Shoshanna Llewellyn

Towards Making Transformer-Based Language Models Learn How Children Learn , Yousra Mahdy

Ontology-Based Formal Approach for Safety and Security Verification of Industrial Control Systems , Ramesh Neupane

Improving Children's Authentication Practices with Respect to Graphical Authentication Mechanism , Dhanush Kumar Ratakonda

Hate Speech Detection Using Textual and User Features , Rohan Raut

Automated Detection of Sockpuppet Accounts in Wikipedia , Mostofa Najmus Sakib

Characterization and Mitigation of False Information on the Web , Anu Shrestha

Sinusoidal Projection for 360° Image Compression and Triangular Discrete Cosine Transform Impact in the JPEG Pipeline , Iker Vazquez Lopez

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Training Wheels for Web Search: Multi-Perspective Learning to Rank to Support Children's Information Seeking in the Classroom , Garrett Allen

Fair and Efficient Consensus Protocols for Secure Blockchain Applications , Golam Dastoger Bashar

Why Don't You Act Your Age?: Recognizing the Stereotypical 8-12 Year Old Searcher by Their Search Behavior , Michael Green

Ensuring Consistency and Efficiency of the Incremental Unit Network in a Distributed Architecture , Mir Tahsin Imtiaz

Modeling Real and Fake News Sharing in Social Networks , Abishai Joy

Modeling and Analyzing Users' Privacy Disclosure Behavior to Generate Personalized Privacy Policies , A.K.M. Nuhil Mehdy

Into the Unknown: Exploration of Search Engines' Responses to Users with Depression and Anxiety , Ashlee Milton

Generating Test Inputs from String Constraints with an Automata-Based Solver , Marlin Roberts

A Case Study in Representing Scientific Applications ( GeoAc ) Using the Sparse Polyhedral Framework , Ravi Shankar

Actors for the Internet of Things , Arjun Shukla

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Towards Unifying Grounded and Distributional Semantics Using the Words-as-Classifiers Model of Lexical Semantics , Stacy Black

Improving Scientist Productivity, Architecture Portability, and Performance in ParFlow , Michael Burke

Polyhedral+Dataflow Graphs , Eddie C. Davis

Improving Spellchecking for Children: Correction and Design , Brody Downs

A Collection of Fast Algorithms for Scalar and Vector-Valued Data on Irregular Domains: Spherical Harmonic Analysis, Divergence-Free/Curl-Free Radial Basis Functions, and Implicit Surface Reconstruction , Kathryn Primrose Drake

Privacy-Preserving Protocol for Atomic Swap Between Blockchains , Kiran Gurung

Unsupervised Structural Graph Node Representation Learning , Mikel Joaristi

Detecting Undisclosed Paid Editing in Wikipedia , Nikesh Joshi

Do You Feel Me?: Learning Language from Humans with Robot Emotional Displays , David McNeill

Obtaining Real-World Benchmark Programs from Open-Source Repositories Through Abstract-Semantics Preserving Transformations , Maria Anne Rachel Paquin

Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) for Brand Logos , Enjal Parajuli

A Resilience Metric for Modern Power Distribution Systems , Tyler Bennett Phillips

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Edge-Assisted Workload-Aware Image Processing System , Anil Acharya

MINOS: Unsupervised Netflow-Based Detection of Infected and Attacked Hosts, and Attack Time in Large Networks , Mousume Bhowmick

Deviant: A Mutation Testing Tool for Solidity Smart Contracts , Patrick Chapman

Querying Over Encrypted Databases in a Cloud Environment , Jake Douglas

A Hybrid Model to Detect Fake News , Indhumathi Gurunathan

Suitability of Finite State Automata to Model String Constraints in Probablistic Symbolic Execution , Andrew Harris

UNICORN Framework: A User-Centric Approach Toward Formal Verification of Privacy Norms , Rezvan Joshaghani

Detection and Countermeasure of Saturation Attacks in Software-Defined Networks , Samer Yousef Khamaiseh

Secure Two-Party Protocol for Privacy-Preserving Classification via Differential Privacy , Manish Kumar

Application-Specific Memory Subsystem Benchmarking , Mahesh Lakshminarasimhan

Multilingual Information Retrieval: A Representation Building Perspective , Ion Madrazo

Improved Study of Side-Channel Attacks Using Recurrent Neural Networks , Muhammad Abu Naser Rony Chowdhury

Investigating the Effects of Social and Temporal Dynamics in Fitness Games on Children's Physical Activity , Ankita Samariya

BullyNet: Unmasking Cyberbullies on Social Networks , Aparna Sankaran

FALCON: Framework for Anomaly Detection In Industrial Control Systems , Subin Sapkota

Investigating Semantic Properties of Images Generated from Natural Language Using Neural Networks , Samuel Ward Schrader

Incremental Processing for Improving Conversational Grounding in a Chatbot , Aprajita Shukla

Estimating Error and Bias of Offline Recommender System Evaluation Results , Mucun Tian

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Leveraging Tiled Display for Big Data Visualization Using D3.js , Ujjwal Acharya

Fostering the Retrieval of Suitable Web Resources in Response to Children's Educational Search Tasks , Oghenemaro Deborah Anuyah

Privacy-Preserving Genomic Data Publishing via Differential Privacy , Tanya Khatri

Injecting Control Commands Through Sensory Channel: Attack and Defense , Farhad Rasapour

Strong Mutation-Based Test Generation of XACML Policies , Roshan Shrestha

Performance, Scalability, and Robustness in Distributed File Tree Copy , Christopher Robert Sutton

Using DNA For Data Storage: Encoding and Decoding Algorithm Development , Kelsey Suyehira

Detecting Saliency by Combining Speech and Object Detection in Indoor Environments , Kiran Thapa

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Identifying Restaurants Proposing Novel Kinds of Cuisines: Using Yelp Reviews , Haritha Akella

Editing Behavior Analysis and Prediction of Active/Inactive Users in Wikipedia , Harish Arelli

CloudSkulk: Design of a Nested Virtual Machine Based Rootkit-in-the-Middle Attack , Joseph Anthony Connelly

Predicting Friendship Strength in Facebook , Nitish Dhakal

Privacy-Preserving Trajectory Data Publishing via Differential Privacy , Ishita Dwivedi

Cultivating Community Interactions in Citizen Science: Connecting People to Each Other and the Environment , Bret Allen Finley

Uncovering New Links Through Interaction Duration , Laxmi Amulya Gundala

Variance: Secure Two-Party Protocol for Solving Yao's Millionaires' Problem in Bitcoin , Joshua Holmes

A Scalable Graph-Coarsening Based Index for Dynamic Graph Databases , Akshay Kansal

Integrity Coded Databases: Ensuring Correctness and Freshness of Outsourced Databases , Ujwal Karki

Editable View Optimized Tone Mapping For Viewing High Dynamic Range Panoramas On Head Mounted Display , Yuan Li

The Effects of Pair-Programming in a High School Introductory Computer Science Class , Ken Manship

Towards Automatic Repair of XACML Policies , Shuai Peng

Identification of Unknown Landscape Types Using CNN Transfer Learning , Ashish Sharma

Hand Gesture Recognition for Sign Language Transcription , Iker Vazquez Lopez

Learning to Code Music : Development of a Supplemental Unit for High School Computer Science , Kelsey Wright

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Identification of Small Endogenous Viral Elements within Host Genomes , Edward C. Davis Jr.

When the System Becomes Your Personal Docent: Curated Book Recommendations , Nevena Dragovic

Security Testing with Misuse Case Modeling , Samer Yousef Khamaiseh

Estimating Length Statistics of Aggregate Fried Potato Product via Electromagnetic Radiation Attenuation , Jesse Lovitt

Towards Multipurpose Readability Assessment , Ion Madrazo

Evaluation of Topic Models for Content-Based Popularity Prediction on Social Microblogs , Axel Magnuson

CEST: City Event Summarization using Twitter , Deepa Mallela

Developing an ABAC-Based Grant Proposal Workflow Management System , Milson Munakami

Phoenix and Hive as Alternatives to RDBMS , Diana Ornelas

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