The PhD in Software Engineering program is tailored to the student. The student must arrange a course program with the guidance and approval of a faculty member chosen as their graduate advisor. Adjustments can be made as the student's interests develop and a specific dissertation top is chosen.
The software engineering researchers in the Department of Computer Science are focused on issues related to effectively developing large-scale, complex systems. In particular, new categories of applications are emerging such as big data, cyber physical, and autonomous adaptable systems, which continue to drive leading edge research in software engineering on diverse topics. Key research areas include requirements engineering, architecture, design, service-oriented computing, testing and verification, static analysis, software maintenance and multi-agent systems.

