Level 2

The goal of Level 2 is the development of a dissertation proposal acceptable to a research committee. During this phase, the student works under the close direction of a research advisor and participates in research seminars. In addition to making presentations at departmental research seminars, students are expected to make a presentation of preliminary research results at regional or national research conferences on and off campus. The main on-campus research presentation event is Graduate Student Research Day, held during the spring semester. Regional conferences that are popular and convenient for this initial presentation and publication are the annual meetings of the Alabama Academy of Science and the Mid-Southeast Chapter of the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery), and the ACM Southeast Conference.

During Level 2, the student forms a research committee, consisting of at least 3 members from the CIS department and at least 2 outside members, such that the majority of the committee is from CIS. All members of the committee must be on the UAB Graduate Faculty. Members from outside UAB can be made members of the UAB Graduate Faculty through a formal request to the Graduate School (see the CIS department secretary for information).

During this phase of the program, students are required to demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate published research, confirm their understanding of the important issues in the chosen area, and to propose an original contribution which will advance the state of knowledge in that area. Multi-disciplinary research is encouraged so that the contributions will not only impact the field of computer science but other disciplines and research groups on campus as well. The culmination of this phase is the development of a dissertation proposal, which is evaluated by the candidate's thesis committee in the Level 2 Exam. If the committee approves the dissertation research proposal, the student is admitted to candidacy. There is no foreign language or minor requirement.

Notes:

• The Level 2 Exam must be successfully passed within 2.5 years of the completion of the Level 1 Qualifying Exam.
• During this phase, advanced courses and seminars in the student's area of research are assigned by the advisor.  Directed research hours (CS796) are usually appropriate.
• Ph.D. students who do not have an M.S. degree in computer science should apply for the M.S. in CIS on the way to the Ph.D. degree once they accumulate 33 hours of regular graduate courses and three hours of seminar credit.
• All IRB (Institutional Review Board) approvals must be obtained in advance of the Level 2 exam and of the work that is being done. Please see http://main.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=30246 for details.
• A copy of the approved Level 2 thesis proposal must be given to the Graduate Program Director after the successful Level 2 Exam to place into the student's file.