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A Message From Our Chair
There is a tremendous amount of activity and
excitement in our great and expanding department. Come and discover us
through our Web pages or in person. You will find students, faculty, and
professional
staff who are pushing the envelope of experimental computer science
in both teaching and research. Our undergraduates
are actively involved in research and are immersed in an integrated CS
curriculum that is
becoming a model for other Universities. Our graduate
students are active participants in world-class research projects, our
faculty are leaders in the field, and our facilities and equipment are
first-rate.
About the Department
The UVa Department of Computer Science is a nationally-recognized leader in undergraduate CS education, and one of the top departments in experimental systems, its main research thrust. Since becoming an independent department in 1984, we have grown to 25 faculty, 15 professional support staff, 73 graduate students and 220 undergraduate majors. Federal research support exceeds six million dollars annually, and past support includes a prestigious National Science Foundation Institutional Infrastructure Award, a five-million dollar grant which has greatly enhanced our research capabilities.
Our faculty have garnered an impressive roster of awards and peer recognition: two are members of the National Academy of Engineering and one is NAE president; one is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; one holds a National Science Foundation Young Investigator award; one holds a Packard Foundation Fellowship; four are Fellows of the IEEE; three are ACM Fellows; three hold NSF Career Awards; two are presidents of IEEE societies and another is a past Chair of an ACM Special Interest Group; two are University Teaching Fellows; one received an All-University Outstanding Teaching Award; one received a Faculty Mentor Award; four hold endowed chairs or University Professorships, and many are editors or editors-in-Chiefs of major professional journals. In addition, our faculty and research activities have received considerable popular media and press coverage. We are currently planning a new Information Technology building to house the Department of Computer Science.
We are dedicated to educational excellence as well as to scholarly and research excellence. For example, we have undertaken a complete reform of the undergraduate curriculum that is a National Science Foundation "flagship" project. Its hallmarks include a high degree of mathematical rigor reinforced through use, an emphasis on a philosophy of engineering, hands-on experience with industrial systems in team-oriented laboratories, increased personal attention, undergraduate involvement in research projects, and a carefully crafted progression of material as the students advance through the program.
University and School commitment to continued departmental growth is reflected in recent multimillion-dollar equipment grants and current planning for a new Computer Science building. We actively involve our undergraduates in research projects, and many of them co-author technical papers and give conference presentations. Our strong departmental undergraduate and graduate degree programs reflect the emphasis that the University of Virginia places on education. For example, the quality of our graduate program, even at the Master's level, is demonstrated by the numerous refereed publications that have resulted from Master's theses and projects. Another indicator is the multiple awards our faculty have received for innovative and distinguished teaching. Our graduate students attract multiple job offers from industry as well as from academia.
Research
Departmental research
interests span the computer science spectrum. Recent journal
publications cover topics in algorithms, computational geometry,
computer-aided design of VLSI circuits, computer architecture,
parallel and distributed computing, operating systems, real-time
systems, programming environments, user interfaces, compilers and
programming languages, distributed systems and databases, computer
vision, artificial intelligence, scientific computing, computer
networks & distributed multimedia, computational biology,
combinatorial optimization, information retrieval, survivable systems,
computer security, and software engineering.
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In spite of being a small dept, we have some of the best researchers in
several areas. The environment here is conducive to research. Students
are friendly and Charlottesville is a great place to go to school. I
also like the healthy interaction between faculty and grad students. |
Teaching
We are committed to excellence in instruction, with a world-class undergraduate curriculum that has been adopted by many departments around the country. We have re-designed our graduate curriculum to meet the needs of today's students, with reduced course loads, more seminars, small classes to enable serious faculty/student interaction, a strong focus on building complex systems, and immediate involvement in research.
Graduate Programs
Master's degree programs serve to
prepare a student for professional opportunities or for further
Ph.D. studies. The Department offers two Master's
degrees. The Master of Science (MS) places strong emphasis on
research and requires, in addition to coursework, a thesis reporting
the research accomplished in collaboration with a faculty research
advisor. The Master of Computer Science (MCS) degree requires a
project instead of a thesis. Students with a strong undergraduate
background in computer science may complete an MCS within a year. For
both degrees, core courses in theory, architecture, languages, and
systems provide a solid basis in fundamentals, which are supplemented
by elective courses in computer science, engineering, and
mathematics. All eligible graduate students get full financial
support.
The Doctorate
degree is a symbol that its bearer has achieved an in-depth
understanding of a segment of human knowledge and has contributed
significantly to that knowledge. The Department encourages qualified
students to pursue the Ph.D. Typically students with a Bachelor's
degree will first complete a Master's degree before entering the
doctoral program, although a Master's degree may be bypassed. The
Ph.D. requires additional course work, satisfactory completion of oral
and written comprehensive examinations, submission of a research
proposal, and finally a dissertation based on independent, original
research. The student may tailor an individual program of
study.
Community
Students & Faculty
The Department is a community of faculty, students, and staff engaged in education and research. One of our strengths is the friendly and collegial interactions that prevail amongst its members. Students are considered colleagues and are on a first-name basis with faculty, and members of the Department share a strong sense of community and cooperation. Departmental decisions are made by consensus, and students have representation on many departmental committees. Students and faculty participate together in a number of sports and hobbies, including basketball, volleyball, jogging, swimming, weight training, frisbee, hiking, camping, whitewater rafting, racquetball, skating, folk dancing, and many other activities.
The Computer Science Graduate Student Group provides representation for the computer science graduate student body. This includes serving as a liaison between the faculty and graduate students when appropriate.
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"Virginia is a beautiful state with lots of outdoor things to do like
hiking and camping in the Blue Ridge. I like the fact that I'm
constantly in contact with people from different countries and
cultures. I love the friendliness of the people." |
Department Lounge
The
Department maintains a student-run social lounge that
features a continuous supply of snacks, chocolates, tea, coffee, soft
drinks, and juices, in addition to kitchen facilities, sofas, plants,
recent issues of popular magazines, numerous board games and puzzles,
and copies of recently-published research papers authorized by members
of the Department. The lounge's informal atmosphere encourages
collegial interactions and lively research discussions among
Department members. Students as well as faculty regularly visit the
lounge to relax, have a snack, engage in puzzle-solving, or play a
friendly game of Chess, Checkers, Go, Scrabble, and many others. The
Department also supports a student-organized weekly Social Tea event and distinguished
speakers, which further help promote interactions among members of
the department.
Graduate Student Orientation
Each Fall, the entering graduate
students participate in a semester-long "orientation seminar,"
where they are rapidly acclimated to the Department, and are exposed
to issues related to research, productivity, the hardware and software
infrastructure, and various professional responsibilities. Guest speakers
introduce a wide variety of interesting topics, including word
processors, productivity tools, programming environments, debuggers,
library resources, web searching, the philosophy and practice of
academic research, public speaking, and personal time management
skills. In addition to these talks of general interest, each faculty
member presents a short overview of their research. At the end
of this seminar, students are matched with faculty advisors based on
mutual research interests. This seminar serves as a mechanism which
ensures that students are smoothly transitioned into graduate life and
become quickly involved in research.
Student Chapter of the ACM
The Association for
Computing Machinery Chapter at the University of Virginia is a student
chapter of the parent Association for
Computing Machinery. The Chapter is a Contracted Independent
Organization at the University of Virginia, and serves students,
faculty, and staff of the University as well as members of the Charlottesville / Albemarle community. Any member of
the University or Charlottesville / Albemarle community may become a
Member of the Chapter. The Chapter is organized and operated
exclusively for educational and scientific purposes to promote an
increased knowledge of and greater interest in the science, design,
development, construction, languages, management and applications of
modern computing. During the academic year, the Chapter sponsors a variety of
events, including presentations by distinguished faculty, information
sessions with leading industry representatives, workshops on current
topics in modern computing, informal panel discussions, and social
gatherings.