项目介绍

2021年7月29日

About the course

The DPhil in Computer Science is an advanced research degree, awarded for significant (new) contribution to the existing body of knowledge in the field of computer science. You will work with world-class experts in their field. The DPhil normally takes three to four years of full-time study to complete.

The DPhil in Computer Science will introduce you to cutting edge research whilst studying in a beautiful, historic setting that is both student- and family-friendly. Supervision is available via the department’s research themes together with cross-disciplinary research in areas such as linguistics, biology, medicine, quantum foundations and quantum computation.

The course combines individual supervision with a selection of lecture courses, transferable skills training and opportunities to participate in leading-edge research activities. The department recruits students from Oxford’s high-quality undergraduate and masters’ degrees, as well as nationally and internationally.

During your study at Oxford, the department hopes to share with you some of the excitement about the topics the department investigates, and of the understanding the department has gained from research into basic theory and by industrial collaboration. You will also be offered transferable skills training and are required to give presentations to your research groups.

The development of computer science at Oxford has been heavily supported by research grant funding from the government, EU and science foundations, as well as donations and sponsorship from the department’s industrial partners. The department is committed to offering you the best supervision and to providing a stimulating research environment.

This is a full time course and you are expected to continue working outside of the University terms with an annual holiday of approximately eight weeks. On completion of the course you will graduate with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Supervision

The allocation of graduate supervision for this course is the responsibility of the Department of Computer Science and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. Under exceptional circumstances a supervisor may be found outside the Department of Computer Science. In such circumstances there is likely to be a joint supervisor from within the department.

This is a full time course and you should meet regularly with your supervisor. In the case of students who require specific help to adjust to an academic programme or to a new range of skills, the supervisor will work with them to ensure that they have additional support.

Assessment

During your first year you are expected to complete three pieces of assessed work. One piece comes from attendance at a taught course and taking the examination. A further piece of assessed work has to be a paper written during the course of one term, which may be publishable. The final piece can be from another taught course or a specially designed reading course, or you are also able to take three skills training courses and the three of these will count as one piece of assessed work.

The work is assessed either by the supervisor or the examiner for a taught course. You are also expected to complete a literature review which should survey the state of the art in your chosen area. It should explain the background of the proposed research, the results that have been obtained by other researchers, and the conclusions that may be drawn. You are expected to give a clear and coherent account, demonstrating competence in organising ideas and presenting them in a scholarly manner.

On completion of the course you will graduate with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Graduate destinations

A good proportion of our DPhil students pursue a career in academia moving on to becoming post-doctoral researchers, and subsequently to university lecturers and professors. Many others join industry or build startups. 

Changes to this course and your supervision

The University will seek to deliver this course in accordance with the description set out in this course page. However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision, either before or after registration. The safety of students, staff and visitors is paramount and major changes to delivery or services may have to be made in circumstances of a pandemic (including Covid-19), epidemic or local health emergency. In addition, in certain circumstances, for example due to visa difficulties or because the health needs of students cannot be met, it may be necessary to make adjustments to course requirements for international study.

Where possible your academic supervisor will not change for the duration of your course. However, it may be necessary to assign a new academic supervisor during the course of study or before registration for reasons which might include illness, sabbatical leave, parental leave or change in employment.

For further information please see our page on changes to courses and the provisions of the student contract regarding changes to courses.

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