High Performance Computing Research
The Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) PhD program prepares students for research and teaching in academic, corporate, and government settings.
Students have access to high performance facilities on campus, including the centrally managed high-computing clusters Superior and Portage. Superior has 32 TFLOPS of CPU and 13 TFLOPS of GPU computing capacity. Intended for testing, educational, and gateway computing, the Portage cluster has 3 TFLOPS of CPU and 2 TFLOPS of GPU computing capacity. Other research computing systems are available as well.
Applying to the CSE Doctoral Program
Due to its interdisciplinary nature the CSE program is demanding of students. In some ways, it is as if a student prepares to do research in two areas: computation and an application area. To ensure that students have the necessary preparation to succeed, the program requires that students have a rigorous academic background in an engineering, technological, or scientific field. Therefore, in most cases the program requires that a student have a master’s degree in an engineering, technological, or scientific field to be admitted into the program.
Applications are accepted for fall, spring and summer semesters. Applicants should, however, be aware that most types of financial aid begin in the fall semester. To be ensured full consideration for financial aid, applications for fall admission should be received by February 1 of the same year.
Among other things, the application asks for official transcripts of all university work, TOEFL scores (if English is not a student’s native language), and a Statement of Purpose. GRE (Graduate Record Examination) scores are required. It may also be helpful when a student’s application is evaluated if they have taken a GRE subject examination.
In addition to what is asked for on the application form, the CSE program requires that a student’s application include two letters of reference. Reference letters may be submitted with the application, or sent separately. An application, with or without letters of reference, should be sent to the Graduate School.
Students can check MyMichiganTech for a detailed checklist of items necessary to complete their degree, as well as a personalized Degree Completion Timeline showing which items students have already completed and what will need to be completed in the future. Reviewing the timeline example for the Doctor of Philosophy degree can help students stay on track before and after arriving on campus.