PhD

Networked Systems

Study mode:On campus Study type:Full-time Languages: English
Local:$ 17 k / Year(s) Foreign:$ 32.1 k / Year(s) Deadline: Dec 15, 2025
StudyQA ranking:4374 Duration:5 years

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The Networked Systems program provides education and research opportunities to graduate students in the areas of computer networks and telecommunication networks. Networked Systems include telephone networks, cable TV networks, cellular phone networks, and the Internet, as well as other emerging networks.

Networked Systems are inherently interdisciplinary. By their design, they connect devices such as computer and phones using communications methods. Networked Systems therefore must address the combination of software, hardware, and communications.

As a result, the Networked Systems area spans traditional departmental boundaries. At a minimum, the area draws heavily from Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Electrical Engineering. At UCI, these areas are housed in two Schools, ICS and HSSOE. The Networked Systems program unites the strengths of these two Schools and provides more integrated M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in this area.

Networked Systems is an educational degree program. It is not a separate department. Faculty from both the Computer Science (CS) and Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS) departments with research interests in networking guide the program.

Networked Systems graduate students take core courses, breadth courses, and concentration courses. The core courses are taken by all Networked Systems students and form a foundation for networking topics. The breadth courses can be selected from technical courses (including distributed systems, algorithms, data structures, operating systems, databases, random processes, and linear systems) and management and applications of technology (including educational technology, management of information technology, and social impact). The concentration courses can be selected from a long list including courses on networks, performance, middleware, communications, and operations research.

The Ph.D. degree requires the following thirteen courses: three core courses; three courses chosen from the breadth course list, with at most two chosen from the Management and Applications of Technology list; four courses chosen from the concentration course lists, with at least one course chosen from at least three different concentrations; and three additional courses, chosen with the approval of the research advisor. Students must also complete two teaching practicum courses (ICS 399) and a dissertation.

Courses applied to the M.S. degree can also be applied to the Ph.D. degree. Students who have taken similar graduate-level courses at another university may petition to apply these courses to the Ph.D. requirements. Ph.D. students who have served as teaching assistants, readers, or tutors at another university may petition to apply this experience toward the teaching practicum requirement. The normative time for advancement to candidacy is three years (two for students who entered with a master's degree). The normative time for completion of the Ph.D. is six years (five for students who entered with a master's degree), and the maximum time permitted is seven years.

Core Courses

  • NetSys 201 (Internet) [cross listed with EECS 248A and CS 232]
  • NetSys 202 (Networking Laboratory) [cross listed with CS 233]
  • 3 units of NetSys 295 (Networked Systems Seminar) in Fall, Winter and Spring of the same academic year

Breadth Courses

Computer Science & Engineering Breadth Courses

  • CS 201 (Foundations of Cryptographic Protocols)
  • CS 222 (Principles of Data Management)
  • CS 230 (Distributed Computer Systems)
  • or
  • EECS 211 (Advanced System Software)
  • CS 250A (Computer Systems Architecture) 
  • or 
  • EECS 213 (Computer Architecture)
  • CS 260 (Fundamentals of the Design and Analysis of Algorithms) 
  • or
  • EECS 215 (Design and Analysis of Algorithms)
  • CS 261 (Data Structures)
  • CS 265 (Graph Algorithms)
  • CS 278 (Probability Models)
  • or
  • EECS 240 (Random Processes)
  • EECS 260A (Linear Systems I)
  • EECS 270A (Advanced Analog Integrated Circuit Design I)

Management and Applications of Technology Breadth Courses

  • Education 240 (Instructional Design and Education Technology)
  • Education 251 (Issues in Educational Policy and Reform)
  • Education 270 (New Information and Communication Technologies for Administrators)
  • Education 277B (School Restructuring and Resource Allocation)
  • Inf 251 (Computer-Supported Cooperative Work)
  • Inf 261 (Social Analysis of Computing)
  • Inf 267 (Computing and Cyberspace)
  • Inf 269 (Computer Law)
  • MBA 275 (Strategic Information Systems)
  • MBA 277 (Managing Electronic Business)
  • Planning, Policy, and Design 106 (Technology and Economic Development)
  • Planning, Policy, and Design 173 (Technology Analysis)
  • Political Science 155B (Political/Social Impacts of Computing)
  • Sociology 212 (Network Theory)
  • Sociology 280 (Analysis of Social Network Data)

Concentration Courses

Networks Concentration

  • NetSys 210 (Advanced Networks) [cross-listed with CS 234]
  • NetSys 230 (Wireless and Mobile Networking) [cross-listed with CS 236]
  • NetSys 240 (Network and Distributed System Security) [cross-listed with CS 203]
  • CS 244 (Introduction to Embedded and Ubiquitous Systems)

Middleware Concentration

  • NetSys 260 (Middleware for Networked and Distributed Systems) [cross-listed with CS 237]
  • NetSys 261 (Distributed Computer Systems) [cross-listed with EECS 218]
  • CS 212 (Multimedia Systems and Applications)
  • EECS 219 (Distributed Software Architecture and Design)
  • EECS 223 (Real-time Computer Systems)
  • EECS 224 (Fault-Tolerant Computing)

Performance Concentration

  • NetSys 256 (Network Coding) [cross-listed with EECS 246]
  • CS 268 (Introduction to Optimization)
  • CEE 221A (Transportation Systems Analysis I)
  • CEE 221B (Transportation Systems Analysis II)
  • CEE 228A (Urban Transportation Networks I)
  • MAE206 (Nonlinear Optimization Methods)
  • MBA 201B (Management Science)

Communications Concentration

  • EECS 203A (Digital Image Processing)
  • EECS 241A (Digital Communications I)
  • EECS 241B (Digital Communications II)
  • EECS 242 (Information Theory)
  • EECS 243 (Error Correcting Codes)
  • EECS 244 (Wireless Communications)
  • EECS 245 (Space-Time Coding)
  • EECS 250 (Digital Signal Processing I)
  • EECS 251A (Detection & Estimation, and Theory I)
  • EECS 251B(Detection & Estimation, and Theory II)
  • CS 267 (Data Compression)

Requirements

Applicants to the Networked Systems Program are expected to hold a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or Electrical Engineering. Those who have Bachelor’s degrees in another field may be required to take supplementary coursework to demonstrate sufficient background in the field. Applicants will be evaluated on the basis of their prior academic record and their potential for creative research and teaching, as demonstrated in submitted application materials. These materials include university transcripts, letters of recommendation, GRE test scores, and Statement of Purpose.

In addition, foreign students who wish to quality for Teaching Assistantships will need to receive a 26 or higher on the speaking portion of the TOEFL


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Scholarships

  • Fellowships or Grants
  • Teaching or Research Assistantships 
  • Need-based Financial Aid
  • Personal Resources 
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