Doctoral Student Opportunities
The following positions are open.
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Dr. Shuya (Emily) Feng
Dr. Shuya (Emily) Feng in the Department of Computer Science is seeking highly self-motivated Ph.D. students to join her research group. The main research areas include Differential Privacy, Federated Learning, Adversarial Machine Learning, LLM Security and Privacy, and Trustworthy AI.
Requirements:
- An outstanding graduate in computer science, applied mathematics, statistics, cybersecurity, or a related field
- Solid background in machine learning and deep learning with hands-on experience
- Strong mathematical foundation in probability, statistics, and linear algebra; familiarity with the theory of privacy (e.g., differential privacy, secure multi-party computation, cryptographic primitives) is a strong plus
- Knowledge of security and privacy concepts, including threat modeling, adversarial attacks, or privacy-preserving machine learning
- Experience with LLMs, federated learning frameworks (e.g., Flower, PySyft), or privacy libraries (e.g., Opacus, TensorFlow Privacy) is preferred
- Good writing and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate technical results clearly
- Determination and willingness to work hard on individual and team projects
Interested students should contact Dr. Shuya (Emily) Feng at
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with resume, transcripts, and a brief statement of research interests. Passionate students without any prior publication or research experience are encouraged to apply to collaborate first. -
Dr. Brandon Oubre
Dr. Brandon Oubre is seeking a highly motivated doctoral student to join his research group. Research will focus on the development of digital health tools for quantitative behavioral phenotyping and health monitoring based on time-series sensor data.
Requirements:
- Strong fundamental and practical knowledge in machine learning.
- Good computer science background.
- Evidence of good writing and presentation skills.
- Interest in human health and collaborative, interdisciplinary research. (Evidence of prior interdisciplinary work is preferred but not required.)
- Willingness to be involved in human subjects research protocols. (Prior experience is preferred but not required.)
Interested students should apply to the doctoral program and may send an email with an attached CV and transcript to Dr. Oubre at
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your CV. -
Dr. Hy Truong Son
Dr. Hy Truong Son in the Department of Computer Science is seeking highly self-motivated Ph.D. students to join his research group, HySonLab. The students will be fully funded and the main research areas include AI for Science, Bioinformatics, Drug Discovery, Drug Repurposing, Natural Language Processing for medical documents, and Computer Vision for medical imaging.
Requirements:
- An outstanding graduate in computer science, applied mathematics, or a related field
- Solid knowledge and skills in machine learning, deep learning and programming
- Good mathematical background
- Good writing and presentation skills
- Research experience and publications are highly preferred
- Determination and willingness to work hard on individual and team projects
Interested students should contact Dr. Hy Truong Son at
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with resume and transcript. Passionate students without any prior publication or research experience should apply to collaborate and work with HySonLab first. Preference for the Ph.D positions will be given to students who have prior publications with HySonLab.
Ph.D. Admissions Checklist
Application Deadlines for CS PhD Program
- Spring Admission: September 1
- Fall Admission: January 15
Graduate School Application Process Checklist
Apply Online
- Complete and submit an online application.
- Submit application fee payment:
- Domestic: $50.00
- International: $60.00
- Please ask the individuals from whom you request references to submit them online via the online application system. Electronic submission is the preferred method. However, if your referees prefer to mail a recommendation letter, it should be mailed to the address of the department or program to which you are applying.
- Request one official transcript to be mailed by the issuing institution to the UAB Graduate School:
- USPS (Postal Service)
UAB Graduate School
LHL G03
1720 2nd Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35294-0013 - Courier or Shipping Companies
UAB Graduate School
Lister Hill Library Suite G03
1700 University Boulevard
Birmingham, AL 35233
- USPS (Postal Service)
- Submit official English Language Proficiency test score (for international applicants only): TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE.
Questions?
John K. Johnstone, Ph.D.
Phone: (205) 975-5633
Email:
Address: 4161 University Hall, 1402 10th Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35294-1241
Doctoral Admissions
Admission into the Ph.D. program is competitive. All academic and scholarly achievements are employed in the evaluation process. The typical B.S. applicant to the Ph.D. program will have done a major project as an undergrad, and the typical M.S. applicant to the Ph.D. program will have some research background.
An application package is considered in its entirety (there are no minimum cutoffs), but typical admission requirements include:
Application Deadlines
- Spring Admission: September 1
- Fall Admission: January 15
- A strong academic background in computer science and mathematics is required, typically through an undergraduate degree in computer science, and including all of the prerequisites for the M.S. program. An M.S. degree in CS is not required. However, if you do have an M.S., the same GPA requirements hold as with the undergraduate GPA (minimal 3.5 GPA).
- Grade Point Average (GPA): GPA of 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) in your undergraduate CS major (or undergraduate major that includes the CS core), preferably higher in CS courses.
- Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL): for foreign students, 610 (paper exam), 253 (computer exam), or 100 (internet exam) on the TOEFL OR overall band score of 7 or better on International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The TOEFL/IELTS exam is waived for students whose native (first) language is English.
- A clear statement of study plan, including specific graduate study objectives, discussion of research experience, 1-2 areas of research interest, and 1-2 associated faculty you would like to serve as your research advisor.
- Graduate Record Examinations (GRE): No GRE exams are required.
If one of the areas of your application is particularly strong, it might offset a weakness in one of the other areas. Admission is based upon consideration of all of your strengths and weaknesses. Pre-evaluation of students before formal application is not available, since the application is considered as a whole by the entire admissions committee. Please do not request the graduate program director or other faculty members for such an evaluation.
Financial Support
We regularly have many positions open for full financial assistance, both due to graduating students and new research grants. All graduate applications are automatically considered for financial assistance.
Questions?
Faculty (including the graduate program director) should not be contacted to inquire about available financial assistance or a student’s potential for admission. However, it is fine to contact them to discuss research interests. You can also e-mail the department at
Doctoral Program
The Ph.D. in Computer Science prepares you for a life-long career in scientific inquiry, as well as the ability to work in industries where rapidly evolving computer science drives the 21st century world economy.
Our graduate students play a critical role in the department's research program, and they become researchers, teachers, and scholars in the community, state, region, and nation. Students completing the Ph.D. go on to find new ways to mine “big data” from the Internet, solve cyber security problems of national importance, create innovative visualization and graphics solutions, advance the use of modern IT infrastructure (such as cloud computing), and pursue inquiries at the frontiers of computer science understanding.
The Ph.D. program is research-oriented doctorate and provides computer science research opportunities for individuals who have a career goal of:
- research and teaching at a university,
- employment in industry or a national research lab, and
- multidisciplinary research, such as biomedical computing.
Program Basics and Timeline
The Ph.D. program usually requires a minimum of four years of study and research beyond the bachelor’s degree. Students interested in the program who have a sufficient computer science background may apply to the program directly after completing the B.S. degree.
The program consists of three phases (with some overlap between phases). The first is devoted primarily to formal coursework and preparation for the qualifying examination (Level 1). The second consists of coursework and research in preparation for the comprehensive examination, which requires presentation of a dissertation research proposal (Level 2). Successful completion of this phase leads to admission to candidacy. The final phase is the completion of the dissertation research and its defense (Level 3).
Program Requirements
All requirements are listed in the 
Ph.D. Program Handbook. Please see Section 3.1.
The Ph.D. program consists of three phases or levels:
- Level 1 involves foundational coursework, research, and preparation of a written survey/critique covering the breadth of a research area, and an oral presentation of the work. Please see Section 3.2 of the handbook for details.
- Level 2 involves additional coursework, research, and writing to establish the foundation for a dissertation proposal. Please see Section 3.3 of the handbook for details.
- Level 3 consists of research, paper and dissertation writing, and a final defense. Please see Section 3.4 of the handbook for details.
Questions About the Program?
We invite you to explore the resources here on this website. If you still have questions that are not addressed here, please e-mail the graduate program director at