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Computer science students at CMU-Q learn both the theoretical foundations and the practical knowledge to push the frontiers of the field and make a real-world impact.

Students learn the fundamentals of computer science, including mathematical reasoning, algorithmic thinking and programming. They individualize their degrees with a minor in a second field, or they can choose a computer science concentration:

  • Algorithms and Complexity
  • Computational Biology*
  • Computer Systems
  • Principles of Programming Languages
  • Security and Privacy*

*These concentrations have some requirements that must be completed remotely or at the Pittsburgh campus.

Students also have many opportunities to engage in research, including senior thesis projects, summer programs, and internships with faculty-led research groups.

The Carnegie Mellon Approach

Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar follows the curriculum of the CMU School of Computer Science. One of the first computer science schools in the world, the School of Computer Science consistently ranks among the top computer science programs.

CMU-Q computer science graduates begin their careers with:

  • A solid core of computer science coursework
  • Substantial depth in a second area through a required minor or concentration
  • The formal foundation to remain current as technologies change through a mathematics and probability component
  • Insight into the practical issues of building and maintaining systems through intensive project-oriented courses

Students in the computer science program acquire skills that transcend technological trends. The program encourages teamwork and communication in both technical and multi-disciplinary contexts.

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science

The Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science provides students with a core set of skills: mathematical reasoning, algorithmic thinking, and the fundamentals of programming.

Through mathematics and probability courses, students develop the formal foundations to remain current as technologies change. Intensive project-oriented courses provide insight into the practical issues of building and maintaining systems, and a required minor or concentration offers substantial depth in a second field.

  • Computer science students have identical graduation requirements as students on the main campus
  • CMU-Q graduates have CMU degrees, conferred from the main campus

Areas of study

The Carnegie Mellon computer science curriculum provides a common, solid foundation. Students are then encouraged to obtain in-depth knowledge in specific areas of computer science based on their interests.

Big Data and Machine Learning

Many applications, businesses, and scientific disciplines must collect, store, clean and analyze massive amounts of data. Students learn machine learning techniques to extract information, create large-scale database management systems, and leverage cloud systems and architectures to process this information.

Robust and Secure Systems

Security is a critical area in our fully connected world. Students develop a solid understanding of the system software, including device operating systems, networked systems and protocols, and fundamental distributed systems challenges.

Robotics and Artificial Intelligence

Many traditional roles are being automated so they can be done more safely and efficiently. Different areas of computing merge to enable technologies that include industrial automated factories, disaster area navigation and driverless vehicles.

Cutting-edge Applications

Many applications have become so popular that they are now sub-disciplines within computer science, including web applications, natural language processing, and computational biology.

Theory and Logic

Knowing how to program is the first step; knowing how to program well is the next challenge. Theory and logic courses explore areas such as sequential and parallel algorithms, complexity, languages and automata and graph theory.

Programming Paradigms

Programming is our way of communicating with computers and a basic tool for every computer scientist. At CMU-Q, students learn how to program imperative, functional and object-oriented paradigms, with emphasis on proving programs correct.

Hands-on experience

Students in the computer science program acquire skills that transcend technological trends. The program encourages creativity and provides the fundamental skills to develop new technologies.

This is a small sample of course projects that CMU-Q students have worked on:

  • CMUQ Flix: movie recommendation application using a three-tier architecture
  • Natural language processing applications, such as statistical machine translation or question answering systems
  • Multi-robot simultaneous localization and mapping
  • Systems projects that include implementing services that interface with the basic operating system
  • Bittorrent-like application for peer-to-peer data transfer
  • Flying robot navigation using convolutional neural networks
  • The assembly, annotation and protein-by-protein analysis of bacteriophages
  • Adaptive video streaming application using content distribution networks
  • Remote file storage and access
  • Building scalable and concurrent web servers
  • Simultaneous task allocation and path discovery in multi-robot systems
  • Collaborative games involving robots and humans
  • Embedded systems projects such as self-parking cars, wireless helicopters, and virtual pianos
  • Sound direction source detector
  • Parallel algorithms for image segmentation and scaling, computational geometry and database search
  • Implementation of a theorem prover
  • Design and implementation of a programming language, including proofs about it

Sample plan

What will I do with my degree?

Graduates find work as software engineers, Artificial Intelligence (AI) engineers, machine learning specialists, network architects, data scientists, cybersecurity engineers or roboticists. They can also work in emerging fields such as language technology, computational biology, human-computer interaction and robotics.

Computer Science grads are across Qatar and around the world.

Sabih

“That is where we as CMU-Q grads have an advantage. Our education hasn’t been about specific content, but how to learn, think and problem-solve.”

Sabih Bin Wasi, Class of 2015, Founder and CEO, Stellic

Program at a Glance

Standard completion time

4 Years


Minimum units required for degree:

360 units

Computer science: 126; Mathematics: 48; Technical communication: 9; Science and Engineering: 36; Humanities and Arts: 63; Minor requirements/electives: 75; Computing @ Carnegie Mellon: 3


Admission requirements
All applicants are required to meet the following academic and subject prerequisites.


Application deadline
Fall Semester: January 15


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Research opportunities

Research opportunities

Computer science students are involved in real-life problem sets from their first semester, gaining invaluable experience in discovery, method and generating new ideas.

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Academic Enrichment

Academic Enrichment

Computer science students can choose from an extensive slate of academic enrichment opportunities, including a variety of programming and computing-related competitions.

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Arts and Sciences

Arts and Sciences

Arts and Sciences courses include mandatory and elective classes in a wide range of academic areas, including Arabic studies, chemistry, English, history, math, psychology and physics.

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What will your day look like?

What will your day look like?

Take a look at a day in the life of a student at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

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Upcoming events

Alumni Senior Ghabqa

8:00PM - 10:00PM

Integration Bee Competition

10:00AM - 4:00PM

Conference: Leading Together

12:00AM - 11:59PM

Graduation Ceremony, Class of 2024

7:00PM - 8:30PM

Meet the Faculty

Gianni Di Caro

Gianni Di Caro

Associate Teaching Professor, Computer Science
Eduardo Feo Flushing

Eduardo Feo Flushing

Assistant Teaching Professor, Computer Science
Madhavi K. Ganapathiraju

Madhavi K. Ganapathiraju

Visiting Associate Teaching Professor, Computational Biology, Computer Science
Mohammad Hammoud

Mohammad Hammoud

Associate Teaching Professor, Computer Science
Khaled Harras

Khaled Harras

Senior Associate Dean, Faculty
Full Teaching Professor, Computer Science
Christos Kapoutsis

Christos Kapoutsis

Associate Teaching Professor, Computer Science
Kemal Oflazer

Kemal Oflazer

Teaching Professor, Computer Science
Giselle Reis

Giselle Reis

Area Head, Computer Science
Associate Teaching Professor, Computer Science
Ryan Riley

Ryan Riley

Associate Area Head, Computer Science
Associate Teaching Professor, Computer Science