MS Course Requirements

MS students must complete the following requirements:

• Core Courses (12 credits)
• Elective Courses (12 credits)
• Research/Capstone (12 credits)
• Graduate Seminar (non-credit)
• Winter Enrichment Program (non-credit)

Core and Elective Courses must be technical courses and cannot be substituted with Research or Internship to fulfill degree requirements.

CS students cannot take the following courses for academic credit toward their degree: CS 201 Introduction to Programming with Python, CS 204 Data Structures and Algorithms, CS 207  Programming Methodology and Abstractions. CS 209 Applied ML for Scientists and Engineers, selected offerings of CS 294 Contemporary Topics (as mentioned in their course description).

*For CS students, CS 201, CS 204, CS 207, and CS 209 are graded on an S/U (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory) basis and are not counted towards the degree requirements.

Core Courses (12 credits)

Core Courses provide students with the background needed to establish a solid foundation in the program area. Students must complete 12 credits (4 Core Courses) and be aware that Core Courses may be offered only once per academic year. Student must choose from the following list:

CS 213	Knowledge Representation and Reasoning	3
CS 220	Data Analytics	3
CS 224	Introduction to Reinforcement Learning	3
CS 225	Neural Network Design and Training	3
CS 229	Machine Learning	3
CS 230	Computer Systems Security	3
CS 231	Applied Network Security	3
CS 232	Applied Cryptography	3
CS 240	Computing Systems and Concurrency	3
CS 244	Computer Networks	3
CS 245	Databases	3
CS 247	Scientific Visualization	3
CS 248	Computer Graphics	3
CS 249	Algorithms in Bioinformatics	3
CS 256	Digital Design and Computer Architecture	3
CS 258	System Architecture and Performance	3
CS 260	Design and Analysis of Algorithms	3
CS 272	Geometric Modeling	3
CS 283	Deep Generative Modeling	3

Elective Courses (12 credits)

Elective Courses allow students to tailor their educational experience to meet individual research and educational objectives with the permission of the Academic Advisor. All Elective Courses must be at the 200-300 level. Students must fulfill the following requirements:

• One CS course (3 credits)
• One Courses from any CEMSE Program (3 credits)
• Two course from any KAUST Program* (6 credits)

*For CS students, CS 201, CS 204, CS 205, and CS 207 are graded on an S/U (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory) basis and are not counted towards the degree requirements.

Graduate Seminar (non-credit)

Students must register for CS 398 and receive a Satisfactory grade for two Semesters during their MS.

Winter Enrichment Program (non-credit)

All students must complete the Winter Enrichment Program (WE 100) for credit at least once during their studies at KAUST. Students who have previously completed WEP will be exempt from this requirement in their future studies. 

MS Thesis

Students planning to pursue the Thesis option must complete a minimum of 12 credits of Thesis Research (CS 297).

Thesis Application

Students must complete the application and have it approved by the Program Chair no later than the end of week one of their third Semester. The Thesis Advisor must be a full-time program-affiliated Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor at KAUST. The Thesis Advisor can only become project affiliated for the specific thesis project with the Program Chair’s approval. The application must include a Thesis Proposal endorsed by the Thesis Advisor and a timeline for completion.

MS Thesis students who meet the graduation requirements of the non-thesis track may drop the thesis up until the end of their third Semester. Students not able to complete their thesis after this deadline will face academic dismissal.

Thesis Committee Formation

 The MS thesis defense committee must include a minimum of three members and may have up to four members. The composition of the committee is outlined as follows: 

Member	Role	Affiliation
1	Faculty	Primary affiliation within the student’s program
2	Faculty	Primary affiliation within the student’s program
3	Faculty	Primary affiliation outside the student’s program
4	Faculty or Research Scientist	Affiliation within or outside of KAUST

Notes:

•  The committee must be approved by the Dean. 
• Members 1-3 are mandatory, while member 4 is optional. 
• The student’s advisor serves as the chair of the committee. If the advisor holds a primary affiliation within the student’s program, then they act as member 1. If the advisor has a secondary or one-time affiliation within the student’s program, then they act as member 3.
• The student’s co-advisor may serve as member 4. 
• Professors of Practice and Research Professors may serve as members 1-4, depending on their affiliation and whether they are the student’s advisor or co-advisor. 
• Adjunct Professors and Professors Emeriti may continue serving on committees in the roles they had at the time of their departure but are not permitted to serve on new committees.
• Visiting Professors may only serve as member 4. 
• Once approved, any changes to the committee require the approval of both the student's advisor and the Dean.

Petition to Defend Thesis

Students must submit a petition to defend their Thesis by the deadline published in the Academic Calendar. Students are responsible for scheduling the Thesis Defense Date. All committee members must attend the Defense. Students must defend their Thesis and obtain the final approval of the Defense within their duration of study (4 Semesters).

Thesis Defense Results

 The format of the Oral Defense is left to the discretion of the Thesis Committee. At the end of the Final Defense, students will be evaluated with one of the following outcomes:

• Pass: The Committee agrees with no more than one dissenting vote. The Thesis must be archived within two weeks of the defense, and the student must send the Thesis Result Form to the GPSA within two days of the defense.
• Pass with Conditions: All committee members must agree on the required conditions. If they cannot agree, the Dean will make the final decision. The student has up to three months to meet these conditions, unless the Committee unanimously agrees to change the deadline.
• Fail with Retake: If conditions cannot be met within three months, or more than one member casts a negative vote, one retake of the defense is allowed. The retake must occur within six months of the original defense unless the Committee unanimously agrees to a shorter timeline. If the student fails the retake, they will be dismissed from the University. The Committee Chair must immediately inform the GPSA to initiate the necessary actions.
• Fail Without Retake: The decision must be unanimous, resulting in the student’s dismissal from the University. The Committee Chair must inform the GPSA immediately to take the necessary actions. 

Additional Guidelines:

• Students who have exceeded their duration of study must apply for an extension as per the Time Limit and Extension Policy. All conditions must be fulfilled by the end of the extension period, which takes precedence over the Committee’s set deadlines. 
• The outcome of the Thesis Defense must be recorded by submitting the Thesis Defense Evaluation Form to the Office of the Registrar within two days of the defense.
• Additionally, students must submit the Defense Results Form by the deadline published in the Academic Calendar.
• The required forms are available on the webpage of the Office of the Registrar.  

Thesis Document

Students must follow the Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines available from the KAUST Library when they write their Thesis. Once the Thesis is ready to be examined, students must determine the Defense date with the agreement of all members of the Thesis Committee.

Thesis Archiving

Students must archive the Thesis in the KAUST Library two weeks from the final result form. This must not exceed the duration of study or the deadline published in the Academic Calendar.

MS Non-Thesis

Students wishing to pursue the non-thesis option must complete a total of 12 capstone credits, with 6 credits of directed research (CS 299). Students must complete the 6 remaining credits through one of the options listed below:

•  Internship: Summer internship (CS 295) – students can only take one internship
•  One 300-level CS course and one 300-level course from any degree program at KAUST.