Virginia Tech®home

Approved Cognate Courses

Cognate Courses are specially designated graduate-level courses from departments outside of Computer Science. This page identifies the list of approved cognate courses. Ph.D. students are required to take 3 to 9 credit hours from this list and M.S. Thesis students can (but are not required to) take at most 3 credit hours from this list. A cognate may not significantly overlap the content of any other course on a student's Plan of Study.

Students wishing to add a course to this list should submit a request to the Associate Department Head for Graduate Studies, along with documentation supporting the following criterion. The principal requirement is that the course have a strong relationship to computer science (e.g., be an application area of computing or clearly relevant to the student's research work). We will not generally approve as a cognate a course whose primary focus is teaching programming or use of software packages.

Normally, students will be permitted to use as a cognate only courses from this list. However, Ph.D. students may be given permission to substitute a course not on this list; such requests should include a supporting note from the advisor. With the consent of their research advisor, an MS Thesis or Ph.D. student may petition GPC to substitute additional cognate courses in place of required 5000-level courses in CS on their plan of study.

Accounting and Information Systems (ACIS)

  • 5704: Managing Information Systems for Executive Decision Making

Aerospace and Ocean Engineering (AOE)

  • 5074: Advanced Ship Structural Analysis
  • 6145-46: Computational Fluid Dynamics

Biochemistry (BCHM)

  • 5024: Computational Biochemistry for Bioinformatics (BCHM 5024 may not be used as a  cognate by students who are taking the CSA degree option in Bioinformatics)

Business Information Technology (BIT)

  • 5114: Crime & Conflict in Cyberspace
  • 5564 Healthcare Information Tech

Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • 5064: Knowledge-Based Expert Systems
  • 5084: Information Technologies in Constgruction

Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)

  • 4530: Hardware-Software Codesign
  • 4534: Embedded System Design
  • 4540: VLSI Circuit Design
  • 4550: Real-Time Systems
  • 5434: Cyber-Physical Systems
  • 5505-6: Testing and Verification of Digital Systems
  • 5514: Design of Systems on a Chip
  • 5534: Electronic Design Automation
  • 5554: Computer Vision
  • 5605: Stochastic Signals and Systems
  • 5644: Game Theory for Communications Networks
  • 5654 Digital Communications II: Advanced Theory and Analysis
  • 5664 Cellular Communication Systems
  • 5714: Robust Estimation and Filtering
  • 5734: Convex Optimization
  • 5840: Cybersecurity and IOT
  • 6314: Advanced Instrumentation in Power Systems
  • 6334: Computational Methods in Power Engineering
  • 6504: Advanced Topics in Computer Engineering
  • 6604: Advanced Topics in Communications

Educational Research and Evaluation (EDRE)

  • 5644: Questionnaire Design and Survey Research
  • 6504: Qualitative Methods in Educational Research I
  • 6524: Qualitative Methods in Educational Research II
  • 6605-6: Quantitative Research Methods in Education I & II
  • 6654: Multivariate Statistics

Engineering Science and Mechanics (ESM)

  • 5734: Introduction to the Finite Element Method
  • 5984: ESM Special Study Class on Scientific Visual Analysis and Multimedia
  • 6734: Finite Element Analysis

Geography (GEOG)

  • 5034: Analysis of Spatial Data
  • 5314: Geographic Information Systems

Industrial Systems Engineering (ISE)

  • 5104: Operations Research
  • 5154: Applied Human Factors Engineering
  • 5314: Industrial Applications of Robotics Devices
  • 5405-06: Optimization
  • 5424: Simulation
  • 5464: Queuing Theory
  • 5604: Human Information Processing
  • 5624: Human Factors Research Design
  • 5654: Human Factors System Design
  • 6404: Graph Theory and Network Flows
  • 6414: Integer Programming
  • 6424: Dynamic Programming
  • 6434: Scheduling and Sequence Theory
  • 6464: Queuing Networks
  • 6514: Advanced Topics in Mathematical Programming
  • 6614: Human Computer Systems

Mathematics (MATH)

  • 5114: Specialized Topics in Algebra
  • 5125-26: Abstract Algebra
  • 5214: Topics in Analysis
  • 5225-26: Real Analysis
  • 5235-36: Complex Analysis
  • 5245-46: Ordinary Differential Equations
  • 5344: Specialized Topics in Topology and Geometry
  • 5424: Numerical Linear Algebra
  • 5425-26: Applied Partial Differential Equations
  • 5454: Graph Theory
  • 5464: Combinatorics
  • 5515-16: Modeling and Simulation of Biological Systems
  • 5524: Matrix Theory
  • 5545-46: Calculus of Variations and Optimal Control Theory
  • 5554: Approximation Theory

Mechanical Engineering (ME)

  • 5704: Robotics and Automation
  • 5714: Digital Signal Processing
  • 5724: Advanced Instrumentation and Signal Processing
  •  

Philosophy (PHIL)

  • 5505, 5506: Symbolic Logic

Plant Pathology, Physiology, & Weed Science (PPWS)

  • 5314 Biological Paradigms for Bioinformatics (PPWS 5314 may not be used as cognates by students who are taking the CSA degree option in Bioinformatics)

Science and Technology Studies (STS)

  • 6614: Advanced Topics in Technology Studies

Statistics (STAT)

  • 5104: Probability and Distribution Theory
  • 5105G-5106G Advanced Theoretical Statistics
  • 5114: Statistical Inference
  • 5124: Linear Models Theory
  • 5204: Experimental Design and Analysis
  • 5314: Monte Carlo Methods in Statistics
  • 5414: Time Series Analysis I
  • 5434: Applied Stochastic Processes
  • 5444: Bayesian Statistics
  • 5454: Reliability Theory
  • 5504: Multivariate Statistical Methods
  • 5615-5616: Statistics in Research
  • 5664: Applied Time Series Analysis
  • 6105-06: Measure and Probability