Our Exciting Environment
Research
Our college maintains a strong research program with significant funding from the major federal research agencies and private industry. With a substantial increase in faculty strength and research funding in recent years, we are actively seeking highly motivated, bright, hardworking students who are interested in pursuing a PhD degree in computer science or in the interdisciplinary field of information assurance. Graduate students and faculty members are involved in exciting projects in a wide range of research areas, including programming languages, software engineering, distributed and parallel computing, cryptography, network security, health informatics, network science, databases, information retrieval, and artificial intelligence. Colloquia and weekly research seminars contribute to the vibrant research atmosphere in the college.
Curriculum
Our curriculum encompasses both the breadth and depth needed for graduate school. Specialized, advanced courses for PhD students in computer science, information assurance, and personal health informatics are designed to prepare all students for research early in their doctoral education. The PhD seminar introduces entering PhD students to the college’s wide range of ongoing research activities in computer science. The MS curriculum in computer science combines the study of basic algorithms and theoretical computer science principles with advanced programming and software design methods. It gives students the opportunity to develop the analytical and problem-solving skills needed to pursue challenging professional careers.
In addition, we offer two interdisciplinary master’s degree programs for working professionals: the MS in Health Informatics program, which prepares graduates to use information technology to improve health-care delivery and outcomes; and the MS in Information Assurance program, which focuses on information technology and incorporates the understanding of the social sciences, law, criminology, and management needed to prevent and combat cyber attacks.
Infrastructure
Our college has three student laboratories housing a mix of Solaris, Linux, and Windows XP workstations, and separate research lab facilities. In addition, the Information Assurance Laboratory provides students with hands-on experience in information assurance exercises in an isolated network environment.
All faculty and supported graduate students have their own workstations. Our computing facilities, supported by our own systems administrators and assisted by the student crew, are connected via a high-speed network and serviced by a cadre of dedicated data servers.
College Community
Our college is a tightly knit community, and the faculty, staff, and students interact regularly through half-yearly town hall meetings, weekly teas, and seminars. A diverse, multicultural graduate student body and faculty members encourage rich extracurricular interaction. The student ACM chapter organizes a number of social events to promote friendship and camaraderie within the CCIS community.
University
Northeastern University offers a wealth of other resources for CCIS students: 11 undergraduate schools and colleges; 10 graduate and professional schools; brand-new research and recreation complexes; Snell Library, the largest academic library in Boston; the Curry Student Center; and the cultural and geographic diversity of the student body. Students attend Northeastern from all 50 U.S. states and more than 100 countries.
Boston
Located on the Avenue of the Arts in Boston’s historic Back Bay, the college takes advantage of its location to foster collaborations with other institutions in the greater Boston area. More than 50 colleges and universities are within a 25-mile radius of the campus, adding to Northeastern’s intellectual vitality. Just seven miles west of the campus is Route 128, which together with the outlying Route 495 highway belt, forms the East Coast equivalent to Silicon Valley, offering graduate students countless career and mentoring opportunities. The campus is a short walk from several Boston landmarks, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Symphony Hall, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Fenway Park. For information on off-campus and on-campus housing, please visit the University’s Department of Residential Life.
