UCI Networked Systems
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  Degree Requirements for Networked Systems M.S. and Ph.D. Degrees
 

Masters Degrees:

Students pursuing the M.S. degree may choose either Plan I (Thesis Plan) or Plan II (Comprehensive Examination Plan).

Students following Plan I (Thesis Plan) must complete the following 10 courses, and a thesis:

  • the three core courses
  • two courses chosen from the breadth course lists, with at most one chosen from the Management and Applications of Technology List
  • three courses chosen from the concentration course lists, with at least one course chosen from at least two different concentrations
  • two additional courses, chosen with the prior approval of the student's advisor

Students following Plan II (Comprehensive Examination Plan) must complete the following 12 courses, and must pass a comprehensive examination which will be administered through NetSys 295 and will consist of a term paper on a topic relevant to the student's educational program and that term's speakers:

  • the three core courses
  • three courses chosen from the breadth course lists, with at most two chosen from the Management and Applications of Technology List
  • four courses chosen from the concentration course lists, with at least one course chosen from at least three different concentrations
  • two additional courses, chosen with the prior approval of the student's advisor
  

Ph.D. Degree:

The Ph.D. degree requires the following thirteen courses:

  • the three core courses
  • three courses chosen from the breadth course lists, with at most two chosen from the Management and Applications of Technology list
  • four courses chosen from the concentration course lists, with at least one course chosen from at least three different concentrations
  • three additional courses, chosen with the prior approval of the student's research advisor

Students must also complete two teaching practicum courses (ICS 399).

Students must complete a Ph.D. dissertation.

Please see Networked Systems Policies regarding applying courses taken as part of a M.S. degree program to these Ph.D. degree requirements.
 

 

Core Courses
NetSys 201 (Computer and Communication Networks) [cross listed with EECS 248A and CS 232]
NetSys 202 (Networking Laboratory) [cross listed with CS 233] This year this course will not be offered, a substitution policy will be made
3 units of NetSys 295 (Networked Systems Seminar) in Fall, Winter and Spring of the same academic year

 

Breadth Courses
Computer Science & Engineering Breadth Courses
CS 202 (Applied Cryptography)
CS 222 (Principles of Data Management)
CS 250A (Computer Systems Architecture)
or
EECS 213 (Computer Architecture)
CS 260 (Fundamentals of the Design and Analysis of Algorithms)
or
EECS 215 (Design and Analysis of Algorithms)
CS 261 (Data Structures)

CS 265 (Graph Algorithms)
CS 278 (Probability Models)
or
EECS 240 (Random Processes)
EECS 211 (Advanced System Software)
EECS 247 (Information Storage)
EECS 260A (Linear Systems I)
EECS 254 (Theory of Machine Learning)
or
CS 271 (Introduction to Artificial Intelligence)
Management and Applications of Technology Breadth Courses
CS 204 (Usable Security and Privacy) [cross listed with Inf 237]
Education 131 (Educational Technology)
Informatics 251 (Computer-Supported Cooperative Work)
Informatics 261 (Social Analysis of Computing)
Informatics 265 (Theories of Information Society)
Informatics 267 (Digital Media and Society)

MGMT 178 (Management of Information Technology)
Sociology 212 (Network Theory)

 

Concentration Courses
Networks Concentration
NetSys 210 (Advanced Networks) [cross-listed with CS 234]
NetSys 230 (Wireless and Mobile Networking) [cross-listed with CS 236]
NetSys 240 (Network and Distributed Systems Security) [cross-listed with CS 203]
CS 230 (Distributed Computer Systems)
CS 244 (Introduction to Embedded and Ubiquitous Systems)
CS 256 (Systems and Machine Learning)
EECS 232 (Data Privacy)
EECS 247 (Information Storage)
Performance Concentration
CS 206 (Principles of Scientific Computing)
CS 268 (Introduction to Optimization)
CS 273A (Machine Learning)
CS 274A (Probabilistic Learning: Theory and Algorithms)
CS 280 (Algorithmic Game Theory)
EECS 261A (Linear Optimization Methods)
EECS 263 (Convex Optimization)
ENGRMAE 206 (Nonlinear Optimization Methods)
Economics 116A (Game Theory I)
Sociology 280 (Analysis of Social Network Data)
Middleware Concentration
NetSys 260 (Middleware for Networked and Distributed Systems) [cross-listed with CS 237]
CS 205 (Computer and Systems Security)
CS 221 (Information Retrieval, Filtering, and Classification) [cross-listed with Software Engineering 225]
CS 223 (Transaction Processing and Distributed Data Management)
CS 238 (Advanced Operating Systems)
EECS 203A (Digital Image Processing)
EECS 223 (Real-Time Computer Systems)
EECS 224 (High-Performance Computing)
EECS 226 (Embedded System Software)
or
EECS 231 (Advanced System Security)
Communications Concentration
EECS 241A (Digital Communications I)

EECS 241B (Digital Communications II)
EECS 242 (Information Theory)
EECS 243 (Error Correcting Codes)
EECS 244 (Wireless Communications)
EECS 250 (Digital Signal Processing I)
EECS 251A (Detection, Estimation, and Demodulation Theory I)
EECS 251B (Detection, Estimation, and Demodulation Theory II)
EECS 253 (Machine Learning for Signal Processing)
Networked Systems last modified September 21, 2025 UCI • CS • EECS