Department of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University
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Department of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins Universityspacer

About Us

Because of its research thrust the Department of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University provides an ideal environment for aspiring and curious undergraduate students and graduate students alike who want to be challenged. Small classes, smart students, outstanding faculty, and intriguing research opportunities combine to create a meaningful and exhilarating educational experience of the highest quality.

The growing prestige of our Department is evidenced by our leadership roles in several key areas.  Our faculty and students publish frequently in the top Computer Science conferences.  These conferences (with acronyms such as ACM, CCS, CVPR, FOCS, SIGCOMM, SIGGRAPH, STOC, and so on) are the source points of today’s ideas in computing that will have the most impact on our world tomorrow.  In addition, most of our faculty members serve on leading editorial boards and conference committees.

 

Curriculum

THE PACE OF A CHANGING FIELD

Our curriculum provides the foundational knowledge and skills industry demands in Computer Science graduates. Our research focus substantially enhances our curriculum providing students with knowledge and skills that move beyond the basics. Seeking answers to pertinent research problems on a daily basis, our professors bring their latest discoveries into the classroom.

Courses are not strictly textbook based.  Often instructors who know the subject intimately and are deeply involved in research craft their courses to reflect the latest available knowledge and techniques, thus more effectively helping students keep pace with an ever changing field.

Computer Science is an interdisciplinary intellectual activity that crosses into many different fields. Working closely with other departments at Hopkins, we are involved in a range of  interdisciplinary research activities, such as speech and language, robotics, scientific computing, security and privacy, and medical applications of computing.  These programs help expand the student’s horizon.

 

Close Working Groups

COLLABORATION AND PROGRESS

Each student is treated as an individual, with unique goals, drives and needs. Our department is small enough to foster close working relationships among faculty and students, and among graduates and undergraduates. At the undergraduate level our faculty-to-student ratio remains low, assuring students get the individual attention they need.  

 

Departmental Profile

Faculty                          17
PhD students              77
Masters students       64
Undergraduates         110

 

Faculty

CODING THE FUTURE

Students who enter our Computer Science program have the opportunity to work with some of the top thinkers in the field.  These preeminent research scientists and professors are not only respected throughout the academic world, they are also well known in the industry sector among fast track companies and government contractors.

The atmosphere in the department  is one of openness, freedom and challenge. “We pretty much let our faculty do what they want,” says Department Chair, Scott Smith.  “Great strides are made in research and our instructional program is infused with fresh knowledge on a continual basis.”  

 

GRADUATES

POPULATING A LUCRATIVE FIELD

Computer Science is a popular engineering discipline and an integral part of just about every type of business. The domestic job outlook is excellent.  In recent years there has been significant job growth in the field and demand for computer science graduates is increasing substantially. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the professional level IT workforce will grow at more than twice the rate of the overall workforce over the next eight years. In addition, experts predict a shortage of US graduates in the coming years. 

Our graduates are aggressively sought after by many forward-thinking companies in a diversity of fields such as aerospace, bioscience, genetics, computer security, internet technology, medicine.  Graduates with an entrepreneurial spirit launch their own successful companies or serve as industry consultants. Many of our graduate students remain in research and development either in industry or academia. Your degree from the Computer Science Department at Johns Hopkins University opens the world of opportunities.  

 

RESEARCH

EXCELLENCE IN FOCUSED AREAS

The challenge of Computer Science is to ride the leading edge of a rapid and ever-shifting evolutionary curve and the most effective way to accomplish this is through ongoing research. Our Department excels in five focused research areas: 


  1. Algorithms – A core area which explores new computer algorithms and the performance of existing computer algorithms.  Algorithms is a long standing strength of our department, dating from before the department’s inception. 

    Theoretical Computer Science

  2. Robotics, Vision and Graphics – These three closely aligned areas all involve 3-D computer modeling.  Much of our world-leading research in this area emanates from the  Center for Computer-Integrated Surgical Systems and Technology (CISST).  We are also  pursuing related research in human-computer interaction, shape recognition and shape matching, as well as other challenges. 

    Engineering Research Center/Computer Integrated Surgery
    Computational Interaction and Robotics Lab
    Computer Graphics


  3. Security – Making computer systems secure is one of the greatest research challenges today.  It demands broad-thinking researchers with skills across multiple areas. We have established a national presence in this exploding area of research and are recruiting some of the most talented students from around the world.  

    Information Security Institute
    The Security and Privacy Applied Research lab
    ACCURATE: A Center for Correct, Usable, Reliable, Auditable, and
                Transparent Elections


  4. Systems –  This core research area grapples with improving operating systems and data storage and defining higher standards for security evaluation.  We have a young and energetic systems faculty working on new challenges, programming networks of sensors, managing terabytes of disk data, and securing computer operating systems and network protocols.

    Hopkins Storage Systems Lab
    Programming Languages Lab
    Distributed Systems and Networks Lab
    The Hopkins interNetworking Research Lab (HiNRG)

  5. Natural Language Processing – This vital area is concerned with enabling computers to work more effectively with human languages, identifying input strings and corresponding output, defining correlations between text and speech, form and content, syntax and translations. The prestige of our Center for Language and Speech Processing (CLSP) has enabled us to attract the absolute best faculty and students in this field and as a result we have become one of the leading departments for PhDs in this area.    

    Natural Language Processing
    Center for Language and Speech Processing


As a result of our focus on research, the Department provides an exceptionally rich learning environment for all students. They have the rare opportunity to participate in discovery and share in the excitement of groundbreaking research.  Through our research they witness the transformation of the field, its shifting paradigms and the latest waves of technology

 

RESEARCH LABORATORIES

Our research labs are each uniquely designed by the faculty members to support their groups structure and how equipment is shared.  Within the bounds of these walls the faculty and students are free to build the working environment that most effectively meets their needs.  Labs are open 24/7 and serve as hubs of collaboration between faculty, graduate students and undergrads as well as individuals from other departments. 











 













































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