About Us

Welcome to the Department of Computer Science at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The department provides an excellent learning environment for both undergraduate and graduate students, and is proud to be part of UAB, one of the top universities in the nation that are ranked as "R1: Doctoral Universities — Highest Research Activity" in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

Strong Undergraduate Programs

• Our B.S. in Computer Science program is accredited by ABET, one of the most widely recognized accreditors of college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology.
• The department is home to the interdisciplinary B.A. in Computer Science (also known as CS+X) program, which is designed for students interested in combining a strong foundation in computer science with a broad-based education in another discipline, including those in business and liberal arts. Graduates of the B.A. program will be equipped with a T-shaped knowledge base and versatile skill set, meeting the rapidly-evolving demands for such young professionals.
• The department offers the interdisciplinary B.S. in Bioinformatics jointly with the Heersink School of Medicine's Informatics Institute and Department of Genetics, and the College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Biology. This major trains students in basic concepts and skills to perform computational analysis of biological data, leading to careers that involve analyzing large-scale biological datasets, including datasets resulting from genome sequencing projects, gene expression studies, genome-wide association studies, and proteomic and metabolomic datasets. An exciting direction of this work is to help guide treatment of human disease through precision medicine. Watch this video to learn more about the bioinformatics major. 
• We offer the B.S. in Digital Forensics program jointly with the J. Frank Barefield, Jr. Department of Criminal Justice, where students will gain the knowledge necessary to discover, recover, analyze, and present in court information that has been stored on digital devices used during illegal activities.

Flexible Graduate Programs

At the graduate level, our Ph.D. program has been growing steadily since it was first established in 1972. We also offer three master's programs:

• M.S. in Computer Science (provides students with an opportunity to acquire expertise in big data, cyber security, mobile applications, and other emerging fields of importance)
• M.S. in Cyber Security (jointly offered with the J. Frank Barefield, Jr. Department of Criminal Justice and the Collat School of Business)
• M.S. in Data Science (prepares graduate students for a professional career in the field of big data)

All three M.S. programs are flexible to cater to the needs of all students, including full-time, part-time, domestic, and international students. We also offer two certificate programs.

Faculty & Research

Continuing our success in scholarly research, department faculty are challenging the boundaries of knowledge in four focused research areas, including cyber security, data science and analytics, biomedical applications, and advanced cyber infrastructures (encompassing cloud computing, high-performance computing, and the Internet of Things). Our faculty’s research has been funded by both major federal agencies and industrial technology giants. Additionally, we collaborate closely with researchers from other universities, industries, and government agencies.

I wholeheartedly invite you to explore our website to get a glimpse of some of the exciting learning, research, and collaboration opportunities our department has to offer.