Policies and Forms

To oversee this process, the student forms a Research Qualifier Committee consisting of three faculty members and one Robotics Ph.D. student who has completed his or her second year of study. One faculty committee member must hold a primary appointment in Robotics. The faculty members should include the student's advisor, one faculty member from the student's research area, and one faculty member from outside the area. Typically, the student's advisor will be the chairperson of the committee. The total time required for a student to accomplish the research qualifier is expected to be approximately 50% effort for two years. Any student who does not complete the entire Research Qualifier by the end of the third year of study will no longer be in good standing in the Program, subject to the judgment of the faculty.

• Research Qualifier - Committee [ Webform ]

The ability to create, explore, refine, and test new ideas in robotics. Students are expected to demonstrate awareness of previous work in their area of research, depth of insight into the problem, creativity in approaching the problem, and substance of results obtained.

• Research Qualifier - Research Skills [ Webform | PDF ]

The ability to communicate in oral presentation. Students are expected to demonstrate the ability to present technical material to a technical audience clearly and succinctly. The presentation must be made at a venue open to the public. Ideally, the Research Qualifying Committee will be in attendance, but committee members may designate proxies to evaluate the presentation.

• Procedures for the Speaking Qualifier
• Research Qualifier - Speaking Qualifier [ Webform ] [PDF]

The ability to communicate in technical writing. A student is expected to produce a conference-length, or longer, paper, in which he/she is the sole, or the primary, author plus a one page executive summary in which he/she is the sole author. The paper should demonstrate a style, organization and clarity that enables researchers in the field to comprehend the problem, method, and results of the research being written about. Students who have written papers prior to entering the Robotics Program may submit them for evaluation, provided they meet the above criteria.

• Research Qualifier - Writing Qualifier [ Webform | PDF ]

The experience of teaching in a classroom environment. This includes demonstration of as many as possible of the following: lecturing, recitation instruction, homework and exam design, grading, office hours, curriculum design. Each student must serve as a teaching assistant (TA) in two courses relevant to the Robotics Program. Allowable courses will be defined by the Chair of the Program. Students may arrange to serve as TA by contacting the Program Coordinator at the beginning of the semester before the semester in which the student will act as a TA. The student is not required to spend more than twenty hours, but is not prohibited from doing so. The instructor should provide feedback to the student concerning the quality of the student's teaching. The instructor should report to the Program Coordinator his or her evaluation of whether the student has carried out the TA activities successfully.

• Research Qualifier - Teaching Assistantship [ Webform ]

The Specialized Course qualifier is a sequence of courses chosen by the student to enhance the Core Course subject matter by adding greater depth a particular area. These specialization courses must total at least 48 units of graduate coursework. The Specialized Course Qualifier must be defined by the student in conjunction with their Ph.D. Advisor and then approved by the Program Committee Chairperson. Students are strongly encouraged to seek approval before completing courses. Any course completed prior to approval is at risk and may not be deemed eligible for their qualifier. ​

SPECIALIZED QUALIFIER GUIDELINES: Graduate level (600 - 800-level) courses only

• No more than 12 units of non-doctoral (600-level) graduate courses
• No more than 12 units of project-only courses
• No more than 12 units of independent study (Independent study courses must include syllabus, schedule, assignments, and evaluation criteria. Syllabus submitted with the SQ form.)
• Core courses can be used in the Specialized Qualifier sequence, but only in addition to 48-units of Core Qualifier courses
• Teaching Assistantships cannot be included as Specialized Qualifier courses

LISTING OF CORE COURSES:

• Perception: 16-720 Computer Vision and 16-722 Sensing and Sensors
• Cognition: 15-780 Graduate Artificial Intelligence, 10-701 Machine Learning, and 10-715 Advanced Machine Learning
• Action: 16-741 Mechanics of Manipulation and 16-711 Kinematics, Dynamic Systems, and Control
• Math Foundations: 16-811 Math Fundamentals for Robotics

Specialized Qualifier - [ Webform ]

At Carnegie Mellon courses can only be credited to a single degree; additionally transfer credit for graduate courses completed at other institutions is not granted in robotics. However if students possess all of the knowledge conferred and evaluated in a particular course, they may apply for a waiver to be released from the requirement of enrolling and completing the course.

On the basis of previous experience and knowledge students may apply, by completing a waiver request form, to waive any course. The Chair of the Ph.D. Program will then assign a suitable faculty member to evaluate the request, typically the relevant course instructor or an expert on the topic. The faculty member will then conduct an evaluation which may include oral examination, proctoring of course quizzes or exams including final exams, assigning course exercises, assignments or projects, or any combination of these. They will assess the extent and quality of knowledge and its sufficiency relative to the course objectives and requirements.

In some cases, the faculty may determine that a student has demonstrated significant knowledge of the research area, but not sufficient to waive the course requirement entirely. In such cases, the faculty may grant a conditional waiver, contingent upon additional work, such as successfully acting as teaching assistant in the course or completing some designated project. If a student disagrees with the outcome of the waiver application, they may petition the Robotics Program Committee to review the case.

Waiver Application