Graduate Education

Full-time Ph.D. Program

Working together, our students and faculty drive our field forward while generating innovations with real-world impact.

Consistently ranked among the top computer science and engineering graduate programs in the nation, the Paul G. Allen School offers our 300 full-time graduate students a collegial and supportive learning environment; research opportunities of the highest quality; and the chance to collaborate with entrepreneurial faculty who are recognized leaders in their fields. We are proud of our record of accomplishment in mentoring student researchers who go on to positions at the very best academic departments and industry laboratories. Working together, our students and faculty drive our field forward while generating innovations with real-world impact.

Explore Our Ph.D. Program

Ph.D. Admissions

Each year, the Allen School welcomes around 60 new students interested in pursuing advanced academic or industry research careers to our Ph.D. program.

Learn About Ph.D. Admissions »

The Process

Students earn their Ph.D. through a combination of coursework, original research and thesis preparation under the guidance of faculty at the forefront of the field.

Learn about the Ph.D. Process »

Course Guide

We offer an array of courses that support students in developing core skills and attaining a broad knowledge of computing while exploring their chosen area in depth.

Explore Ph.D. Courses & Requirements »

Student Handbook

From degree requirements, to funding, to helpful advice — and more — our online handbook has (nearly) all students need to know to navigate the program.

Explore the Student Handbook »

Ph.D. Advising

Our advising team is a group of compassionate and knowledgeable individuals who are here to support Ph.D. students on every step of their academic journey.

Meet the Ph.D. Advising Team »

Teaching Assistants

Teaching assistantships enable Ph.D. students to play an integral role in the learning experience at the Allen School while honing their skills as educators and mentors.

How To Become a Teaching Assistant »

Ph. D. Program Information

Students in the Allen School’s full-time Ph.D. program earn an integrated Master’s Degree on their path to the Ph.D. Key features of our program include:

Comprehensive, high-quality graduate computer science curriculum.
A vibrant academic and social community.
Welcoming and inclusive environment for international students, women, and other underrepresented groups.
Robust schedule of colloquia and lectures on current topics in research and technology.
Leading-edge interdisciplinary research opportunities, both on and off campus.

Our students benefit from many collaborations and relationships that we have developed across the campus and in the region. In addition to being the headquarters of established technology leaders such as Microsoft and Amazon, Seattle is also home to an extensive (and ever-growing) list of engineering centers established by major industry players from outside the Pacific Northwest.

Highlights

Allen School News

FlashInfer earns Best Paper Award for speeding up LLM performance

A team of University of Washington and NVIDIA researchers developed FlashInfer, a versatile inference kernel library that can help make large language models faster and more adaptable, and received a Best Paper Award at MLSys 2025 for their work.

Allen School News

Celebrating the Allen School's Class of 2025

On Friday, June 13, an estimated 5,000 friends, family, faculty and staff packed the UW’s Alaska Airlines Arena, where roughly 800 graduates collected their commemorative diplomas, flipped their tassels and made the transition from Allen School students to Allen School alumni.

Allen School News

Nicki Dell receives 2025 Alumni Impact Award

Dell (Ph.D., ’15) combines the fields of human-computer interaction and computer security and privacy to improve the lives of overlooked communities. The Allen School recognized her with the 2025 Alumni Impact Award, honoring former students with exceptional records of achievement.