The undergraduate Computer Science (CS) major at Ashoka acknowledges the relevance of computing and information science to every academic discipline and emphasizes exposure to interdisciplinary research that will drive innovation in the future. In addition to courses in traditional CS fields like systems, theory and AI, students will be able to leverage the multidisciplinary interests of the faculty to study newer fields like human-centred computing, social and information networks, digital humanities, data-driven journalism, and cyber law. They will not only develop a diverse set of skills to prepare for graduate school and for employment but will also be encouraged to launch their own startups or venture into new types of careers using their interdisciplinary training.
Our curriculum takes into account the ACM curriculum guidelines for undergraduate degrees in computer science and exposes students to modern advancements and new sub-fields of computer science.
The main goals of the programme are:
Develop the core set of technical skills that will prepare students for employment or further studies
Gain a deeper understanding of the scientific and relevant mathematical underpinnings of computer science and learn to apply them practically
Identify and solve the most challenging computer science problems, and work towards developing new ideas and creating new knowledge in the field of computer science
Understand the social context in which students’ knowledge and work of computer science will be used, and engage in collaborative work with members of a team outside the discipline
Apart from a major in CS, students can also opt for a minor in CS, or inter-disciplinary majors in CS and Entrepreneurship, and in CS and Mathematics. CS major students are strongly encouraged to enrol in the Ashoka Scholars Programme, which will confer postgraduate diplomas following a year of advanced study, research, and field work. This unique one-year programme combines a real-life, academically rigorous research project and internship taken alongside a set of electives so that students can enter into successful academic and professional careers with ample experience in their fields.
The Department offers a doctoral program leading to a Ph.D. in Computer Science. Click Here for more information.
To receive a B.Sc. degree with a major in Computer Science at Ashoka University, students must accumulate 100 credit points at the end of three years. The course divisions and credit points requirement within three years for a major in Computer Science are as follows:
Foundation and Critical Thinking courses (28 credits for batches before teh UG ’23 batch; 36 credits from the UG ’23 batch onwards)
The foundation courses are drawn from multiple disciplines – History, Economics, English etc with the aim to provide students with a strong foundation in the humanities and liberal arts. Visit this page for a complete description of foundation and co-curricular course requirements.
Co-Curricular courses (4 credits)
Computer Science Major courses (60 credits)
The course division for Computer Science Major courses is given below:
The student must complete 10 core CS courses for 40 credits. The 10 courses are listed below.
In addition to the 40 credits from core courses, students must take at least 20 credits of electives offered by the CS department.
Other courses (8 credits for batches before the UG ‘ 23 batch; not required for UG ’23 batch onwards).
In order to get a Minor in Computer Science, students are required to take
In order to get a Concentration in Computer Science, students are required to take any four (16
credits) Computer Science courses.
In order to Major in an interdisciplinary degree, students must accumulate 116 credit points at the end of three years – i.e., 16 credit points more than what is required for a pure Major. The Computer Science department offers two interdisciplinary Majors – (i) Computer Science and Mathematics, and (ii) Computer Science and Entrepreneurship. The course divisions and credit points requirement within three years for these two Interdisciplinary Major are as follows :
1. A minimum of 76 credit points of Interdisciplinary Major courses.
2. Of these 76 credits
|
|
Computer Science |
Mathematics |
|
Compulsory Courses |
Introduction to Computer Programing |
Linear Algebra |
|
Computer Organization and Systems |
Algebra I |
|
|
Algorithm Design and Analysis |
Probability |
|
|
Computer Networks |
Real Analysis |
|
| Introduction to Machine Learning | Calculus I | |
|
Computer Security and Privacy |
Multivariable Calculus or Linear Programming |
|
|
Theory of Computation |
Statistics |
The core course list for Compute Science pure Major and Interdisciplinary CS-Math Major are not the same. Core courses for a pure Major include a course on “Probability and Statistics”, but it is not included in the CS core list for Interdisciplinary Major.
The CS “Probability and Statistics” will not be considered as a replacement for the Math course “Probability”. The only exception is if a student changes his/her major from a declared CS major to CS+Math interdisciplinary. In that case that student must have already completed the CS offered “Probability and Statistics” and therefore need not take the Math course “Probability” and instead take up another math course.
For this interdisciplinary Major, students, in addition to 4 courses (16 credits) in the Entrepreneurship department, must complete all Computer Science pure Major requirements.
Dimensions of synergy
• Understanding the nature of computational thinking, AI. Questions of cognition and reasoning
• Understanding models and limits of computation – classical, quantum and physical, biological…
• Limits of modelling of natural processes as computations
• Understanding complexity classes and natural complexity of problems and simulations
• Logic – deductive and inductive; reductions and theorem proving; soundness, completeness and
compactness of logical classes; causality; undecidability
• Nature of information and communication
• Ethics of computation and digitisation
• Fairness and discrimination
• Digital autonomy, privacy and security
Program Structure
1. 28 + 28 credits from CS and Philosophy core
2. 4 credits from Theory of Computation (CS) or Computability Theory (Philo)
3. 8 additional credits from CS or Philosophy open electives
4. Remaining from Foundation courses and university-wide open electives
To major in PHICS students must complete the following 17 courses:
An example path through the CS major may look like this:
Discrete Math
Probability and Statistics
Introduction to Computer Programming
Computer Organization and Systems
Advanced Programming
Operating Systems
Algorithm Design and Analysis
Computer Networks
Introduction to Machine Learning
Programming language Design and Implementation
Theory of Computation
Computer security and privacy
Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction
Data Mining and Information Retrieval
Introduction to Data Bases
Unstructured Information Processing
Advanced Algorithms
Advanced Computer Architecture
Advanced Machine Learning
Linear Programming
Linear Algebra
Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies
Data Driven Journalism
Networked and Social Systems
Information and Coding Theory
Computer Graphics
Software Engineering
Cyber Security
Distributed Systems
An Introduction to Computational Linguistics
Practice-oriented courses (Mobile phone platforms, cloud computing, etc.)