Computer Science -- the theory, representation, processing, communication and use of information - is fundamentally transforming every aspect of science, technology, and society. Computer science provides the foundation for information sciences and technology. There is no aspect of life in the 21st century that has not been transformed by advances in computing. Every modern university, especially one emphasizing Science and Technology like Iowa State does, must have a strong Department of Computer Science. The Iowa State University 2010-15 Strategy Plan laid out its vision that "Iowa State University will lead the world in advancing the land-grant ideals of putting science, technology, and human creativity to work." The Department of Computer Science embraces its pivotal role in information sciences and its mission in research and graduate education (discovery), undergraduate education (learning) and outreach (engagement), and supports other academic and research units to put their knowledge to work in this modern computing-driven era.
Academic research in Computer Science has been, and continues to be, critical to our understanding of computation, information, and communication on the one hand and the development of advanced information technologies on the other. The department pursues its research mission through strong research programs in several key areas of Computer Science including Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, Computational Complexity, Database Systems, Data Mining, Distributed Systems and Networks, and Software Engineering and Programming Languages. Given the central role of computer science and the information technologies enabled by it in our modern society, there is a critical need for training of the next-generation researchers and educators in this area. Our graduate curriculum seeks to address this need. The Department offers research-based graduate training leading to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science. Computer Science plays a central role in interdepartmental graduate programs such as Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Information Assurance, Human-Computer Interaction and in the Center for Computational Intelligence, Learning, and Discovery.
With the increasing reliance of our society on advanced information technologies in almost every aspect of our lives, there is a critical national need for preparing the scientific and technological workforce of the 21st century through education in Computer Science. Such education should equip the students not only with a sound knowledge of the foundations of computer science, but also the problem solving and system design skills necessary for designing and building robust, efficient, reliable, scalable, and flexible software systems. Our undergraduate curriculum seeks to address this need. The department has a strong undergraduate program leading to a B.S. in Computer Science. Computer Science has been playing a central role in the establishment and continuous development of the undergraduate program in Software Engineering, as well as notably contributed to both graduate and undergraduate programs in bioinformatics.
Computer science faculty and students contribute to the community at large in a number of ways including: technology transfer to industry, dissemination of knowledge and expertise to the general population, mentoring of pre-college students, and consulting and advising activities for industrial, government, and non-profit organizations.
The Department of Computer Science is central to Iowa State University's research and educational mission. The constant flow of students and researchers armed with the concepts and techniques from Computer Science courses into virtually every discipline, department, and research center at Iowa State University testifies to the department's pivotal role in the research and education programs across the university. The department offers nationally and internationally recognized research and educational programs in several areas of Computer Science and plays a central role in nationally recognized interdisciplinary programs such as Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. The constant flow into the department of some of the brightest students, researchers, and faculty from around the world and the high demand for our graduates and their success in leadership positions in both academia and industry bear testimony to the effectiveness of our research and educational programs.
The Department of Computer Science was established at ISU in 1969. Although it offered B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the very outset, it was only around 1984 or so that the department began to emphasize graduate education and research. In AY2011-12, the department is staffed with 26 full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty, assisted by five full-time lecturers, to serve about 400 undergraduate students. The faculty includes a Presidential Young Investigator and eight NSF Career Awardees, editors of several key scientific journals, as well as recipients of several other honors and distinctions. The department had unusually large undergraduate majors (relative to the size of its faculty) until a few years ago, resulting in an unusually high teaching load (for a research-intensive department) on a relatively young faculty. In the past five years, the fall in undergraduate enrollment (in line with national trends), has allowed the department to significantly expand and strengthen its research and graduate programs. The department currently has 80 PhD students funded by research grants, training grants, or teaching assistantships.
