Some rules and important information considered by the faculty regarding graduate programs are listed below.
NOTE: The information provided below is for explanatory purposes only. Please refer to the ITU Registrar’s Office webpage for the
Graduate Education Regulations
and Senate Principles to access the most up-to-date and officially applicable information.
- For admission to the Master’s program, applicants must determine their intended field of study in advance and obtain a supervision consent letter from a faculty member of the program with whom they plan to work during their studies.
- Although this letter does not guarantee admission to the program, it is mandatory for the application. Candidates who do not provide this letter will not be admitted.
- Starting from the Fall 2025–2026 semester, applicants are required to take a scientific examination covering eight core subjects. The courses and reference books used for the examination are as follows:
| | -Logic Fundamentals M. Morris Mano, Michael D. Ciletti, Digital Design 6th ed. Pearson Up to the end of Chapter 3 “Gate-Level Minimization” Verilog is excluded |
| | -Algorithmic Concepts Introduction to Algorithms 4th edition Thomas H. Cormen Charles E. Leiserson |
| | -Probability Schaum's Outline of Probability and Statistics 4th Edition |
| | -Fundamentals of Programming Dive Into Systems A Gentle Introduction to Computer Systems Suzanne J. Matthews Tia Newhall Kevin C. Webb |
| | -Discrete Mathematics Ralph P. Grimaldi Discrete and Combinatorial Mathematics An Applied Introduction 5th Edition |
| | -Data Structures Richard F. Gilberg Behrouz A. Forouzan Data Structures A Pseudocode Approach with C Second Edition Thomson Learning |
| | -Linear Algebra Howard Anton Chris Rorres Elementary Linear Algebra Applications Version 11th Edition |
| | -Calculus George B. Thomas Maurice D. Weir Joel R. Hass Thomas' Calculus 13th Edition ISBN 978-0-321-87896-0 |
- Updated application deadlines, requirements, and quotas for Fall and Spring semesters are announced on the lee.itu.edu.tr website.
Course registration and add/drop procedures are conducted by the student’s advisor.
For students who have not yet been assigned an advisor, registration and add/drop procedures are carried out by the program coordinator during online sessions announced through the
bbf.itu.edu.tr announcements section.
Students must enroll in at least two courses in their first semester.
Students may enroll in the Scientific Research Ethics and Seminar course no earlier than their second semester.
Master’s students must complete the Scientific Research Ethics and Seminar course within their first four semesters.
If a student fails a mandatory course, the same course must be repeated.
If a student fails an elective course, another elective can be taken instead; however, the failed course grade remains in GPA calculations.
To substitute a failed elective course, students must submit an online petition to the Graduate School.
With advisor approval, students may select courses from other graduate programs within the university.
With advisor approval, recommendation from the program committee, positive opinion of the department head, and approval of the Graduate School Administrative Board, students may take up to two elective courses from outside ITU, provided such courses do not already exist in the ITU curriculum.
Beginning from the third semester, Master’s students must register for their Thesis course every semester.
Students accepted into the graduate program who hold a Bachelor’s degree from fields other than Computer Engineering are required to complete Scientific Preparatory courses.
As of 19.11.2020, the Scientific Preparatory courses for Computer Engineering graduate programs are as follows:
Students who have previously taken equivalent courses may apply for course exemption by submitting a separate petition for each course.
The exemption request must include a transcript and detailed course description.
Exemption procedures can be completed electronically through the Student Information System . The student can complete the application digitally after uploading the required documents to the system and track the results online.
If the previously completed courses are found sufficiently equivalent to those in the ITU Computer Engineering Undergraduate Program, exemptions may be granted.
Since exemption procedures may take time, students are advised to register for Scientific Preparatory courses first, and then initiate exemption requests.
There is no language requirement for Scientific Preparatory courses. Courses may be taken in Turkish or English.
To enroll in Scientific Preparatory courses, students must follow the announcements published on the sis.itu.edu.tr and bbf.itu.edu.tr websites before each semester and follow the related steps accordingly.
In addition to Scientific Preparatory courses, students may enroll in up to two graduate-level courses per semester.
Students are allowed a maximum of one year to complete their Scientific Preparatory courses.
Students must pass Scientific Preparatory courses with a minimum letter grade of CC. Lower grades are considered unsuccessful.
The student must complete at least 24 credits, consisting of no fewer than eight courses.
At least one course must be selected from the Mandatory Mathematics Course Pool.
The student must take at least four mandatory courses in total, including the required mathematics course.
The student must complete the Scientific Research Ethics and Seminar course (non-credit).
The student must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.00.
The student must have at least one peer-reviewed publication indexed internationally, where the student is the first author and the supervisor is among the authors.
The current publication requirement for Master’s thesis submission varies depending on the student's admission term. Students must monitor the relevant requirement on the ITU Graduate School FAQ page
The Computer Engineering PhD Qualification Examination consists of three (3) sessions as stated in the ITU Graduate Education Regulations and Senate Principles: (1) Written / Undergraduate Level, (2) Written / Graduate Level, and (3) Oral Examination.See Articles 13 and 14)
The exam schedule and locations are announced each semester by the ITU Graduate School. Details regarding the exam content are provided below:
First Written Exam – Undergraduate Level
- In this exam, you are required to solve one question from each of four undergraduate-level Computer Engineering courses. Two of these courses are mandatory:
- Digital Circuits
- Data Structures
- The remaining two (2) courses must be selected from the list below:
- Formal Languages and Automata
- Microprocessor Systems OR Computer Architecture
- Operating Systems
- Analysis of Algorithms
- For each selected course, two questions will be provided, but you are required to solve only one.
Second Written Exam – Graduate Level
- Before this exam, you must select four graduate-level courses from the list announced by the Computer Engineering PhD Qualification Committee.
- At least one of these courses must be a mathematics course.
- During the exam, you will be provided with eight questions (two questions from each selected course); however, you must solve only one question from each course.
Oral Examination
- During the oral exam, the jury may assess your competency by asking questions particularly focused on your research area and academic interests.
- You must contact your PhD supervisor for further details.
- There is no distinction between compulsory and elective courses in the PhD program.
Students must take the non-credit “Scientific Research Ethics and Seminar” course.
PhD students who started their studies in the Spring 2022–2023 semester or later are required to take and successfully complete one of the courses in the career development group with the LEE code. These courses count toward the total credit requirement but do not substitute for departmental courses.
Students must have a minimum GPA of 3.00.
Students must have at least one printed publication indexed in international databases in which they are the first author and their advisor is listed as a co-author.
The current publication requirement for PhD thesis submission varies depending on the student’s start term. Students must follow the relevant publication requirement on the Frequently Asked Questions page of the ITU Graduate School website.
The current coursework requirement for PhD thesis submission may also vary depending on the student’s start term. Students must follow the relevant coursework requirement on the Frequently Asked Questions page of the ITU Graduate School website.
Students must successfully complete their thesis research.