Tulane University is building a new computer science program that provides outstanding curricular offerings at the undergraduate and graduate levels, populated by faculty who are internationally recognized for their research on applications of computer science to related disciplines.

The Tulane Computer Science Program began offering introductory courses in Fall 2011. In June, 2012, the Department was re-established and three new regular faculty were hired: Ram Mettu, Brent Venable and Carola Wenk. During the 2012-2013 academic year we will establish a coordinate major in computer science. Over the next few years, we will expand the faculty to achieve a critical mass of 8 - 10 regular faculty who will offer a stand-alone computer science major, and establish a PhD program. Our goal is a program that features innovative approaches to computer science that focuses on the application of computer science to related disciplines.

Our approach to building the program is to establish research groups in a number of areas, each of which will have a senior faculty member leading the group. We currently have a group in algorithms comprised of Professors Mettu and Wenk. Professor Venable, who has a joint appointment with the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Ocala, Florida, works in computational social choice, an area within Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Over the two - three few years, we will target hires in this and other areas of computer science, with the goal of developing a distinguished faculty representing several areas of computer science. Once we have this faculty in place, we anticipate starting our own PhD program and a own stand-alone undergraduate major. In the interim, we will offer a coordinate major for undergraduates starting this spring. We also are keenly interested in attracting graduate students working in related areas who want to introduce a computer science component to their graduate work. One possibility is for students to pursue an Interdisciplinary PhD, which involves work in more than one department. Students interested in this option should contact any of our faculty about the possibilities.

The guiding principle in all of our efforts - hiring, undergraduate and graduate education and research - is to focus on applications of computer science to related areas of science and engineering already present at Tulane, as well as to develop a strong group of faculty in core computer science. Our goal is to be a leading program with an innovative curriculum that is known for education and research at the interface between computer science and other disciplines.

Please visit this space for information about the progress of Tulane Computer Science.