Computer Science and Engineering

The Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) department spans multiple areas of research including theory, systems, AI/ML, architectures, and software.

CSE’s areas of research are computer hardware, including architecture, VLSI (chip design), FPGAs, and design automation; computer security and privacy; cyber-physical systems; distributed systems; database systems; machine learning and artificial intelligence; natural language processing; networks; pervasive computing and human-computer interaction; programming languages; robotics; social computing; storage systems; and visual computing, including computer vision, visualization, and graphics.

In cooperation with other departments on campus, CSE also offers a strong research group in bioinformatics, computational biology, biomolecular engineering, and human genome mapping. The CSE department enjoys a close relationship with the Electrical and Computer Engineering, Applied Mathematics, and Statistics departments. Faculty members carry out joint research projects, supervise students, and teach courses for these departments. The M.S. degree requires either a master’s thesis or an approved project and is usually completed in two years, although it is possible to complete the program in one year. The Ph.D. degree is usually completed in five years.

Research

Learn about the research being conducted within our department.

People

Meet people in Computer Science and Engineering.

Degrees

Learn about the Graduate and Undergraduate programs in Computer Science and Engineering.

#40

top computer science institutions worldwide (Computer Science Rankings, 2024)

#8

best computer engineering bachelor's degree schools in the far Western US region (College Factual, 2025)

#26

best school for computer engineering graduate degrees (College Factual, 2025)

Explore potential Computer Science and Engineering career paths

• Software Engineer/Developer
• Hardware Engineer/Developer
• Network Engineer
• Web Developer
• Mobile App Developer
• AI/ML Engineer
• UX Designer
• Systems Architect
• Cybersecurity Engineer

WiFi signals can measure heart rate—no wearables needed

Low-cost WiFi devices can measure heart rate with clinical-level accuracy—without the need for a wearable device.

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CSE research news

Misleading text in the physical world can hijack AI-enabled robots, cybersecurity study shows

New research anticipates hijacking against AI systems in order to create defenses for a more secure future.

Shaping the future of artificial intelligence

UC Santa Cruz experts are working to guide AI in ethical, sustainable, and socially beneficial directions

Students develop AI solutions for wildfire mitigation at Reboot the Earth hackathon

Student hackers tackled California’s wildfire crisis at the event co-hosted by the United Nations and the Baskin School of Engineering

More CSE news »

Many research projects take place at our Silicon Valley Campus

Baskin Engineering in Silicon Valley

We’re hiring!

Open positions include: lecturer, teaching professor, research professor. Find out more.

Upcoming events

Sharma, R. (CSE) – Automatically Evolving GPU Libraries for Performance Portable AI Kernels

January 23, 2026

Engineering 2

CSE Colloquium – Towards Relational Foundation Models: Zero-Shot Forecasting over Relational Databases

January 28, 2026

Engineering 2

CSE Colloquium: Incentivized Alignment for Strategic Agents (Human and Otherwise)

February 11, 2026

Engineering 2

View all events…

Computer engineering faculty and students are researching and developing secure, efficient, and effective networking applications that support the internets of the future.

The Natural Language Processing (NLP) master's degree program provides students the in-depth NLP skills and experience needed for successful careers in this fast-growing field.