The goal of the Computer Science PhD program at Carnegie Mellon University is to nurture students' raw talent and intellect through research and coursework to produce well-educated researchers and future leaders in the field. The program takes about 6 years to complete on average and has areas of research including algorithms, artificial intelligence, databases, robotics, security, and more. To earn a PhD, students must complete coursework, serve as a teaching assistant twice, write and defend a thesis on original research.