Welcome to the Computer Science Department
at the University of California, Santa Barbara!
Why Computer Science?
Computer Science is an exciting, challenging, and growing field that impacts the world and everyday life in countless ways.
Computer scientists are involved in creating technology and systems that are used in a wide range of industries, including medicine, communications, entertainment, manufacturing, business, and science. CS research pushes the state-of-the-art in computing theory and practice, and it leads to new technologies that change the world.
Despite all the impressive achievements of the field, we are convinced that there are many more exciting discoveries and applications of computer science yet to come, and you can be part of this process of exploration, discovery, and invention!
Chair's Message
Distinguished Professor Divyakant Agrawal
Welcome to the Computer Science Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara!
CS@UCSB is a special place where exciting research meets exceptional teaching against the backdrop of wonderful natural beauty. As faculty, students, and staff of CS@UCSB, we feel lucky to be part of an outstanding department in the most impactful academic discipline of our times while living in one of the most beautiful places in the world!
Our Mission
The CS department at UC Santa Barbara is widely recognized as one of the top Computer Science departments in the nation, featuring a highly distinguished faculty and excellent students.
Our culture of education and research strongly encourages collaborative, entrepreneurial, supportive, multidisciplinary solutions-driven efforts at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Our students and graduates shape the future of science and engineering here and around the world. We are committed to providing a respectful and inclusive environment for all members of our community, free from all forms of discrimination and harassment.
The Computer Science Department seeks to prepare undergraduate and graduate students for productive careers in industry, academia, and government, by providing an outstanding environment for teaching and research in the core and emerging areas of the discipline. We bring computational approaches and solutions to some of society’s most vital and complex issues. We are presently engaged in research that promises game-changing breakthroughs in computing and will bring about advances in important areas such as healthcare, communications, education, government, energy efficiency, and the environment. We believe that we will help transform the future; that computing is central to shaping and improving the world by enabling data-driven scientific discoveries and bringing a world of rich, easily-accessible information to individuals everywhere.
The department has been on an impressive upward trajectory for many years, fueled by the quality and impact of our work, the recognition of our faculty, and the success of our graduates.
Announcements
Congratulations to UCSB’s Lingqi Yan and Trinabh Gupta on their promotions from assistant professors to associate professors.
Lingqi Yan's research is in computer graphics, mainly aimed at rendering photo-realistic visual appearance at real world complexity. He earned his PhD at UC Berkeley.
Trinabh Gupta's research interests are in the area of computer systems, in particular in building systems that provide strong security and privacy properties to users. He received his PhD in computer science from UT Austin and worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Systems Security and Privacy research group at Microsoft Research.
Congratulations to the Computer Science Department's undergraduate awardees, honored at the 2024 Awards Ceremony.
Congratulations to the Computer Science Department's alumni awardees, honored at the 2024 Awards Ceremony.
Congratulations to the Computer Science Department's graduate awardees, honored at the 2024 Awards Ceremony.
Congratulations to UCSB’s Lei Li and Yu-Xiang Wang on their recent promotions from assistant professors to associate professors.
UCSB’s William Wang recently received a promotion from associate professor to professor in the Department of Computer Science. Professor Wang is the director of UCSB’s Natural Language Processing group and the founding director of UCSB's Center for Responsible Machine Learning.
News Spotlight
Congratulations to Professor Tim Sherwood on being appointed Dean of the College of Creative Studies. Professor Sherwood has been a Computer Science faculty member since 2003, and has served as interim dean of CCS since August 2022.
Congratulations to Professor Christopher Kruegel for being named a 2025 IEEE Fellow for contributions to security, malware detection, and vulnerability analysis. The grade of Fellow recognizes unusual distinction in the profession and is reserved for a person with an outstanding record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest. The accomplishments that are being honored have contributed importantly to the advancement or application of engineering, science, and technology, bringing the realization of significant value to society at large.
Thanks to all the UCSB Computer Science alumni who joined us this weekend at our first 2024 Computer Science Alumni event in Palo Alto, CA. We enjoyed sharing with you the latest news from the department and learning about your many successes in the field. We look forward to many more of these events in the future!