PhD in Computer Science and Information Systems

As the school’s flagship PhD program, our students and faculty regularly publish student and faculty research in A-level journals. You’ll have a solid foundation in research methodology through a mix of hands-on and theoretical work. Our students choose research in areas that are of interest to both academia and industry.

Research tracks are individualized, but always reflect themes relevant to the modern business environment. Examples include:

This rigorous program is designed as a full-time four-year program consisting of 60 credit hours. Thirty credits are dedicated to course work beyond the master’s level, while the remaining credits are related to your dissertation. A detailed look at the schedule of courses can be found in the CSIS PhD Handbook.

Core information systems PhD courses (9 hours)

These courses give a broad foundation of knowledge in conducting doctoral level research.

• Philosophy of science
• Research themes in information systems
• Strategic and organizational research
• Analytical research

Core information systems method courses (9 hours)

You’ll gain a strong background in different methods that you’ll apply to your dissertation research.

• Foundational research methods
• Qualitative research methods
• SEM and regression techniques

Computer science courses (6 hours)

These courses solidify your knowledge in topics relevant to modern challenges in the digital era.

• Computer networks
• Cloud computing

Advanced research methods (6 hours)

These courses vary from multivariate statistics to econometrics courses.

Dissertation (30 hours)

After selecting a dissertation advisor, you will choose a committee that will continuously monitor your progress throughout the program. You’ll begin working on your independent research project during the summer before your third year. The emphasis for dissertations is that the research should be practically relevant and solve a problem facing modern business.

PhD CSIS Learning Outcomes

Value 1: Communicate Effectively

Outcome: Create effective academic papers and presentations to communicate results of original research.

Value 2: Research Proficiently

Outcome: Demonstrate competence in developing research questions in important areas of information systems and applying research methods to study research questions.

These objectives are assessed using a written dissertation and oral defense.

The Business School is not accepting applications.

You may apply through the Engineering School's Computer Science program here.