Drexel University College of Computing & Informatics PhD Programs

PHD PROGRAMS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AND INFORMATION STUDIES

Drexel University’s College of Computing & Informatics (CCI) offers multidisciplinary PhD Computer Science and Information Studies that engage students in academic research and educational activities.

The PhD Program in Computer Science has 17 tenure-track faculty with research activities spanning a wide range of topics, including artificial intelligence, vision and graphics, programming languages, high-performance computing, human computer interaction, privacy and security, algorithms and theory, computer science education, software engineering, distributed systems, databases and data mining, and computer algebra. The program endeavors to provide a working environment fostering excellence in research, with a particular view toward expertise in problem areas requiring a multi-disciplinary approach including computer science. Research opportunities for computer science students also exist in some of the multi-departmental research areas that include computer science faculty such as bioinformatics, electrical power engineering, web-based mathematics education, and computer-aided engineering and manufacturing design. Expertise in computer science is one of the most sought after in our modern society and our graduates are no exception. They have gone on to enjoy successful careers in industry and academia.

The PhD Program in Information Studies is built on a long tradition of excellence. For over a quarter of a century, graduates of the PhD in Information Studies program have become thought leaders, making notable contributions in the information field. While the degree is a research degree, the talent that results is appropriately applied in an education, research, administrative, or policy setting. The program is intended to raise the student to the highest point of critical thinking, isolating the key problems and challenges of the information field and engaging in the research that leads to answers and solutions. By the program’s completion, doctoral students are transformed into peers of the faculty, a result of working closely with the graduates in seminars, research, proposals, papers, and presentations.

Apply to the College of Computing & Informatics at Drexel.edu/cci/apply

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PhD in Computer Science The Drexel PhD in Computer Science is designed to prepare students for leadership careers in research and education in computer science and interdisciplinary work using computer science. In addition, students are able to see and understand new problems between different areas within computer science, as well as between computer science and other fields, and to find and implement imaginative solutions.

Degree Requirements & Coursework

The degree requires 90 credits (45 credits if the applicant already has a master’s degree in computer science or a related technical field), including three mandatory breadth courses, three flexible breadth courses, four intermediate or advanced courses, three advanced courses and nine credits of independent study in a field of specialization. The degree requirements also include successful completion of four milestones: qualifying courses, a written and oral candidacy exam, a thesis proposal exam, and a thesis defense.

Mandatory Core Courses

CS 521: Data Structures and Algorithms I CS 525: Theory of Computation CS 550: Programming Languages

Flexible Core Requirements (Three Courses) CS 510: Artificial Intelligence CS 522: Data Structures and Algorithms II CS 530: Developing User Interfaces CS 536: Computer Graphics CS 540: High Performance Computing CS 543: Operating Systems CS 544: Computer Networks CS 567: Applied Symbolic Computation CS 576: Dependable Software Systems CS 583: Introduction to Computer Vision

PhD Students:

• Earn the skills necessary for leadership careers and education in computer science and interdisciplinary work using computer science; • Can identify and understand new problems between different areas within computer science, as well as between computer science and other fields, and find and implement imaginative solutions; • Work with college faculty who are actively engaged in research on a wide range of topics in computer science including artificial intelligence, algorithms, computer vision and graphics, programming languages, networks, privacy and security, highperformance computing, software engineering, and computer algebra.

Breadth Requirement (Four Courses)

In addition to the Mandatory Core and Flexible Core requirements stated above, students are required to take four intermediate or advanced courses from the remaining 500-level courses or any 600-level course from at least three of the eight areas of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Algorithms and Theory, Computer Graphics and Vision, Human Computer Interaction, Numeric and Symbolic Computation, Programming Languages and Compilers, Software Engineering, and Systems. NOTE: Some or all of the breadth requirement may be satisfied through transfer credit from approved Graduate institutions. All transfer credit must have a grade of B or better, and must be approved by your Graduate Advisor.

Depth Requirement (18 credits)

PhD students are required to complete at least 18 credits of CS courses beyond the breadth requirement. Course selection must be approved by the student’s research advisor. As part of the depth requirement, 3 out of the 18 credits but no more than 9 credits are to be Independent Study work (CS690).

For more information on degree requirements and coursework, please visit www.drexel.edu/cci/

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Computer Science Admissions Information & Requirements Prerequisites

Most graduate courses in Computer Science include expectations that those taking them have a technical background in Computer Science similar to what an undergraduate computer science major would have. This background includes the following:

• Significant experience programming in an object-oriented programming language such as C++ or Java, including the design and implementation of several programs of intermediate length and complexity (several hundred or thousand lines of code and comments), similar to what would be achieved in the following courses: o CS 171: Programming I o CS 172: Programming II o CS 265: Advanced Programming Techniques o CS 350: Software Design • A working familiarity with algorithms, data structures, and the mathematical foundations of computer science, similar to what would be mastered in the following courses: o MATH 221: Discrete Mathematics o CS 260: Data Structures • A solid mathematics background: o Calculus: MATH 121, 122, 123 o Linear Algebra: MATH 201; or MATH 261 • A working familiarity with computer architecture and machine language:

o CS 281: Computer Architecture I o CS 283: Systems Programming • At least two advanced undergraduate courses in computer science, such as: o CS 361: Concurrent Programming o CS 380: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence o CS 440: Compiler Theory o CS 460: Theory of Algorithms o CS 461: Database Systems

Application Requirements:

Additional Requirements for International Applicants:

• Official Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) Scores. The test can be preliminarily waived for applicants who have a completed undergraduate or graduate degree from a U.S. based institution. Note: Scores older than 2 years will not be accepted and students must obtain a 600 on the written exam or a 100 on the internet based exam.

• I-20 form and accompanying bank documents are required for international applicant matriculation.

Support

All PhD students are fully supported with an assistantship in the Computer Science PhD program. Assistantships may be in the form of research, teaching or a combination of the two. These assistantships carry appropriate stipend and tuition remission.

Faculty for Computer Science Program

Marcello Balduccini (Artificial Intelligence, Security) David Breen (Computer Graphics, Biomedical Imaging) Yuanfang Cai (Software Engineering) Bruce Char (CS Education, Computer Algebra) Christopher Geib (Artificial Intelligence) Rachel Greenstadt (Privacy and Security) Jeremy Johnson (High-performance Computing) Geoffrey Mainland (Programming Languages) Spiros Mancoridis (Software Engineering, Security) Ko Nishino (Computer Vision, Machine Learning) Jeffrey Popyack (CS Education) William Regli (Artificial Intelligence) Dario Salvucci (Human Computer Interaction) Ali Shokoufandeh (Algorithms and Theory) Erin Solovey (Human Computer Interaction) Julia Stoyanovich (Data and Knowledge Management) Santiago Ontanon (Artificial Intelligence) Maxwell Young (Theory, Distributed Systems)

• Official final transcripts from ALL Colleges/Universities attended • Official Graduate Record Exam (GRE) Scores (the results of the GRE subject examination in computer science are helpful but not required) • Two letters of recommendation • Essay/Statement of Purpose (approximately 500 words) • Current Resume

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PhD CS Alumni Profile

The College of Computing & Informatics

Why did you choose CCI's PhD in Computer Science program?

How did you hear about the PhD program?

I wouldn't say I chose the program, it kind of chose me. I heard about the program from Frank Lee and Bruce Char.

Which professor(s) have you worked with?

Ko Nishino.

What were your previous academic degrees?

BS and MS in Computer Science.

Louis Kratz Research interests

Machine learning, computer vision, and the tech transfer and optimization of each.

Dissertation title:

Visual Analysis of Videos of Crowded Scenes

Have you received any awards, honors or grants while at Drexel?

• Jay Modi Award, 2009-2010 • Koerner Family Fellowship, 2009 • Best Poster Drexel IEEE Poster Symposium, 2009

Where are you employed now?

I am currently a research engineer at Curalate, a Philadelphia based start-up leveraging computer vision to track visual content on social media. My role involves research and development of novel, scalable computer vision techniques.

What advice would you give to first-year doctoral students?

Choose a research topic you are passionate about. Travel as much as you can. Network. Take summer internships. Become friends with the lunch truck owners.

What has been your most memorable Drexel experience?

CS basketball games!

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The College of Computing & Informatics Why did you choose CCI’s PhD in Information Studies program?

How did you hear about the PhD program?

I chose the program for its reputation, diversity and location (Philadelphia).

I was referred to this program by senior faculty at another university (Jane Greenberg, PhD at the time she was at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, now Alice B. Kroeger Professor in CCI).

Which professor(s) have you worked with?

Susan Gasson, PhD (advisor); Mick Khoo, PhD (advisor for a period of time, later a committee member); Delia Neuman, PhD (committee member); Kristene Unsworth, PhD (collaboration on research); Prudence Dalrymple, PhD and Michelle Rogers, PhD (as their teaching assistant); Jung-ran Park, PhD (as her research assistant)

What were your previous academic degrees?

I hold a Master of Architecture from University of Tehran.

Have you received any awards, honors or grants while at Drexel?

Emad Khazraee Research interests:

Sociotechnical studies of information technology use; sociotechnical data science; knowledge production; social media and social change

Dissertation title:

Archaeology of Archaeology: A study of the creation of archaeological knowledge in practice

• STGlobal Consortium travel grant (2014) • The Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) New Leaders Award (2013) • Selected participant with full funding to attend the National Science Foundation sponsored Digital Societies and Social Technologies Summer Institute (2013) • Honorable mention poster award, iConference (2013) • Iran Media Program research grant from Annenberg School for Communication at University of Pennsylvania: $14K (2012) • Travel grant for field work in Turkey, Çatalhöyük research project, Stanford Archaeology Center (2012) • Selected participant with full funding to attend the National Science Foundation sponsored Consortium for the Science of Socio-Technical Systems (2011) • Dean’s Award for Best Research Poster, Drexel University Research Day (2011) • Fellow of the Historians of Islamic Art Association (2010)

Where are you employed now?

I am holding a Postdoctoral Research Fellow position at the Center for Global Communication Studies, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. I am conducting research on the general theme of social media and social change; I am responsible for design and implementation of various research projects and publishing the outcomes as scholarly publications.

Join and assimilate into the research community in the college. Find a way to craft your research agenda as soon as possible and work closely with the faculty in the school to establish yourself.

Tell us about your experience as a doctoral student.

I very much enjoyed the opportunity that Drexel offered to me to work on my research agenda and find my voice. In my cohort, we had a wonderful doctoral student body.

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PhD in Information Studies Degree Requirements & Coursework

Students must complete all work within a period of seven consecutive years after initial registration. Students with a master’s degree acquired at Drexel or another university, all requirements shall be completed within five (5) consecutive years after registration in the Office of Graduate Studies as a PhD student. These regulations apply whether a student is enrolled full- or part-time.

Coursework

Foundation Courses (Six Courses) Introductory Courses (2) INFO 863 Topics in Information Systems INFO 861 Topics in Information Science Research Courses (4) INFO 811 Applied Research Methods, INFO 812 Research Statistics I, INFO 813 Quantitative Methods, and INFO 816 Qualitative Research Methods

Domain Courses (Six Courses)

Drawn from the master’s curriculum, the courses must have an enrichment paper or project documented and graded by the faculty member. Enrichment work should be research-oriented and substantive.

PhD students:

• Explore the highest levels of critical thinking • Isolate and resolve key problems in the information field • Assist in research with College faculty across a variety of fields, including information science, library science, information systems, software engineering and cybersecurity.

• Work closely with professors on research, proposals, papers, seminars and presentations • Receive portfolio reviews to evaluate growth Visit www.drexel.edu/cci/PhDis for specific learning objectives

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Curriculum

Full-time Student Year 1 Foundation Courses: INFO 863 Topics in Information Systems INFO 861 Topics in Information Science, INFO 811 Applied Research Methods, INFO 812 Research Statistics I, INFO 813 Quantitative Methods, INFO 816 Qualitative Research Methods Domain Courses 1-2 Journal Club Research Experience Year 2 Domain Courses 3-6 Journal Club Research Experience Part-time Student Year 1 Foundation Courses: INFO 863 Topics in Information Systems INFO 861 Topics in Information Science Domain Courses 1-2 Journal Club Year 2 Foundation Courses: INFO 811 Applied Research Methods INFO 812 Research Statistics I INFO 813 Quantitiative Methods INFO 816 Qualitiative Research Methods Journal Club Research Experience Year 3 Domain Courses 3-6 Journal Club Research Experience

Information Studies Admissions Information and Requirements Admissions Information & Requirements

To apply to the PhD in Information Studies program, you’ll need: • Official final transcripts from ALL Colleges/Universities attended • Official Graduate Record Exam (GRE) Scores (scores older than 5 years will not be accepted, scores in the 50th percentile or above in all three sections are sought) • Two letters of recommendation • Essay/Statement of Purpose (approximately 500 words) • Current Resume • Knowledge of introductory descriptive and inferential statistics

International Applicants must meet the above requirements in addition to the following:

• Official Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) Scores.

The test can be preliminarily waived for applicants who have a completed undergraduate or graduate degree from a U.S. based institution. Note: Scores older than 2 years will not be accepted and students must obtain a 600 on the written exam or a 100 on the Internet based exam.

• I-20 form and accompanying bank documents are required for international applicant matriculation

Apply to the College of Computing & Informatics at Drexel.edu/cci/apply

PhD in Information Studies Faculty

Denise Agosto, Associate Professor; Larry Alexander, Research Professor; Yuan An, Associate Professor; Ellen Bass, Professor; Glenn Booker, Associate Teaching Professor; Toni Carbo, Teaching Professor; Chris Carroll, Assistant Teaching Professor; Chaomei Chen, Professor; Catherine D. Collins, Associate Teaching Professor; Prudence Dalrymple, Research & Teaching Professor; Susan Davis, Associate Teaching Professor; Carl Drott, Associate Professor; Andrea Forte, Assistant Professor; Susan Gasson, Associate Professor; Jane Greenberg, Alice B. Kroeger Professor; Peter Grillo, Associate Teaching Professor; Tony H. Grubesic, Professor; Trudi Hahn, Teaching Professor; Gregory W. Hislop, Professor; Xiaohua Tony Hu, Professor; Vanessa Irvin, Assistant Teaching Professor; Weimao Ke, Assistant Professor; Michael Khoo, Assistant Teaching Professor; Alison M. Lewis, Associate Teaching Professor; Xia Lin, Professor; Gabriela Marcu, Assistant Professor; Linda Marion, Associate Teaching Professor; Alan T. Murray, Professor; Delia Neuman, Professor; Danuta A. Nitecki, Dean of Libraries & Professor; Jungran Park, Associate Professor; Lorraine Richards, Assistant Professor; Jennifer A. Rode, Assistant Professor; Michelle L. Rogers, Associate Professor; Aleksandra Sarcevic, Assistant Professor; Il-Yeol Song, Professor & PhD in IS Program Director; Deborah Turner, Assistant Professor; Kristene Unsworth, Assistant Professor; Rosina Weber, Associate Professor; Scott White, Associate Clinical Professor; Erija Yan, Assistant Professor; Christopher C. Yang, Associate Professor; Valerie Ann Yonker, Associate Teaching Professor; Lisl Zach, Associate Teaching Professor

JOURNAL CLUB

Journal Club is a weekly discussion that initially focuses on orientation to the PhD program, followed later by reading and critique of research literature, current topics in research, publication, and other essential skills and knowledge for doctoral students. Students must participate in this one hour per week meeting. It carries three credits and attendance is monitored.

RESEARCH/TEACHING ASSIGNMENTS

Full-time students awarded a research assistantship are initially assigned a project and advising faculty member. Full-time students supported by College funding are initially assigned to be a teaching assistant. Decisions are based on the availability of funding, the research interests and background of the student, and the project’s required skillset. As students advance in the program and the availability of funds change, a student may be re-assigned. Additionally, advanced students are able to become a Teaching Assistant (TA). In general, doctoral students applying to be a TA should be in advanced candidacy but exceptions can be made.

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Research Opportunities for PhD in Information Studies Students at Drexel’s NSF Center for Visual and Decision Informatics In February 2012, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Drexel University established the Center for Visual and Decision Informatics (CVDI) as a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC).

As an I/UCRC, CVDI partners with industry and government agencies, who forms an Industry Advisory Board (IAB), to work on projects that advance the Center’s mission to research and develop nextgeneration visual and decision support tools and techniques that enable decision makers to fundamentally improve the way their organization’s information is interpreted.

One of CVDI’s primary goals is to educate a diverse body of students on the interdisciplinary field of Visual and Decision Informatics and develop a future workforce that benefits the local and national economy. Students working on Center projects will collaborate closely with faculty and IAB members and have access to leading-edge developments in Visual and Decision Informatics and in user-centered research to help solve real-world problems.

CVDI brings together, analytic, visual and perceptual techniques by advancing the state of the art in the research fields of Information Visualization, Visual Analytics and Automated Analysis. This research is supported by advanced computing and visualization facilities to create Decision Making Environments (DME) – a framework that enables users to explore and customize information streams in a variety of modalities to gain better insight to information.

Apply to the College of Computing & Informatics at Drexel.edu/cci/apply

2012-2013 Annual Report

215.895.2474 cciinfo@drexel.edu 3141 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19104-2875