Doctor of Philosophy
in Geospatial Information Sciences
http://www.utdallas.edu/epps/geospatial-science/degrees.html#phd
This
degree program is jointly offered by the School of Economic, Political and
Policy Sciences, the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (specifically
in the Department of Geosciences) and the Eric Jonsson School of Engineering
and Computer Science, and is administered by the School of Economic, Political
and Policy Sciences.
Faculty
Professors: Carlos Aiken
(Geosciences), Brian J. L. Berry (Economic, Political and Policy
Sciences), Denis J. Dean (Economic, Political and Policy Sciences), John Ferguson (Geosciences), Daniel Griffith (Economic, Political and
Policy Sciences), Paul Jargowsky (Economic, Political and Policy Sciences),
James Murdoch (Economic, Political and Policy Sciences), Edwin Sha (Computer
Science), Robert Stern (Geosciences)
Associate Professors: Tom Brikowski (Geosciences),
Fang Qiu (Economic, Political and Policy Sciences),
Michael Tiefelsdorf (Economic, Political and Policy Sciences)
Assistant Professors: Yongwan Chun (Economic, Political and Policy
Sciences),
Weili Wu (Computer Science)
Clinical Assistant Professors: Stuart Murchison (Economic, Political and
Policy Science)
Powerful
technologies have emerged in recent years to collect, store, manage,
analyze, and communicate information regarding the features of the Earth's
surface and to combine these with other types of environmental, social and
economic information. These technologies, which include geographic information
systems (GIS), the global positioning system (GPS), and remote sensing,
are used in many ways, including the production of digital maps in vehicles, the
management and maintenance of city infrastructure, agriculture and
forestry, the policing of communities, and the conduct of modern
warfare. The PhD in Geospatial Information Sciences aims to develop
individuals capable of advancing this field by developing new knowledge or
capabilities relevant to it.
The
degree program is jointly offered by the School of Economic, Political and
Policy Sciences, the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (specifically
the Department of Geosciences) and the Eric Jonsson School of Engineering
and Computer Science. This unique structure reflects geospatial information
science’s origins as the confluence of multiple disciplines including
geography, computer science, engineering, geology, and various social, policy and
applied sciences. It is anticipated that many students will enter the program
with a bachelor’s or master’s degree (and/or work experience) in an application
area (such as public administration, geology, or economics) or in a technical
specialization (such as engineering, computer science, or statistics).
These students may choose to pursue research projects that advance
existing geospatial information sciences practices within that application
area. Alternatively, students may opt to pursue research that expands the
technological or theoretical base of all the geospatial information sciences.
Mission and Objectives
The
mission of the Doctor of Philosophy in Geographic Information Sciences program
is to cultivate innovative researchers capable of advancing the frontiers of
knowledge in the geospatial information sciences through improved theories, new
technologies, innovative methodologies, sophisticated quantitative analyses,
and integrative applications. UT Dallas Doctoral graduates will find employment
in research departments of public and private organizations and in major
academic institutions. Specifically, program graduates will:
• demonstrate their knowledge of the
fundamental theories and concepts underlying the geospatial sciences.
• master the advanced
methodologies and/or quantitative analyses used in at least one of three
geospatial specialization areas: [a] computing and information management,
spatial analysis and modeling, or [c] remote sensing and satellite
technologies.
• produce innovative research that advances
theory or methodology in the geospatial sciences.
• participate at academic conferences, publish
in peer-reviewed journals and find employment in research departments of public
and private organizations and in major academic institutions.
Facilities
Students
have access to state-of-the-art GIS computing facilities housed in the School of Economic, Political and Policy
Sciences and at the NASA Center for Excellence in Remote Sensing in the
Department of Geosciences. The University’s extensive instructional computing
facilities, including those in the Eric Jonsson School of Engineering and
Computer Science, are also available. Facilities are open extended hours
including evenings and weekends. Enrollment in hands-on courses is controlled
to ensure that a computer workstation is available for every student. All major
industry-standard GIS and remote sensing software is available. The University
is an Oracle Center of Excellence for Spatial Data Management and a member of
the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS).
Admission Requirements
The
University’s general admission requirements are discussed here.
The
PhD program in Geospatial Information Sciences seeks applications from students
with a baccalaureate, Master of Arts, Master of Science or professional
masters-level degree in any field relevant to geospatial information science
including, but not limited to, computer science, economics, engineering,
geography, geology, management information systems, marketing, natural resource
management, public affairs and public administration, statistics, and urban and
regional planning. Applicants will be judged and evaluated by the existing
admission standards as set forth by the University in its Graduate Catalog and
by the standards set forth here by the Geospatial Information Sciences program.
A bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution or its equivalent and
fluency in written and spoken English are required. A grade average of at least
3.25 in undergraduate and graduate course work, and a combined verbal and
quantitative score of 1150 on the GRE are desirable. An analytical writing
score of at least 4.5 in the GRE is considered desirable.
Students
must submit transcripts from all higher education institutions attended, three
letters of recommendation, and a one-page essay outlining the applicant’s
background, education, and personal objectives as they specifically relate to a
Ph.D. in Geospatial Information Sciences.
Prerequisites
The following
pre-requisites/co-requisites will also be required for admission to the PhD
program: (i) college mathematics through calculus, (ii) competence in at least
one modern programming language equivalent to GISC 6317 Computer
Programming for GIS, CS 6301 and CS 6311Computer Science I &
II, , MIS 6322 Developing Business Applications with Visual Basic,
MIS 6323 Object Oriented Systems, or their equivalents, and (iii) at
least one course in inferential statistics through to regression analysis
equivalent to GISC 6301 Geospatial Data Analysis Fundamentals, EPPS
7313 Descriptive and Inferential Statistics, or GEOS 6313 Data
Analysis for Geoscientists. Graduate courses taken at UT Dallas to meet
these prerequisites may be counted as electives toward the 75 credit hours
required of students entering the Ph.D. program directly from a B.A. or B.S.
degree, but they shall not be considered substitutes for any other specified
course.
Because
of the cross-disciplinary nature of this doctoral program, to ensure adequate
preparation and appropriate course sequencing, every doctoral student is
required to consult with the student’s designated advisor and/or the GIS
Doctoral Program Director prior to registration in every semester. Students
generally will not have a faculty advisor when they first enter the Ph.D. program,
but every student is required to select (with consent of the potential advisor)
an advisor from the advising faculty before they complete 20 credits after
admission.
Degree Requirements
The
University’s general degree requirements are discussed here.
To
receive the PhD in Geospatial Information Sciences, students must complete the
Geospatial Science Core (15 SCH) to achieve a mastery of appropriate Geospatial
Information Science technologies and theory, have a Geospatial Specialization
Area (15 SCH), have a Specific Application area or Technical field
(12 SCH), evidence research skills through successful completion and defense of
a Ph. D. dissertation, and take related
electives as necessary for a total of 75 semester credit hours. In
addition, students must satisfy a set of exams and qualifiers. Other courses
may be substituted for those listed below with the written permission in
advance of the Director of the GIS Doctoral program.
Geospatial
Science Core (15 SCH)
Students
must earn a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 across the following five
courses:
GISC 6381 GIS Fundamentals
GISC
6382 Applied GIS
GISC
6384 Spatial Analysis and Modeling
GISC
6385 GIS Theories, Models and Issues
GISC 7310
Regression Analysis with Spatial Applications
Geospatial Specialization Area
Students must select from one
of the following, with a minimum of 15 SCH. Courses selected must include at
least three at successively advanced levels.
I. Geospatial Computing and Information
Management
CS 6359 Object Oriented Analysis and Design
CS 6360
Database Design
CS 6364
Artificial Intelligence
CS 6366
Computer Graphics
CS 6375
Neural Nets and Machine Learning
CS 6378
Advanced Operating Systems
CS 6V80
Spatial Data Management
CS 6381 Combinatorics and Graph Algorithms
CS 6384
Computer Vision
GISC 6317
Computer Programming for GIS
GISC
6388 GIS Application Software Development
GISC
7363 Internet Mapping and Information Management
*MISC
6326 Database Management Systems
II. Spatial
Analysis and Modeling
CS 6312 Data
Structures
*ECON 6309 Econometrics I
*ECON 6310 Econometrics II
*ECON
6314 Structural Equation and Multilevel (Hierarchical) Modeling
*ECON
6315 (POEC 7370) Time Series Econometrics
*ECON
6316 Spatial Econometrics
EPPS
7364 Demographic Analysis and Modeling
EPPS
7368 Spatial Epidemiology
*GEOS 6313
Data Analysis for Geoscientists
*GISC
6311 (ECON 6311) Statistics for Economists
GISC
7360 GIS Pattern Analysis
GISC
7361 Spatial Statistics
*EPPS
7313 Descriptive and Inferential Statistics
*EPPS
7316 Advanced Regression Analysis
III. Remote Sensing and Satellite Technologies
GEOS 7322 GPS
Surveying Techniques
GEOS 7324
3-D GIS Data Capture and Ground Lidar
GISC
6325 (GEOS 6325) Introduction to Remote Sensing
GISC 7366
(GEOS 7366)/ Applied Remote Sensing
GISC/7365
(GEOS 7365) Remote Sensing Digital Image Processing
GISC 7367
(GEOS 7327) Remote Sensing Workshop
EE 6360
Digital Signal Processing
EE 6363
Digital Image Processing
IV. Customized
Geospatial Specialization (15 SCH)
Identified
by the student with approval in advance by the Director of the GIS Doctoral
Program.
* may
not be used in conjunction with certain other courses. Consult GIS Doctoral
Program Director
Application
Area or Technical Field (12 SCH)
Twelve semester-credit hours of specialized course work
in an application area or technical field relevant to GIScience. Normally,
these will derive from the student’s masters degree.
These hours may be transferred from another institution, or taken at UT Dallas
in an existing master’s program area and may be applied toward a master’s in
that area.
Application
area
examples: planning, public affairs, criminal justice, health and epidemiology,
geoscience, forestry, hydrology, marketing, real estate, economics, civil
engineering.
Technical
field
examples: statistics, computer science, software engineering, management
information systems, image analysis, operations research/location science,
instrumentation.
Research
and Dissertation ( Variable SCHs)
All
students must complete the following two classes as part of the research and
dissertation requirement :
GISC
7387 GIS Research Design
GISC
7389 GIS PhD Research Project Qualifier
In
addition, students must complete sufficient additional research and
dissertation credit hourse to bring the total number of SCHs they have earned
within the UTDallas doctoral program (or transferred into the UTDallas doctoral
program) to 75, the minimum required to earn a doctorial degree. Additional research and dissertation SCHs
above and beyond those required to reach the 75 credit hour minimum may be
required at the discretion of the student’s Ph.D. advisor. Additional research and dissertation SCHs can
be earned through any of the following classes:
GEOS
8V29 Research in GIS
GISC
6387 GIS Workshop
GISC
6389 GIS Masters Project
GISC
7367/GEOS 7327 Remote Sensing Workshop
GISC
8V29 Research in GIS
*EPPS 6310
& 6342 Research Design I & II
GISC
8v99 or GEOS 8v99 or CS 8v99 Dissertation
Other
Related Electives (0 to 24 SCH)
Students
may choose up to 24 SCHs in related electives with consent of their advisor or
the GIS Doctoral Program Director.
Exams and Qualifiers
Doctoral students must complete GISC 7389
Geospatial Information Sciences PhD Research Project Qualifier according
to uniform guidelines established by the GIS program.
After meeting the Research Project Qualifier, doctoral students must (1) demonstrate through
a general exam his/her competency in the area chosen for their dissertation,
and (2) successfully present and defend a dissertation proposal through an oral
examination, according to uniform guidelines established by the GIS program.
Doctoral students must have GPAs of at least 3.25, and
preferably 3.5, in courses taken at UT-Dallas at the time they register for
GISC 7389 Ph.D. Qualifier, or they must petition the GIS faculty for an
exemption for extenuating circumstances beyond the student’s control.
Defense
of Dissertation
A
dissertation must be prepared and defended successfully following the
procedures established by the Dean of Graduate Studies.