StudyQA — PhD: Informatics — University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Page 61)

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Description Contents Requirements Funding

Highlights

Individually tailored, student-centric study
Renowned faculty from the entire campus and wide disciplinary spectrum, representing more than seven Schools and Colleges across the Urbana-Champaign campus
World-class computing resources
Fellowships and Assistantships for the most qualified applicants

Research and education in informatics has a strong interdisciplinary flavor as it involves experts in the information and computation foundations together with experts in the application areas. The Informatics PhD program at the University of Illinois will support such interdisciplinary research and promote the creation of new fields of research enabled by the development and application of new technologies. The Informatics PhD program at Illinois brings together faculty working in various application areas, faculty working in information and computation foundations, and interdisciplinary faculty conjoining the two.

With the help of an advisory committee, each student will craft his or her own program of study.

Initial Program Areas

Bioinformatics
Health and Medical Informatics
Spatial Informatics
Art and Cultural Informatics
Design, Technology, and Society
Data Analytics and Information Visualization
Cognitive Science and Language Processing

The total number of hours required for a PhD is 96 (64 with an approved MS):
1. 32 hours for MS courses (400 or 500-level)
2. 32 for PhD courses (400 or 500-level, as noted below)
3. 32 for dissertation credits
Students entering with a suitable MS can skip the first part and graduate in 4 years, with the first half being courses and the second half being dissertation. Students entering without a suitable MS will take 5 – 6 years.
The Informatics Program requires the following courses:
1. The INFO 500 Orientation seminar
2. Two Research Practicums (lab rotations). This course is INFO 510 and requires an approval form.
3. Two Applications courses (500-level)
4. Two Foundations courses (500-level), all for some coherent plan of X-informatics.

This will supply 25 of the 32 PhD course hours. The student will also take at least two specialty courses (at either the 400 or 500-level) for the remaining required course hours.

	WITH MS DEGREE	WITH BS DEGREE
Required Courses:
Orientation Seminar (1 h, 2 semesters)	0 then 1	0 then 1
Research Practicum (4 h, 2 semesters)	8	8
Applications Courses (2 500-level courses from approved list)	8	8
Foundations Courses (2 500-level courses from approved list)	8	8
Thesis hours required (min/max applied toward degree):	32 min	32 min
Electives (400 or 500-level)	7	7
Masters degree	0	32*
Total hours	64	96
Qualifying exam required	Yes	Yes
Preliminary exam required	Yes	Yes
Final exam/Dissertation defense required	Yes	Yes
Dissertation deposit required	Yes	Yes

First half of the program, Years 1 and 2: All students are expected to meet professional informatics levels of knowledge in programming/databases and in mathematics/statistics, or other technical field, as relevant to their area. The level is judged by their Advisory Committee and will vary depending on the Area chosen. Some students may already be at an adequate level, while others may require remediation. Their committee will develop a plan for achieving an adequate level, including research experiences and additional coursework, and will monitor students’ progress within the remediation plan. In the first semester of study, students must take the Orientation Seminar (first for 0 credits, and then in a later semester for 1 credit). During the first two years students must take four courses, determined in consultation with their Advisory Committee: Two in Applications and two in Foundations. The signature for interdisciplinary informatics is to require courses in both Applications and Foundations. Courses below the 500 level cannot be used to fulfill these basic requirements, although they can be counted as part of the total course load required. Each student can choose the standard Applications and Foundations of an established Area, or with approval of their Advisory Committee, choose custom Applications and Foundations across Areas. Because students may establish new areas of research, courses outside those listed are also permitted, with approval of the student’s Advisory Committee. These four courses will form the heart of their studies and are intended to provide the basic discipline knowledge. Typically, these would be taken as soon as possible but at least by the end of Year 2, with any prerequisite 400-level courses taken in Year 1. The timing depends on prior preparation. As soon as they have sufficient preparation, students must also take two Research Practicums.The required courses will usually be taken by the end of Year 2 but may be taken later if the student needs further preparatory work before being prepared for 500-level courses. After completing the required courses, a student must take an Area Qualifier to demonstrate breadth of knowledge in their chosen area, whether standard or custom. After passing the Area Qualifier, students must form a Dissertation Committee.

Second half of the program, Years 3 and 4:The second half of the program is devoted to the dissertation research, which students typically carry out during Years 3 and 4. When ready, they must pass the Preliminary Examination (essentially a proposal defense). When finished, students must present an acceptable Dissertation and then pass the Final Examination to graduate from the Informatics PhD program. A well-prepared student should pass the Preliminary Examination in Year 3 and the Final Examination in Year 4 to earn a PhD within four years of entering the program.

Requirements

Applicants to the PhD program must have been awarded (or are about to be awarded) a 4-year bachelors degree equivalent to that granted by the University of Illinois. To apply, use the university’s Online Application system, called ApplyYourself. All parts of the application, including application fee, must be received by the application deadline. Late applications will NOT be accepted. In addition, incomplete applications will be subject to denial.Notes:

When entering in your previous degree history, the name of the institution must be entered as it appears on the official transcript.
The Illinois Informatics Institute (I3) requires students to submit original or attested transcripts by the deadline in order to have your application reviewed. This requirement takes precedence over the Graduate College requirement to submit scanned transcripts. Also, I3 does not require international applicants to submit the financial documents or passport information at the time of application.
Please do not send additional materials (e.g. publications, photographs, videos, CDs, or portfolios). These items are not reviewed during the admissions process.
Please note that all admissions decisions will be communicated via email to the email address provided in your application. If your email address changes between the time you submit your application and March 15, email your updated email address to info-phd@illinois.edu. Include your old email address, your new email address, your first and last name, and your ApplyYourself PIN number in the email message.
The university’s application fee is $70 for US citizens and permanent residents and $90 for all other applicants.
Applicants must send official transcripts for all completed university course work and certification of degree (for international students only) for all completed degree programs directly to the department and they must be received by the application deadline. Official transcripts may be sent by the applicant and be considered as official if received in a sealed/signed envelope and does not say “issued to student.” Please note that submitting scanned transcripts with the application does not replace the requirement to submit official transcripts directly to I3. Applicants will not have a “complete” file until official transcripts are received.
Note: For International mail, we suggest you send through a delivery service that can track your shipment
Applicants are required to have three letters of recommendation submitted.
Financial Certification
Your CV/resume is part of the online application form.
The Personal Statement (sometimes also called the Applicant Statement) should include your goals and background as it relates to the field of informatics. It is good to include any past work history, your interests, and reasons for pursuing a graduate degree in informatics. Your statement will be evaluated for your conciseness, research interests, leadership skills, and eloquence. Generally the Personal Statement is between one to two pages.
Applicants must complete the Research Statement, which is different than the Personal Statement. The Research Statement is designed to give you the opportunity to explore a problem, question or issue that interests you, and that you might like to pursue in your doctoral work.
Selected your Area of Interest (from the Program Areas) under Concentration
Suggest up to three faculty members you might be interested in working with (see participating faculty from the faculty associated with your Program Area, or suggest other Illinois faculty. Note: This is VERY important, so please make sure you do this!
The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general aptitude tests (Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytical) and subject test scores are recommended, but no longer required. In some cases, the scores may provide helpful supporting information.
All TOEFL test scores should be reported through ETS to Institution Code 1836. A Department code is not needed, however, if one is required, please use “78”.