A PhD in information technology is the gateway to innovation in the technology industry. Your degree will take your training to the next level, giving you the breadth of knowledge and the experience, you need to lead innovative change.
The program encompasses all aspects of information technology and the branches of engineering most closely associated with information and engineering. Our focus on the science, engineering, and technology of information processing complements and enhances traditional approaches to engineering that are more strongly based on the physical and material sciences. The Information Technology PhD program is broad and includes several specific concentrations. Students may also pursue such doctoral studies without designating a concentration.
Mason Research Interests in Information Sciences and Technology
Information Sciences and Technology is a rich topic area for interdisciplinary research as, increasingly, every area of human endeavor comes to rely on ubiquitous access to information (as opposed to mere data), including medicine, defense, education, transportation, shipping, agriculture, manufacturing, and virtually all areas of advanced research.
The PhD in IT with Concentration in IST program focuses on the following three areas:
Cyber Security
Work closely with research faculty in the Department of Information Sciences and Technology and at the Center for Secure Information Systems. Students will participate in cutting-edge research programs addressing today’s most complex security challenges facing society and will have access to state of the art labs and computing facilities.
Cognitive Assistants
Explore how humans and cognitive assistants can synergistically integrate their creativity and computational power in a mixed-initiative interaction environment. Rapid development of cognitive assistants in various domains will stimulate the knowledge revolution of this century. Moreover, the process will continue to expand from the individual to the communities of interest, grouping complementary expertise in innovative ways to solve complex problems in various domains, from intelligence and data analytics to education.
Cyber-Human Systems
Learn how the analysis of information extracted from both offline and online environments helps understand and addresses the fundamental challenges existing in the interaction between technology and humans. Cyber-Human Systems focuses on the design, analysis, and evaluation of technological solutions that augment the capabilities of individuals, society, and organizations. These novel solutions aim at leveraging diverse big data sources, representing and incorporating knowledge of human behavior to design systems, and improving the human performance and experience with technology, especially for applications involving social good, healthcare, and education fields.