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Ph.D. in Computational  Sciences and  Informatics   Overview of the CSI Ph.D. Program Maryland Academic Common Market Admission Requirements Applications Program of Study Scientific Disciplines within the Ph.D. Ph.D. Curriculum Requirements Course Descriptions Overview of the Program   Founded in 1992, the innovative CSI doctoral program at George Mason University addresses the role of computation in science, mathematics, and engineering. Computational Sciences is defined as the development and application of computational methodologies and techniques to the modeling, simulation, and understanding of phenomena in the natural sciences and engineering. Informatics is defined as the design and implementation of complex hardware and software systems for the extraction of knowledge from large databases. The research and teaching activities of SCS reflect the recognized role of computation as part of a triad with theory and experimentation, leading to a better understanding of nature.  Maryland Academic Common Market   The CSI Ph.D. degree has been approved for participation in Maryland's Academic Common Market (ACM). The ACM allows full-time students who are residents of Maryland to enroll in the CSI Ph.D. program while paying the in-state VA tuition rate, which is about one-third of the out-of-state tuition rate that residents of Maryland would otherwise have to pay. For full details regarding Maryland's ACM program, click here. The ACM program code for the CSI Doctoral Program is 300801. Interested students should contact Chandler J. Stalvey. Return to the TOP of this page   Scientific Disciplines within the Ph.D. Program Research opportunities leading to the doctoral degree are available in each of the following Areas of Concentration:   Comprehensive Atmospheric Modeling Program -- CAMP Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Climate Dynamics and Global Change Computational Chemistry Computational Finance Computational Fluid Dynamics Computational Intelligence and Knowledge Mining Computational Mathematics Computational Neuroscience Computational Physics Computational Statistics Computer Design of Materials Earth Observing and Remote Sensing High-Performance Computing Space Sciences and Computational Astrophysics   Interdisciplinary research is available at SCS. The Institute's research activities reflect the recognized role of computation as part of a triad with theory and experiment to generate new knowledge and a better understanding of nature. The Institute maintains several active and well attended weekly colloquia and seminars series to ensure frequent communication with scientists from other institutions. Participation of students in national and international meetings is encouraged. Return to the TOP of this page   Program of Study   The CSI doctoral program provides research opportunities in many areas of concentration, including atmospheric transport and dispersion; bioinformatics, computational biology, and computational neuroscience; climate dynamics and global change; computational chemistry; computational fluid dynamics; computational mathematics; computational physics; computational statistics; computer design of materials; earth observing and remote sensing; high-performance computing; and space sciences and computational astrophysics. Students in the CSI doctoral program use computationally intensive methods to solve current problems in these scientific areas. The list of research concentrations tells only part of the story, because the greatest strength of the CSI doctoral program lies in its ability to foster and promote truly interdisciplinary research that crosses traditional domain boundaries. In the CSI doctoral program, each student is presented with an exciting opportunity to create a new area of interdisciplinary inquiry that would not fit into a traditional Ph.D. program. The doctoral program combines three intellectual elements: core computational science topics; computational intensive courses in specific scientific areas; research leading to the dissertation . The doctoral program is designed to be completed in 4-5 years including: 12 hours of core computational courses (scientific computing, databases, visualization); 12 hours from courses in one of the science areas; 12 hours in electives from science courses; 12 hours from computational topics; 24 hours in dissertation research. Return to the TOP of this page   Ph.D. Admission Requirements   Students interested in applying for admission into the CSI Ph.D. program should have a bachelor's degree in any natural science, mathematics, engineering, or computer science with a minimum GPA of 3.0. All applicants to the Ph.D. program should have a mathematics background up to and including Differential Equations. All applicants to the Ph.D. program should also have knowledge of a computer programming language such as C, C++, FORTRAN, etc. The GRE exam is required, unless the applicant holds a Master's degree from a school in the United States. A TOEFL score of 575 (paper-based exam) or 230 (computer-based exam) is required for international students. The ETS code for GMU is 5827. Students should submit a completed Graduate Application along with three letters of recommendation, an expanded goals statement and a $50 check to cover the application fee (payable to George Mason University) in addition to the items listed above. Applications should be received by March 1 for Fall Semester and November 1 for Spring Semester. Applications requesting support must be received by February 1 for the Fall semester. Please note that local applications may be accepted after these general deadlines. Please send completed applications to the address below: Application Processing Center CSI / George Mason University Mail Stop 5C3 Fairfax, VA 22032-4444   Additional information: Phone: (703) 993-1990; Fax: (703) 993-1993; e-mail: pbecker@gmu.edu   Return to the TOP of this page   Ph.D. Curriculum Requirements   1. Common Computational Core (12 credit hours) All Ph.D. students in the SCS program must complete the sequence of four common computational core courses:   CSI 700 (Numerical Methods) CSI 701 (Foundations of Computational Sciences) CSI 703 (Scientific and Statistical Visualization) CSI 710 (Scientific Databases)   Additional curriculum requirements vary from area to area, but fall into the following categories: 2. Scientific Core Comprehensive Atmospheric Modeling Program -- CAMP (6 credit hours) CSI 655 and CSI 755 Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (9 credit hours) CSI 730, CSI 731, CSI 732 Climate Dynamics and Global Change (12 credit hours) CSI 751, CSI 755, CSI 852; CSI 752 or CSI 756 Computational Chemistry (12 credit hours) CSI 711, CSI 713, CSI 782, CSI 783 Computational Finance (18 credit hours) STAT 652, STAT 656, CSI 771, CSI 776; two additional finance courses Computational Fluid Dynamics (15 credit hours) CSI 721, CSI 722, CSI 780; CSI 783 or CSI 784; CSI 785 or PHYS 513 Computational Intelligence and Knowledge Mining (12 credit hours) CSI 771, 773, SYST 781, IT 811 Computational Mathematics (12 credit hours) CSI 740; MATH 677 or MATH 678; two additional math courses Computational Neuroscience (9 credit hours) CSI 639, CSI 734, CSI 735 Computational Physics (12 credit hours) CSI 780; CSI 783 or CSI 784; CSI 785 or PHYS 513; one of CSI 782, CSI 783, CSI 784, CSI 888, PHYS 705 Computational Statistics (15 credit hours) CSI 771 or CSI 773; CSI 778; CSI 876 or CSI 877; CSI 972 and CSI 973 Computer Design of Materials (15 credit hours) CSI 685 or CSI 687; CSI 780 and CSI 783; CSI 782 or CSI 786; CSI 787 or CSI 986 Earth Observing and Remote Sensing (12 credit hours) CSI 750, CSI 753, CSI 754, CSI 757 High-Performance Computing (9 credit hours) CSI 709, CSI 909; one of CSI 721, CSI 754, CSI 761, CSI 788 Space Sciences and Computational Astrophysics (15 credit hours) CSI 661 and CSI 780; CSI 783 or CSI 784; CSI 785 or PHYS 513; one of CSI 721, CSI 761, CSI 788 3. Scientific Electives 4. Colloquia and Seminars (3 credit hours) 5. General Electives (as approved by advisor, required to raise the total number of course credits to 48) 6. Thesis Hours (24 credit hours)   Return to the TOP of this page

Copyright School of Computational Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA Last modified: September 11, 2000 Please send questions or comments to Dr. Peter A. Becker at  pbecker@gmu.edu Graphic design: Janejira Kalsmith Programming: Guido Cervone and Liviu Panait