Founded in 1992, the innovative Computational Sciences and Informatics (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. 

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 Nilaya Baccus-Hairston.

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Research opportunities leading to the doctoral degree are available in each of the following Areas of Concentration:

Students may also pursue interdisciplinary research that combines the areas of concentration listed above with each other and also with computational neuroscience, climate dynamics, and bioinformatics, which are now separate Ph.D. programs within SCS

The School'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. SCS maintains several weekly colloquia and seminar series to ensure that students are exposed to the latest developments at area research institutions. Doctoral students are encouraged to participate in national and international meetings where they can present their latest findings.

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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:

1. core computational science topics;

2. computational intensive courses in specific scientific areas;

3. research leading to the dissertation .

The doctoral program is designed to be completed in 4-5 years including:

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 3.00 in their last 60 credits of study. 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

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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:

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Copyright School of Computational Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
Last modified: December 28, 2005

Please send questions or comments to Dr. Peter A. Becker at  pbecker@gmu.edu

Graphic design: Janejira Kalsmith
Programming: Guido Cervone an d Liviu Panait