Doctorate Program
The graduates of the DSA PhD program will be prepared to engage in creative research and development in academia or industry. This program will allow students to examine more deeply the fundamentals, theory, and application of Algorithmic, Systems, and Statistical thinking to extract knowledge from data that arises in various application domains.
The goals of the Ph.D. program in Data Science and Analytics are:
- To cultivate a community of students capable of applying computational, statistical, and modeling techniques on a variety of data domains.
- To foster students to contribute to the domain of the knowledge in all areas of data science and analytics.
- To prepare students to educate the next general of data scientists.
Specific requirements for the PhD degree are set by the student's doctoral committee in conformance with the current rules of the Graduate College. The doctoral degree requires at least 90 post-baccalaureate hours and culminates with the submission and successful defense of original dissertation research. The DSA PhD is comprised of 20 core hours, 25 approved elective hours, and 45 dissertation hours.
Important links and information:
All students who intend to pursue a doctoral degree must apply to the program through the Office of Graduate Admissions. We accept applications for spring, summer and fall semesters. The application requires:
- A completed Bachelor's degree with a 3.0 GPA
- Submission of official transcripts (all)
- Statement of purpose
- Resume
- Three letters of recommendation
- Submission of areas of Interest / Tracks
- Faculty Contacted
The following prerequisites are for admission, which must be completed by all applicants:
- Calculus I
- Calculus II
- Linear Algebra
- Two semesters, or a year, of high language programming (Java or C++ preferred)
Please note that International students have an application deadline and may require English Proficiency documentation. Please visit the International Student page for details.
Tuition and Fees can be calculated on the Bursar page. The Graduate College have information on funding your graduate education. Departmental financial support is not guaranteed to all admitted students.
The purpose of the advisory conference is to aid the student in developing an overall plan for attaining a doctoral degree. It is recommended that the student schedule the Advisory Conference in consultation with the chair of the Doctoral Committee (or else the Graduate Liaison) within the second semester of enrollment.
The committee should be made up of a Chair (DSA faculty) and minimum 3 members, the majority should DSA faculty. One of the committee being the Graduate Faculty Representative (cannot be associated with DSA and should not have a conflict of interest). A committee member with Special Membership cannot be counted towards the DSA faculty majority, nor be the Graduate Faculty Representative.
The Advisory Conference Report is due no later than the term before the general examination. It is important to allow sufficient time for your Graduate College counselor to thoroughly review your ACR prior to your exam. ACR review will take longer during peak times, such as the final month of the term when many defenses and exams are typically held. If your ACR has errors or does not meet degree requirements or policies, you will need additional time to make corrections, consult with your academic unit, and re-submit the ACR. Therefore, follow the suggested ACR submission deadlines below to ensure your general exam schedule stays on track:
- Second week of May, for fall exam
- Second week of October, for spring exam
- Second week of February, for summer exam
If there are any changes to your approved ACR or committee membership, you will need to make updates before you apply for the general examination. For ACR changes, complete a new ACR document and request approval via the online Doctoral Advisory Conference Report (ACR) Submission form. Your ACR must be up to date before the Graduate College can authorize your general examination. For committee changes, submit the online Request for Change in Committee form. Changes in committee membership are not permitted within the 30 calendar days before the general examination.
When you are enrolled in or have completed the final semester of coursework, you should prepare for the general examination. No later than the end of the second week of the semester in which you will take the exam, submit the online General Exam Application for the Doctoral Degree to the Graduate College. After your application is approved, the Graduate College will email the Authority Report Form for the General Examination to you, your committee and your graduate liaison. You may not begin work for the exam until you receive the Authority Report Form.
No later than 72 hours after the exam, submit the completed Authority Report Form, including original signatures from all committee members, to the Graduate College. You will be admitted to doctoral candidacy after satisfactorily completing the general examination.
Once you begin enrolling in Research for Doctoral Dissertation (DSA 6980), you must enroll in a minimum of two credit hours of DSA 6980 each fall and spring until all degree requirements are completed. (Summer enrollment is also required if you are working on the dissertation during summer; see the “Enrollment Requirements for Dissertation Research” section of the Graduate College Bulletin).
Before you begin writing the dissertation, review the Thesis/Dissertation Instruction Packet. This packet contains important information about research-related issues and copyright, and explains the Graduate College formatting requirements for doctoral dissertations. If your dissertation research may involve human subjects research, vertebrate animal research, information that is protected from dissemination by applicable law or by contract, or intellectual property that may potentially be patentable, you should discuss this with your committee chair as early as possible in the research process.
At the beginning of the semester you plan to graduate, apply for graduation online according to the deadlines indicated on the Academic Calendar. Contact the Graduation Office for information about attending college convocation ceremonies and May Commencement.
If there are any changes to your approved ACR or committee membership, you will need to make updates before you defend the dissertation.
For ACR changes, complete a new ACR document and request approval via the online Doctoral Advisory Conference Report (ACR) Submission form. Your ACR must be up to date before the Graduate College can authorize your defense.
For committee changes, submit the online Request for Change in Committee form. Changes in committee membership are not permitted within the 30 calendar days before the dissertation defense.
Before scheduling your dissertation defense, provide each member of your committee with a complete draft of your dissertation (see the “Dissertation Draft” section of the Graduate College Bulletin). Your committee will determine how far in advance you should provide the draft. The committee should have sufficient time to review the draft and approve any major revisions required before you submit the online Request for Authority to Defend form to the Graduate College. After your committee has approved the draft, arrange the date, time and location for your defense.
At least four weeks before your defense, submit the online Request for Degree Check to the Graduate College. Include any required attachments (if applicable) from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). The Graduate College will notify you of the result of the degree check via OU email.
At least ten (10) working days before your defense, submit the online Request for Authority to Defend and upload any required attachments (if applicable) from the IRB or IACUC. After your request for authority is approved, the Graduate College will email the Authority Report Form for the Dissertation Defense to you, your committee and your graduate liaison. You are not authorized to defend until you receive the Authority Report Form.
No later than 72 hours after your defense, submit the completed Authority Report Form, including original signatures from all committee members, to the Graduate College.
If your dissertation involves human subjects research, contact the IRB office to obtain documentation confirming that your involvement as a graduate student in the research project is officially terminated. You will need to submit this additional documentation to the Graduate College before you submit the dissertation to SHAREOK.
Complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates.
After your committee has approved your final dissertation, submit the online Approval for Thesis/Dissertation Submission to SHAREOK form to the Graduate College.
Submit your dissertation to the SHAREOK institutional repository, according to the instructions you received in the Graduate College email authorizing your defense. Your submission is due no later than 60 calendar days after your defense. If you plan to graduate in a particular semester, you must meet the semester submission deadline given on the Academic Calendar, usually the last day of the final examination period.
