School of Information Sciences—Department of Information Science and Telecommunications
The Department of Information Science and Telecommunications (DIST) offers a Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS) degree and a PhD degree in information science. In addition, DIST offers the Certificate of Advanced Study in Information Science to post-master's-level students who wish to continue their education along the lines of their special interests. DIST also offers a Master of Science in Telecommunications (MST) degree through a program based in the Department of Information Science and Telecommunications and jointly sponsored with the Departments of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Communication, and the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business. A Certificate of Advanced Study in Telecommunications and a PhD in information science with a telecommunications focus are also offered.
Research Focus
Members of the faculty are active researchers with funding from governmental and/or private sources. Both master's and doctoral students have an opportunity to work with faculty on research projects, and doctoral students conduct independent research for their dissertations. The major areas of research interest are systems analysis and design, telecommunications and networking, visualization, human-computer interaction, and cognitive science.
In the area of systems analysis and design, researchers develop system design methodologies, improved applications of information systems, including geographic information systems, development of rigorous systems specifications, and office automation systems that encourage the exchange of information.
Issues in telecommunications and networking research include wireless telecommunications, computer networking protocols, distributed databases and distributed processing, economic models for telecommunications, gigabit networking, network survivability, and photonic switching.
Researchers in the area of visualization study search and retrieval paradigms for databases, the replacement of mental inferences with visual inferences in problem solving, the extraction of intelligence from large scientific databases, and the discovery and analysis of emergent relationships during learning and self-organization in neural networks, and have developed customized real-time displays for physicians.
Human-computer interaction research focuses on the importance of tailoring the interface to the specific user. Areas of interest include the generation and use of analogies, the design of interfaces that promote development of expertise, visual languages, electronic publishing, and hypermedia.
In the research area of cognitive science, basic research spans the diverse topics of artificial intelligence, neural networks, natural language processing, and human cognition. Specific areas of study include the development of a natural language parsing system, building models of semantic memory, spatial knowledge and processing, mathematical models of cognitive processes, and classification research.
Contact Information
- Department of Information Science and Telecommunications
- School of Information Sciences
- 135 North Bellefield Avenue
- 412-624-5230
- Fax: 412-624-5231
- E-mail: inquiry@mail.sis.pitt.edu
- www.sis.pitt.edu/~dist
To qualify for admission, an applicant must be a graduate of an accredited college or university, with a scholastic average of B, or a minimum quality point average of 3.00 (on a scale where A=4.00). Preference will be given to candidates with better than a B average. The scholastic average of the final 50 percent of a student's undergraduate course work, as well as of graduate courses that may have been taken, shall be examined in determining achievement of this requirement.
All MSIS and MST applicants are required to submit a recent score (within three years of the date of application) on the Graduate Record Examination as part of their admission credentials. Scores on all three sections (verbal, quantitative, and analytical) of the General Section should be submitted.
To maintain active student status, students must register for at least 3 credits during one of the three terms of the calendar year. It is recommended, however, that part-time students register for at least 6 credits during two of the three terms of the academic year to maintain reasonable progress through the program.
Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS) Program
The MSIS program is designed to prepare students to assume professional responsibilities as system analysts and designers, database developers and managers, software engineers, interactive systems designers, expert system designers, artificial intelligence specialists, information retrieval specialists, and other information-related specialists.
MSIS Admission Prerequisites
Prerequisites for admission to the MSIS program include one 3-credit college course in each of the following:
- Structured programming language: a course on data structures and file processing using a modern structured language is optimal. C or C++ is strongly recommended.
- Statistics: a course covering data collection, descriptive and inferential statistics is optimal. It should cover measures of central tendency and variability, regression, correlation, non-parametric analysis, probability and sampling, Bayesian analysis, significance tests, and hypothesis testing.
- Mathematics: a college-level mathematics course, preferably in discrete mathematics or calculus, is required.
Any course work students are asked to meet as a condition of their admission must be completed with a grade of B or better.
MSIS Degree Requirements
A minimum of 36 credits is required to complete the MSIS degree. Basic course requirements are as follows:
- Six credits of course work in the foundations area (INFSCI 2000 required unless exempted by advisor)
- Twenty-one credits of course work in the systems and technology areas (either INFSCI 2610 or INFSCI 2630 required)
- Six credits of course work in the cognitive science area
To round out the required 36 credits, students may pursue a thesis, a practicum, or additional course work.
MSIS Statute of Limitations
The MSIS degree program must be completed within four years of the first term in which courses were taken after admission. The normal full-time course load is 9 to 12 credits per term; thus a full-time student will complete the program in three or four terms. The normal part-time course load is 6 credits per term, which permits part-time students to complete the program in six terms. The DIST faculty, via a student petition, must approve exceptions to the four-year limit due to extenuating circumstances.
Master of Science in Telecommunications (MST) Program
The Master of Science in Telecommunications program is designed to prepare students as telecommunications network designers, analysts, managers, and data, voice, or image specialists with emphasis on the integrated voice, data, and image telecommunications network environments. The program responds to the need for telecommunications professionals who can analyze, plan, design, implement, evaluate, and manage integrated telecommunications networks, especially in an environment in which separate voice, data, video, and image networks are being merged. Doctoral study in telecommunications is available as a focus in the Information Science PhD program. See Doctor of Philosophy in Information Science Program below.
MST Admission Prerequisites
Prerequisite to the MST program is a four-year undergraduate degree from a recognized college or university, including course work at the undergraduate level or higher with a C or better grade in one three-credit course in calculus and one three-credit course in probability or statistics. Applicants should also demonstrate skill in scientific programming acquired academically or professionally (C, Pascal, FORTRAN, etc.).
MST Requirements
Completion of the Master of Science in Telecommunications degree requires a minimum of 36 credits. Three credits may be in practicum (a structured supervised employment situation) or a thesis. For research-oriented students, the faculty strongly recommends a 3-credit thesis in lieu of course work.
The 36-credit minimum of course work should include the following:
- Twelve credits of advanced required courses.
- Three credits selected from the management/policy group. (See the department Web site for a listing of these courses.)
- Three credits selected from the human communication group. (See the department Web site for a listing of these courses.)
- Eighteen credits of elective course work that may include a practicum of 3 credits or a thesis of 3 credits.
MST Statute of Limitations
The MST degree program must be completed within four years of the first term in which courses were taken after admission.
Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Information Science Program
The Doctor of Philosophy degree program in the Department of Information Science and Telecommunications (DIST) provides research-oriented graduate study and professional specialization in the science of information. The candidate must give evidence of superior scholarship, mastery of a specialized field of knowledge, and demonstration of ability to do significant and relevant research. Students interested in telecommunications may pursue a focus in telecommunications as part of the PhD degree in information science. Students interested in the PhD degree should consult the document, PhD Program in Information Science.
The candidate for the PhD/IS program should have a broad knowledge of information science as a profession as well as a specialization in the field of major interest. Every candidate should have, in addition, a strong background in the foundations of information science and in research methodologies.
The advisor and student should design a Plan of Studies as early as possible after admission.
PhD Admission Requirements
In addition to the general requirements for admission to graduate study in DIST (or the Master of Science in Telecommunications program for students who plan to pursue the telecommunications concentration), applicants for admission to the PhD program should have a quality point average (QPA) of 3.30 or better for any graduate studies they have pursued. They must also demonstrate mathematical literacy as follows:
- Satisfactory completion of college-level course work in any two of the following: differential calculus, integral calculus, linear algebra, modern algebra, matrix algebra, or mathematical logic; OR
- Successful completion of an examination arranged with the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Mathematics.
PhD Degree Requirements
Students pursuing the PhD degree are first admitted to graduate study in information science. The degree requires a minimum of 72 credits of which 60 will normally be beyond the master's degree. Minimum credits are distributed as follows:
- Thirty-six credits of course work of which 18 must be doctoral and research seminars and 9 must be in statistics/research design
- Six credits outside of the department in a conceptual cluster
- Eighteen dissertation research credits
Graduate degrees are conferred only on those students who have completed all courses required for the degree with at least a 3.30 QPA.
In the doctoral program, at least 18 credits must be in 3000-level courses and seminars. The student will usually take at least 9 credits at the 2000 level and must take INFSCI 2000 (unless previously taken) as well as the PhD orientation session before taking the preliminary examination. During the first term of study, all students who have not taken INFSCI 2000 should do so. Courses numbered below 2000 do not meet the minimum requirements for doctoral study, although they may be taken to supplement a doctoral program.
Residence Requirement
The PhD degree can be completed by a combination of full-time and part-time study. Three terms of full-time study are required, two of which must be consecutive, and must be taken after successful completion of the preliminary examination. All three terms must be completed before the comprehensive examination. All students, whether on campus or away, must maintain active status by registering according to the registration requirements stated below.
Registration Requirement
All graduate students not admitted to candidacy, whether or not they are using University facilities or faculty time, must be registered for a minimum of 3 credits in one of three consecutive terms to continue as active students. Doctoral candidates in residence are required to register for a least 3 credits per term or such greater amount as the department deems appropriate. Doctoral candidates not in residence must be registered for at least 1 credit per three terms. Students must be registered in the term in which the preliminary and comprehensive examinations are taken and in which dissertation defense and graduation take place.
Preliminary Examination Requirement
Students are encouraged to take the preliminary examination, with the advice of the faculty advisor, within one year of matriculation but must take it within two calendar years of matriculation. The preliminary examination has both a written and an oral component. The closed-book written component consists of one six-hour exam, focusing on material typically covered in master's-level courses. The exam contains 12 questions, of which the student must answer six: three each in foundations and cognitive science, and six in systems and technology. Upon passing the written examination, the student will be required to take the oral examination, normally within three weeks following the written examination. Questions focus on integration of information and viewpoints from several aspects of information science. The purpose of this examination is to assess how a student approaches a complex problem, what resources the student can bring to bear on the problem, and what approaches the student deems potentially fruitful.
Comprehensive Examination Requirement
The comprehensive examination has both a written and an oral component. For the written component the student must prepare a written state-of-the-art paper and a written research plan (usually an experimental design) for a problem related to that state-of-the-art paper. The two-hour oral examination is directed at the state-of-the-art paper, the research plan, and the various relationships among the components of information science.
Candidacy and Dissertation Requirements
After the successful completion of the comprehensive examination, the student shall select a dissertation advisor who may or may not be the student's current academic advisor. The student in consultation with the dissertation advisor selects a dissertation committee of at least five people. A majority of the committee must be members of the DIST graduate faculty, and one of the members must hold a primary faculty appointment outside the department. Upon successful completion of the comprehensive examination and approval of the dissertation proposal, the student is admitted to doctoral candidacy. The doctoral committee must unanimously approve the dissertation topic and research plan before the student may be admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree. Approval of the proposal does not imply either the acceptance of a dissertation prepared in accord with the proposal or the restriction of the dissertation to this original proposal.
PhD Statute of Limitations
All requirements for the PhD degree program in IS must be completed in not more than six calendar years from the time of first registration. Students may in extenuating circumstances submit a formal request for extension of their statute of limitation or for a leave of absence from the program. The request must be submitted to the advisor and then presented to the DIST Committee on Doctoral Studies for a decision.
Telecommunications Focus
Requirements for the PhD with a focus in telecommunications differ from the requirements stated in the preceding section in the following areas:
- The degree requires a minimum of 84 graduate course and seminar credits beyond the bachelor's degree and at least 18 dissertation credits. These credits include:
- The required courses (or their equivalents) for the MST degree at the University of Pittsburgh
- Six credits in graduate-level statistics or probability
- Three credits in graduate-level research design
- Nine credits in graduate-level information science courses excluding those courses normally taken for the MST degree
- Nine credits in doctoral-level seminars in information science or telecommunications
- During the first or second term of study and in preparation for the preliminary examination, students must take and pass with a grade of B or better the Telecommunications Research Project course unless they submit an acceptable master's thesis.
- For the written component of the preliminary examination, the student selects three of the following four areas for a total of three three-hour exams: systems, foundations of transmission, performance analysis, and management policy.
- To be admitted to the comprehensive examination, a student must have completed the minimum of 84 credits of graduate course and seminar work beyond the undergraduate degree.
Certificates—Information Science and Telecommunications
Students in the Department of Information Science and Telecommunications may pursue two certificates in information science (IS) and in telecommunications (TELCOM).
In consultation with an advisor, students project a Plan of Studies to meet their specific interests or needs, and these plans may change as the program proceeds. Students may select graduate-level courses in other departments within the University as well as at Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education-cooperating institutions. Admission to all courses is contingent upon meeting course prerequisites and is subject to the advisor's approval.
Candidates for the IS and TELCOM certificates must complete the following requirements:
A total of 24 credits in graduate-level courses acceptable to the advisor and passed with a quality point average of at least B (3.00 on a 4.00 scale)
Fifteen of the 24 credits must be taken within DIST from among the approved courses for the MSIS degree program (for students pursuing the IS certificate of advanced study) or the MST degree program (for students pursuing the TELCOM certificate).
Course work must be completed within a period of four calendar years from the student's initial registration in the certificate program.
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