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. Students may also pursue a joint degree program
between SIS and the Graduate School of Public and International
Affairs.
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,
information retrieval, telecommunications and networking, visualization,
human-computer interaction, security assured information systems,
and cognitive science.
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: isinq@mail.sis.pitt.edu
- www.sis.pitt.edu/~dist
Masters Degree Programs
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 grade 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.
Academic Advising
Each student is assigned an academic advisor at the time of admission
to graduate study. These assignments are made primarily on the
basis of the student’s background and interests as shown
in the application. The student may at any time elect to change
advisors—any such change requires the consent of the new
advisor and must be reported to the Department. Forms for changing
advisors are available in the Department office, Fifth Floor, IS
Building.
In consultation with the advisor, the student must complete a
Plan of Study at the time of registration. The Plan of Study
forms are available from the advisor. A Plan of Studies is a series
of courses designed to meet the minimum exit competences judged
by the faculty to be necessary for employment as an information
professional. All Plans of Study must have the approval of the
advisor and will be used to ensure that the student has met all
requirements for graduation.
Academic Integrity
A student has an obligation to exhibit honesty, and to respect
the ethical standards of the information professions in carrying
out his or her academic assignments. All SIS students are responsible
for adhering to policies on academic integrity, which are available
on the SIS
Web site.
SIS academic integrity guidelines follow the University’s
guidelines with several procedural changes. Please see the guidelines
for details.
Statute of Limitations
The Master’s 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 the part-time students to complete the program in
six terms. The faculty, in response to a student petition, must
approve exceptions to the four-year limit if extenuating circumstances
exist.
Registration and Residence Requirements
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 Mathematical and Formal Foundations
area (INFSCI 2000 required unless exempted by advisor)
- Eighteen 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 or Cognitive
Systems area.
- Six credits of electives. Students may pursue a thesis or a
practicum as one of the elective options. Students should
know that a thesis is not a requirement of the MSIS degree program.
For more information, visit this
Web site.
Master of Science in Telecommunications (MST) Program
The Master of Science in Telecommunications program is designed
to prepare students for careers in network design and management
as well as in the intergrated voice, data, and image network environments.
The program responds to the need for 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.
MST Admission Prerequisites
To qualify for admission to the MST program, an applicant must
be a graduate of an accredited college or university. The student
must have completed the following course work (at the undergraduate
or graduate level, with a grade of B or better, prior to admission
to the MST program:
- Computer programming skill in at least one scientific programming
language (C, Pascal, JAVA, Fortran, etc)
- Statistics or Probability (a 3-credit course)
- Calculus (a 3-credit course).
The following courses, while not counting towards the 36-credit
degree, may be required depending upon previous educational background:
- Introduction to Telecom (Tel 2000)
- Electronic Communications I (Tel 2200)
- Software Tools and Techniques (Tel 2300)
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:
Doctor of Philosophy Degree Programs
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 the PhD degree should consult the website, PhD
Program in Information Science.
The candidate for the PhD program should have a broad knowledge
of the field as a profession as well as a specialization in an
area 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 at the
time of registration.
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.
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 Faculty Committee on Doctoral
Studies for a decision.
The Ph.D. in Information Science Program
Admission Requirements
In addition to the general requirements for admission to the Masters
program in information science, applicants for admission to the
PhD program should have a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or
better for any graduate studies they have pursued. See
PhD Program 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.
Graduate degrees are conferred only on those students who have
completed all courses required for the degree with at least a 3.0
GPA. 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.
The Preliminary Examination is comprised of a paper and an oral
presentation to the Information Sciences faculty. In preparation
for the preliminary examination, which is usually taken in the
third semester of study, PhD students will complete the following
course work.
- Four graduate-level courses, one in each of the following areas:
Research methods, foundations, design, and information
- Six credits of independent study focused on a research project,
which will result in an original, publishable quality research
paper (the basis for the written section of the preliminary
exam)
- Three doctoral seminars (9 credits), including a required Introduction
to Doctoral Research (IS 3005), are required. Advanced doctoral
seminars will be focused on single research themes.
While the oral examination can be taken before the completion
of the core courses and doctoral seminar, the preliminary examination
will not be considered satisfied until all core courses and doctoral
seminars are completed.
The comprehensive examination requires successful completion of
the preliminary exam. The student will choose three areas of concentration
and three faculty members for the comprehensive examination Committee,
one of whom is the advisor. In preparation for the comprehensive
exam, it is expected that the student will complete 3 credits of
advanced statistics and a minimum of 12 additional credits in elective
courses, which may include any of the departmental graduate courses,
independent studies, doctoral seminars, or coursework in other
departments. Once the committee and the topic areas are selected,
the student will prepare an activity and reading list with the
advice and approval of the committee members. The student will
then conduct whatever preparation is necessary. When the student
is ready, he/she will inform the advisor who will ask each member
of the committee will submit one or more questions to the advisor.
The advisor will be responsible for constructing the exam with
appropriate balance over the three topic areas. The student will
be given the questions and allowed one week to prepare written
answers to the questions. After review of the written answers,
an oral examination will be scheduled. The oral questions will
cover the answers on the written examination, and more broadly,
about knowledge of the material in the three areas of concentration.
The result of the comprehensive examination will be a pass or fail.
If a student fails, they may retake the exam one more time.
Doctoral students are required to take a minimum of 18 dissertation
credits as a part of their study. Dissertation credits should be
taken during terms when a student is actively working on the dissertation.
In any term in which a student is enrolled for dissertation credits,
the student should meet with their advisor on a regular basis to
monitor that appropriate progress is being made towards the completion
of the dissertation proposal or the dissertation. The specific
activities in a given term should depend on the current stage of
the dissertation process. In addition to writing the proposal and
dissertation itself, other appropriate activities may include reviewing
the literature, programming, prototyping, running preliminary studies,
writing grant proposals, preparing journal articles related to
the dissertation or presenting preliminary results at conferences.
Once the comprehensive examination is successfully completed,
the student can propose and defend a dissertation topic.
The Ph.D. in Information Science with a concentration in Telecommunications
Admission Requirements
Students seeking admission to the Ph.D. program with a concentration
in Telecommunications must:
- Hold a master’s degree in Telecommunications or a related field from an accredited university,
a recognized international program, or the equivalent.
- Have maintained in graduate work of a minimum grade point average of 3.3 (on a scale with A having a value of 4 points
per credit). An international student’s grade point average
will be calculated on the basis of equivalency from universities
that use a different scale.
- Submit scores from a predictor test such as the Graduate Record
Examination (GRE) or equivalent examination. Scores on all three
sections (verbal, quantitative, and analytical) of the GRE must
be submitted.
- Provide evidence of the ability to undertake doctoral work,
an essay (not exceeding 1,000 words) indicating, as specifically
as possible, the student’s academic and professional goals
in relation to the Telecommunications doctoral program and identifying
potential areas and/or topics in which the student expects to
pursue dissertation research.
- Have successfully completed:
- Two different scientific computer programming language classes
- Introductory class in probability and statistics
- Differential and integral calculus classes
Ph.D. Degree Requirements
The Telecommunications Ph.D. program requires a minimum of 72
credits beyond the Bachelor’s degree. The 72 credits must
include the required courses (or their equivalent) for the MST
degree at the University of Pittsburgh. Also included in the 72
credits are:
- Six credits of probability and research design
- Six credits of minor courses
- Nine credits of doctoral level seminars in relevant topics
Thirty-six of the 72 credits must be advanced coursework beyond
the MST degree (or its equivalent). In addition to the advanced
coursework in telecommunications, doctoral students must take at
least 18 credits of dissertation research and writing; however,
regardless of the number of credits taken, no more than 18 credits
for dissertation research and writing may be applied toward graduation.
The grade for these credits will appear as an “S” on
the student’s transcript.
Graduation depends upon meeting the minimum credit requirements
and all other requirements. Graduate degrees are conferred only
on those students who have completed all courses required for the
degree with at least a 3.0 GPA. Grades of C or lower are unacceptable
for graduation credit.
All students who are candidates for doctoral degrees are governed
by the regulations of the University Council on Graduate Study,
which establishes minimum standards for graduate work throughout
the University as well as by those regulations established by the
SIS faculty.
Probability/Research Design Requirement
The probability/research design requirement (6 credits) is fulfilled
by either two probability courses beyond the admissions pre-requisite
or a 3-credit probability and 3-credit research design course.
The course allowed for the probability requirement include TELCOM
2130: Queueing. These credits are included in the 36-credit course
and seminar requirement.
Preliminary Examination Requirement
The preliminary examination, according to Regulations Governing
Graduate Study at the University of Pittsburgh, is held:
...to assess the breadth of the student’s
knowledge of the discipline, the student’s achievement
during the first year of graduate study, and the potential to
apply research methods independently.... The evaluation is
used to identify those students who may be expected to complete
a doctoral program successfully and also to reveal areas of weakness
in the student’s preparation.
The TPC has clarified further that the overall objectives of the
preliminary examination are:
- To test the Ph.D. students for breadth of knowledge
- To evaluate their skills, and their ability to apply them
- To evaluate their ability to do research, and
- Provide a set of integrative experiences that differentiate
telecommunications from other fields (e.g. EE, CS, and IS)
This examination and preparation for it should enable the student
to review all areas of Telecommunications relevant to his/her research,
present all the material ”in the front” of the student’s
brain at the same time, and improve the ability to see relationships
among various parts and to see gaps or cracks that exist between
these areas in Telecommunications. A research paper/masters thesis
is not required for completing the preliminary exam. However, individual
faculty members before accepting a student as an advisee may require
the student to write a Masters thesis to evaluate her/his interest
and ability in research. For more details, see www.tele.pitt.edu/academics/overview.htm.
With the successful completion of the preliminary examination,
the student is fully admitted to doctoral study in telecommunications.
The Director of the Telecommunications program will notify the
student, in writing, of admission to doctoral study. After admission,
the student must complete the remaining coursework including doctoral
level seminars; the probability, research design, and information
science course requirements; and the residency requirement.
Comprehensive Exam
The student must satisfactorily pass a comprehensive examination
designed to assess mastery of the general field of telecommunications,
acquisition of both depth and breadth in the area of specialization
within the field, and ability to use the research methods of the
discipline. The purpose of the comprehensive examination is to
assess the student’s ability to understand a sub-area of
telecommunications in depth. In order to do research, a student
must be able to read, understand, present, and criticize research
papers in the field. It is also important that the student be able
to explain it in depth to someone who is unfamiliar with that area.
Thus, this examination centers on the development of a tutorial
as well as a lecture in which the student must explain the subject
to the satisfaction of the entire telecommunications faculty. From
a learning perspective, this provides the student with an experience
of structuring and explaining a technical topic in detail. It is
expected that a student has completed the minimum 36 credits of
coursework before taking the comprehensive exam.
Candidacy and Dissertation Requirements
After successfully completing the comprehensive examination, the
student will select a dissertation advisor and a committee. Then,
the student in consultation with the dissertation advisor, must
prepare a dissertation proposal which is then presented to the
committee in a public session. The dissertation committee must
unanimously approve the dissertation topic and research plan before
the student may be admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree.
When the proposal has been successfully defended, the chair of
the student’s dissertation committee shall notify the Chair
of the Ph.D. Committee, the director of the Telecommunications
Program Committee, and the Dean of SIS that the student has achieved
formal candidacy.
Journal Requirement
All Ph.D. students are mandatorily required to submit an article
of publishable quality to a journal before the degree is awarded.
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 grade 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.
Research Areas in Information Science and Telecommunications
Specific areas of research include:
- Systems design and analysis—system design methodologies,
improved applications of information systems (including geographic
information systems), rigorous systems specifications, and office
automation systems that encourage the exchange of information.
- Telecommunications—wireless telecommunications, computer
networking protocols, distributed databases and processing, economic
models for telecommunications, gigabit networking, network survivability,
and photonic switching.
- Visualization study—search and retrieval paradigms
for databases, replacement of mental inferences with visual inferences
in problem solving, the extraction of intelligence from large
scientific databases, emergent relationships during learning
and self-organization in neural networks. SIS researchers
have developed customized real-time displays for physicians.
- Human-computer interaction—tailoring the interface
to the specific user, generation and use of analogies, design
of interfaces that promote the development of expertise, visual
languages, electronic publishing, and hypermedia.
- Cognitive Science—artificial intelligence, neural networks,
natural language processing, human cognition, development of
a natural language parsing system, building modes of semantic
memory, spatial knowledge and processing, mathematical models
of cognitive processes, and classification research.
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