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Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems, Ph.D.

The ISE doctoral program prepares students with the ability to create and apply new mathematical, computational, and statistical approaches to novel, cutting-edge applications of ISE. This fact allows our Ph.D. graduates to pursue successful careers within academia, industry, and government. Graduates of the ISE doctoral program receive a Ph.D. degree in Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems (DSES) - a name that can be attributed to the department's history in interdisciplinary approaches to solving critical, practically-motivated problems.

Program Overview

The department itself was founded in 1987 under the DSES name and brought together faculty from mathematics, engineering, and management. The interdisciplinary nature of ISE research is a strong theme within the department and ISE faculty are examining problems in a broad set of application areas including disaster response, adaptive supply chains, homeland security, and team decision-making.

Doctoral Degree Requirements

• Plan of Study approved by PhD program director and Dean of the Graduate School
• Average GPA 3.5 or better
• Doctoral Qualifying Exam: A written research document, developed in close cooperation with a faculty adviser, and evaluated by two faculty that are not the advisor.
• Doctoral Candidacy Exam: We encourage the candidacy exam to occur one year after passing the DQE and before the end of the third year.
• Doctoral Dissertation
• Oral defense

Average time to dissertation is around four years.

Research Areas

Our Ph.D. program offers both unique research and educational experiences for our students. The research pursued by our students fits into an important theme of RPI: "Why not change the world?" Our Ph.D. students are applying the intellectual strengths of ISE to critical challenges faced by the world over the next century, especially in the areas of disaster response and adaptive supply chains.

Awards for PhD Students

There are three awards for which current ISE PhD students are eligible to apply for and to receive as a student:

• ISE Graduate Student Research Award: Recognizes scholarly contributions published in top-tier academic journals.
• ISE PhD Outstanding Contributions to Education Award: Recognizes PhD students that have contributed significantly to undergraduate education during their time in the department.
• Graduate Student Travel Award: Provides partial support for PhD students to present their research at conferences and learn about current advances in their chosen field.

ISE Graduate Student Research Award

The ISE Graduate Student Research Award will be given to any PhD student that has been lead author on an accepted publication, before the official receipt of their PhD, in a top-tier journal in industrial and systems engineering or related fields. The research conducted for this journal paper must have occurred while a PhD student at RPI and must be published in a top-tier academic journal.

ISE PhD Student Outstanding Contributions to Education Award

The ISE PhD Outstanding Contributions to Education Award will be given to a PhD student that has made a contribution, in a significant fashion, to undergraduate education at RPI. Contributions are broadly defined and could include:

• Outstanding work as a teaching assistant for an undergraduate course
• The creation of online learning modules and materials in order to supplement the learning experiences of our undergraduate students
• Co-supervising undergraduate research projects with faculty in the department

ISE PhD Student Travel Award

The ISE PhD Student Travel Award is to provide partial support in order for our PhD students to present their research at conferences and learn about current advances in their chosen field. There will be up to 4 awards per fiscal year, each receiving $750 in support. Review criteria for this award includes:

• The quality of the research in the proposed abstract
• The academic achievement of the student
• The appropriateness of their plans for the conference with respect to their PhD studies and career goals
• How close the student is in terms of completing their PhD and reaching the job market.