Program Overview

Doctor of Philosophy in Social and Engineering Systems

The Doctor of Philosophy in Social and Engineering Systems is a program offered by the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society.

Program Requirements

The program requires the following:

• Orientation: IDS.900 Doctoral Seminar in Social and Engineering Systems (3 units)
• Core: Select 12 units from three of the areas below:
  • Probability and Statistics:
    • 6.7700[J] Fundamentals of Probability
    • 18.6501 Fundamentals of Statistics
    • 18.655 Mathematical Statistics
    • IDS.160[J] Mathematical Statistics: a Non-Asymptotic Approach
    • IDS.131[J] Statistics, Computation and Applications
  • Social Science:
    • 17.850 Political Science Scope and Methods
    • 21A.809 Designing Empirical Research in the Social Sciences
    • 21A.819 Ethnographic Research Methods
  • Microeconomics / Causal Inference:
    • 14.121 & 14.122 Microeconomic Theory I and Microeconomic Theory II
    • 14.320 Econometric Data Science
    • 14.386 New Econometric Methods
    • 14.388 Inference on Causal and Structural Parameters Using ML and AI
    • 17.802 Quantitative Research Methods II: Causal Inference
• Information Systems and Decision Science Focus: 54 units, including:
  • Five subjects in the areas of probabilistic modeling, statistics, optimization, or systems/control theory
  • One subject from the list of Statistical Processing of Data Subjects
  • One subject of substantial mathematical content
  • Two subjects belonging to a sequence that provides increasing depth on a particular topic
• Social Science Focus: 42 units, including:
  • Four subjects that create a coherent and rigorous program of study in the social sciences
  • Three subjects comprising a coherent collection that builds depth in a particular social science focus area
• Problem Domain Focus: 9 units, including:
  • Two subjects in the application domain of the student’s research
• Teaching: IDS.960 Teaching in Data, Systems, and Society (20 units)
• Research:
  • IDS.970 Pre-Thesis Research in Data, Systems, and Society (138 units)
  • IDS.THG Graduate Thesis (60 units)
• Total Units: 326 units

Statistical Processing of Data Subjects

The following subjects are available:

• 6.7810 Algorithms for Inference (12 units)
• 6.7900 Machine Learning (12 units)
• 9.520[J] Statistical Learning Theory and Applications (12 units)
• 14.382 & 14.383 Econometrics and High-Dimensional Econometrics (6 units)
• 15.077[J] Statistical Machine Learning and Data Science (12 units)
• 16.391 Statistics for Engineers and Scientists (12 units)
• 17.802 Quantitative Research Methods II: Causal Inference (12 units)
• 17.804 Quantitative Research Methods III: Generalized Linear Models and Extensions (12 units)
• 17.806 Quantitative Research Methods IV: Advanced Topics (12 units)
• 18.6501 Fundamentals of Statistics (12 units)
• 18.655 Mathematical Statistics (12 units)
• IDS.131[J] Statistics, Computation and Applications (12 units)
• IDS.160[J] Mathematical Statistics: a Non-Asymptotic Approach (12 units)