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New Ph.D Program in Computational Social Sciences Faculty
Administration
Course Work
Computational Social Science (CSS) is an interdisciplinary field that combines the application of computer simulation and other computer-based methods to the analysis of social systems and processes at all levels or scales of complexity: cognitive, individual, group, society, national, and world systems. Examples of complex social dynamics include the evolution of civilization and technology, warfare and terrorism, economic market dynamics, human organizations, intelligence and early warning, and emergence of language and symbol systems. Every social science includes a computational field: anthropology, ecology, economics, geography, history, linguistics, political science, and sociology. CSS also includes the interaction between artificial human and natural systems. GRADUATE PROGRAM
Certificate in Computational Social Sciences
Admission Requirements
For further admission requirements and procedures pleast call COS at 703-993-3430. Core courses: Both CSS 600 (Introduction to Computational Social Science) and CSS 610 (Computational Analysis of Social Complexity) are required. Elective (three of the following) courses: Students are required to take a minimum of 9 credit hours in elective or other core courses (e.g., CSS 605, 620, 692). Students may include a maximum of 3 credit hours of programming courses to meet the requirements. Programming courses such as procedural, object-oriented languages, or other approved programming approaches (e.g., CSI 603 or 604 Introduction to Scientific Programming I and II) may be used with the approval of the director. Some courses on computational techniques, modeling, or statistics such as visualization, graphics, statistical and database packages (such as CSI 606 and 607) may also be used to meet the requirements with prior approval of the director. Since programming and computational technique courses are generally offered for one credit hour, a student gains flexibility in tailoring the requirements, balancing specific computational methods courses with current programming skills. Students intending to obtain the certificate in CSS must contact the director no later than two semesters prior to the completion of the required credit hours. Computational Social Sciences, Ph.D.
Admission Requirements and Procedures
Applicants should have as background a bachelor's degree in either one of the social sciences, in computer science, engineering, or in a relevant discipline, as well as undergraduate courses in these and related areas. Bachelor's degrees in the physical or biological sciences are also eligible, but applicant may be advised to take additional courses in social science or computer science as prerequisites to admission. Minimal requirements also include one undergraduate course in calculus and knowledge of a computer programming language preferably object-based. While in the program students are expected to develop significant expertise in the utilization of computational social science resources such as agent-based simulations or other computational tools. The program maintains a simulation environment, the Multi-Agent Simulator of Neighborhoods and Networks (MASON), in collaboration with the Evolutionary Computation Laboratory (EC Lab) of the Department of Computer Science. Mathematics training beyond basic calculus is not required, but may be useful in some areas of specialization. Application materials must include the following:
Items 1-4 must be submitted jointly, as a package. Applicants are encouraged to submit these on-line through the on-line application system, which allows applications to track the status of their application. Additionally, but not as a requirement, an applicant may submit prior work in computational social science, such as a simulation model or publications. The letters of recommendation must arrive directly from the recommenders and may be submitted electronically as .pdf attachments (send to: mhayes5@gmu.edu, with copy to cssgrad@gmu.edu ). Items 6-8 are forwarded to the program at the applicant's request. Each application is reviewed by the Program Director, who shares them with the faculty members listed by the applicant. The admissions decision is determined by an applicant's credentials and matching faculty interests. The program may recommend that an applicant delay another year, pending completion of additional coursework. An interview with an applicant may be necessary in some cases. No specific set of qualifications guarantees admission to the program. For further admission requirements and procedures please contact Melissa Hayes at mhayes5@gmu.edu or 703-993-3430.
All supporting documents for application packets should be mailed to:
Degree Requirements The degree requires 72 credit hours, with the following functional distribution and learning objectives:
The 18 credit hours of required CSS courses include several courses (CSS 605, 610, 645, 692) where computational projects are required. Thus, experience in developing computational models is developed early in the program. The 30 credit hours consisting of discipline-based social science courses, elective courses, independent research, and directed readings must be approved by the student's Advisor and the Graduate Program Director. The Graduate Director maintains a list or recommended elective courses by discipline. Elective courses may also originate from the cross-registration mechanism offered by the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area (CUWMA), comprising eleven other universities in the metropolitan area of the District of Columbia, in case a specifically necessary course is required for a student's specialization. As with all non-core courses, CUWMA courses must be approved by the student's Advisor and the CSS Graduate Studies Director. Up to 30 credit hours of the required 48 may be waived based on prior Master's-level training and the specific courses taken. A maximum of 24 credit hours of prior graduate coursework may be credited, provided such credits have not been used for another degree. The combined 30 credit hours of disciplinary and elective courses provide a mechanism for compensating for the diverse prior backgrounds of students (for example, computer science vs. economics). Examples: (1) a student arriving with a strong computation background (e.g., B.S. or M.S. in computer science) would use the 15 hours of electives to acquire additional social science training, in addition to the 15 hours of disciplinary social science courses; (2) conversely, a student with strong social science background (e.g., bachelor's or master's in economics) would use the 15 hours of electives to learn more about computational or computer science. The following professional extracurricular activities are also encouraged for advanced students: attending professional lectures and colloquia on campus and in the capital area; writing research grant proposals with faculty, with other students, or individually, especially those addressed to the National Science Foundation; writing and publishing in peer-refereed journals, including the most competitive disciplinary journals in the social sciences as well as the more specialized computational social science journals; learning the art and science of excellent teaching; presenting papers at professional conferences; attending summer training opportunities, such as those at Santa Fe Institute, ICPSR (Inter-University Consortium for Social and Political Research, University of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon University), and others. Foreign students, or American students with a writing deficiency are required to take one or more courses in ESL or in technical and scientific writing. The program director maintains a set of resources for writing and publishing in computational social science. The length of time required to complete the program varies, depending on a student's time commitment, resources, and academic progress in the course of study (coursework, research, exams, dissertation). Assuming a student enters the program with proper undergraduate background, has focused research motivation, and full-time enrollment, the PhD could be earned in four years, if all academic requirements are met. Some students arriving with either a Master's degree or with prior coursework in computational social science could take less than four years. Most students will require five or more years, depending on academic progress, funding, and other factors that are normally unpredictable. The next section provides an example based on a full-time "normal load." A "light load" would take longer, up to the statutory limit allowed by the University (11 years). Students with the strongest research capabilities and professional potential will ordinarily be eligible for funding through extramural grants. First Year Evaluation, Candidacy Examination, and Doctoral Dissertation Proposal
Assuming normal progress and continuation, during the second year every student shall form a Doctoral Dissertation Committee consisting of the student's Dissertation Advisor, who serves as Chair, plus 3 or 4 appropriately qualified individuals. The dissertation committee may simply be an enlarged First Year committee, or it may be a different committee, depending on the evolution of a student's interests. At least 3 committee members, including the Advisor, must be tenure-line faculty in the COS, CAS, ITE and/or KIAS. The Committee must be approved by the CSS Program Director. The purpose of this committee is to advise the student on preparations for the doctoral candidacy exams, and preparation, development and defense of the doctoral dissertation. The Candidacy Examination is taken after a student has completed all core requirements and a majority of additional course work (18 + 15 credit hours). In the "normal load" example given earlier this corresponds to roughly the fifth semester into the program, or Fall semester of the Third Year. The purpose of the Candidacy Examination is threefold: (1) to assess the student's substantive and methodological knowledge in computational social science as a whole (corresponding to the materials covered by the core courses) and in the chosen area of concentration (examples are given below); (2) to assess the students' ability to integrate materials from different courses; and (3) to assess the student's potential for a successful dissertation. Examples of areas of concentrations and potential specializations include but are not limited to the following:
The Candidacy Examination shall consist of written and oral parts. The written part shall contain general and specialized questions. The latter shall be specified at least in part by the student's chosen area of specialization. The written examination shall be prepared by the Program Director and the student's Advisor, who shall solicit questions from the faculty. Each question in the written examination shall be evaluated in terms of A (high pass), B (pass), or C (fail). A grade of B+ or higher is necessary for proceeding to the oral exam. The oral exam shall cover the same or related material as the written exam, for the purpose of assessing the student's ability to respond with knowledge and professionalism to questions of substance or method. The oral exam is public and may be attended by fellow students and interested faculty. Each portion of the Candidacy Examination may be retaken only once. Upon passing the Candidacy Examination each student shall prepare and within a year defend a Dissertation Proposal, written in the form of an extramural research grant proposal. The student shall develop the Dissertation Proposal in consultation with the Dissertation Committee. The main criteria of evaluation shall be threefold: originality, importance, and feasibility. If successfully defended, the Dissertation Committee may recommend submission to an appropriate funding agency (NSF, NIH, or other). The Dissertation Committee may also recommend different or additional coursework as necessary for improving the dissertation project, as well as specific benchmarks that the project must attain. A student becomes a Ph.D. candidate (so-called ABD status) upon passing the Candidacy Examination and successfully defending the dissertation proposal. An ABD A Ph.D. candidate student may apply for a position that accepts applicants with an expected date for degree conferral. Doctoral Dissertation
Parts of the dissertation should be publishable as refereed articles or refereed conference proceedings. Previously published content may be included in the dissertation, except when the work in question was not produced in a significant way by the student. Since computational social science research is frequently collaborative in nature, it is acceptable for a student to include in the dissertation the products of such collaboration, including work produced in conjunction with the Advisor or other members of the Dissertation Committee. A collection of published papers with a common theme may constitute the dissertation. If a doubt arises, the Dissertation Committee shall determine the status of any given item. The dissertation defense shall take place upon recommendation of the student's Dissertation Committee, at a time and place agreeable to all, with a minimum advance notice of two weeks. The defense is open to the public and fellow students and interested faculty and staff are encouraged to attend. However, only members of the Dissertation Committee may ask questions or make comments, following a presentation by the student candidate. The Dissertation Committee recommends that the graduate faculty of George Mason University accept the student candidate for the Ph.D. degree upon a successful defense and completion of any final revisions. The Chair of the Dissertation Committee shall ensure the implementation of any final revisions, if any are requested and agreed upon by the members of the Dissertation Committee. Additionally, the Dissertation Committee may also recommend publication of the dissertation in revised form. |