This program of study is offered by the School of Physics, Astronomy, and Computational Sciences in the College of Science.

Areas of Emphasis within the PhD Program

Research opportunities leading to the doctoral degree are available in each of the following areas of emphasis:

• Computational Fluid Dynamics
• Computational Learning
• Computational Materials and Physical Chemistry Sciences
• Computational Mathematics
• Computational Statistics
• Space Sciences and Computational Astrophysics

Students may also pursue interdisciplinary research that combines the areas of emphasis listed above with each other and also with quantum information science, climate dynamics, bioinformatics, and computational neuroscience.

The School of Physics, Astronomy, and Computational Sciences offers several weekly colloquia and seminar series to ensure that students are exposed to the latest developments at area research institutions. Doctoral students are encouraged to participate in national and international meetings where they can present their latest findings.

Program of Study

The list of research areas tells only part of the story because the greatest strength of the CSI doctoral program lies in its ability to foster and promote truly interdisciplinary research that crosses traditional domain boundaries. In the CSI doctoral program, each student is presented with an exciting opportunity to create a new area of interdisciplinary inquiry that would not fit into a traditional PhD program. Students in the CSI doctoral program use computationally intensive methods to solve current problems in these scientific areas.

The 72-credit doctoral program combines three intellectual elements:

• Core computational science topics
• Computational intensive courses in specific scientific areas
• Research leading to the dissertation

The doctoral program, designed to be completed in 4 to 5 years, includes

• 12 credits of core computational courses (scientific computing, databases, visualization)
• 15 credits from courses in one of the science areas
• 18 credits in electives from science courses, with at least 9 credits of CSI courses
• 3 credits in colloquium/seminar
• 24 credits in dissertation research

Admission Requirements

Students interested in applying for admission into the CSI PhD program should have a bachelor’s degree in any natural science, mathematics, engineering, or computer science with a minimum GPA of 3.00 in their last 60 credits of study. All applicants to the PhD program should have a mathematics background up to and including differential equations. All applicants to the PhD program should also have knowledge of a computer programming language such as C, C++, FORTRAN, etc.

The GRE is required, unless the applicant holds a master’s degree from a school in the United States. A TOEFL score of 575 (paper-based exam) or 230 (computer-based exam) is required for international students. The ETS code for GMU is 5827.

Students should submit a completed graduate application along with three letters of recommendation, an expanded goals statement, and a $60 check to cover the application fee (payable to George Mason University) in addition to the items listed above.

Applications should be received by March 1 for fall semester and November 1 for spring semester. Applications requesting financial support must be received by February 1 for the fall semester. Please note that applications from local applicants may be accepted after these general deadlines.

Please send completed applications to the address below:

COS Graduate Applications Processing Center
George Mason University
4400 University Drive, MS 6A3
Fairfax, VA 22030

For additional information, phone 703-993-1998; fax 703-993-9300, or e-mail: blaisten@gmu.edu.

Degree Requirements

1. General core course requirements. 12 credits from the following:
   
   1. CSI 700 Numerical Methods
   2. CSI 701 Foundations of Computational Science
   3. CSI 702 High Performance Computing
   4. CSI 703 Scientific and Statistical Visualization
   5. CSI 710 Scientific Databases
2. Emphasis core requirements. 15 credits in one of the following areas:
   
   1. Computational Fluid Dynamics
      
      1. CSI 720 Fluid Mechanics
      2. CSI 721 Computational Fluid Dynamics I
      3. CSI 722 Computational Fluid Dynamics II
      4. CSI 742 The Mathematics of the Finite Elements Method
      5. One from: CSI 685 Fundamentals of Materials Science, CSI 729 Topics in Continuum
         Systems, CSI 780 Computational Physics and Applications, CSI 786 Molecular Dynamics
         Modeling, CSI 787 Computational Materials Science, CSI 789 Mechanics of Solids
   2. Computational Learning
      
      1. CSI 771 Computational Statistics
      2. CSI 772 Statistical Learning
      3. CSI 773 Statistical Graphics and Data Exploration
      4. CSI 777 Principles of Knowledge Mining
      5. CSI 873 Computational Learning and Discovery
   3. Computational Materials and Physical Chemistry Sciences
      
      1. CSI 685 Fundamental of Materials Science or CSI 687 Solid State Physics and Applications
      2. CSI 780 Computational Physics and Applications
      3. CSI 783 Computational Quantum Mechanics or CSI 782 Statistical Mechanics for Modeling and Simulation
      4. CSI 787 Computational Materials Science
      5. One from: CSI 786 Molecular Dynamics Modeling, CSI 789 Mechanics of Solids,
         CSI 885 Atomistic Modeling of Materials
   4. Computational Mathematics
      
      1. CSI 740 Numerical Linear Algebra
      2.  CSI 742 The Mathematics of the Finite Elements Method
      3. CSI 747 Nonlinear Optimization Methods
      4. CSI 771 Computational Statistics
      5. CSI 786 Molecular Dynamics Modeling 
   5. Computational Statistics
      
      1. CSI 771 Computational Statistics
      2. CSI 773 Statistical Graphics and Data Exploration or CSI 877 Geometric Methods in Statistics
      3. CSI 876 Measure and Linear Spaces or CSI 971 Probability Theory
      4. CSI 972 Mathematical Statistics I
      5. CSI 973 Mathematical Statistics II
   6. Space Sciences and Computational Astrophysics
      
      1. CSI 785 Electromagnetic Theory
      2. CSI 661 Astrophysics, or CSI 662 Space Weather
      3. CSI 769 Space Plasma Physics, or CSI 764 Computational Astrophysics,
      4. Two from:  CSI 763 Statistical Methods in Space Sciences, CSI 780 Computational Physics and Applications, CSI 782 Statistical Mechanics for Modeling and Simulation, CSI 783 Computational Quantum Mechanics, CSI 721 Computational Fluid Dynamics 
   7. Computational Physics
      
      1. CSI 780 Computational Physics and Applications
      2. CSI 783 Computational Quantum Mechanics
      3. Three from: CSI 782 Statistical Mechanics for Modeling and Simulation,
         CSI 784 Quantum Mechanics, CSI 785 Electromagnetic Theory,
         CSI 786 Molecular Dynamics Modeling, CSI 787 Computational Material Science
3. Science Electives: 18 credits, with at least 9 credits of CSI courses
4. Seminars: 3 credits of CSI 898, 899, 991 
   (any of these series can be repeated three times or more)
5. Dissertation Research: 24 credits