Statistics/Machine Learning Joint Ph.D. Degree
This program differs from the standard Statistics Ph.D. program in its emphasis on machine learning and computer science. Students in this track will be involved in courses and research from both the Departments of Statistics and Machine Learning.
During the first year, students will normally be situated in and supported by the Department of Statistics. During later years, students will be located in the Department of their primary advisor.
Students will be granted the joint degree if they meet TWO sets of program requirements corresponding to the TWO departments, namely the ML Ph.D. Requirements and the Statistics Ph.D. Requirements, as we present next.
Statistics Joint Program Requirements
Students in this program are subject to all of the core Ph.D. requirements, except that the Data Analysis Exam is not required. (The Data Analysis Exam is required, however, in order to receive the M.S. in Statistics.)
Students in this program are required to complete the Advanced Data Analysis (ADA) project to the same standards as regular Statistics Ph.D. students. Namely, they are required to work on a substantive, real data project with a domain expert as outside advisor. A faculty member from the Department of Statistics must play an oversight role in the project, if not as the primary advisor. This project will satisfy the ML Data Analysis Project (DAP), speaking skills, and writing requirements, provided that an ML faculty member is an advisor.
The student must be advised by a faculty from the home department along with a Core Faculty member from the joint department as a co-mentor. Joint Statistics-MLD faculty cannot serve both roles. Both faculty must be identified at the time of admission to the joint program.
The thesis proposal and defense must be announced to the MLD community.
For questions, please send email to: phd-admissions@stat.cmu.edu(link sends e-mail)
ML Joint Program Requirements
How to Apply
Students interested in this joint Ph.D. degree should apply to the Ph.D. program that best aligns with their research interests (Ph.D. in Statistics or Ph.D. in Machine Learning).