Georgia Tech offers 30 doctoral degree programs, with degree options in virtually every science- and engineering-related discipline, as well as technology-focused degrees in areas such as business administration, public policy, international affairs, economics, and more. Our doctoral programs offer excellent preparation for those who are interested in careers in research, management development, design, or consulting; who aspire to formulate and administer policy; or who wish to pursue a career in higher education.
College of Architecture
Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture
Focus: advancing knowledge and research in areas such as design computation; evidence-based design; building technology, history and culture; and organizational and cognitive performance.
Doctor of Philosophy in Building Construction
Focus: concentrating on quantitative methods in construction research, advanced readings in building construction, and research methodology.
Doctor of Philosophy in City and Regional Planning
Focus: preparing students to serve in a range of settings such as universities, planning consultancies, research and development firms, government agencies, and advanced practice.
Doctor of Philosophy in Music Technology
Focus: advancing knowledge, proficiency, and research in areas such as music theory, performance, composition, and/or analysis; music information retrieval, digital signal processing, and synthesis; interactive music systems design; and music cognition.
College of Computing
Doctor of Philosophy in Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization
Focus: furthering the study of discrete structures in the context of computer science, applied mathematics, and operations research.
Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics
Focus: preparing graduate students to reach the forefront of leadership in the field of bioinformatics and computational biology; and integrating research and education on the use of information technologies in biology and medicine.
Doctor of Philosophy in Computational Science and Engineering
Focus: furthering the knowledge, skills, and practices associated with the study of computer-based models of natural phenomena and engineered systems.
Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science
Focus: preparing exceptional students for careers at the cutting edge of academia, industry, and government through a highly individualized program of study.
Doctor of Philosophy in Human-Centered Computing
Focus: conducting advanced research to support the design of computational artifacts that better support human endeavors.
Doctor of Philosophy in Robotics
Focus: educating a new breed of multidisciplinary researchers in robotics who will provide leadership in this rapidly evolving discipline and help meet the growing industrial and societal demand for advanced education and research in robotics.
College of Engineering
Doctor of Philosophy in Aerospace Engineering
Focus: advancing knowledge and research in areas such as aerodynamics and fluid mechanics, aeroelasticity and structural dynamics, flight mechanics and control, propulsion and combustion, structural mechanics and materials behavior, and system design and optimization.
Doctor of Philosophy in Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization
Focus: furthering the study of discrete structures in the context of computer science, applied mathematics, and operations research.
Doctor of Philosophy in Bioengineering
Focus: advancing research that integrates engineering principles with the life sciences to improve health, the environment, and engineering applications.
Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics
Focus: preparing graduate students to reach the forefront of leadership in the field of bioinformatics and computational biology; and integrating research and education on the use of information technologies in biology and medicine.
Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering
Focus: integrating life sciences, engineering, and mathematics with the goal of enabling students to postulate and solve biomedical problems quantitatively and with a systems perspective.
Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering
Focus: advancing knowledge and research in areas such as catalysis, reaction kinetics, complex fluids, microelectronics, microfluidics, optimization, bioinformatics, polymers, sustainable development, pulp and paper, separations, carbon capture, biomedicine, solar energy, thermodynamics, MEMS, environmental science, reaction engineering, cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, biofuels, air quality, modeling, and process synthesis and control.
Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering
Focus: advancing knowledge and research in areas such as construction engineering; environmental engineering; environmental fluid mechanics, and water resources; geosystems engineering; structural engineering, mechanics and materials; and transportation systems engineering.
Doctor of Philosophy in Computational Science and Engineering
Focus: advancing knowledge and research in computer-based models of natural phenomena and engineered systems with an emphasis on integrating principles from mathematics, computer science, and engineering to be able to create significant computational artifacts (e.g., software).
Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Focus: advancing knowledge and research in areas such as bioengineering, computer engineering, digital signal processing, electrical energy, electromagnetics, electronic design and applications, microsystems, optics and photonics, systems and controls, and telecommunications.
Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering Science and Mechanics
Focus: concentrating on advanced research geared toward engineering and physical science majors with interests in fundamental mechanics and engineering science.
Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Engineering
Focus: concentrating on advanced research that employs scientific disciplines and engineering principles to address emerging environmental issues such as sustainable air, water, and land resources; human health; and environmental restoration.
Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial Engineering
Focus: advancing knowledge and research in areas such as supply chain logistics and manufacturing, economic decision analysis, applied statistics, and human-integrated systems.
Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Science and Engineering
Focus: advancing knowledge and research in areas such as metallurgy, polymers, ceramics, paper science and engineering, and functional electronic materials.
Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering
Focus: concentrating on advanced research geared toward students with backgrounds in engineering, mechanics, mathematics, physical sciences, and life sciences
Doctor of Philosophy in Nuclear and Radiological Engineering
Focus: concentrating on advanced research in areas such as nuclear power engineering, radiological engineering, and medical physics.
Doctor of Philosophy in Operations Research
Focus: advancing knowledge and research in areas such as mathematical optimization; stochastic and probabilistic methods; statistical modeling and analysis; design and analysis of algorithms; and computational and numerical methods.
Doctor of Philosophy in Paper Science and Engineering
Focus: employing multiple science and engineering disciplines to advance knowledge and research in the production of paper, tissue, and other products from natural fiber.
Doctor of Philosophy in Robotics
Focus: educating a new breed of multidisciplinary researchers in robotics who will provide leadership in this rapidly evolving discipline and help meet the growing industrial and societal demand for advanced education and research in robotics.
College of Sciences
Doctor of Philosophy in Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization
Focus: furthering the study of discrete structures in the context of computer science, applied mathematics, and operations research.
Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Physiology
Focus: advancing knowledge and research in the study of human movement and mobility, with concentrations in biomechanics, neuromechanics, motor control and behavior, muscle cellular and systems physiology, and exercise physiology.
Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics
Focus: preparing graduate students to reach the forefront of leadership in the field of bioinformatics and computational biology; and integrating research and education on the use of information technologies in biology and medicine.
Doctor of Philosophy in Biology
Focus: advancing knowledge and research in areas such as ecology, evolution, and behavior; molecular and cell biology; and computational biology and bioinformatics.
Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry
Focus: advancing knowledge and multidisciplinary research in areas such as biomolecular structure, molecular biophysics, computational and theoretical chemistry, materials chemistry, nanochemistry, bio-organic chemistry, photochemistry and photobiology, polymer chemistry, sensors, and environmental chemistry.
Doctor of Philosophy in Computational Science and Engineering
Focus: advancing knowledge and research in computer-based models of natural phenomena and engineered systems with an emphasis on integrating principles from mathematics, computer science, and engineering to be able to create significant computational artifacts (e.g., software).
Doctor of Philosophy in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Focus: advancing knowledge and research in areas such as atmospheric chemistry, aerosols, and clouds; dynamics of weather and climate; geochemistry; geophysics; oceanography; paleoclimate; planetary science; and remote sensing.
Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics
Focus: advancing knowledge and research in areas such as algebra, analysis, differential equations, geometry, numerical analysis, probability, quantitative finance, statistics, topology, and methods of applied mathematics.
Doctor of Philosophy in Paper Science and Engineering
Focus: employing multiple science and engineering disciplines to advance knowledge and research in the production of paper, tissue, and other products from natural fiber.
Doctor of Philosophy in Physics
Focus: advancing knowledge and research around topics such as the physical principles of mechanics, electricity and magnetism, thermodynamics, and the quantum theory that governs physical phenomena at the microscopic level of molecules, atoms, and nuclei.
Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology
Focus: advancing knowledge and research in areas such as cognition and brain science, cognitive aging, engineering psychology, industrial/organizational psychology, and quantitative psychology.
Ernest Scheller Jr. College of Business
Doctor of Philosophy in Management
Focus: producing graduates who can make scholarly contributions to their chosen fields as researchers, scholars, and teachers in academic environments.
Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
Doctor of Philosophy in Digital Media
Focus: concentrating on an advanced research curriculum that prepares students to work in industry, public service, and universities, shaping emerging digital genres and expanding understanding and mastery of the representational power of the computer.
Doctor of Philosophy in Economics
Focus: researching the economic forces that generate the impetus for individuals to compete globally and analyzing the interrelated effects that these forces have on the environment, international trade, and the behavior of firms in a variety of industrial sectors in the U.S.
Doctor of Philosophy in History and Sociology of Technology and Science
Focus: concentrating on an advanced research curriculum aimed at developing an understanding of technology and science within a broad social and historical context.
Doctor of Philosophy in International Affairs, Science, and Technology
Focus: providing a unique opportunity for students with backgrounds in either social sciences or science and technology to deepen their understanding of international affairs through the advanced study of sub-fields such as international relations theory, international security, international political economy, comparative politics, and methods for social scientific research.
Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy
Focus: advancing knowledge and research in science and technology policy, environmental and energy policy, and urban and regional economic development policy.
