University of Pittsburgh

Home > Graduate > PhD > Programs > Operations

Areas of Study

Operations, Decision Sciences, and Artificial Intelligence

The Operations, Decision Sciences and Artificial Intelligence (ODSAI) Interest Group offers very flexible options for a doctoral student in a variety of related fields. These programs require coursework for about two years, followed by a period of dissertation-related research. The doctoral program prepares students for a career in teaching and research at institutions of higher learning, although a corporate job is also a possibility.  

Possible concentration areas are:

  • Data Mining and Business Analytics
  • Decision Sciences
  • Project Management
  • Revenue Management
  • Simulation Methodology
  • Stochastic Modeling and Applied Statistical Methods
  • Supply Chain Management

During the first two years, doctoral students typically work with multiple ODSAI faculty, either as graduate research assistants or as teaching assistants, so that they can learn about the different research interests of the faculty. Some of the coursework taken during the first two years is common for all the various concentration areas, but some is customized to meet individual student needs. Students, in consultation with their faculty advisors, take courses at Katz, but supplement them with courses from Pitt's Departments of Mathematics, Statistics, and Industrial Engineering and the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. Data mining is a dynamically evolving field, and course offerings may vary substantially from year to year. For their research, students have some flexibility to work on interdisciplinary management issues, such as those that overlap between operations and marketing, operations and strategy, and operations and accounting.  

These programs are designed to lead to involvement in research as soon as possible. Students typically take four courses in each of their first two terms, and then, in their first summer term, begin a significant research project, which may be related to their graduate student assistantship duties. The summer project is intended to lead to a journal submission, and it may also develop into a dissertation topic; a manuscript based on the summer work is expected to be completed by the end of the fall term of the second year of study. Students take additional coursework in their second year of study, and typically take their comprehensive exams no later than the summer of their second year in residence.

Depending on the complexity of the topic, a dissertation may either follow the three-essay model or be an extended, single document. In either case, a student is expected to have publications in appropriate journals before entering the job market at the end of the program.

Faculty

Doctoral Students