The PhD in Network Science program aims to enhance our understanding of networks arising from the interplay of human behavior, sociotechnical infrastructures, information diffusion, and biological agents. This multidisciplinary program, led by Northeastern University's Network Science Institute, is a joint collaboration across six academic colleges—the College of Social Sciences and Humanities; the College of Science; the Khoury College of Computer Sciences; the Bouvé College of Health Sciences; the College of Arts, Media and Design; and the D'Amore-McKim School of Business. This doctoral program represents a range of fields including computer science, information science, physics, complexity, sociology, communication, data visualization, organizational behavior, political science, population health, and epidemiology.
Students are admitted on entry to the College of Social Sciences and Humanities. After they reach candidacy (once they pass their dissertation proposal/comprehensive exam), students may choose to move to the home college of their dissertation advisor for the colleges that confer PhDs. Students follow policies of their home college, including dissertation format and submission deadlines.
Required coursework includes 20 semester hours of core courses in network science, plus an additional 20 semester hours of elective courses relevant to the student's area of research. Electives should be discussed with the student's faculty advisor. A minimum of 40 semester hours of coursework is required, though the faculty advisor or program committee may recommend additional coursework based on student research skills.
Alternative Course Path
Students have the option to complete core coursework in their first year of study. This curriculum pathway is expected to be taken by students whose admitting advisor is located outside of the Boston campus and elsewhere in the Northeastern network.
Annual Review
A review of satisfactory progress will be ongoing and formally evaluated at the end of each academic year. Students must maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.000 or better in all coursework. Students are not allowed to retake courses. A student who does not maintain a 3.000 GPA, or is not making satisfactory progress on their dissertation research, may be recommended for dismissal by the graduate program committee.
As part of the annual review process, the students will be asked to submit a summary of completed and future courses and research goals. Students will submit to the program committee:
- A list of courses completed in the last academic year and course plan for the following year
- A short synopsis of their research progress and research plans for the next year
Qualifying Examination
The qualifying exam is an hour-long oral examination of the material covered in the core curriculum and consists of questions selected by network science program faculty. One month prior to the exam, students receive between 50 to 80 study questions to prepare. Students will be asked to give a short presentation of their research plans, followed by an oral exam where the qualifying exam panel will ask a subset of the review questions.
Students must take the exam by the fall semester of their third year. If students fail the qualifying exam on their first attempt, they may retake the exam in the following semester. Students who do not pass the exam after two attempts will be asked to leave the doctoral program and may be awarded the master's degree in network science. 1
Dissertation Committee
Students must confirm their dissertation advisor by the end of their second year. The dissertation advisor must be a full-time faculty member of Northeastern (including tenured, tenure-track, research, or teaching faculty.) The advisor must be a network science doctoral program faculty member, unless the student receives approval by the network science program director.
Students must confirm their dissertation committee prior to their comprehensive exam. The committee must consist of a minimum of four members:
- A dissertation advisor
- A core member of the Network Science Institute faculty
- An additional tenured/tenure-track, research, or teaching Northeastern faculty member approved by the advisor and program committee
- One member recognized as an expert in the specific topic of research, who can be external to Northeastern
Dissertation Proposal (Comprehensive Examination)
The comprehensive exam should be completed in the student's fourth year of study. The exam consists of two parts: preparation of the dissertation proposal and oral presentation of the proposal. Students must prepare a written comprehensive research proposal describing the dissertation research plan including review of relevant literature, research questions, motivation, methods, any preliminary results, and potential impact. The proposal must be shared with the doctoral committee members at least two weeks prior to the scheduled presentation.
Students will give a 30-minute oral presentation to their committee members that is open to the public. Following the presentation and open Q&A, the dissertation committee will assess the proposed research plan and provide feedback to the student. If the proposal and/or presentation do not meet the expectations of the committee, the student will be asked to revise their proposal and/or their presentation. The completion of the comprehensive exam is considered successful if the dissertation committee approves as satisfactory both the written proposal and the oral presentation. Students may repeat the comprehensive exam once. If they are unsuccessful in their second attempt, the program will ask the student to leave the program.
PhD Candidacy
A student is considered a doctoral candidate upon completion of the required coursework with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.000, a passing score on the qualifying exam, and satisfactory completion of the comprehensive exam.
Dissertation
A PhD student should aim to complete their dissertation in their fifth year of study. Upon successful completion of the research plan proposed in the dissertation proposal, the candidate has an opportunity to prepare the dissertation for approval by the dissertation committee. The dissertation must contain results of extensive research and make an original contribution to the field. The work should give evidence of the candidate’s ability to carry out independent research. It is expected that the dissertation consists of one or more research studies of sufficient quality to merit publication in a reputable journal(s). Students must enroll in a minimum of two semesters of dissertation before they are eligible for the dissertation defense.
Dissertation Defense
Like the dissertation proposal, the dissertation defense consists of two parts: the written dissertation and the defense oral presentation. The PhD candidate should send the written dissertation to their dissertation committee at least one month prior to the dissertation defense.
The oral dissertation defense will be open to the public and will include a Q&A session. Following the presentation, the dissertation committee will communicate their assessment of whether they consider the candidate's dissertation requirement fulfilled. Once the dissertation requirement is fulfilled, the PhD candidate is ready to graduate. Students then apply to graduate and follow the formatting guidelines and deadlines of their home college.
1Students who have completed required coursework with a cumulative GPA of 3.000 or better may be eligible to receive a Master of Science in Network Science degree. Note that students will not be admitted directly into the master's program to pursue a masterʼs degree.
Complete all courses and requirements listed below unless otherwise indicated.
Milestones
Coursework
Annual reviews
Qualifying exam
Dissertation committee
Dissertation proposal (comprehensive examination)
Dissertation
Dissertation defense
Core Requirements
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| |
| NETS 5116 | Network Science 1 | 4 |
| NETS 7052 | Computational Methods for Network Science | 4 |
| NETS 7380 | Statistical Methods for Network Science | 4 |
| 8 |
| Network Science 2 | |
| Machine Learning with Graphs | |
| Social Networks | |
| Dynamical Processes in Complex Networks | |
Electives
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| 20 |
| |
| |
| Network Economics | |
| Bayesian and Network Statistics | |
| Research Design for Social Networks | |
| Computational Urban Science | |
| Directed Study | |
| Topics | |
| Network Science Literature Review Seminar | |
| |
| Network Science 2 | |
| Machine Learning with Graphs | |
| Social Networks | |
| Dynamical Processes in Complex Networks | |
| |
| Algorithms | |
| Natural Language Processing | |
| Machine Learning | |
| Data Mining Techniques | |
| Special Topics in Artificial Intelligence | |
| Visualization for Network Science | |
| Special Topics in Data Visualization | |
| Graph Theory | |
| Machine Learning and Statistical Learning Theory 1 | |
| Intermediate Epidemiology | |
| Principles of Population Health 1 | |
| Principles of Population Health 2 | |
| Causal Inference in Public Health Research | |
| Introduction to Scientific Computing | |
| Statistical Physics | |
| Computational Physics | |
Dissertation
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| |
| Research | |
| |
| Dissertation Term 1 | |
| Dissertation Term 2 | |
| |
| Dissertation Continuation | |
Program Credit/GPA Requirement
40 total semester hours required
Minimum cumulative 3.000 GPA required
