Graduate Studies in HCI
The HCIL is an interdisciplinary research community, but prospective students must be admitted to and pursue a degree in a particular department, usually Computer Science, the College of Information Studies, or Psychology.
Computer Science
To earn a Ph.D. in Computer Science, you must apply to their office of graduate admissions. You will probably want to work with one of the CS faculty that focuses on HCI:
- Assoc. Prof. Ben Bederson, Director of HCIL
- Assist. Prof. François Guimbretière
- Assist. Prof. Vibha Sazawal
- Prof. Ben Shneiderman
The computer science Ph.D. does not have written comprehensive exams. Instead, students must take 7 graduate computer science courses distributed over 5 areas, with no more than 2 in any one area (i.e., 2 can be HCI courses, but 5 must be in other areas). In addition, students must take other graduate courses in the university, and a 1 credit course on how to conduct research. See the graduate catalog for details.
College of Information Studies (CLIS)
To earn a Ph.D. in CLIS, you must apply to their office of graduate admissions. You will probably want to work with the CLIS faculty that focuses on HCI:
- Assist. Prof. Allison Druin (w/ joint appointment in CS, can also advise CS students)
- Assoc. Prof. Doug Oard (w/ joint appointment in CS, can also advise CS students)
- Prof. and Dean Jenny Preece
- Prof. of Practice Ann Weeks
For a Ph.D. in CLIS, you must take 2 core CLIS courses (one focused on information systems, one focused on the management and use of information), take 3 courses in research methods, do the equivalent of a Masters in some related field, and pass a comprehensive exam. See the CLIS Ph.D. program for more details.
Psychology
To earn a Ph.D. in Psychology, you must apply to their office of graduate admissions. You will most likely want to work with Assoc. Prof. Kent Norman who focuses on HCI.
For a Ph.D. in Psychology, all students entering with a Baccalaureate degree are required to take three quantitative courses and three “core” courses in areas outside their specialty program, which may be chosen from a group of courses designed to provide graduate level introductions in a variety of specialty areas. The remaining time is devoted to research, and coursework required by the student’s specialty area as well as coursework chosen by the student in consultation with his or her advisor on the basis of the student’s interests.
To be admitted to the “doctoral program” students must demonstrate “research competence.” Admission to the doctoral program also requires satisfactory completion of certain coursework, and favorable recommendations, from both the research committee and the specialty area, with the final approval made by the Graduate Committee (which consists of the Director of Graduate Studies and an elected representative from each of the specialty areas). Research competence may be evidenced by the completion of an acceptable Master’s thesis. Sometime in the third or fourth year of the program, students take comprehensive examinations.
Admission to doctoral candidacy requires successful completion of the comprehensive examination, completion of certain course requirements, and the recommendation of the specialty area. After being admitted to candidacy, students begin formally to work on dissertations. The Ph.D. degree requires 12 hours of dissertation credits. See the graduate catalog for complete details.
Once admitted we consider students for Graduate Research Assistantships and for participation in projects. Often projects involve students from several units and we collaborate regularly.
Other Departments
There are also growing interests in HCI in other units:
- Department of Aerospace Engineering, Space Systems Lab
Prof. David L. Akin (dakin@ssl.umd.edu) - Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities
Prof. Neil Fraistat (fraistat@umd.edu) - College of Journalism
Prof. John Newhagen (jn35@umail.umd.edu) - Department of Linguistics
Prof. Philip Resnik (resnik@umiacs.umd.edu) - Department of Sociology
Prof. John Robinson (robinson@bss1.umd.edu) - School of Business
Prof. Galit Shmueli (gshmueli@rhsmith.umd.edu)
