The PhD in MIS seeks to develop competent scholars and teachers — individuals who will excel in research and teaching positions at other major universities. With this goal in mind, we have developed a PhD program that will provide you with significant individual flexibility, while at the same time ensuring that you acquire the necessary conceptual and methodological skills to begin work toward a leadership position in your field.

The program typically takes a four-year, full-time commitment. Students spend their first two years completing course work in MIS, research methods, and a supporting field, usually related to the student's dissertation research topic. The doctoral dissertation is completed in the final two years. Students are expected to remain at the University of Georgia until their dissertation is successfully defended.

Prospective applicants can obtain information about the Terry College PhD program, including admission requirements and application materials from the Terry College PhD website.

Five Reasons to Consider a PhD in MIS from UGA

Cutting-Edge Research Tradition

• Active research projects in healthcare information systems, social media, innovation management, enterprise systems, technology adoption, and cyberinfrastructure
• "Energy Informatics" field founded by UGA MIS researchers
• Research experience in a variety of traditions such as experimental methods, quantitative psychometric and econometric analysis, and qualitative case-based research
• Publications in leading journals across multiple disciplines, including all major information systems journals, but also top management and engineering journals

Internationally-Recognized Faculty

• Leadership of the Association for Information Systems (Rick Watson, former president, AIS Fellows — Rick Watson and Hugh Watson)
• Ranked 6th worldwide in faculty research productivity in field's top journals (1990-2010 — 2 journals)
• Ranked 9th worldwide in overall faculty research productivity overall number of IS publications (1990-2010 — 8 journals)
• On editorial boards of all major IS journals (MISQ, ISR, JMIS, etc.)
• Research faculty involved in PhD program and highly available for PhD students — a culture of prioritizing attention to PhD education

Placement

• PhD graduates placed in top research universities around the world
• 100% recent placement in academic careers
• Particularly strong placement record in Southeast U.S.

See recent PhD placements »

Reputation

• UGA is one of the oldest and most acclaimed public universities in the U.S.
• UGA is one of Georgia's three original "Carnegie R1" research universities
• UGA is one of the Southeast U.S.'s fourteen "Carnegie Research University/Very High" (RU/VH) universities
• UGA ranks #31 in total research funding among U.S. Universities
• Top 15 MIS program according to US News & World Report
• Top 40 MBA program (Business Week and the Economist) and top 25 executive MBA
• UGA #1 in Georgia, webometrics ranking
• UGA ranked in the top 100 in the world (84) — QS University Rankings
• Among top ten "public ivy league" schools

The City of Athens

• America's best college town
• Top ten great college towns
• #8 most beautiful campus
• 60 miles from Atlanta
• Cost of living is 3.9% below U.S. average
• Vibrant cultural and arts scene - music scene including a variety of music festivals including AthFest
• Active health and outdoors living — including the famous Twilight bicycle race

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What They Say About Us

"During my PhD journey at UGA, I really enjoyed the rigorous training and the family-like culture here. The faculty have been very committed to my success and growth as both a well-balanced scholar and a person. Diversity of research streams of the faculty members allowed me the opportunity to explore different topics; and their high accessibility and commitment were crucial factors that helped me navigate through the research challenges. I feel truly grateful and fortunate that their commitment to my growth continues beyond my graduation." - Adela Chen, Nanyang Technological University (UGA PhD 2011)

"The MIS department at UGA has a wonderful group of researchers and educators. Our professors are high-impact researchers and they are willing to work closely with doctoral students and become research collaborators with students. Students have the autonomy to choose research projects and dissertation topic that suit their academic interests and background. The faculty members are collectively committed to the students' intellectual growth and professional development. Students receive hands-on apprenticeships from their major professor as well as intellectual and emotional support from other faculty members. What makes the PhD program extremely valuable is that it not only enables students to build solid research skills, but also helps them develop the skills to communicate their research effectively and professionally." - Ben Liu, City University of Hong Kong (UGA PhD 2011)

"There is a very strong culture of collegiality and respect among faculty and doctoral students in UGA's MIS doctoral program. I always felt that the faculty treated me as a junior colleague and went out of their way to provide me with ample support and guidance in all facets of developing an academic career." - Christina Serrano, University of Arkansas (UGA PhD 2011)

"UGA's MIS program has an outstanding track record with its PhD students. Placements are excellent and the department does a great job of getting people through the program — typically within four years — not all schools can claim this. Also, it is important to emphasize how involved the faculty is with the PhD program. These internationally recognized faculty are truly committed to the success of their students." - Joe Rubleske (UGA Postdoctoral Researcher)

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