Requirements

The requirements for the PhD students in Information Systems include all of those for Tepper PhD students, plus the following:

Courses

To prepare for the qualifying exams students are expected to take 4 IS Seminars.

Students are required to declare a reference discipline and take courses in that discipline.

Economics

Students using economics as a reference discipline will generally take the following courses:

• Intermediate Microeconomic Analysis (47800) (semester course)
• Math for Economists (47801)
• Econometrics I (47811)
• Econometrics II (47812)
• Game Theory (47865)

Organizational Behavior and Theory

Students using organizational behavior and theory as a reference discipline will generally take the following courses:

• Organizational Behavior (47902) (semester course)
• Research Methods (47908) (semester course)
• Organizational Theory (47890/1) (semester course)

Qualifiers

By the end of the third semester, students must pass the qualifying exams in Information Systems (see below), and a subset of the Economics qualifying exams focusing on either micro-economics and information economics theory, or micro-economics and econometrics.   Students with appropriate preparation prior to their entry to the program may take the qualifying exams prior to the 3rd semester point if they choose, but they must take the entire set of qualifiers as outlined below. For further information, visit the Qualifying Examinations page.

• IS Technical Qualifier: Evaluates a student’s knowledge in fundamental IS technical areas. Four areas are tested: Information Technology, Database, Systems Analysis, and Management Information Systems. In May of their first year in the program, students will take a diagnostic exam in two areas: Systems Analysis and Database. The IS faculty will use the results of this diagnostic exam to recommend to the student an appropriate course of study for the Technical Qualifier. Moreover, the IS faculty may use exam results to determine the extent of coverage in Systems Analysis and Database on the student’s Qualifying Exam.
• IS Research Qualifier: Evaluates a student’s ability to structure a research problem.
• Reference Discipline Exam: Exams will depend on the reference discipline chosen by the student.

Economics: Students who take economics as a reference discipline are required to take the Microeconomics qualifier plus one of the following qualifiers:

• Game Theory
• Econometrics

Organizational Behavior and Theory: Students who take organizational behavior as a reference discipline are required to take the OB Methods qualifier plus one of the following:

• Macro OB
• Micro OB