Ph.D. in Business Data Science

Degree Requirements

Ph.D. students in Business Data Science (BDS) are expected to conduct innovative and independent research and have their research findings published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals and academic conference proceedings.

By the beginning of the first semester, upon the approval of the Ph.D. program director, student must have filed a Plan of Study (POS) that lists the courses to be taken and the timeline of study. Any modification to the POS must be approved by the Ph.D. program director and dissertation advisor (if chosen).

Coursework

Bridge Courses

Students who lack fundamental knowledge of certain subjects are required to complete assigned bridge courses by the end of year one, with a grade of at least a B in each assigned course. The assignment of bridge courses is based on recommendation and approval by the Ph.D. program director. Subjects and bridge course examples include:

  • Programming and data structure (e.g. CS 280 or CS 505)
  • Advanced Calculus (e.g. MATH 211)
  • Probability and Statistics (e.g. MGMT 216 or MATH 333)
  • Basic business knowledge (e.g. MGMT 492)
Section I Core Courses
MGMT 682Business Research Methods I3
MGMT 782Business Research Methods II3
MGMT 635Data Mining and Analysis3
or CS 634 Data Mining
CS 631Data Management System Design3
or IS 631 Enterprise Database Management
Section II: Core Electives (At least two courses)
MGMT 735Deep Learning in Business3
MRKT 766Seminar in Marketing Analytics3
MGMT 740Innovation & Entrepreneurship3
FIN 780Theory and Practice of Financial Research3
Section III: Core Electives- MATH (At least one course)
MATH 660Introduction to statistical Computing with SAS and R3
MATH 644Regression Analysis Methods3
MATH 662Probability Distributions3
MATH 678Statistical Methods in Data Science3
MATH 680Advanced Statistical Learning3
MATH 691Stochastic Processes with Applications3
MATH 699Design and Analysis of Experiments3
Section IV: Electives
BDS 725Independent Study I3
BDS 726Independent Study II3
ACCT 615Management Accounting3
ECON 610Managerial Economics3
HRM 601Managing Organizational Behavior in Technology-Based Organizations3
HRM 630Managing Technological and Organizational Change3
MGMT 620Strategic Management of Technological Innovation3
MGMT 630Decision Analysis with Quantitative Modeling3
MGMT 640New Venture Management3
MGMT 641Global Project Management3
MGMT 650Knowledge Management3
MGMT 660Managing Supply and Value Chains3
MGMT 670International Business3
MGMT 680Entrepreneurial Strategy3
MGMT 686Corporate Governance3
MGMT 691Legal and Ethical Issues in a Digital World3
MGMT 692Strategic Management3
MIS 625Management Strategies for E-Commerce3
MIS 645Information Technology and Competitive Advantage3
MIS 648Decision Support Systems for Managers3
MIS 680Management Science3
MRKT 620Global Marketing Management3
MRKT 631Marketing Research3
MRKT 636Design and Development of High Technology Products3
MRKT 638Sales Management for Technical Professionals3
MRKT 645Digital Marketing Strategy3
FIN 600Corporate Finance I3
FIN 610Global Macro Economics3
FIN 611Intro to Topics in Fin Tech3
FIN 616Data Driven Financial Modeling3
FIN 620Adv Financial Data Analytics3
FIN 624Corporate Finance II3
FIN 626Financial Investment Institutions3
FIN 627International Finance3
FIN 634Mergers, Acquisitions, and Restructuring3
FIN 641Derivatives Markets3
FIN 650Investment Analysis and Portfolio Theory3
CS 610Data Structures and Algorithms3
CS 644Introduction to Big Data3
DS 675Machine Learning3
DS 677Deep Learning3
CS 732Advanced Machine Learning3
CS 782Pattern Recognition and Applications3
CS 786Seminar in Computer Science II3
ECE 744Optimization for Data Engineering3
ECE 788Selected Topics in Electrical and Computer Engineering3
IS 650Data Visualization and Interpretation3
IS 657Spatiotemporal Urban Analytics3
IS 661User Experience Design3
IS 665Data Analytics for Info System3
IS 684Business Process Innovation3
IS 688Web Mining3
IS 698Special topics in Information Systems3
IS 735Social Media3
EM 602Management Science3
EM 640Distribution Logistics3
IE 621Systems Analysis and Simulation3
IE 650Advanced Topics in Operations Research3
IE 673Total Quality Management3
IE 659Supply Chain Engineering3

A student entering the program with only a Bachelor’s degree in related areas shall take 36 credits of advanced courses (600-level and 700-level) beyond the Bachelor’s degree with the approval by the Ph.D. program director. The 36 credits shall include core and elective courses, in addition to the credits for dissertation research. Among the 36 credits, at least 12 credits must be 700-level courses. 

A student entering the program with a Master’s degree or above in the related areas shall take 21 credits of advanced courses (600-level and 700-level) or equivalent with the approval by the Ph.D. program director. Students with strong credentials in business and/or data science and with a Master’s degree may be approved to take 18 credits of advanced courses, subject to the approval by the Ph.D. committee. At least 12 credits must be 700-level courses.

The required course credits listed above are those in addition to the credits for dissertation research (BDS 792B and BDS 790A).

GPA

Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. As per current NJIT policy, students receiving financial support, as assistantship and fellowship, for the first time must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher. To continue receiving support, they must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0

Qualifying Exams

All Ph.D. students are required to take Core Course Qualifying Exams by the end of year one and must pass the Core Course Qualifying Exams by the end of year two. The Core Course Qualifying Exams covers subject matter drawn from the core courses.

All Ph.D. students are required to take Subject Qualifying Exam by the end of year two. Each Subject Qualifying Exam covers a subject area based on the student’s research interest.

Dissertation Requirements

Registration

In addition to the required course credits listed above, students must meet Ph.D. dissertation requirements. Students must register BDS 792B for dissertation proposal and BDS 790A for dissertation. The requirement of BDS 792B and BDS 790A credits are described at: http://www5.njit.edu/graduatestudies/content/new-phd-credit-requirements/ and https://catalog.njit.edu/graduate/academic-policies-procedures/.

Dissertation Advisor

Students are recommended to choose a dissertation advisor as soon as possible, but no later than 3 months after passing the Core Course Qualifying Exams.

Dissertation Proposal Defense

The dissertation proposal must be defended in a public forum successfully either by the end of the third year in the Ph.D. program or four semesters after registering for the first time in the 792 pre-doctoral research course, whichever occurs earlier.

Dissertation Defense

PhD students must defend the dissertation successfully by the end of the sixth year in the Ph.D. program.

Please refer to the following website for other institution-wide policies and procedures for Ph.D. programs: https://catalog.njit.edu/graduate/academic-policies-procedures/

Other Requirements

Ph.D. students are required to register each semester for a 0-credit course: BDS 791 Doctoral Seminar. Full-time students must attend BDS 791 seminars each semester unless justifiable reasons are approved by the program director in advance. Part-time students are expected to attend at least 50% of the BDS 791 seminars in their first year. They may be asked to perform alternative work assigned by the program director in lieu of attending seminars.

In their first year, Ph.D. students are required to take a 0-credit course: INTD 799 Responsible Conduct of Research and receive a Satisfactory grade.