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University of Pittsburgh    
2021-2022 Graduate & Professional Studies Catalog 
    
 
  Mar 28, 2024
 
2021-2022 Graduate & Professional Studies Catalog [Archived Catalog]

Intelligent Systems, MS


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Degree Requirements


Students pursuing the Master of Science degree in ISP must adhere to the SCI requirements for graduation and complete a minimum of 30 credits as outlined below, as well as an MS Project. Students must also earn a grade of B- or better in each of the courses in the appropriate ISP curriculum (the general track or the Biomedical Informatics track) and maintain a GPA of at least 3.0.

General Track Curriculum


First-year students are encouraged but not required to take:

  • ISSP 2020   - TOPICS IN INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS
  • INFSCI 3005   - INTRODUCTION TO THE DOCTORAL PROGRAM
  • ISSP 2030   - ADVANCED TOPICS IN INTELLGENT SYSTEMS 

Core

AND Choose Two of the Following:

Theory

Applied or mathematical statistics.  Choose one of the following:

  • BIOST 2041  - INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL METHODS 1
  • BIOST 2042   - INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL METHODS 2
  • BIOINF 2118   - STATISTICAL FOUNDATIONS OF BIOMEDICAL INFORMATICS
  • STAT 2131   - APPLIED STATISTICAL METHODS 1
  • STAT 2132   - APPLIED STATISTICAL METHODS 2

Theory of computation, algorithms. Choose one of the following:

  • CS 2110   - THEORY OF COMPUTATION
  • CS 2150   - DESIGN & ANALYSIS OF ALGORITHMS

One additional course required. Any of the theory courses listed above are acceptable.

Advanced courses

Four ISSP advanced lecture courses, numbered 2000 or higher and approved by the academic adviser.

Biomedical Informatics Track (ISP/MI)


This assumes that a student already has training in a health care field; if this is not so, then the faculty will select a set of courses that teach the student basic medical knowledge, and the student may take these courses as electives.

First-year students are encouraged but not required to take:

  • ISSP 2020   - TOPICS IN INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS
  • INFSCI 3005   - INTRODUCTION TO THE DOCTORAL PROGRAM
  • ISSP 2030   - ADVANCED TOPICS IN INTELLGENT SYSTEMS

Core

Then choose;

One of the following:

AND choose one of the following:

  • CS 1510  - ALGORITHM DESIGN
  • CS 2150  - DESIGN & ANALYSIS OF ALGORITHMS
  • CS 3150  - ADV TOPCS DSGN & ANALYS ALGORTHM

AND choose one of the following:

  • BIOST 2041  - INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL METHODS 1
  • BIOST 2042  - INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL METHODS 2
  • BIOINF 2118  - STATISTICAL FOUNDATIONS OF BIOMEDICAL INFORMATICS
  • STAT 2131  - APPLIED STATISTICAL METHODS 1
  • STAT 2132  - APPLIED STATISTICAL METHODS 2

AND choose two of the following:

Three (3) Graduate level (2000 or higher, three (3) credits) ISSP lecture courses that have been approved by your advisor as being relevant to your studies in the ISP.

MS Project


For this requirement, the student must complete a research project, approved by the student’s preliminary evaluation committee, involving (1) significant research, design, or development work, (2) a written report, and (3) an oral presentation. Students must form a MS project committee (MS) or a preliminary evaluation committee (PhD) consisting of three faculty members, two of whom must be ISP faculty. The student’s adviser chairs the committee, and must be an ISP faculty member.

Preferably, the research project is completed by the end of the summer term of the second year. Students who have not defended their research project by end of the fall term of their third year in the program will be placed on provisional status in the program, unless extenuating circumstances warrant an extension, as judged by the student’s preliminary evaluation committee.

Although not a requirement, it is strongly suggested that the student submit the project report for publication in a refereed journal or conference. Thus, the scope of the research project is intended to be at the level of a paper that is of publishable quality in a peer-reviewed AI journal or conference.

The steps to completing the project are as follows: 

  • Submit a project proposal to your committee for its approval.
  • Perform the work, and write a project report.
  • Submit your project report to your committee at least two (2) weeks in advance of your oral presentation of the work.
  • Present your work in a talk given to your committee. As a guideline, you should give about a 30-minute talk and leave about 30 minutes for questions and discussion. The ISP faculty should be invited to the oral presentation. General questions relating to the field of AI are appropriate at this examination. The oral presentation may take place in an open forum, such as the ISP AI Forum, followed by a closed session with just your committee and any other ISP faculty members who wish to be present.

The committee will evaluate the project and presentation. The following criteria should be considered: The project and presentation should represent independent research, design, or development work. They should be technically sound; and should be relevant to the ISP. The student should display breadth of knowledge, as well as understanding of the significance and motivation of the work.

The committee will combine that evaluation with a review of the student’s progress in coursework to arrive at an overall assessment.

MS

  • Pass.
  • Provisional pass: Must complete additional requirements specified by the committee in order to obtain a pass.
  • Fail.

Students who pass will need to have the Report on Examinations form signed by their committee and submitted to the SCI Records office as well as the ISP Administrator. All paperwork concerning courses, graduation, and milestones etc. can be found on the SCI website. Navigate to the “Current Students” area and choose “School Forms” from the box on the right. Should you have difficulty finding what you need, please contact the ISP administrator (paum4b@pitt.edu).

See the ISP PhD Catalog Page for further details about doctoral degree requirements. 

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