The Division of Computational & Data Sciences (DCDS) at Washington University in St. Louis trains students interested in problems from across a range of disciplines that share a common reliance on data and computing.
The introduction of now-standard tools from statistical analysis and hypothesis testing transformed the practice of natural and social science in the mid-20th century. Emerging tools from computational and data science have the potential to bring about an even larger transformation of scientific practice, especially in the social sciences. The questions raised by data generated by and about human behavior are engaging and profound. However, many if not most of these questions can only be tackled using a multidisciplinary approach that combines a deep knowledge of the capabilities and operation of data science techniques with the domain expertise needed to apply them effectively to the problems under consideration.
Doctoral students in Computational & Data Sciences receive strong methodological training in modern computational and statistical methods, and they also acquire expertise in a particular social science application area.
The program is inherently interdisciplinary and brings together leading experts from across the university who are using data to solve some of the greatest challenges that our world faces today. Faculty include both data and computing experts as well as domain experts from different application areas.
Contact Info
Eunhye Ahn
Assistant Professor, Brown School
PhD, University of Southern California
Ruopeng An
Assistant Professor, Brown School
PhD, Pardee RAND Graduate School
Dennis Barbour
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
MD, Johns Hopkins University
PhD, Johns Hopkins University
Deanna Barch
Professor and Chair, Psychological & Brain Sciences
PhD, University of Illinois
Janine Bijsterbosch
Assistant Professor, Radiology
PhD, University of Sheffield
Ryan Bogdan
Associate Professor, Psychological & Brain Sciences
PhD, Harvard University
Todd Braver
Professor, Psychological & Brain Sciences, Radiology, and Neuroscience
PhD, Carnegie Mellon University
Michael Brent
Henry Edwin Sever Professor of Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Derek Brown
Associate Professor, Brown School
PhD, Duke University
Sheretta Butler-Barnes
Associate Professor, Brown School
PhD, Wayne State University
David Carter
Associate Professor, Political Science
PhD, University of Rochester
Yixin Chen
Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, University of Illinois
Dino Christenson
Associate Professor, Political Science
PhD, Ohio State University
Brett Drake
Professor, Brown School
PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
Ted Enamorado
Assistant Professor, Political Science
PhD, Princeton University
Randi Foraker
Associate Professor of Public Health, Brown School
PhD, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Patrick Fowler
Track Chair, Social Work & Public Health
Associate Professor, Brown School
PhD, Wayne State University
Roman Garnett
Assistant Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, University of Oxford
Aimilia Gastounioti
Assistant Professor, Radiology
PhD, National Technical University of Athens
Chris Gill
Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
DSc, Washington University in St. Louis
Brian Gordon
Assistant Professor, Radiology
PhD, University of Illinois
Roch Guérin
Professor and Chair, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, California Institute of Technology
Shenyang Guo
Professor, Brown School
PhD, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
Ross Hammond
Associate Professor, Brown School
PhD, University of Michigan
Jenine Harris
Associate Professor, Brown School
PhD, Saint Louis University
Chien-Ju Ho
Assistant Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
Josh Jackson
Associate Professor, Psychological & Brain Sciences
PhD, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Nathan Jacobs
Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, Washington University in St. Louis
Kim Johnson
Associate Professor, Brown School
PhD, University of Minnesota
Melissa Jonson-Reid
Professor, Brown School
PhD, University of California, Berkeley
Brendan Juba
Assistant Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Thomas Kannampallil
Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology
PhD, University of Illinois
Caitlin Kelleher
Associate Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, Carnegie Mellon University
Wouter Kool
Assistant Professor, Psychological & Brain Sciences
PhD, Princeton University
Matt Kreuter
Professor, Social Work & Public Health
PhD, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Albert Lai
Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Institute for Informatics
Associate Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, Columbia University
Calvin Lai
Assistant Professor, Psychological & Brain Sciences
PhD, University of Virginia
Matthew Lew
Assistant Professor, Electrical & Systems Engineering
PhD, Stanford University
Jr-Shin Li
Professor, Electrical & Systems Engineering
PhD, Harvard University
Fangqiong Ling
Assistant Professor, Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering
PhD, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Chenyang Lu
Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, University of Virginia
Christopher Lucas
Assistant Professor, Political Science
PhD, Harvard University
Doug Luke
Professor, Brown School
PhD, University of Illinois
Phillip Marotta
Assistant Professor, Brown School
PhD, Columbia University
Andrew D. Martin
Professor, Political Science and Law
Chancellor, Washington University in St. Louis
PhD, Washington University in St. Louis
Timothy McBride
Professor, Brown School
PhD, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Jacob Montgomery
Track Chair, Political Science
Associate Professor, Political Science
PhD, Duke University
William Nomikos
Assistant Professor, Political Science
PhD, Yale University
Alvitta Ottley
Assistant Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, Tufts University
Neal Patwari
Professor, Electrical & Systems Engineering
Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, University of Michigan
Philip R.O. Payne
Professor and Director, Institute for Informatics
Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, Columbia University
Netanel Raviv
Assistant Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Zachariah Reagh
Assistant Professor, Psychological & Brain Sciences
PhD, University of California, Irvine
Andrew Reeves
Associate Professor, Political Science
PhD, Harvard University
Guillermo Rosas
Associate Professor, Political Science
PhD, Duke University
Betsy Sinclair
Professor, Political Science
PhD, California Institute of Technology
Bruno Sinopoli
Professor and Chair, Electrical & Systems Engineering
PhD, University of California, Berkeley
Aristeidis Sotiras
Assistant Professor, Radiology
PhD, École Centrale Paris
Fred Ssewamala
Associate Dean for Transdisciplinary Faculty Research, Brown School
PhD, Washington University in St. Louis
Joe Steensma
Professor of Practice, Brown School
EdD, Indiana Wesleyan University
Joshua Swamidass
Associate Professor, Pathology & Immunology
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
MD, University of California, Irvine
PhD, University of California, Irvine
Jessie Sun
Assistant Professor, Psychological & Brain Sciences
PhD, University of California, Davis
Yevgeniy Vorobeychik
Associate Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, University of Michigan
Chenguang Wang
Assistant Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, Peking University
Yong Wang
Associate Professor, Electrical & Systems Engineering
Emily Willroth
Assistant Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences
PhD, University of California, Berkeley
William Yeoh
Track Chair, Computational Methodologies
Associate Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, University of Southern California
Jeffrey Zacks
Track Chair, Psychological & Brain Sciences
Professor and Associate Chair, Psychological & Brain Sciences
PhD, Stanford University
Shen Zeng
Assistant Professor, Electrical & Systems Engineering
PhD, University of Stuttgart
Ning Zhang
Assistant Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
PhD, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Xuan Zhang
Assistant Professor, Electrical & Systems Engineering
PhD, Cornell University
Upon joining the PhD program, each student is assigned an initial advisor from the DCDS faculty. This advisor meets with the student to assess their background and to advise them on course selection.
All students complete a common core curriculum as well as a domain depth requirement in a social science area. The focus of the first year is on acquiring a common set of tools and an understanding of the ranges and types of problems students may work on as they progress through the program. The entire incoming cohort takes a unique two-semester seminar sequence solely for DCDS students, which includes both general topics and a series of data-driven dives into the types of research questions that may be encountered in each of the domain areas.
Curriculum
Required Core Courses
Please refer to the DCDS Doctoral Student Handbook for the most up-to-date core course requirements.
Domain Depth Tracks
Students will choose one of four focus tracks: Political Science, Psychological & Brain Sciences, Social Work & Public Health, or Computational Methodologies. Please refer to the DCDS Doctoral Student Handbook for the most up-to-date domain depth track requirements.
Further Requirements
Additional requirements for this program are as follows:
- A minimum of 72 credit units beyond the bachelor’s level, with a minimum of 37 being course credits (including the core curriculum)
- A minimum of 24 credit units of doctoral dissertation research
- Students must maintain a cumulative average grade of B (3.0 grade-point average) for all 72 credit units.
- Required courses must be completed with no more than one grade below a B–.
- Up to 24 graduate credit units may be transferred with the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee, which is chaired by the director of graduate studies.
In addition to fulfilling the course and research credit requirements, students must do the following:
- Pass a qualifying exam.
- Successfully defend a thesis proposal.
- Present and successfully defend a dissertation.
- Complete a teaching requirement consisting of two semesters of mentored teaching experience.