ISTA’s single interdisciplinary PhD program enables students and faculty to freely collaborate across research groups and disciplines. This gives rise to new ideas and research approaches.
PhD students at ISTA can choose from seven different tracks of study as their primary track: biology, chemistry & materials, computer science, data science and scientific computing, mathematics, neuroscience, and physics. Many faculty members are associated with multiple tracks, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the research groups on campus and allowing students to approach topics of interest from a variety of angles.
Rotations in Three Different Research Groups
Every incoming PhD student performs three approximately two-month rotations in different research groups. The matching process guarantees a good fit between students and supervisors and exposes students to new areas and methodologies.
Unique Blend of Breadth and Depth
A combination of interdisciplinary core courses and advanced electives gives students the chance to interact with scientists across disciplines as well as pursue their chosen topic in greater depth.
Pushing the Frontiers of Knowledge
The most innovative research tends to arise at the interfaces of disciplines. In the Graduate School, students play a central role in bringing together different approaches to shape the future of science.
The following graph shows cross-group collaborations at ISTA, based on co-authored publications from 2016 to June 2019. The PDF can be downloaded here.
