Ph.D. in Geospatial Analytics
Our innovative Ph.D. program brings together departments from across NC State University to train a new generation of interdisciplinary data scientists skilled in developing novel understanding of spatial phenomena and in applying new knowledge to grand challenges.
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This one-of-a-kind degree focuses on integrative thinking and experiential learning:
- Multidisciplinary advising unites expertise from across complementary academic departments
- Cross-cutting curriculum spans core classes in solution-driven analytics and discipline-specific electives
- Geospatial externship enriches practical understanding through a one-week internship with an external partner
If your research goals intersect geospatial problem-solving from any number of fields, you will find your fit here. Our Faculty Fellows advise students interested in a range of disciplines––from design, to cognitive science, natural resources and the environment, computer science, engineering and more––and approach their work in a range of geospatial research areas. Students with strong backgrounds in quantitative methods in geography, geomatics/informatics, remote sensing and earth sciences are strongly encouraged to apply. Find recent publications by our faculty through NC State’s Libraries Citation Index.
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Apply for a Ph.D. in Geospatial Analytics
Twelve fully funded Ph.D. graduate assistantships with $25,000 salary, benefits, and tuition support are available for Fall 2021 through the Center for Geospatial Analytics. Students are encouraged to suggest prospective advisor(s) and describe shared research interests in their application’s personal statement. Please note we are still accepting applications for three open positions for Fall 2021. Prospective students must contact the faculty advisors directly in order to apply.
Admission Requirements
Minimum requirements include
- Undergraduate GPA ≥ 3.0
- Graduate GPA ≥ 3.0 (if entering with a Master’s degree)
- GRE Scores (within last 5 years). Note: Students applying for Fall 2021 admission are encouraged to include GRE scores with their application; however, this requirement is waived for those who were unable to take the exam due to COVID-19. There is no minimum, but students accepted for Fall 2020 admission earned the following average scores:
- Quantitative: 158 (70th percentile)
- Verbal: 157 (75th percentile)
- Writing: 4 (59th percentile)
- IBT TOEFL Score ≥ 80 overall (18 in each section) (International Applicants; the Office of International Services offers additional helpful information)
Required supporting documents
- Official NC State Graduate School application.
- Unofficial transcripts from all colleges/universities attended (official transcripts will be required if admitted to the program).
- A personal statement, not to exceed 2 pages. We encourage you to consider the following:
- Your academic and career goals
- Special interests and prior research in the area of geospatial analytics
- What makes you well-suited to our program
- Describe any computational, quantitative, and/or geospatial training
- You are encouraged to suggest prospective advisor(s) and describe shared research interests
- 3 letters of recommendation. Submit the names and contact information for your recommenders through the online application, and they will receive an email with instructions for submitting their letters online.
- Curriculum vitae/resume.
If you have questions about the application process, please contact Rachel Kasten, Graduate Services Coordinator (rachelkasten@ncsu.edu, 919-515-2800).
Degree Requirements
The Ph.D. program consists of
- 72 credit hours beyond the Bachelor’s degree. The core required courses comprise 18 credit hours. The remaining 54 credit hours are devoted to an individually tailored selection of electives and research.
- an off-campus professional experience. By the beginning of their third year in the program, students participate in an experiential learning activity within government (local, state, federal), industry, private and academic research institutions, or other organizations in the geospatial arena. Students consult with their advisors to identify specific opportunities that will enhance their doctoral program.
- a comprehensive exam. The written exam is required by the end of the 4th semester, followed by an oral exam consisting of the dissertation proposal defense, typically before the start of the 5th semester.
- a written dissertation and final dissertation oral defense required to complete the degree.
Core Curriculum
The core curriculum includes the following courses; click course names to view descriptions:
Students examine why sustainable solutions to grand societal challenges need geospatial analytics. Emphasis is placed on the roles that location, spatial interaction and multi-scale processes play in scientific discovery and communication. Discussion of seminal and leading-edge approaches to problem-solving is motivated by grand challenges such as controlling the spread of emerging infectious disease, providing access to clean water and creating smart and connected cities. Students also engage in several written and oral presentation activities focused on data science communication skills and professionalization.
Applied experience in the architecture of geospatial data management, including open source options. The course introduces students to: (i) spatial and temporal data types (OGC specification, GPS and accelerometer matching), (ii) spatial predicates, (iii) spatial indices and (iv) spatial query processing. In addition, students will be exposed to modern spatial data management systems like NoSQL and graph databases, and data integration principles including protected health information (PHI/HIPAA).
Advanced understanding of physical principles of remote sensing, image processing and applications from earth observations. Awareness of tradeoffs between earth observing sensors, platforms and analysis techniques will help prepare the students to critically assess remote sensing products and devise solutions to environmental problems. Students will be able to communicate the complexities of image analysis and will be better prepared to integrate earth observations into their areas of expertise. Topics include electromagnetic energy and radiative transfer; US and international orbital and suborbital data acquisition platforms; passive and active imaging and scanning sensors; spatial, spectral, radiometric, and temporal resolutions; geometric corrections and radiometric calibrations; preprocessing of digital remotely sensed data; advanced image analysis including enhancement, enhancement, classification, geophysical variable retrieval, error and sensitivity analysis; data fusion; data assimilation; and integration of remotely sensed data with other data types in a geospatial modeling context.
Spatial data mining is the process of discovering interesting and previously unknown, but potentially useful, patterns from spatial and spatiotemporal data. However, explosive growth in the spatial and spatiotemporal data (~70% of all digital data), and the emergence of geosocial media and location sensing technologies has transformed the field in recent years. This course reviews the current state of the art in spatial, temporal and spatiotemporal data mining and looks at real-world applications ranging from geosocial networks to climate change impacts. Course introduces various spatial and temporal pattern families and teaches how to incorporate spatial relationships and constraints into data mining approaches like clustering, classification, anomalies and colocations.
Methods, algorithms and tools for geospatial modeling and predicting spatio-temporal dimensions of environmental systems. The course covers the physical, biological, and social processes that drive dynamics of landscape change. Deterministic, stochastic, and multi-agent simulations are explained, with emphasis on coupling empirical and process based models, techniques for model calibration and validation and sensitivity analysis. Applications to real-world problems are explored, such as modeling multi-scale flow and mass transport, spread of wildfire, biological invasions and urbanization.
Principles of visualization design and scripting for geospatial visualization. This course provides a systematic framework of visualization design principles based on the human visual system and explores open-source geospatial data visualization tools. Topics include challenges and techniques for visualizing large multivariate dataset, spatio-temporal data and landscape changes over time. Students have the opportunity to work with broad range of visualization technologies, including frontiers in immersive visualization, tangible interaction with geospatial data and eye tracking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some of the most frequently asked questions we have received about the Ph.D. program in Geospatial Analytics. If your questions are still not answered here, please feel free to contact us through the form below.
No, the Ph.D. in Geospatial Analytics is a traditional full-time on-campus program.
Yes. We accept unofficial transcripts with your application. Official transcripts will be requested if you are admitted to the program.
No, we welcome applications from students with strong computational skills from diverse backgrounds, including computer science, data science, environmental science, ecology, engineering, and more.
No, students may enroll without a master’s degree. Successful applicants, however, will have had previous research experience.
Incoming doctoral students receive a tuition waiver, health insurance benefits, and a $25,000 stipend. Additional external funding is also available, such as through the competitive funding opportunities below:
- The DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship provides outstanding benefits and opportunities to students pursuing doctoral degrees in fields that use high-performance computing to solve complex science and engineering problems.
- The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.
- NOAA’s Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program recognizes outstanding scholarship and encourages independent graduate level research — particularly by female and minority students — in NOAA mission-related sciences of oceanography, marine biology and maritime archaeology, including all science, engineering and resource management of ocean and coastal areas.
- The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship is a highly competitive, portable fellowship that is awarded to U.S. citizens and nationals who intend to pursue a doctoral degree in one of fifteen supported disciplines. The goal is to help DoD increase the number and quality of the nation’s scientists and engineers. NDSEG Fellowships last for three years.
- The ACM–IEEE-CS George Michael Memorial HPC Fellowship honors exceptional PhD students throughout the world whose research focus is on high-performance computing applications, networking, storage, or large-scale data analysis using the most powerful computers that are currently available
- The Stu Shea USGIF Endowed Scholarship is awarded to a PhD student studying cartography, geography, or imaging science.
- The National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals awards scholarships for LGBTQ+ students pursuing degrees in STEM fields.
- The Ford Foundation funds students who will increase racial and ethnic diversity in the professoriate and/or will use diversity as a resource of educating students.
- The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) offers scholarships for STEM graduate students for five years who will work with the Department of Defense.
It is highly recommended that you connect with a potential advisor before you begin your application. The application will ask you to name a preferred advisor, and you will want to make sure the person you indicate is taking on new students.
Students in the Geospatial Analytics doctoral program work on a diverse range of data science frontiers intersecting multiple disciplines, with funding available from the Ph.D. program as well as from external grants secured by faculty. Assistantships are each fully funded for four years. Below are a sample of the opportunities that were available for Fall 2019. For more details about each opportunity, and to learn about past projects, visit our Graduate Assistantships page.
- Landscape Connectivity Dynamics in Surface Water Networks — Join the Geospatial Analysis for Environmental Change Lab to investigate climate and land-use change effects on landscape connectivity dynamics.
- Seasonality from Space — Join the Spatial Ecosystem Analytics Lab on a NASA-funded project investigating satellite data fusion and time series analysis.
- Winter Weather — Join the Environment Analytics group to study the complex interactions within snow storms and wintery mix storms.
- Modeling Forest and Water Resources under Changing Conditions — Join the Watershed Ecology lab group and combine various data sources to create projections of future landscape conditions.
- Modeling Agricultural and Water Resource Dynamics — Join the Biosystems Analytics Lab to study the effects of global and local change on fresh and estuarine water quality, land-sea connectivity and agroecosystem productivity.
- Surface Water Dynamics from Space — Join the Geospatial Analysis for Environmental Change Lab to investigate hydroclimatic drivers of surface water extent dynamics and advance quantification of water extent and volume.
- Remote Sensing Forest Gap Dynamics — Join the Applied Remote Sensing and Analysis lab group to examine the role and influence of forest gaps in relation to localized large-scale disturbances.
Funding is available for additional projects, and in all cases students are encouraged to develop research questions and methods that suit their interests and career goals.
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