Web Site of the Institute

Director: Şefik Şuayb Arslan

Vice Directors: Hüseyin Oktay Altun

Associate Professors: Ercan Atam, Şener Özönder

Assistant Professors: Hüseyin Oktay Altun, Mustafa Taha Koçyiğit, Şaziye Betül Özateş

Instructors:

Assistants: Ahmet Bilal Arıkan, Emre Fişne, Nesibe Şebnem Paluluoğlu, Bahri Atakan Yıldız, Atakan Zeybek, Zeynep Ellialtı, Şeyma Nefise Satıcı, Murat Çağan Göğebakan

*Part-time

The Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence is committed to being a world-class research and education center at Boğaziçi University on data science and artificial intelligence fields. The institute will promote a collaborative environment that facilitates the convergence of academic and industry partners to address a diverse range of complex challenges spanning multiple domains, including engineering, social and life sciences, business, and medicine.

The Institute offers interdisciplinary MSc and PhD programs that provide students with a rigorous academic foundation and advanced research capabilities in the fields of data science and artificial intelligence. The Institute's programs provide a comprehensive education that combines theoretical and practical coursework and research projects to equip graduate students with the skills and knowledge required to propose innovative techniques and to apply the latest technology in data science and artificial intelligence to solve real-world problems accurately. These programs are designed to train researchers/academics who possess the expertise and knowledge to make significant contributions to the digital transformation through cutting-edge research.

MASTER OF SCIENCE PROGRAM IN DATA SCIENCE AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

The Master of Science Program in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence is designed to prepare students for a professional career in artificial intelligence and/or data science in applied settings, as well as providing a solid basis for continued advanced research. Introductory level computer programming, probability, statistics, and mathematics skills are required for a student to start the program. It provides basic knowledge about the field through the mandatory courses: Data Science, Machine Learning, and Statistical Inference. While the program offers a thorough grounding in various aspects of data science and artificial intelligence, it also offers scientific excellence in highly interdisciplinary fields that aim to solve important societal problems.

The MS Program in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence is an interdisciplinary program. Therefore, people from diverse backgrounds like engineering, law, medicine, life, and social sciences are all candidates for the program. The program includes courses from different research fields of data science and artificial intelligence which can address needs of a wide spectrum of students.

This is a two-year program with the first year devoted to completing all the course requirements, and the second year devoted to preparation of a thesis based on authentic research. For students lacking the required scientific background, an additional one-year remedial program is offered.

Table 1: The Master of Science Curriculum in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence

Total Credits: 24

Total ECTS: 133

* “Area Elective Courses” must be selected amongst a list of courses in Table 3.

Table 2: Remedial courses

Candidates with gaps in their background may be required to complete a remedial program before they start the program. Remedial courses are listed in Table 2, nevertheless; each candidate is responsible for a specific subset of courses based on his/her scientific background. The remedial program must be completed within one or two semesters depending on the admission requirements.

Data Science and Artificial Intelligence M.S. Program includes three compulsory courses: DSAI510 Data Science, DSAI512 Machine Learning, and DSAI514 Statistical Inference. Each student is also required to take at least two area elective courses, two complementary elective courses, a graduate seminar course, and a guided research course.

Each student is required to choose a specific area associated with his/her studies. The program offers two fundamental specialization areas: Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. The “Area Elective Courses” of two specialization areas of the program are provided in Table 3. These courses must be approved by the student’s academic or thesis advisor. The seminar course is designed to expand the research perspective of the prospective students. The guided research course is given by the thesis advisors to specify student’s research direction and thesis proposal.

Individuals registered for the program are required to choose their thesis advisor and research field until the end of the first semester. They must prepare a thesis proposal and must submit the thesis title to the Institute until the end of the second semester.

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM IN DATA SCIENCE AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Doctor of Philosophy program in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence provides a regular PhD program for candidates who have an master’s degree in a program related to data science or artificial intelligence and an integrated PhD program for candidates who have only a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree from other programs.

The students in the integrated PhD program are required to accumulate a minimum of 42 credits by completing at least 14 graduate courses three of which must be the compulsory courses of the MS and the regular PhD program in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. They may also be asked, based on their background, to complete the remedial course work prior to starting the integrated PhD program. The remedial courses are given in Table 2. The remedial program must be completed within one or two semesters depending on the admission requirements.

The PhD program is given in Table 3. In the program, individuals are required to determine a specific curriculum with their advisors to guide them for their research interests. Each student is required to take a graduate seminar course in which all research fields of the program are introduced, a guided research course, at least four Area Elective Courses selected from Table 4, and at least three complementary elective courses which may be chosen from graduate courses offered by the Institute or the graduate level courses of other programs based on the student’s research field. The guided research course is given by the thesis advisors to specify student’s research direction and thesis proposal prior to the qualifying exam.

Individuals must prepare a thesis proposal while they are taking the guided research course. The PhD thesis is required to be completed in the legal term for every individual registered in the program following the approval of the thesis proposal.

Table 3: The Doctor of Philosophy Curriculum in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence

Total Credits: 21

Total ECTS: 246

* “All Area Elective Courses” must be selected from amongst a list of courses in Table 4.

Table 4: DSAI All Elective Courses of the MS and PhD Programs in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence

*Active and previously opened courses are shown in bold.