Ph.D. Programs in Artificial Intelligence (AI)

MBZUAI accepts applicants from all nationalities who demonstrate academic distinction and have a strong background in both applied and theoretical aspects of Computer Science. They must have obtained either of the following, from a university/universities accredited or recognized by the UAE Ministry of Education (MoE):

• Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science or
• Bachelor’s degree only in Computer Science, with a minimum of 50% Computer Science content, and the required GRE test scores

Ph.D. programs in Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing and Robotics:
MBZUAI accepts applicants from all nationalities who have Bachelor’s and a Master’s degrees in STEM fields such as computer science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, mathematics, physics and other relevant science and engineering majors, from a university accredited or recognized by the UAE Ministry of Education (MoE).

OR
Applicants with only a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field such as computer science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, mathematics, physics and other relevant science and engineering majors, from a university accredited or recognized by the UAE Ministry of Education (MoE) who demonstrate academic distinction in a discipline appropriate for the doctoral degree and have the required GRE test scores will also be considered for evaluation.

Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field such as computer science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, mathematics, physics and other relevant science and engineering majors, from a university accredited or recognized by the UAE Ministry of Education (MoE). Students should have a minimum CGPA of 3.2 (on a 4.0 scale) or equivalent. Applicants must provide their completed degree certificates and official transcripts when submitting their application. Senior-level students can apply initially with a copy oftheir official transcript and expected graduation letter and upon
admission must submit the official completed degree certificate and transcript. A degree attestation (for degrees from the UAE) or an equivalency certificate (for degrees acquired outside the UAE) should also be furnished within their first semester at the university.

All submitted documents must either be in English, originally, or include legal English translations. Additionally, official academic documents should be
stamped and signed by the university authorities.

Each applicant must show proof of English language ability by providing valid certificate copies of either of the following:

• TOEFL iBT with a minimum total score of 90
• IELTS Academic with a minimum overall score of 6.5
• EmSAT English with a minimum score of 1550

TOEFL iBT and IELTS academic certificates are valid for two (2) years from the date of the exam while EmSAT results are valid for eighteen (18) months. Only standard versions (i.e. conducted at physical test centers) of the accepted English language proficiency exams will be considered.

Waiver requests from eligible applicants who are citizens (by passport or nationality) of UK, USA, Australia, and New Zealand who completed their studies from K-12 until bachelor’s degree and master’s degree (if applicable) from those same countries will be processed. They need to submit notarized copies of their documents during the application stage and attested documents upon admission. Waiver decisions will be given within seven (7) days after receiving all requirements.

A general test certificate is optional and submitting one will be considered a plus during the evaluation.

In a 500- to 1000-word essay, explain why you would like to pursue a graduate degree at MBZUAI and include the following information:

• Motivation for applying to the university
• Personal and academic background and how it makes you suitable for the program you are applying for
• Experience in completing a diverse range of projects related to artificial intelligence
• Stand-out achievements, e.g. awards, distinction, etc
• Goals as a prospective student
• Preferred career path and plans after graduation
• Any other details that will support the application

Applicants will be required to nominate referees who can recommend their application. M.Sc. applicants should have a minimum of two (2) referees wherein one was a previous course instructor or faculty/research advisor and the other a current or previous work supervisor.

To avoid issues and delays in the provision of the recommendation, applicants have to inform their referees of their nomination beforehand and provide the latter’s accurate information in the online application portal. Automated notifications will be sent out to the referees upon application submission.

Selected applicants will be invited to participate in an online entry exam that will include questions related to the topics listed below. Entry exam invitations with the exam details will be sent to the selected applicant’s registered email address.

Math: Calculus, probability theory, linear algebra, trigonometry and optimization.

Machine learning (only for M.Sc. in Computer Science and M.Sc. in Robotics applicants): Machine learning algorithms and concepts such as linear regression, decision trees, loss functions, support vector machines, classification, regression, clustering, convolutional neural networks, dimensionality reduction, neural networks and unsupervised learning.

Programming: Knowledge surrounding specific programming concepts and principles such as algorithms,
data structures, logic, OOP, and recursion as well as language–specific knowledge of Python.

Specialization
topics: 

• M.Sc. in Computer Science applicants are expected to have knowledge and understanding of the theory of computational complexity, databases, computer architecture and operating systems.
• M.Sc. in Robotics applicants are expected to have knowledge and understanding of kinematics,
  SLAM, reinforcement Learning, ROS, Gazebo and linear systems.

Applicants are highly encouraged to complete
the following online courses to further improve their qualifications in preparation for a possible online entry exam invitation:

• https://www.coursera.org/learn/python?specialization=python
• https://www.coursera.org/learn/python-data?specialization=python
• https://www.coursera.org/learn/linear-algebra-machine-learning?specialization=mathematics-machine-learning
• https://www.coursera.org/learn/introductiontoprobability

The entry exam invitation will only be sent once to the applicants who’ve been selected to participate in the
online entry exam. Rescheduling requests, due to any reason, will
NOT be processed.

The exam instructions are available here.

Selected applicants will be invited to participate in a technical interview with MBZUAI faculty.