AI Ph.D. Programs

AI Ph.D. Programs

MBZUAI offers the following Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) programs:

Graduates wishing to undertake their Ph.D. should have a strong desire to contribute to science and humanity through cutting-edge research, scientific literature, and thought leadership. They may wish to pursue a career in academia or at a research institute. Ph.D. programs require an increased time commitment from students compared to the master's offerings as more emphasis is placed on the delivery of their thesis.

Target applicants for the doctoral degree

Ph.D. in Computer Science:

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.

Admission criteria

Ph.D. in  Computer Science

 

Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science from a university accredited or recognized by the UAE Ministry of Education (MoE) which demonstrate academic distinction. Students should have a strong background in both applied and theoretical aspects of Computer Science with a CGPA of at least 3.2 (on a 4.0 scale) or equivalent for both degrees.

 

OR

 

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, with a minimum of 50% Computer Science content, from a university accredited or recognized by the UAE Ministry of Education (MoE) which demonstrate academic distinction. Students should have a strong background in both applied and theoretical aspects of Computer Science, with a CGPA of at least 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) or equivalent, and the required GRE test scores.

 

Applicants must provide their completed degree certificates and official transcripts when submitting their application. Senior-level students can apply initially with a copy of their 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.

 

 

Ph.D. programs in  Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing and Robotics

 

Bachelor’s and 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). Students should have a minimum CGPA of 3.2 (on a 4.0 scale) or equivalent for both degrees.

 

OR

 

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) which demonstrates academic distinction in a discipline appropriate for the doctoral degree. Students should have a minimum CGPA of 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) or equivalent and the required GRE test scores.

 

Applicants must provide their completed degree certificates and official transcripts when submitting their application. Senior-level students can apply initially with a copy of their 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 must 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 valid and standard (i.e., exam was conducted at a physical test center) Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general test certificate with the following minimum scores is mandatory for applicants applying with only a bachelor’s degree:

  • 150 in verbal reasoning
  • 150 in quantitative reasoning
  • 3.0 in analytical writing

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

The research statement is a document summarizing the potential research project an applicant is interested in working on and clearly justify the research gap which the applicant would like to fill in during the course of his/her study. It must be presented in the context of currently existing literature and provide an overview of how the applicant aims to investigate the underlying research project as well as predict the expected outcomes. It should mention the relevance and suitability of the applicant’s background and experience to the project and highlight the project’s scientific and commercial significance. The research statement should include the following details:

  • Title
  • Problem definition
  • Literature review
  • Proposed research/methods/solution (optional)
  • Study timeline (a table, figure or a small paragraph presenting your plans for the four years in the Ph.D. program)
  • List of references

Applicants are expected to write the research statement independently. MBZUAI faculty will NOT help write it for the purpose of the application. The MBZUAI Admission Committee will review the submitted document and use it as one of the measures to gauge and assess applicants’ skills.

Applicants will be required to nominate referees who can recommend their application. Ph.D. applicants should have a minimum of three (3) referees wherein at least one was a previous course instructor or faculty/research advisor and the others were current or previous work supervisors.

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 entry exam that will include questions related to the following topics:

 

MathCalculus, probability theory, linear algebra, trigonometry and optimization

 

Machine learning: 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 languagespecific knowledge of Python

 

Specialization topics: 

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

 

To enhance the preparedness for the entry exam, applicants are strongly advised to successfully complete the following online courses on Coursera and upload the corresponding completion certificates to their MBZUAI online application:

 

 

The exam instructions are available here

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

Study with us