M.S. Program

The M.S. program in IST is flexible and can be tailored to fit your personal research interests and career aspirations. Students begin by establishing a basic understanding of interdisciplinary issues that underpin information sciences and technology.

Through work on a research thesis project, complemented by a set of specialty courses, students also gain in-depth expertise in a specific set of issues and methods that are relevant to their personal research interests. These general requirements are summarized in the requirements table; information on specific courses listed in the table can be found in the IST graduate course listings provided as part of Penn State’s Graduate Bulletin.

In addition to coursework requirements, the M.S. program includes a thesis project that typically takes two semesters to organize and complete and that often results in one or more publications. The thesis project is identified, conceptualized, and pursued as a close collaboration with the student’s research advisor.  A complete discussion of thesis expectations and other relevant issues of can be found in the IST M.S. Roadmap.

Funding opportunities

Some M.S. students are supported through assistantships, either helping to teach courses, or working on a research project. The details of such opportunities will be specified in the offer letter and may change from year to year, depending on funds available. The assistantships and fellowships include a stipend sufficient to cover living costs in this region, a tuition waiver, and access to university-provided health benefits.

In addition to the assistantships provided for some M.S. students, IST often provides additional competitive funding to travel to professional events (e.g., conferences or workshops). Typically these funds are provided for students who are making presentations at the event, particularly advanced students who are on the job market. Other travel funds may be available from advisors or research sponsors.

Any M.S. student who is supported through an assistantship will be given a desk and working space within the IST building. In some cases this is a shared student office space; in others the students are housed in research labs. Computer equipment including printers, etc. is also available if needed, either through IST or research supervisors.

In addition to individual or shared research labs, IST is host to four University Centers:

• Center for Human-Computer Interaction
• Center for Cyber-Security, Information Privacy, and Trust
• Center for Network-Centric Cognition and Information Fusion
• Center for Enterprise Architecture

As University Centers, the scope of these research units extends beyond individual faculty or labs and includes extensive interaction with research groups across the university and beyond.