Introduction

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The Artificial Intelligence PhD programme was created in 1985. It is an interdisciplinary academic joint venture that is passionated by academic excellence.

The main goal of the programme is to motivate students to take-up their research in the Cognitive Sciences and/or the Knowledge Engineering related areas. The emphasis in Cognitive Sciences suggests a basic interest in understanding the phenomena associated with Learning mechanisms, Natural Language Understanding, Mind and Intelligence, Perception, etc.

The Ph.D. program in Artificial Intelligence aims to provide the basis for a solid and strong research profile. Students completing the program are typically well qualified for teaching and research positions with colleges and universities as well as with national and international industries and laboratories. The program covers many topics of research related to the design, analysis and use of Artificial Intelligence systems. The doctoral program is designed to allow a full-time student entering with a Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence or Computer Science or any other equivalent Master to complete all degree requirements within four years. However, it is not uncommon for doctoral programs to take somewhat longer.

Each student pursuing a Ph.D. degree in the Artificial Intelligence program carries out a number of different academic and research activities. These are the main phases in developing such activities:

Coursework: the student takes graduate courses covering her/his main subjects of interest. Each course is assigned a number of credits and each student completes at least 20 credits (1 credit is equivalent to 10 lecture hours). Typically, this phase is completed during the first year. Courses are organized in two terms. To complete 20 credits, students must usually take five to six courses. Note: Please be sure to speak with an advisor prior to making any academic decisions.
Project: the student carries out one or more supervised research assignments to obtain 6 credits. At the end of this phase, each student presents a thesis project approved by an evaluation committe. The thesis project does not need to be related to the research assignments performed in this phase. Typically, this phase is completed during the second year.
Thesis: The student performs the research related to the presented thesis project under the supervision of a thesis advisor. Finally, the research leads to the defense of a thesis and obtaining the Ph.D. degree.

The Ph.D. program has an academic committee responsible for taking the decisions related to the evaluation of students, organization of graduate courses, and any other aspect related to the functioning of the program. The academic committee is formed by the program coordinator and the coordinators of the research areas.