ESD PhD Programme
Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)
Part-time (36 – 60 months)
Doctor of Philosophy degree under Engineering Systems and Design (ESD)
The ESD PhD programme aims to produce the next generation of leading engineering systems researchers and thinkers. It provides students with a strong technical foundation and puts an emphasis on inter-disciplinary and collaborative research. This is enhanced by experiences in industry, teaching, and international exchange.
The programme is mentoring-intensive with a unique flexible advising structure that allows students to work with multiple faculty members, and faculty members to engage with multiple students. PhD students also benefit from professional development opportunities with a focus on soft skills, including communication, leadership, and entrepreneurship. Students attending the PhD programme go through a rigorous set of common core courses in optimisation, probability and statistics; moreover they will also have the opportunity to choose from a diverse set of elective courses that allows them to gain in-depth knowledge in one or more specialisation areas.
The Distinctiveness of the ESD PhD
The ESD PhD programme offers students the opportunity to work with faculty who are at the very forefront of their fields and come from the very best universities in the world, including MIT, Stanford and Cornell, and with diverse nationalities, including countries from North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.
The ESD pillar is rapidly growing and will continue to do so for the next several years. ESD faculty are engaged in leading edge research in a wide range of disciplines including optimization and data science, machine learning, stochastic modelling, game theory, economics, public policy, organisational and behavioral sciences. They are also engaged in important applications including supply chains, transportation and logistics, healthcare, energy and the environment, service systems, financial engineering, critical infrastructure and security, social networks, telecommunication systems, renewable energy and electricity markets, aviation and air traffic control management. ESD faculty are tackling these problems using analytical, computational, empirical, and experimental approaches and methodologies.
Organizations our PhD graduates are Employed after Graduation
- Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Columbia University, based in New York
- Eindhoven University of Technology, based in the Netherlands
- EPFL, based in Lausanne
- Ethereum Foundation, based in Singapore
- Goldman Sachs, based in Hong Kong
- Huawei, based in Singapore
- Indian Railways, based in New Delhi
- JPMorgan Chase, based in Singapore
- Nanyang Technological University
- National University of Singapore
- Nvidia, based in Singapore
- Runtime Verification, based in Singapore
- Shopee, based in Singapore
- Siemens, based in Beijing
- Singapore Management University
- Singapore University of Technology and Design
- SINTEF, based in Norway
- University of Washington, based in Seattle
- Veolia, based in Singapore
Prerequisites
To fully benefit from courses offered in the ESD PhD programme, enrolled students are expected to be familiar with the following topics:
For each course, follow the hyperlink to reach the corresponding MIT OpenCourseWare page with a typical syllabus and study material. Furthermore, students must show the ability to program in a modern computer language.
Note that the ESD PhD committee may decide to admit students who did not take some or all of these courses during their previous studies. However, it is expected that such students will familiarise themselves with the topics before the PhD programme starts.