Lee Swindlehurst, UCI Director
949-824-2818
computationalscience.uci.edu

Joint Doctoral Program with UC Irvine and San Diego State University

A joint offering with San Diego State University (SDSU), the Ph.D. program in Computational Science trains professionals capable of developing novel computational approaches to solve complex problems in both fundamental sciences and applied sciences and engineering. A program of study combining applied mathematics, computing, and a solid training in basic science culminates in doctoral research focused on an unsolved scientific problem.

The Ph.D. in Computational Science produces broadly educated, research-capable scientists that are well prepared for diverse careers in academia, industry, business, and government research laboratories.

Program Requirements

Practicum and Doctoral Research

Research Report Exam

Dissertation Proposal

Advancement to Doctoral Candidacy

Dissertation and Final Oral Examination

University of California, Irvine Faculty

Mohammad A. Al Faruque, Ph.D. University of Kaiserslautern, Chair of Emulex Career Development and Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (system-level design, embedded systems, cyber-physical-systems, multi-core systems)

Jun F. Allard, Ph.D. University of British Columbia, Assistant Professor of Mathematics; Physics and Astronomy (Mathematical and computational biology, biopolymers, biomembranes, force-sensitive biomolecular bonds)

Ioan Andricioaei, Ph.D. Boston University, Professor of Chemistry (Theoretical Chemistry and Biophysics: Developing novel theoretical techniques and applying computer and modeling methods to describe, in terms of dynamics and thermodynamics, biologically important molecular processes, with the aim to complement, enhance or predict experimental findings.)

Pierre F. Baldi, Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, UCI Chancellor's Professor of Computer Science; Biological Chemistry; Biomedical Engineering; Developmental and Cell Biology (Bioinformatics, computational biology, AI and machine learning with particular emphasis on: Deep Learning, Neural Networks, Reinforcement Learning, and their Theoretical Foundations and Applications)

Kieron Burke, Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara, Professor of Chemistry; Physics and Astronomy (Physical chemistry and chemical physics, polymer, materials, nanoscience, theoretical and computational)

Filippo Capolino, Ph.D. University of Florence, Italy, Professor of Electrical and Computer Science (Optics/electromagnetics in nanostructures and sensors, antennas/microwaves, RF and wireless systems)

Ann Marie Carlton, Ph.D. Rutgers University, Associate Professor of Chemistry (Atmospheric chemistry, aerosol liquid water, cloud processing, secondary organic aerosol)

Peter Chang, M.D. Northwestern University, Assistant Professor in Residence of Radiological Sciences; Computer Science; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Olivier Cinquin, Ph.D. University College London, Assistant Professor of Developmental and Cell Biology (Mathematical modeling of networks, systems biology)

Donald A. Dabdub, Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Civil and Environmental Engineering (Mathematical modeling of urban and global air pollution, dynamics of atmospheric aerosols, secondary organic aerosols, impact of energy generation on air quality, chemical reactions at gas-liquid interfaces)

Kristen Davis, Ph.D. Stanford University, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Earth System Science (Coastal Dynamics)

Franco De Flaviis, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (microwave systems, wireless communications, electromagnetic circuit simulations)

Russell L. Detwiler, Ph.D. University of Colorado Boulder, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (groundwater hydrology, contaminant fate and transport, subsurface process modeling, groundwater/surface-water interaction)

Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, Ph.D. University of Florida, Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (hydrology and geomorphology with emphasis on modeling the interactions between the atmosphere, land, and the terrestrial environment at plot to large-watershed scale)

Filipp Furche, Ph.D. University of Karlsruhe, Professor of Chemistry (Physical chemistry and chemical physics, theoretical and computational)

Robert Benny Gerber, Ph.D. University of Oxford, Professor of Chemistry (Vibrational spectroscopy, chemical reaction dynamics, biological molecules, molecular dynamics)

Wayne B. Hayes, Ph.D. University of Toronto, Associate Professor of Computer Science (Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology, Computer Vision Scientific and Numerical Computing)

Alexander Ihler, Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Associate Professor of Information and Computer Science (Artificial intelligence and machine learning, focusing on statistical methods for learning from data and on approximate inference techniques for graphical models)

Perry Johnson, Ph.D. John Hopkins University, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (turbulent flows, particle-laden and multiphase flows, turbulent boundary layers, large-eddy simulations, scientific computing)

Frithjof Kruggel, M.D., Ph.D. Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Biomedical signal and image processing, anatomical and functional neuroimaging in humans, structure-function relationship in the human brain)

Arthur D. Lander, Ph.D. University of California, San Francisco, Donald Bren Professor and Professor of Developmental and Cell Biology; Biomedical Engineering; Logic and Philosophy of Science; Pharmacology (Systems biology of development, pattern formation, growth control)

Marco Levorato, Ph.D. University of Padua, Associate Professor of Computer Science; Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (artificial intelligence and machine learning, networks and distributed systems, statistics and statistical theory, stochastic modeling, signal processing)

Mo Li, Ph.D. University of Michigan, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (ultra-damage-tolerant and multifunctional composite materials for protective and resilient structures, built environments, and energy infrastructure)

Feng Liu, Ph.D. Princeton University, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (Computational fluid dynamics and combustion, aerodynamics, aeroelasticity, propulsion, turbomachinery aerodynamics and aeromechanics)

John S. Lowengrub, Ph.D. Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, UCI Chancellor's Professor of Mathematics; Biomedical Engineering; Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (Applied and computational mathematics, mathematical and computational biology)

Ray Luo, Ph.D. University of Maryland, College Park, Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry; Biomedical Engineering; Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (Protein structure, non-covalent associations involving proteins)

Vladimir A. Mandelshtam, Ph.D. Institute of Spectroscopy, Academy of Sciences of USSR, Professor of Chemistry (Theoretical and Computational Chemistry)

Craig C. Martens, Ph.D. Cornell University, Professor of Chemistry (Theoretical Chemistry, Chemical Physics)

Eric D. Mjolsness, Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, Professor of Computer Science; Mathematics (Applied mathematics, mathematical biology, modeling languages)

David L. Mobley, Ph.D. University of California, Davis, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences; Chemistry (Chemical biology, physical chemistry and chemical physics, theoretical and computational)

Mathieu Morlighem, Ph.D. Ecole Centrale Paris, Vice Chair and Associate Professor of Earth System Science

Seyed Ali Mortazavi, Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, Assistant Professor of Developmental and Cell Biology (Functional genomics to study transcriptional regulation in development)

Shaul Mukamel, Ph.D. Tel Aviv University, UCI Distinguished Professor of Chemistry; Physics and Astronomy (Physical chemistry and chemical physics, polymer, materials, nanoscience, theoretical and computational)

Alexandru Nicolau, Ph.D. Yale University, Department Chair and Professor of Computer Science; Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Architecture, parallel computation, programming languages and compilers)

Qing Nie, Ph.D. Ohio State University, Chancellor's Professor, Developmental & Cell Biology (Computational Biology; Systems Biology; Stem Cells; Regulatory Networks; Stochastic Dynamics; Scientific Computing and Numerical Analysis)

Francois W. Primeau, Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Professor of Earth System Science

Michael S. Pritchard, Ph.D. University of California, San Diego, Associate Professor of Earth System Science

Roger H. Rangel, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (Fluid dynamics and heat transfer of multiphase systems including spray combustion, atomization and metal spray solidification, applied mathematics and computational methods)

Elizabeth L. Read, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science; Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (Dynamics of complex biochemical systems, regulation of immune responses)

Eric Rignot, Ph.D. University of Southern California, Donald Bren Professor of Earth System Science (Glaciology, climate change, radar remote sensing, ice sheet modeling, interferometry, radio echo sounding, ice-ocean interactions)

Timothy Rupert, Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (Mechanical behavior, nanomaterials, structure property relationships, microstructural stability, grain boundaries and interfaces, materials characterization)

Manabu Shiraiwa, Ph.D. Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Associate Professor of Chemistry (Atmospheric Chemistry, Heterogeneous and Multiphase Chemistry, Aerosol Particles, Reactive Oxygen Species, Kinetic Modeling)

Hal S. Stern, Ph.D. Stanford University, Professor of Statistics; Cognitive Sciences (Bayesian methods, model diagnostics, forensic statistics, and statistical applications in biology/health, social sciences, and sports)

Lizhi Sun, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (Micro- and nano-mechanics, composites and nanocomposites, smart materials and structures, multiscale modeling, elastography)

A. Lee Swindlehurst, Ph.D. Stanford University, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Signal processing, estimation and detection theory, applications in wireless communications, geo-positioning, radar, sonar, biomedicine)

Kevin Thornton, Ph.D. University of Chicago, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology School of Biological Sciences (Genome evolution, gene duplication, population genetics, adaptation)

Douglas J. Tobias, Ph.D. Carnegie Mellon University, Professor of Chemistry (Atmospheric and environmental, chemical biology, physical chemistry and chemical physics, theoretical and computational)

Isabella Velicogna, Ph.D. Università degli Studi di Trieste, UCI Chancellor's Fellow and Professor of Earth System Science

Nalini Venkatasubramanian, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Professor of Computer Science (Distributed Systems Middleware, Multimedia Systems and Applications, Mobile and Pervasive Computing, Formal Methods, Data Management, and Grid Computing)

Jasper A. Vrugt, Ph.D. University of Amsterdam, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Earth System Science (Complex systems, modeling, statistics, hydrology, geophysics, ecology, data, optimization, hydropower, data assimilation)

Yun Wang, Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (Fuel cells, computational modeling, thermo-fluidics, two-phase flows, electrochemistry, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), turbulent combustion)

Zhiying Wang, Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (information theory, coding theory for data storage, modeling, compression, and computation for genomic data)

Daniel Whiteson, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, Professor of Physics and Astronomy; Logic and Philosophy of Science (Particle Physics: Experimental High Energy Physics, structure of matter and the nature of its interactions at the very smallest scales)

Dominik Franz X. Wodarz, Ph.D. University of Oxford, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Mathematics; Program in Public Health (Dynamics of virus infections and the immune system, dynamics of cancer and its treatment, and general evolutionary dynamics and population dynamics)

Xiaohui Xie, Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Professor of Computer Science; Developmental and Cell Biology (computational biology, bioinformatics, genomics, neural computation, machine learning)

Charles S. Zender, Ph.D. University of Colorado Boulder, Professor of Earth System Science; Computer Science

San Diego State University Faculty

Reza Akhavian, Ph.D. University of Central Florida, Assistant Professor of Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (Construction Engineering and Management, Internet of Things (IoT), Data Analytics, Machine Learning, Robotics, Cyber-Physical Systems, Building Information Modeling (BIM)

Ashkan Ashrafi, Ph.D. University of Alabama, Huntsville, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Digital and Statistical Signal Processing, Real-Time DSP, Biomedical Signal Processing, Fourier Analysis, Direct Digital Frequency Synthesizers, Multivariate Spectral Analysis, Hilbert Spaces, Matrix Theory and Applications)

Barbara Ann Bailey, Ph.D. North Carolina State University, Associate Professor of Statistics (Nonlinear Time Series, Dynamical Systems, and Clouds. Visualization of Nonlinear Models. Environmental Monitoring. Population Dynamics and Embryonic Mortality. Model Validation)

Arlette Baljon, Ph.D. University of Chicago, Associate Professor of Physics (Biophysics, Complex Networks, Polymer Science and computational soft matter physics)

Amneet Bhalla, Ph.D. Northwestern University, Assistant Professor of Mechnical Engineering (Fluid-Structure Interaction, Multiphase Flows, Aquatic Locomotion, Renewable Energy Device Modeling, Numerical Methods, High Performance Computing, Scientific Software Design)

Peter Blomgren, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Professor of Mathematics (Image Processing, Wave Propagation in Complex Media, Numerical Solutions of PDEs, Scientific Computing, Nonlinear Dynamical Systems)

Joaquin Camacho, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering (Multiphase Flows, Sustainable Energy, Nanomaterial Theory and Fabrication, Combustion, Aerosol Dynamics, Carbon Materials)

Margherita Capriotti, Ph.D. University of California, San Diego, Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering (Develop novel and efficient tools to characterize aerospace composite structures using wave propagation of different physical nature)

Ricardo Carretero, Ph.D. University College London, Professor of Mathematics (Nonlinear Dynamics, Nonlinear Waves, Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC))

Jose Castillo, Ph.D. University of New Mexico, Professor of Mathematics (Numerical Solution of Partial Differential Equations, Scientific Computing, and Modeling)

Jianwei Chen, Ph.D. Chinese University of Hong Kong, Associate Professor of Statistics (Statistical Inferences for Nonlinear Dynamic Models, Bayesian Methods, MCMC, and Computational Statistics)

Andy Cooksy, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Laser Spectroscopy, Reaction Dynamics, and Ab Initio Calculation of Free Radicals and Other Transient Molecule)
 
Chris Curtis,  Ph.D., University of Washington, Assistant Professor of Mathematics (Fluid Mechanics, Modeling and Simulation, Computational Fluid Dynamics and Numerical Simulation)

Bryan Donyanavard, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine, Assistant Professor of Computer Science (Runtime Resource Management for Energy-Efficient Execution of Cyber-Physical Systems)
 
Robert Edwards, Ph.D. University of Sussex, Brighton, England, Professor of Computer Science (Microbiology, Bioinformatics, and High Performance Computing)
 
Juanjuan Fan, Ph.D. University of Washington, Professor of Statistics (Multivariate Failure Time Data, Tree Based Methods, Genetic Epidemiology)

Uduak George, Ph.D. University of Sussex, Brighton, UK, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics (Mathematical biology, fluid dynamics, continuum mechanics of tissues, morphogenesis, solute transport)
 
Jerome Gilles,  Ph.D. Ecole Normale Supeieure, France, Assistant Professor of Mathematics (Applied Harmonic/Functional Analysis, Signal/Image Processing, data driven methods, Functional analysis)

Kyle Hasenstab, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Assistant Professor of Statistics (Deep neural networks, medical image analysis, interpretability of AI algorithms, functional data analysis)

Hajar Homayouni,  Ph.D. Colorado State University, Assistant Professor of Computer Science (Data Quality Testing, Big Data, and Machine Learning)

Ke Huang, Ph.D. University of Grenoble, France, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering  (VLSI Testing, Fault Modeling and Diagnosis. Machine Learning, Data Mining. Trustworthy ICs. Computer-Aided Design)
 
Gustav Jacobs, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago, Professor of Aerospace Engineering (Computational Physics, High-Order Methods, Fluid and Plasma Dynamics)
 
Calvin Johnson, Ph.D. University of Washington, Professor of Physics (Theoretical and Computational Nuclear Structure and Nuclear Astrophysics)
 
Parag Katira,  Ph.D. University of Florida, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering (Biomolecular Motors, Cell Mechanics, Mechanosensing, Tissue Dynamics, Soft Matter Interactions, Design of Active Materials)

Alicia Kinoshita, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering (Hydrologic change in coupled human-natural systems)
 
Sunil Kumar, Ph.D.  Birla  Institute  of  Technology and Science, India, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Thomas G. Pine Faculty Fellow (Wireless Networks, Multimedia Traffic, and Video Processing Techniques)
 
Lyuba Kuztnesova, Ph.D. Cornell University, Assistant Professor of Physics (Nanophotonics, ultrafast lasers, and cavity quantum electrodynamics and high energy short-pulse generation in fiber laser systems, mode-locking in quantum cascade lasers, blue LEDs, microcavities, and metamaterials)
 
Richard Levine, Ph.D. Cornell University, Professor of Statistics (Markov Chain Monte Carlo Methods, Environmental Statistics, Biostatistics, Bayesian Decision Theory)
 
Xiaobai Liu,  Ph.D.  Huazhong  University  of  Science and Technology, China, Associate Professor of Computer Science (Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Computational Statistics and their applications to clinic diagnosis, sports, transportation, surveillance, video games and others)
 
Antonio Luque, Ph.D. University of Barcelona, Assistant Professor of Mathematics (Applied Mathematics, Biophysics, Physical Virology+ theoretical and computational biophysics as well as mathematical modeling, molecular and physicochemical properties of viruses in viral ecology)

Sahar Ghanipoor Machiani, Ph.D. Virginia Tech University, Assistant Professor of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (Traffic Safety and Signal Operation, Human Behavior Modeling, Connected/Automated Vehicles, Evacuation Modeling Infrastructure-Based Safety Systems)

Marta Miletic, Ph.D. Kansas State University, Assistant Professor of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (Geotech Engineering)

Duy Nguyen, Ph.D. McGill University, Canada, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Signal Processing, Communications, and Information Theories for Wireless Systems and Networks)
 
Kenneth Nollett, Ph.D. University of Chicago, Assistant Professor of Physics (Theoretical and computational physics, spanning the interface between nuclear physics and astrophysics)
 
Christopher Paolini, Ph.D. San Diego State University, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Cyberinfrastructure, Computational Geochemistry and Combustion Science)

Pavel Popov, Ph.D. Cornell University,  Professor of Aerospace Engineering (Computational combustion with applications to aerospace propulsion. His research interests include combustion instability in aerospace engines, stochastic modelling of turbulent combustion, plasma-combustion interactions simulation of multiphase flow, turbulence modelling and high-performance computing.)

Shangping Ren, Ph.D.  University of  Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Professor of Computer Science (Cyber-Physical Systems, Real-Time Scheduling, and Cloud Computing)
 
Forest Rohwer, Ph.D. San Diego State University, Professor of Biology (Genomic Analysis of Phage, Diversity of Coral-associated Bacteria, Opportunistic Infections and Coral Disease)

Eric Sandquist, Ph.D. University of California, Santa Cruz, Professor of Astronomy (Physics of Stars and the Way They Age)
 
Anca Segal, Ph.D. University of Utah, Professor of Biology (The Mechanism of Site-Specific Recombination; Structure/Function Analysis of Recombination Proteins)

Ignacio Sepulveda, Ph.D. Cornell University, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering (Coastal Hazards, Coastal Engineering, Tsunami Science, Seismology, Stochastic Calculus for Uncertainty Quantification, Remote sensing, Wave Mechanics, Inversions)

Arun Sethuraman, Ph.D. Iowa State University, Assistant Professor of Bioinformatics (Population Genomics, Evolution, Bioinformatics) 

Satish Sharma, Ph.D. Banaras Hindu University, India, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Electromagnetics antennas and waves, microwave devices and systems)
 
Samuel Shen, Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, Madison, Albert W. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Mathematics (Statistical Climatology & Agroclimatology, Fluid Dynamcis & Forced Nonlinear Waves)
 
Nicholas Shikuma, Ph.D. University of California, Santa Cruz, Assistant Professor of Biology (Molecular Mechanisms of Bacteria/Bacteriophage/Animal Interactions)
 
Usha Sinha, Ph.D. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, Professor of Physics (Medical and Imaging Physics, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and Informatics)

Jeet Sukumaran, Ph.D. University of Kansas, Assistant Professor of Biology (Process-based modeling of macroevolutionary dynamics, diversification, and biogeography/phylogeography; species delimitation; host-parasite coevolution, phylogenetics)
 
Mauro Tambasco, Ph.D. University of Western Ontario, Associate Professor of Physics (Medical Physics: Biophysics effects of ionizing radiation in the presence of strong magnetic fields)
 
Naveen Vaidya, Ph.D. York University, Canada, Assistant Professor of Mathematics (Applied Mathematics, Mathematical Biology, Disease Modeling, Differential Equations)
 
Satchi Venkataraman, Ph.D. University of Florida, Professor of Aerospace Engineering (Structural Mechanics, Design Optimization, Composite Materials, Biomechanics)
 
Wei Wang, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Associate Professor of Computer Science (Cyber-Physical Systems, Wireless Multimedia Networking, Breast Cancer Image Processing)

Qi Wang, Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University, Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering (Data Assimilation in Turbulent Environments, Adjoint-Based Optimization, Measurement-Enhanced Simulations, Drag Reduction and Optimal Sensor Placement, Pollution Source Localization in Stratified or Non-Stratified Turbulence)
 
Fridolin Weber, Ph.D. University of Munich, Germany, Albert W. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Physics (Superdense Matter, Astrophysics, General Relativity)
 
Tao Xie, Ph.D. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Professor of Computer Science (High-Performance Computing, Energy-Efficient Storage Systems, Parallel/Distributed Systems, and Security-Aware Scheduling)

Yang Xu, Ph.D. Penn State University, Assistant Professor of Computer Science (Cognitive science, computer science, linguistics and psychology)

Ahmad Bani Younes, Ph.D. Texas A&M University, Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering (Space research topics: including the development of fast and high fidelity gravity model for the earth anomalies; fast and efficient trajectories propagation for satellite motions; optimal control theory, and, algorithms development for optimization theory, perturbation theory, orbital motion, and very broadly algorithmic differentiation for automatically generating mixed sets of high-order partial derivatives.)