The Ph.D. in International Affairs, Science, and Technology offers a flexible curriculum, allowing you to tailor your courses to your career goals.
The program requires coursework, two comprehensive exams, and the successful defense of a paper related to a science and technology topic before advancing to candidacy.
You may also substitute or opt-out of up to nine credit-hours based on previous experience or coursework. Most students complete the Ph.D. program in four to six years.
Prerequisites
A strong application to the Ph.D. program may include prior coursework in political science, international relations, economics, history, or science and engineering courses. You must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university.
Four semesters of college-level language courses in the same language are required. However, native speakers of other languages are exempt from this requirement.
First Year
The first two years of the Ph.D. in International Affairs, Science, and Technology largely follow the curriculum of the master's degree. The first year begins with eight core seminars:
- Empirical Research Methods
- International Relations Theory
- International Security Policy
- Comparative Politics
- International Political Economy
- Ph.D. Proseminar
- Science, Technology, and International Affairs I
- Science, Technology, and International Affairs II
Second Year
Second-year students focus on electives, a science and technology research paper, and two written and oral comprehensive exams on international security/theory and global development. The paper is a great opportunity to work with the faculty member of your choice before continuing to Ph.D. candidacy.
Electives in year two must include either a third year in the prerequisite language of your choice or a year of advanced methods classes. This can be advanced statistics, methods, data analytics, and/or computer science.
Georgia Tech requires all Ph.D. students to complete a three-course minor in a discipline outside of their own. Nunn School students who do not have an undergraduate degree in engineering, physical science, or a life science field must complete their Ph.D. minor in a STEM discipline.
Third Year
The final requirement for your Ph.D. is an original doctoral dissertation and its successful defense in an oral exam. Dissertation committees require one faculty member who is outside of the Nunn School.
Read the Thesis and Dissertation Manual from Georgia Tech’s Office of Graduate Education
Explore recent Ph.D. dissertations by our graduates.
Advising
Visit our faculty page and filter by “professors” to explore potential advisors. Some advising faculty and their corresponding research areas include:
In International Security, Rachel Whitlark investigates the role of the individual executive in foreign and security policy. Her work includes research on presidential beliefs about nuclear coercion and the determinants of arms control negotiation success.
In Global Development, Anjali Thomas specializes in comparative politics and political economy with an emphasis on India. Her research considers the politics of public service provision, distributive politics, gender disparities, and multi-level governance.
In Science, Technology, and International Affairs, Juljan Krause studies the international security implications of emerging technologies, with a focus on the U.S.-China competition over quantum technologies.