PhD FAQ

Our PhD alumni have followed a wide range of career paths. Some are specialists or senior researchers at large corporations or research institutes. Some are founders, directors, advisors, board members and CEOs of different companies or non-profit organizations, and some are university faculty members. To learn more about the career paths of our PhD graduates, explore our alumni page.

Yes. As of 2023, among the ATLAS PhD program's 32 alumni, nine are currently full-time faculty members at US universities, including the University of Washington, Georgetown University, Ball State University, University of Colorado Denver and Georgia Tech.

Probably not. The ATLAS PhD program is a research-based program. Students are expected to propose a thesis and write a dissertation. You can see examples of recent ATLAS PhD dissertations here.  If you're looking for a practice based PhD you might be interested in two programs offered by the College of Media, Communication and Information: the PhD in Emergent Technologies and Media Art Practices  and the PhD in Intermedia Arts, Writing and Performance. 

It depends. The ATLAS PhD program values and supports interdisciplinary interests in ways that conventional single-discipline programs do not. If your career aspirations require a specific conventional degree, then by all means pursue that degree. In practice, we’ve found that the opportunities open to the graduates of PhD programs are governed more by what they’ve accomplished than by the degree on their diplomas. To see the career paths of PhD program alumni, visit our alumni page.

The average time to graduate with a PhD is 4.88 years.  However, due to a myriad of conditions, the length of study varies widely.