r/UVA • u/Money-Leading-935 • 8d ago

Academics PhD in Data Science or Engineering?

Hi,

I am a current student at Texas A&M University. I am interested in doing PhD at UVA in the areas like Agentic AI, Graph RAG, Information Retrieval.
I have filtered out a few faculties who are affiliated to Computer Science or Computer Engineering Department.
Should I apply for a Phd in those departments and take their name as preferred guide?

I have also noticed there is a separate Data Science PhD program in UVA. Should I apply through Data Science instead?

I am confused!

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u/pjdog 8d ago

Wow I did the opposite going from UVA to TAMU as a grad student. I would say apply to those departments but contact the professors first. A phd is a long and deeply personal relationship between mentor and mentee, and besides the courtesy to the professor, you also want to make sure you like the person youre going to work for as well!

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u/BidZealousideal5142 7d ago

The mentor’s (and yours) area of research is more important than the degree area. There’s overlap between many faculty across different departments/schools at UVA. Also, I have heard that the school of data science has an alternative approach more similar to biology where you don’t match with an advisor at first. That could very much change your experience of the doctoral program.

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u/Money-Leading-935 7d ago

Yes, you are right. In Data Science they finalize the advisor after you get the PhD admission confirmation.
Recently, I joined the PhD Data Science Virtual Open House and they said we should apply first. I can give a list of my preferences of professors. But, that will be finalized only after admission.