The UCI General Catalogue is the official guide to all degree and graduation requirements; the information below is intended for general planning purposes only.
Concentration in Informatics - Track in Interactive and Collaborative Technology (INF-ICT), (M.S. and Ph.D.)
The ICT track of the Informatics concentration focuses on studying and enhancing the relationship between the design and use of interactive systems and their applications in real-world settings. more »
- Fall 2007 - Current Degree Requirements
- Fall 2006 - Spring 2007 Degree Requirements
- Fall 2004 - Spring 2006 Degree Requirements
Students must complete the Survey courses, Informatics Core courses, Informatics Breadth courses and a focus track.
Interactive and Collaborative Technology Informatics Track (INF-ICT):
- Survey of Research and Research Methods:
- INF 201: Research Methodology for Informatics
- Note: Students in the MS program may substitute for INF 201 either two quarters of Seminar in Informatics Research (INF 208S) or one additional Informatics course numbered 200-299.
- Two quarters of Seminar in Informatics (Informatics 209S)
- Informatics Core Courses (select three) :
- Informatics Breadth:
- Two four-unit graduate courses in ICS, CS or Statistics, outside of Informatics.
- Electives Group 1 (select two):
- Electives Group 2 (select two):
- ICT Breadth:
- Two four-unit graduate courses approved by the student's advisor. Students are encouraged, but not required, to take them outside of Informatics.
- ** MS students pursuing the thesis option may substitute two of these courses with two quarters of Inf 298 Thesis Supervision.
Each student must find an Informatics faculty advisor and successfully complete a research project with that faculty member by the end of the second year. The research project should be done over at least two quarters of independent study or thesis supervision (Informatics 299 or 298) with that faculty.
Each student must pass a written assessment. Students in the SW and ICT tracks must pass a written examination regularly administered by the department. This examination is based on predetermined reading lists maintained by the SW and ICT faculty. Students in the UBICOMP and GEN tracks must describe the research project in a publication-quality report, which must be approved by three UBICOMP and Informatics faculty.
Each student must pass the oral advancement to candidacy examination, which assesses the student’s ability to conduct, present, and orally defend research work at the doctoral level.
Students in the UBICOMP and GEN tracks, additionally to questions about the presented research, will also be asked questions about a predetermined list of papers. In the case of UBICOMP, that list is maintained by the UBICOMP faculty; in the case of GEN, that list is to be determined by the student’s committee.
The student must present a dissertation plan that includes the proposed dissertation abstract, a dissertation outline, a comprehensive survey of related work, and a detailed plan for completing the work. This plan must be unanimously approved by the dissertation committee.
The student is required to complete a doctoral dissertation in accordance with Academic Senate Policy. The student must also pass an oral dissertation defense which consists of a public presentation of the student's research followed by an oral examination by the student's doctoral committee. The dissertation must be approved unanimously by the committee.
All courses must be passed with a grade of B or better. M.S. and Ph.D. course requirements for each concentration are listed below.
- Required:
- ICS 200: Seminar in Research in ICS (2 units)
- INF 231: Human-Computer Interaction (4 units)
- INF 211: Software Engineering (4 units)
- INF 261: Social Analysis of Computing (4 units)
- INF 209s: Three quarters of Seminar in Informatics (6 units)
- INF 241/CS 248A: Introduction to Ubiquitous Computing (4 units)
- CS 221: Information Retrieval, Filtering and Classification (4 units)
- Two four-unit graduate lecture courses in ICS, outside of the field of Informatics
- Select two Software electives from the following (8 units):
- Select two ICT electives from the following (8 units):
- CS 248B/INF 242: Ubiquitous Computing and Interaction
- INF 233: Knowledge-Based User Interfaces
- INF 251: Computer-Supported Cooperative Work
- INF 263: Computerization, Work and Organization
- INF 265: Theories of Computerization and Information Systems
- INF 267: Computing and Cyberspace
- INF 203 or Social Ecology 217 or MGMT 290: Qualitative Research Methods in Information Systems
- INF 205 or 207 or Social Science 201A: Quantitative Research Methods in Information Systems or Descriptive Multivariate Statistics I
- Seminar (8 units):
- Students need to choose two courses of INF 295 taught by Informatics faculty.
*NOTE: M.S. students pursuing the thesis option must substitute two four unit courses of INF 298 for two courses from the Electives or Special Topics.
All courses must be passed with a grade of B or better. M.S. and Ph.D. course requirements for each concentration are listed below.
NOTE: M.S. students pursuing a Thesis Option must substitute two 4-unit courses of INF 298.
- Required:
- ICS 200: Seminar in Research in ICS (2 units)
- INF 231: Human-Computer Interaction (4 units)
- INF 211: Software Engineering (4 units)
- INF 261: Social Analysis of Computing (4 units)
- INF 209s: Three quarters of Seminar in Informatics (6 units)
- Two four-unit graduate lecture courses in ICS, outside the field of Informatics
- Select two from the following (8 units):
- INF 263: Computerization, Work and Organizations
- INF 265: Theories of Computerization and Information Systems
- INF 203 or Social Ecology 217 or MGMT 290 Qualitative Research Methods in Information Systems
- INF 205 or 207 or Social Science 201A: Qualitative Research Methods in Informative Systems or Descriptive Multivariate Statistics I
- Select two from the following (8 units):
- Breadth (16 units):
- Students need to choose four graduate courses outside of Informatics that form a coherent area of study. Students are encouraged, but not required, to take them outside of the Bren School. A maximum of two ICT electives may be substituted by INF 295 courses taught by ICT faculty.
All courses must be passed with a grade of B or better. M.S. and Ph.D. course requirements for each concentration are listed below. Please keep in mind that every student completing a degree in one of these eight areas must take the following core courses:
- One course from Theory selected from:
- One course from Architecture/CAD/Hardware selected from:
- One course in Software and Systems selected from:
NOTE: M.S. students pursuing a Thesis Option must substitute two 4-unit courses of INF 298.
- Required:
- Select two from the following (8 units):
- INF 263: Computerization, Work and Organizations
- INF 265: Theories of Computerization and Information Systems
- INF 203 or Social Ecology 217 or MGMT 290 Qualitative Research Methods in Information Systems
- INF 205 or 207 or Social Science 201A: Qualitative Research Methods in Informative Systems or Descriptive Multivariate Statistics I
- Select two from the following (8 units):
- Breadth (16 units):
- Students need to choose four graduate courses outside of Informatics that form a coherent area of study. Students are encouraged, but not required, to take them outside of the Bren School. A maximum of two ICT electives may be substituted by INF 295 courses taught by ICT faculty.
UCI enjoys an international reputation for its research on the human and social dimensions of computer system design and use. There are two principal strands to this work. The first concerns the interaction between people and computers, including novel forms of interactive experience beyond traditional desktop computing. The second concerns the role that computer systems can play in collaborative work between individuals, groups, and organizations.
Examples of topics that ICT researchers investigate include: adoption and diffusion of collaborative technologies; software architectures for user-adaptive systems; universal access to interactive systems; design principles for information visualization; and new patterns of computer-mediated work such as virtual teams.
The approach used places equal emphasis on three areas of investigation--empirical, theoretical, and technical. The empirical work involves studying technology in use, using both laboratory techniques and fieldwork investigations of real-world settings. The theoretical research employs and develops analytic understanding of the relationships among technology, people, organizations, and social settings. Finally, in the technical work, ICT researchers develop new models and technologies for interaction with and collaboration through technology. Students in the ICT track gain a thorough grounding in all three areas.
The cornerstone of this approach is to study real use of technology, as it occurs in real-world settings. ICT researchers believe that the success or failure of technology depends on how people can fit that technology into real practice, balancing technical, cognitive, social, and cultural dimensions.
Using an interdisciplinary approach, ICT research aims at a deeper understanding of interaction with and collaboration through technology, and at exploiting these insights for the design of better systems.
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