Other Information Information About this Department List of Faculty Dissertation Sponsors Degree Requirements Apply Online Visit the Department's Website Course List

Biostatistics brings to bear results from statistical and probability theory on problems in human health and disease. The purpose of the Ph.D. program in biostatistics is to prepare individuals to develop and adapt statistical methods for solving problems in biomedicine and public health. Resources available at Columbia include extensive library and computer facilities as well as opportunities for involvement in numerous research activities in the biomedical sciences, clinical research, and public health that can lead to dissertation topics.

Degree Requirements

The requirements listed below are special to this subcommittee and must be read in conjunction with the general requirements of the Graduate School. More detailed information can be obtained from the chair of the subcommittee by writing to the Department of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, 722 W. 168th St., Floor 6, New York, NY 10032.

For the M.Phil. Degree

Program of study: Each student selects a field of application in consultation with members of the subcommittee. Disciplines representing appropriate fields of application include clinical trials, demography, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, human genetics, psychiatry, risk assessment, and survivorship. Members of the doctoral program subcommittee and the academic unit or units representing the field of application jointly design an integrated sequence of courses, depending on the student’s prior knowledge of the field, to ensure that the student gains systematic knowledge of the substantive area selected.

Course requirements: A minimum of four Residence Units beyond the master’s degree—two years of full-time study—is required for the M.Phil. degree. Generally, at least one of these years is devoted to advanced course work. Coursework includes 12 points from the required three-semester sequence in statistical inference and asymptotic statistics, as well as courses in survival analysis, analysis of categorical data, generalized linear models, and multivariate analysis. Modifications in the distribution of points may be made for students entering the program with prior experience or training in statistics or the health sciences.

Languages: English proficiency of all international students.

Teaching requirement: Participation in the instructional activities of the department for a minimum of three semesters.

Examinations: The student’s knowledge of theoretical statistics, biostatistics, and the field of application is tested by written and oral qualifying examinations.

For the Ph.D. Degree

Upon completion of all requirements for the M.Phil. degree, the student, under the guidance of a faculty advisor and other sponsors, conducts research leading to the dissertation. The student defends the dissertation before a committee named by the dean of the faculty of the Graduate School. The dissertation involves the development of new, or adaptation of existing, statistical methods for solving an applied problem. Adaptations of existing methods must be original. In either case, the methods must be theoretically sound. Candidates usually apply their results to the analysis of a data set from the field of application.

Financial Aid