Ph.D. Programs in Machine Learning (2021)

By Towards AI Team

These are the best universities to pursue a Ph.D. in machine learning, with research rankings in AI and machine learning research.

Research Ranking in Machine Learning	University	Research Ranking in AI	Program Name
1	Carnegie Mellon University	1	Ph.D. in Machine Learning
2	University of California — Berkeley	12	Ph.D. in EECS
3	Stanford University	3	Ph.D. in Computer Science
4	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	5	Ph.D. in EECS
5	Cornell University	2	Ph.D. in Computer Science
6	University of California — San Diego (UCSD)	12	Ph.D. in Computer Science
7	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)	4	Ph.D. in Computer Science
8	University of California — Los Angeles (UCLA)	8	Ph.D. in Computer Science
9	Georgia Institute of Technology	9	Ph.D. in Machine Learning
10	University of Washington	6	Ph.D. in Computer Science

Carnegie Mellon University

Program Name: Ph.D. in Machine Learning

Duration: 4 to 5+ years

Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Core courses: Advanced machine learning, statistics, research, statistical machine learning, data analysis, artificial intelligence.

Tracks available: Ph.D. in Machine Learning, Ph.D. in Statistics and Machine Learning, Ph.D. in Machine Learning and Public Policy, Ph.D. in Neural Computation and Machine Learning, Ph.D. in Computer Science, and others.

Focus areas: Machine learning, artificial intelligence, NLP, computer vision, robotics, deep learning, data mining, web and information retrieval, and others.

University of California - Berkeley

Program Name: Ph.D. in EECS

Duration: 5 to 6+ years

Location: Berkeley, California

Core courses: Computer architecture and logic design, computer science, high-level mathematics, electrical engineering basis, artificial intelligence. Tracks available: Ph.D. in EECS.

Focus areas: Machine learning, artificial intelligence, NLP, computer vision, deep learning, data mining, web and information retrieval, and others.

Stanford University

Program Name: Ph.D. in Computer Science

Duration: 4 to 6+ years

Location: Stanford, California

Core courses: Mathematical and theory foundations, computer systems, applications, research, artificial intelligence. Tracks available: Ph.D. in Computer Science.

Focus areas: Machine learning, artificial intelligence, NLP, computer vision, deep learning, data mining, web and information retrieval, and others.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Program Name: Ph.D. in EECS

Duration: 4–6+ years

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Core courses: Computer architecture and logic design, computer science, high-level mathematics, electrical engineering basis, artificial intelligence. Tracks available: Ph.D. in Computer Science.

Focus areas: Machine learning, artificial intelligence, NLP, computer vision, deep learning, data mining, web and information retrieval, and others.

Cornell University

Program Name: Ph.D. in Computer Science

Duration: 4 to 6+ years

Location: Ithaca, New York

Core courses: Mathematical and theory foundations, computer systems, applications, research, artificial intelligence. Tracks available: Ph.D. in Computer Science.

Focus areas: Machine learning, artificial intelligence, NLP, computer vision, deep learning, data mining, web and information retrieval, and others.

University of California - San Diego (UCSD)

Program Name: Ph.D. in Computer Science

Duration: 4 to 6+ years

Location: San Diego, California

Core courses: Computer architecture and logic design, computer science, high-level mathematics, electrical engineering, artificial intelligence, machine learning. Track available: Ph.D. in Computer Science.

Focus areas: Machine learning, artificial intelligence, NLP, computer vision, deep learning, data mining, web and information retrieval, and others.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)

Program Name: Ph.D. in Computer Science

Course Duration: 4 to 6+ years

Location: Champaign, Illinois

Core courses: Computer architecture and logic design, computer science, high-level mathematics, electrical engineering, artificial intelligence, machine learning. Tracks available: Ph.D. in Computer Science.

Focus areas: Machine learning, artificial intelligence, NLP, computer vision, deep learning, data mining, web and information retrieval, and others.

University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA)

Program Name: Ph.D. in Computer Science

Duration: 5 to 6+ years

Location: Los Angeles, California

Core courses: Computer architecture and logic design, computer science, high-level mathematics, electrical engineering basis, artificial intelligence. Tracks available: Ph.D. in EECS.

Focus areas: Machine learning, artificial intelligence, NLP, computer vision, deep learning, data mining, web and information retrieval, and others.

Georgia Institute of Technology

Program Name: Ph.D. in Machine Learning

Course Duration: 4 to 6+ years

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Core courses: Advanced machine learning, statistics, research, statistical machine learning, data analysis, artificial intelligence. Tracks available: Ph.D. in Machine Learning, Ph.D. in Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization, Ph.D. in Computer Science, Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering.

Focus areas: Machine learning, artificial intelligence, NLP, computer vision, deep learning, data mining, web and information retrieval, and others.

University of Washington

Program Name: Ph.D. in Computer Science

Duration: 4 to 6+ years

Location: Seattle, Washington

Core courses: Computer architecture and logic design, computer science, high-level mathematics, electrical engineering basis, artificial intelligence, data science, machine learning, applied machine learning, statistical analysis.

Tracks available: Ph.D. in Computer Science, Ph.D. in Data Science. Focus areas: Machine learning, artificial intelligence, NLP, computer vision, deep learning, data mining, web and information retrieval, and others.