Graduate Studies in Information Retrieval at UT Austin
The University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin

Graduate Studies in Information Retrieval at UT Austin

The University of Texas at Austin invites applications from talented and energetic prospective students wanting to help shape the future of research in Information Retrieval (IR) and related areas. UT Austin is one of the premier research universities in the US and is located in one of the country's sunniest and most vibrant cities in which to live and work, Austin.

Programs of Study

All of the programs listed above are highly-ranked nationally and admission is competitive. UT Austin promotes diversity in considering applicants coming from traditionally under-represented population groups, including women (cf. NCWIT). International students: see minimum test scores.

Prospective students can apply to one or more of the programs above based on their interests and background and should indicate in their applications:

  • which faculty they are most interested in working with
  • describe any relevant background training (education, experience, skills)
  • express their particular interest in IR, and if one or more aspects of IR (or related field) is of especial interest, mention this as well
Due to the high volume of email from prospective students, general inquiries regarding graduate programs are best directed to official channels for each program rather than the IR-related faculty named here, who may not be able to reply in a timely fashion.

Admission decisions are made by committee in each program and no promises of admission can be made in advance of application. The primary criterion for acceptance is the applicant's overall strength and ability to excel in the program as a whole as judged on the basis of standard application materials (e.g. letters of recommendation, grades, GRE scores, etc.). Applicants should refer to each program's website for details of its specific application materials and admission criteria.

Highlighted Faculty

UT Austin has a number of faculty who collaborate across disciplines to investigate IR and related research areas. Regardless of the selected program of study, students will have the opportunity to work with diverse faculty across the university who bring each bring unique insights to address problems in IR. Several such faculty are highlighted below; visit their webpages to learn more about them and their specific research areas.

Additional related faculty, working in areas such as Question Answering and Machine Learning, can be found on the UT Computational Linguistics website. See respective school and department websites for complete faculty listings.

Additional Programs & Resources

To help facilitate top-notch research, UT Austin offers a variety of programs and resources avaiable to students across the university:

The iSchool also has a wonderful new building and CS will soon have a new building as well

Help us shape the future of IR!

Why UT Austin? As a leading research institution in the 21st century, we are driving innovation and tomorrow's technology in IR, but we can't do it without your knowledge, enthusiasm, and dedication. At UT Austin you will have the opportunity to significantly impact theory and practice in developing IR technologies, to bring your own unique ideas and perspective to bear in working with us to design the future. It's an exciting road ahead, and we look forward to having you help us chart its course!

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