phd online nyu

Earn Your NYU Doctorate in Leadership and Innovation.

Organizational change starts with an online doctorate in leadership and innovation from NYU. Leverage your knowledge and skills in transformational leadership roles to create new, sustainable solutions to systemic institutional challenges with your EdD.

Applications will open for the 2026 cohort in early 2025.

Our online leadership and innovation doctorate at a glance

Blending academic theory and real-world practice, NYU Steinhardt’s EdD in Leadership and Innovation is more than an online degree. It’s a unique program that provides working professionals with the tools to harness transformative change in their organizations and beyond.

three-day immersive residency at a global NYU site

hours per week

Average time commitment, including classes, will vary

total credits at the doctoral level

per credit hour

Based on 2024–2025 tuition rates

Minimum time to degree completion 1

EdD program overview

NYU Steinhardt’s EdD in Leadership and Innovation is more than a doctorate program. It’s a cohort of professionals, faculty , and distinguished cross-sectoral leaders from spaces such as:

• For-profit companies
• Higher education
• Nonprofit and philanthropic organizations
• Public and governmental organizations

We examine the most important issues cross-sectoral leaders face today and discover solutions that make change possible for tomorrow. We apply an academic lens to myriad sectors so students graduate from the doctoral program with the core competencies for impactful director and executive-level career options.

The research, analysis, writing, and critical thinking involved in students’ strategic design and implementation of a change management project are assets that students will bring to current and future employers.

The Problem of Practice

While many doctoral programs require students to complete a dissertation, NYU Steinhardt challenges students to examine and create an academically informed solution to a persistent organizational problem throughout the EdD program. This unique project is called the Problem of Practice (POP) , and it enables students to create real value for their organizations.

“We want students to have a collaborative experience in which they ignite a transformation in education from across sectors.” DR. NOEL S. ANDERSON FOUNDING FACULTY

Explore the cohort model design

When students work together, they leverage their unique leadership skills and professional experiences to develop new ideas and effect sustainable change. That’s why the cohort model is a defining feature of NYU Steinhardt’s EdD in Leadership and Innovation program. Traveling the curriculum together, students develop a common problem-solving language and discover new solutions to old challenges. Best of all, since courses run continuously through Summer and January terms, students earn their degree in 24–28 months, a duration that’s among the shortest in the country relative to other education doctorates.

Great minds, thinking differently

Our program unites experienced professionals from diverse backgrounds who share their unique perspectives on real-world challenges. By giving them the space to question, explore, and take risks, we foster innovation, resulting in new solutions to persistent organizational problems.

A collaborative system of support

For the duration of the program, faculty serve as mentors, supporters, challengers, and advocates, bringing decades of leadership experience to their partnership with students.

Built for immediate action

Students can complete their degree in as few as 24 continuous months, preparing them to create sustainable and scalable change at their organizations in their leadership roles.

Who is this program for?

The NYU online Doctorate in Leadership and Innovation is different by design. More than an educational leadership program, it’s a global cohort of cross-sector professionals motivated to create real change in their fields. Diverse leaders from the worlds of business, government, nonprofits, healthcare, and education seek out our program to be challenged to think beyond their areas of expertise – and to create new solutions and catalyze change in their organizations.

Current and former students’ employers include:

• Blue Cross Blue Shield
• The World Bank
• NYC Department
of Education
• The Millennium School – Dubai

Current and former students’ job titles include:

• Chief executive officer
• Chief learning officer
• Senior director of global security
• Head of diversity, equity & inclusion
• Program manager, behavioral health
• Military officer
• Director, office of educational assessment
• Adjunct faculty

Students represent a global cohort whose diverse voices are informed not only by the work they do, but from lived experiences around the world. 

The NYU EdD addresses the needs of full-time working professionals with a rigorous online Doctorate in Leadership and Innovation program that can be completed in as few as 24 months.

Three-day immersive residency

At the beginning of the program, your cohort will convene at NYU to meet, discuss your professional experiences, and examine the persistent challenges you face in your organizations. The residency will deepen students’ connections with peers and faculty and help serve as a foundation for the EdD curriculum.

Designed as a cohort model, our 42-credit curriculum includes 17 consecutive courses that can be completed in as few as 24 months. Students continue working while earning their degree, examining and solving a persistent challenge in their organization throughout the program.

Problem of Practice (POP)

Rather than completing a traditional dissertation, you will identify a persistent problem in your organization and examine it through an academic lens throughout the program, emerging with a thoroughly researched, actionable solution that creates real value for your organization.

Frequently asked questions

Finding the right EdD program to expand and leverage your leadership skills is essential to your success. To aid in this decision-making process, we’ve compiled answers to the most frequently asked questions about eligibility, tuition, courses, and more.

Admission requirements

To be eligible for the EdD in Leadership and Innovation program, you must hold both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. You must also have seven years of work experience in a leadership role. The GRE is not required for admission.

Learn how to solve institutional challenges with NYU’s EdD

1 Total time to complete the program may vary based on the number of credits taken each semester.

Tell us about yourself.

Sharing some details will help us customize your experience.

Departments

• Applied Physics
• Biomedical Engineering
• Center for Urban Science and Progress
• Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Civil and Urban Engineering
• Computer Science and Engineering
• Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Finance and Risk Engineering
• Mathematics
• Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Technology, Culture and Society
• Technology Management and Innovation

Degrees & Programs

• Bachelor of Science
• Master of Science
• Doctor of Philosophy
• Digital Learning
• Certificate Programs
• NYU Tandon Bridge
• Undergraduate
• Records & Registration
• Digital Learning Services
• Teaching Innovation
• Explore NYU Tandon
• Year in Review
• Strategic Plan
• Diversity & Inclusion

News & Events

• Social Media

Looking for News or Events ?

Human-Centered Technology, Innovation & Design, Ph.D.

• Request Information

Innovations in technologies redefine and reshape people's lives, changing social and cultural practices, norms and values, institutional processes, and economies and infrastructures. Working to develop new applications for existing and emerging human-centered technologies informed through rigorous, interdisciplinary research and managing socio-technical transitions is a fast-growing and highly important area of research across a number of fields and disciplines. The mission of the Tandon School of Engineering's Human-Centered Technology, Innovation & Design Ph.D. program is to educate and train scholars who will produce pioneering research and scholarship at the vanguard of technological practice and theory.

This program fosters student research through its focus on high-quality supervision and training by faculty members with significant research strengths in a diverse range of technology-related fields, including: digital media and creative practice, design and human-computer interaction, science and technology studies, urban and environmental studies, sociotechnical complex systems, and technology management and innovation. Students in the program typically follow an individualized path based in one of four main areas of focus:

• Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
• Design Research & Practice
• Management Science
• Computational Social Science

The Human-Centered Technology, Innovation & Design program is a unique interdisciplinary Ph.D. program, offering a rigorous and flexible course of study that unites the strengths of the Departments of Technology Management and Innovation and Technology Culture & Society at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. It is ideal for students who are primarily interested in pursuing teaching and/or research-based careers at higher education institutions. Universities with undergraduate and graduate programs that emphasize the integration of design and technology development with the critical study of society and technology or the management sciences are a primary source of career opportunities for our graduates. Similarly, government agencies, not-for-profit research organization, think tanks, corporate research centers, and research-based design and consulting firms also seek our graduates. 

Urban Science Doctoral Track

Admissions/applications requirements.

Admission to the Doctor of Philosophy in Human-Centered Technology, Innovation & Design program is based on an in-depth evaluation of the applicant’s academic record, professional experience, research potential, interest in doctoral study, and overall intellectual and professional qualifications. The GRE is optional, while proof of english language proficiency is required for international students.

Find out more about Admission Requirements and Graduate Admissions .

Degree Requirements and Curriculum

The curriculum for the Ph.D. in Human-Centered Technology, Innovation & Design Program fosters a research-intensive doctoral education relevant to understanding and shaping the impact of new technologies on a complex and rapidly-changing society and its institutions. We focus on how technology shapes and molds society and culture and how, in turn, social and cultural institutions respond to those impacts. 

The core coursework exposes students to advanced design and research skills modulated by the development of a critically reflexive understanding of the ways in which society and technology deeply influence design and development. Research methods courses help students develop advanced qualitative, quantitative, and practice-based research as the basis for inquiring into, designing, and evaluating new technologies in the service of society.

Thematic elective courses help students gain in-depth knowledge in a focused area related to the key themes of human-computer interaction, design research, and management science. Our faculty also specialize in several areas of focus: disability studies and inclusive design, citizen science, urban sustainability, design for social change, science and technology studies, design studies, and technology ethics and politics. Students and doctoral advisers work together to curate and develop a rigorous course of study in the program.

Students are required to complete 75 credits, including 51 credits from the course work, which includes doctoral seminars, research methods courses, and thematic electives, and 24 credits from the dissertation. For more information on specific faculty interests, please refer to the faculty pages under the relevant programs.

Research Training and Interaction with Faculty

Students are expected to work actively with one or more faculty each year, and focus on completing research. Students are strongly encouraged to present research in progress once a year and work towards publishable papers, usually with a faculty as co-author. Students are strongly encouraged to work with their primary advisors to outline a plan of study where they can be involved in institutional research. Every student participates in formal research seminars with departmental faculty and visitors.

Quick Links

• Graduate Admissions

Academic Director

Ahmed Ansari

Graham Dove

Academic advisor.

Jenelle Woodrup

Ph.D. Program

The ph.d. in performance studies at nyu is an intensive, highly competitive five-year program that trains students to conduct advanced research and scholarship..

The first of its kind (and still one of a very few) as a stand-alone doctoral program in performance studies, NYU Performance Studies was ranked #1 by the National Research Council in its survey of doctoral programs in theater and performance studies.  Many of our graduates have gone on to academic positions in leading research institutions worldwide, publish award-winning books and articles, and shape the future of the field. 

We accept 4 students per year, all of whom receive intensive and highly individualized mentoring and training, as well as 5 years of tuition/fee remission, health insurance, and a stipend.  

The M.A. and Ph.D. Programs in Performance Studies are administered by the Tisch School of the Arts and degrees are conferred by the Graduate School of Arts and Science at NYU.

Performance Studies Students

Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)

The DrPH program trains innovative leaders who will develop, implement, and disseminate evidence-based programs and policies to advance public health and health equity. GPH is committed to an interdisciplinary approach in its DrPH curriculum, with an emphasis on leadership development, health policy and management and implementation science and training in the areas of mixed-methods data collection and analysis; ethics organizational management and governance; education and workforce development and policy advocacy. 

Administration

Competencies

Student Forms

The DrPH is the highest professional degree in public health. The goal of our DrPH program is to develop transformative leaders in public health practice who can collaborate with diverse partners across settings and sectors, synthesize knowledge, and generate practice-based evidence to address global public health issues, with a commitment to health equity. Students work with an interdisciplinary faculty whose expertise in research and practice address critical global health challenges. Students benefit from NYU’s location in New York City with its world-class Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, highly diverse communities and expansive network of UN agencies, donor organizations, non-profit and business organizations.

A total of 42 credit hours is required for the DrPH, including 12 credits of electives. Students are expected to complete the degree within four to seven years, depending on previous academic coursework in public health, and whether the student is registered on a full-time or part-time basis. GPH strongly believes in the importance of faculty mentoring. Early in the first semester, each DrPH student will be assigned a faculty mentor, based on areas of common interest. The faculty mentor will support the DrPH student throughout their academic and professional development journey. This includes helping the student with course selection, developing a plan for their advanced applied practice experience, qualifying portfolio preparation, and their dissertation. Faculty mentors will also help students network with other NYU faculty and with health professionals working in the field locally, nationally and globally.

In addition to faculty mentors, the program will provide students with educational opportunities to work with experts in communication skills, negotiation and conflict management and networking with leaders in public health to explore their professional journeys and leadership styles. 

Meet Our Students

Applicants are expected to have earned an MPH or another relevant graduate degree and must have at least 3 years of full-time public health or other relevant work experience. Learn more about application requirements and deadlines.

For a complete list of application requirements and to apply for the DrPH, please complete the SOPHAS application!

• Admission Policies
• Financial Support
• Ph.D. in Atmosphere Ocean Science
• M.S. at Graduate School of Arts & Science
• M.S. at Tandon School of Engineering
• Current Students

Ph.D. Program in Mathematics

Degree requirements.

A candidate for the Ph.D. degree in mathematics must fulfill a number of different departmental requirements.

NYU Shanghai Ph.D. Track

The Ph.D. program also offers students the opportunity to pursue their study and research with Mathematics faculty based at NYU Shanghai. With this opportunity, students generally complete their coursework in New York City before moving full-time to Shanghai for their dissertation research. For more information, please visit the  NYU Shanghai Ph.D. page .

Sample course schedules (Years 1 and 2) for students with a primary interest in:

Applied Math (Math Biology, Scientific Computing, Physical Applied Math, etc.)

Additional information for students interested in studying applied math is available here .

Probability

PDE/Analysis

The Written Comprehensive Examination

The examination tests the basic knowledge required for any serious mathematical study. It consists of the three following sections: Advanced Calculus, Complex Variables, and Linear Algebra. The examination is given on three consecutive days, twice a year, in early September and early January. Each section is allotted three hours and is written at the level of a good undergraduate course. Samples of previous examinations are available in the departmental office. Cooperative preparation is encouraged, as it is for all examinations. In the fall term, the Department offers a workshop, taught by an advanced Teaching Assistant, to help students prepare for the written examinations.

Entering students with a solid preparation are encouraged to consider taking the examination in their first year of full-time study. All students must take the examinations in order to be allowed to register for coursework beyond 36 points of credit; it is recommended that students attempt to take the examinations well before this deadline. Graduate Assistants are required to take the examinations during their first year of study.

For further details, consult the page on the written comprehensive exams .

The Oral Preliminary Examination

This examination is usually (but not invariably) taken after two years of full-time study. The purpose of the examination is to determine if the candidate has acquired sufficient mathematical knowledge and maturity to commence a dissertation. The phrase "mathematical knowledge" is intended to convey rather broad acquaintance with the basic facts of mathematical life, with emphasis on a good understanding of the simplest interesting examples. In particular, highly technical or abstract material is inappropriate, as is the rote reproduction of information. What the examiners look for is something a little different and less easy to quantify. It is conveyed in part by the word "maturity." This means some idea of how mathematics hangs together; the ability to think a little on one's feet; some appreciation of what is natural and important, and what is artificial. The point is that the ability to do successful research depends on more than formal learning, and it is part of the examiners' task to assess these less tangible aspects of the candidate's preparation.

The orals are comprised of a general section and a special section, each lasting one hour, and are conducted by two different panels of three faculty members. The examination takes place three times a year: fall, mid-winter and late spring. Cooperative preparation of often helpful and is encouraged. The general section consists of five topics, one of which may be chosen freely. The other four topics are determined by field of interest, but often turn out to be standard: complex variables, real variables, ordinary differential equations, and partial differential equations. Here, the level of knowledge that is expected is equivalent to that of a one or two term course of the kind Courant normally presents. A brochure containing the most common questions on the general oral examination, edited by Courant students, is available at the Department Office.

The special section is usually devoted to a single topic at a more advanced level and extent of knowledge. The precise content is negotiated with the candidate's faculty advisor. Normally, the chosen topic will have a direct bearing on the candidate's Ph.D. dissertation.

All students must take the oral examinations in order to be allowed to register for coursework beyond 60 points of credit. It is recommended that students attempt the examinations well before this deadline.

The Dissertation Defense

The oral defense is the final examination on the student's dissertation. The defense is conducted by a panel of five faculty members (including the student's advisor) and generally lasts one to two hours. The candidate presents his/her work to a mixed audience, some expert in the student's topic, some not. Often, this presentation is followed by a question-and-answer period and mutual discussion of related material and directions for future work.

Summer Internships and Employment

The Department encourages Ph.D. students at any stage of their studies, including the very early stage, to seek summer employment opportunities at various government and industry facilities. In the past few years, Courant students have taken summer internships at the National Institute of Health, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and NASA, as well as Wall Street firms. Such opportunities can greatly expand students' understanding of the mathematical sciences, offer them possible areas of interest for thesis research, and enhance their career options. The Director of Graduate Studies and members of the faculty (and in particular the students' academic advisors) can assist students in finding appropriate summer employment.

Mentoring and Grievance Policy

For detailed information, consult the page on the Mentoring and Grievance Policy .

Visiting Doctoral Students

Information about spending a term at the Courant Institute's Department of Mathematics as a visiting doctoral student is available on the Visitor Programs  page.

What is total cost of the Online MHA including tuition?

The total cost of the Online MHA program is about $110,973* in tuition. Tuition is $2,395* per credit hour.

Most terms are six credits. In two terms, students take seven and a half credits:

6 credits: $14,370*

7.5 credits: $17,962.50*

A $1,000 deposit is due at the time of enrollment.

*Cost subject to annual tuition and fee increases.

Related FAQs

• When are Online MHA courses held?
• Am I eligible for an application fee waiver for the Online MHA?
• Am I required to submit a resume in order to apply to the Online MHA?

Buzsáki Lab

A search for a neural syntax.

Research Goals

Today’s cognitive neuroscience largely follows the tradition of empiricism by looking for correspondences between ‘stimuli’ in the external world and their responses or ‘representations’ in the brain. This approach works well (sort of) in primary sensory areas but typically fails when cognitive or emotional mechanisms are to be investigated. The empiricist method is a bit like learning words in a foreign language, i.e., collecting correspondences between a known and a new language. The initial progress is fast. One can get by in a foreign country with just 100 words of vocabulary. However, when it comes to truly understanding a language, one needs to know the grammar, the syntactical rules that allow for the generation of virtually infinite combinations from finite numbers of lexical elements. Syntax allows for the segmentation of information into a temporal progression of discrete elements with ordered and hierarchical relationships (e.g. tempo, punctuation, etc), resulting in congruent interpretation of meaning. We endeavor to study the syntax, and not just the vocabulary, of the brain.

Meet our team of passionate researchers.

Publications

Complete list of peer-reviewed publications, books, chapters, reviews and essays.

Buzcode, CellExplorer, data standards and our Github repository.

Follow our latest scientific advances, read interviews, find newly published papers, and meet the new researchers in our lab

Harriman State Park 2024

Thomas Hainmueller 2024-08-16T17:33:54-04:00 August 12th, 2024 |

Some pictures from this year's trip to the Harriman State Park in Upstate New York! We had a [...]

Wedding and farewell party

Thomas Hainmueller 2024-06-18T00:06:13-04:00 June 15th, 2024 |

With joy and sadness combined, we met at Gyuri's home to [...]

Congratulations Dr. Huszar!

Thomas Hainmueller 2024-06-21T18:29:27-04:00 June 11th, 2024 |

Congratulations to Roman for an excellent thesis and presentation!

Quanta Magazine: Electric ‘Ripples’ in the Resting Brain Tag Memories for Storage

Thomas Hainmueller 2024-06-18T00:16:57-04:00 May 21st, 2024 |

New experiments reveal how the brain chooses which memories to save and add credence to advice about the importance of rest. Read the full article about Winnie's recent paper [...]

When Art meets Neuroscience. Installation of Neural Syntax by NYU Tisch School of the Arts students

Thomas Hainmueller 2024-05-21T11:00:41-04:00 May 21st, 2024 |

When Art meets Neuroscience. Installation of Neural Syntax by NYU Tisch School of the Arts students Lois He, Sofia Shen, Vio Zhu, Zhang Xing. It was a fun cooperation between [...]

We were ranked among “the top 0.05% of all scholars worldwide.”

Thomas Hainmueller 2024-05-02T17:44:17-04:00 May 2nd, 2024 |

Congratulations on being named an inaugural Highly Ranked Scholar by ScholarGPS ScholarGPS celebrates Highly Ranked Scholars™ for their exceptional performance in various Fields, Disciplines, and Specialties. Your prolific publication record, [...]