Doctoral (PhD) Program Overview

Photo of 2 new PhDs

Purdue's Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering continues to offer one of the nation's preeminent PhD programs, providing research areas in human factors, manufacturing, operations research, and production systems.  Our focus is to expand IE's role in addressing 21st century challenges, expanding industrial frontiers, and designing and building the enterprise of the future.

Our PhD students work closely with an energetic and well-qualified faculty, most of whom have already achieved recognition as leaders in their specialization areas. The School was home to one of the first National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Centers and Department of Defense (DOD) University Research Initiatives, and now – with the help of our PhD students - is performing cutting edge and impactful research in the above areas.

PhD students are encouraged to participate in multidisciplinary studies and multi-cultural educational efforts in one or more of our diverse topical areas, including:

  • Aviation Human Factors
  • Digital Human Modeling
  • Distributed Control
  • Energy Systems
  • Ergonomics
  • E-work, E-business, E-service Systems 
  • Financial Engineering
  • Global Systems
  • Group Work and Communications
  • Health Care Engineering
  • Human-Robot Interaction
  • Intelligent Systems
  • Information Visualization
  • Machining Processes
  • Materials Processing
  • Nano-Manufacturing
  • Nonlinear Optimization
  • Safety Engineering
  • Service Engineering
  • Simulation Optimization

Program Highlights

  • Typical Completion: Students take a combination of advanced technical courses, focusing their study on areas of interest, earning a Doctorate in 4-6 years. 
  • Career Catalyzation: Most graduates enter careers in diverse fields, often on advanced leadership tracks. 

Why Choose a Doctorate Degree in Industrial Engineering?

  • Increased Employment Opportunities: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the need for industrial engineers will increase about 8% between now and 2028. 
  • Increased Earning Potential.  Our alumni self-report that Purdue Industrial Engineering PhD  graduates earn 15% or more than their peers with a Master's degree.

Why Choose Purdue?

  • Field Defining Innovation & Research: The School of Industrial Engineering has been defining the field and educating future leaders in industrial engineering for 65 years. The graduate program is ranked in the top 10 and the IE on-line degree program is ranked #1 in the nation. Our researchers perform field-defining research that is regarded worldwide for its impact and quality.
  • Excellence at Scale: As one of the top 10 engineering graduate programs in the nation, Purdue's College of Engineering is one of the largest and strongest programs in the nation with 13 different schools and departments.
  • Affordable Tuition: Tuition for our program is considerably cost effective compared to other programs.
  • Low Cost of Living: The cost of living in the Greater Lafayette-West Lafayette area is one of the lowest in the nation, with housing rent ranging from 23% to 179% less expensive than competing university cities (numbeo.com). 

 

Admission Requirements & Deadlines

How to Apply

We invite highly motivated individuals to join our program. Prospective PhD students are encouraged to consult with faculty members with whom their interests align prior to applying for admission. You can learn about our research areas and the faculty doing work in them here, and can directly peruse faculty profiles via our IE Faculty Directory.

  1. Create an account to start a new application.
  2. Choose up to 2 campuses and/or graduate majors in priority order.  
  3. Pay the Nonrefundable Application Fee.