University
at Buffalo
University
at Buffalo
MA in Philosophy with Specialization in
ONTOLOGY AND
INFORMATION SCIENCE
ONTOLOGY
Ontology is a sub-discipline of philosophy with the goal of understanding how things in the world are divided into categories and how these categories are related together. Since the 1970s, ontology has been emerging as an applied field of study, with applications in many areas of computing, science, medicine, administration, government, and industry.
The reason for this rapid expansion turns on the growth in the use of computers in representing and manipulating data about things in the world. When information is entered into computers decisions have to be made as to how things in the world are to be divided into categories and how these categories are to be related together. Currently, such decisions are handled in an uncontrolled variety of different ways, so that obstacles arise to the sharing of data and to the use of data in reasoning.
The new discipline of applied ontology seeks to overcome these obstacles by developing common ontologies to enable data integration and reuse. Such ontologies form the backbone of the Semantic Web, whose standard Web Ontology Language (OWL) serves as an important research tool for data representation on the internet. Ontologies are also a vital tool of bioinformatics research, where the Gene Ontology is used to link information about genes with information about associated biological processes.
ONTOLOGY IN BUFFALO
The University at Buffalo is a world center of research and training in ontology, with faculty engaging in ontological research not only in the Department of Philosophy but also in the Medical School, the School of Dental Medicine, the School of Education, the Management School, and the School of Computer Science and Engineering.
Examples of ontologies authored or co-authored by University at Buffalo researchers include:
Biomedical Ethics Ontology (BMEO)
Cell Ontology (CL)
Gene Ontology (GO)
Infectious Disease Ontology (IDO)
Information Artifact Ontology (IAO)
Ontology for Biomedical Investigations (OBI)
Ontology for General Medical Science (OGMS)
Ontology for Mental Disease
Ontology of Philosophy (PhilOnt)
Protein Ontology (PRO)
Ontologists at Buffalo play leading roles in national and international ontology efforts. Buffalo is home to the National Center for Ontological Research, and is, with Stanford University and the Mayo Clinic, one of the three US partner institutions of the National Center for Biomedical Ontology.
Buffalo ontologists provide ontology training and development services to research teams and organizations throughout the world, and they work with leading experts to address problems of data retrieval and integration Electronic Health Record and HealthIT projects in both North America and Europe.
CAREERS IN ONTOLOGY
Ontologists are needed by scientific researchers, private industry and by governments, non-profit organizations and other institutions to to model and analyze complex structures and processes using ontologies in order to address problems of data and enterprise integration. One particularly important field is in the life sciences, where ontologists are being called upon to help provide consistent terminology and ontology resources for Electronic Health Record and Health IT projects throughout the world. Graduates of Buffalo ontology programs have excellent placement opportunities in both government and industry. (See the article on career opportunies for Biomedical Ontologists from a recent issue of Science Careers.)
For further backing information see the introductory material here and also the Buffalo Ontology Site.
MA IN PHILOSOPHY WITH SPECIALIZATION IN ONTOLOGY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
Students interested in this fast-growing field who wish to acquire a background in the theory and practice of ontology may apply for the MA in Philosophy with Specialization in Ontology and Information Science. This interdisciplinary program allows students to obtain a thorough grounding in the basic principles of ontology and also to work with relevant faculty in Computer Science and Engineering, Geography, Informatics, and the Life Sciences on a variety of special projects. We aim to train professionals who will understand the theoretical foundations of the work that ontologists do and who will also themselves have the ability to apply ontological theories to a broad range of practical problems.
Program Director of the UB Masters in Ontology is Barry Smith, a prominent contributor to both theoretical and applied research in ontology. He is Director of the National Center for Ontological Research and of the Center for Brain and Behavior Informatics in the University at Buffalo. He is a Scientific Advisor to the Gene Ontology Consortium and a Principal Investigator on the Protein Ontology and Infectious Disease Ontology projects, and he also works on a variety of ontology projects in the defense and security domains.
Core Faculty in the program include:
Thomas Bittner Philosophy and Geography
Werner Ceusters Psychiatry; Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences
Maureen Donnelly Philosophy
Alexander Diehl Neurology; Center for Brain and Behavior Informatics
Randall Dipert Philosophy
David Hershenov Philosophy
David Mark Geography; Director, National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis
Alan Ruttenberg Center for Brain and Behavior Informatics
Dagobert Soergel Library and Information Studies
Neil Williams Philosophy
UB researchers working in ontology-related fields include:
Jeff Good Linguistics
Jason Corso Computer Science and Engineering
Bill Duncan Philosophy
Louis Goldberg Oral Biology
Albert Goldfain Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences
Amanda Hicks Philosophy
Rajiv Kishore Management Science and Systems
Ramaswamy Ramesh Management Science and Systems
Patrice Seyed Computer Science
Kinga Szigeti Neurology; Center for Brain and Behavior Informatics
Jose Tapia Oral Diagnostic Sciences
Alexander C. Yu Medicine
The University at Buffalo
The
University at Buffalo, with roughly 23,500 graduate and undergraduate students, is the largest institution of higher learning of the State University of New York system. It is a graduate center and a major U.S. public university located on the US-Canada border near
Niagara Falls. As the only public member in New York and New England of the prestigious
Association of American Universities, the University at Buffalo stands
in the first rank among the nation’s research-intensive public universities.
Interactions among the university’s professional schools and its arts
and sciences faculties, especially in cross-disciplinary research centers,
give graduate and professional education at the University at Buffalo a
particular richness and depth.
The University is home to the National Center for Ontological Research and the UB Ontology Research Group, and is one of three US participating institutions of the National Center for Biomedical Ontology.
DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
The degree may obtained by completing 30 credit hours (normally
10 courses) distributed among the required and recommended courses listed
below. The MA Thesis or Project will
be under the supervision or co-supervision of a member in the Department of Philosophy.
Other courses may be substituted subject to the approval of the Program
Director.
REQUIRED COURSES
1. PHI 531 Problems in Ontology or
PHI 549 Introduction to Applied Ontology
2. PHI 599 Introduction to Logic or PHI 519 Topics in Logic
3. CSE 503 Computer Science for Non-Majors (unless
already qualified) or CSE 562 Database Systems or GEO 504 Designing Spatial
Information Systems
4. One additional Philosophy course
5. Short course on OWL and OWL editing
6. MA Thesis (6 credit hours) or Project (3 credit hours)
RECOMMENDED COURSES
PHI 520 Philosophy of Science
PHI 528 Philosophy of Language
PHI 531 Metaphysical Foundations of Bioethics
PHI 548 Biomedical Ontology
PHI 575 Introduction to Cognitive Science
PHI 579 Special Topics: Geospatial Ontology
PHI 616 Logical Theory (or some other graduate course in
logic)
PHI 640 Graduate Research Ethics
PHI 634 Dispositions and Powers
PHI 634 Time, Tense & Temporal Perspective
CSE 562 Database Systems
CSE 635 Multimedia Information Retrieval
CSE 563 or CSE 663 Topics in Knowledge Representation
GEO 591 Introduction to Geographic Information Science
GEO 592 Cognitive Geography and Geographical Cognition
LIN 567/CSE 567 Computational Linguistics
LIN 667/CSE 667 Advanced Topics in Computational Linguistics
LIN 543 Semantics
PSY 627 Perception
PSY 639 Cognitive Processes
Other courses by agreement
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Students may apply for the MA either with a BA in Philosophy
or with a major in one of the above fields and with some undergraduate
experience in Philosophy. GRE scores, transcripts and two
letters of recommendation are required for admission. For
students applying from abroad the GRE requirement may in exceptional
circumstances be waived. As part of your application materials, please
include an official transcript from all of the universities you
have attended and your scores on the GRE test. Foreign students must
also report their TOEFL scores. Applications are accepted for both August
and January for admissions. Requests for applications to the M.A.
in Ontology and Information Science can be made to either the postal
address or the e-mail address listed below. Applications may also be made
electronically. Applications are accepted for both August and January
admission. Since we currently offer rolling admission, there are no
specific deadlines for receipt of applications. Application forms and detailed information on the requirements for admission
are available here.
TUITION AND FINANCIAL AID
Tuition rates at the University at Buffalo are highly
competitive -- one-third to one-quarter the cost of attending
some other institutions. Current academic-year fees are $ 9,988.00 for
full-time students who are residents of New York State and $ 16,832 for non-residents. A limited number of tuition
scholarships are available for exceptional students. We also
encourage you to contact the
Office of Financial Aid
to inquire about other sources of financial aid that may help defray
the cost of attendance.
HOUSING
The University will assist you in finding suitable on-campus
or off-campus housing. Among the options are new apartment-style
housing designed specifically for graduate students.
Applications for Admission and Requests for Information
Barry Smith <phismith@buffalo.edu>
State University of New York At Buffalo
Department of Philosophy
135 Park Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260 (U.S.A.
