05/07/2026
Big news from the College of Arts and Sciences: The world’s first doctorate in applied ontology! A groundbreaking program at the intersection of philosophy, AI, data science and information systems.
Led by Barry Smith, SUNY Distinguished Professor, and John Beverley, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy, the fully online doctoral program will prepare students to tackle some of the biggest challenges in artificial intelligence and knowledge engineering by helping systems understand and organize complex information.
From health care and biotech to finance, defense and e-commerce, applied ontologists are shaping the future of how humans and machines work with data, and UB continues to lead the way in this rapidly growing field.
The new PhD program, and a master’s launched last year, are the only graduate level applied ontology degrees in the world, filling a critical need in a burgeoning field.