PhD in Global Smart City

Sungkyunkwan University's doctoral program in Global Smart City, offered in Jongno-gu, South Korea, focuses on the technologies, infrastructure, and planning approaches used to make cities more efficient, livable, and sustainable. Doctoral coursework draws on urban planning, information and communication technology, environmental engineering, and data analytics, giving candidates a cross-disciplinary foundation for studying how sensors, networks, and data systems can be applied to transportation, energy, water, and public services within cities. Dissertation research in the program often addresses topics such as smart transportation systems, urban energy management, digital twins of city infrastructure, data-driven urban planning, and the governance challenges that come with deploying smart city technology at scale. Because the coursework is taught in English, the program draws doctoral candidates from a range of engineering, planning, and technology backgrounds who share an interest in applied, cross-sector urban research. Graduates typically move into research and technical roles at government urban planning agencies, smart city technology companies, engineering consultancies, or international development organizations working on urban infrastructure projects. Others continue into academic positions studying smart city technology and policy. South Korea's investment in smart city pilot projects and digital infrastructure gives doctoral students direct exposure to real deployments they can study and evaluate. The doctorate is structured to be completed in four years, with new cohorts admitted in both March and September of every year. Students leave the program with the technical and analytical skills to design, evaluate, and improve smart city systems, developed through English-language coursework and an independent dissertation supervised by SKKU faculty.